Both surface bars and barbells with bars made from flexible material, such as tygon or teflon, are commonly used as both initial and long term jewelry in nape piercings. From Wikipedia
The Amarna Period of ancient Egypt was the era of the reign of Akhenaten (1353-1336 BCE), known as 'the heretic king'... Amarna Amarna is the modern Arabic name for the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten, capital of the country under...
Akhenaten is principally famous for his religious reforms, where the polytheism of Egypt was to be supplanted by monotheism centered around Aten, the god of the solar disc. This was possibly a move to lessen the political power of the Priests.