Tell, William, legendary Swiss patriot. According to legend, Tell was a native of Uri, one of the Swiss forest cantons. Gessler, the canton's Austrian bailiff, decreed that Swiss citizens must remove their hats before his hat, which he had posted on a stake in the canton's largest town. Tell refused and as punishment was ordered to shoot an apple off his small son's head. Although he succeeded, he was held prisoner by Gessler when he revealed that had he failed, he planned to kill Gessler with an arrow he had hidden on his person. Tell escaped and eventually shot Gessler from ambush at Küssnacht, thus setting off the revolt that ousted the bailiff on Jan. 1, 1308. While there is no valid proof of Tell's existence, the legend represents a distorted account of events that resulted (1291) in the formation of the Everlasting League between the cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden. Schiller's popular drama Wilhelm Tell is based on the legend; Rossini's opera William Tell is based on Schiller's drama.

Tell el Amarna or Tel el Amarna, ancient locality, Egypt, near the Nile and c.60 mi (100 km) N of Asyut. Ikhnaton's capital, Akhetaton, was in Tell el Amarna. About 400 tablets with inscriptions in Akkadian cuneiform were found there in 1887. They constitute correspondence between Amenhotep III and Ikhnaton and the governors of the cities in Palestine and Syria, and they shed much light on ancient Egypt and the Middle East. The tablets are mostly in the Berlin, British, and Cairo museums.

German Wilhelm Tell.

Swiss national hero whose historical existence is disputed. According to tradition, in the 13th or early 14th century he defied Austrian authority and was forced to shoot an apple from his son's head with a crossbow at a distance of 80 paces by the hated Austrian governor. He subsequently ambushed and killed the governor, an event that supposedly led to rebellion against Austrian rule. He is first mentioned in a chronicle from 1470. The marksman's test is widely found in folklore, and the story has resemblances to the founding myths of other nations.

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Ancient city, Egypt. Located midway between Thebes and Memphis on the Nile River, it was built in the 14th century BC by the Egyptian king (pharaoh) Akhenaton, who moved his subjects there in order to found a new monotheistic religion. Artifacts discovered there in the 19th century included hundreds of cuneiform tablets. Archaeological finds of the late 20th century included sculptures and paintings.

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