Statue of Akhenaten

Statue of Akhenaten Statues come in many different forms, sizes, styles, and reasons. After watching our online video and I saw a statue from “The New Kingdom” of the infamous Pharaoh Akhenaten. I was intrigued by the unusual features of this statue. They were unlike the traditional features on a statue I am accustomed to. My research was to find out a little more about this Pharaoh and why he was featured so radically different from the typical statues I was accustomed seeing from ancient times including that of ancient Egyptian tradition. I took a look at some historical facts to see if they may help put the pieces of the puzzle together. Originally named after his father Amenhotep III, Akhenaten became Pharaoh under the name Amenhotep IV. His father ruled Egypt with much success through his careful diplomacy. Egypt was at one of its highest points when it came to wealth and life style. The country was polytheistic in its religious foundation but that was about to change once Amenhotep IV took up the throne. Though there seems to be much confusion or debate about many aspects of Amenhotep’s reign, one thing is for certain, he temporarily changed Egypt in a radical way on many different aspects. One of the biggest and most radical changes imposed on Egypt during Amenhotep’s IV reign was the new found religion he and his wife Nefertiti started. He took Egypt from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic religion. He denounced all other gods for the son god called Aten. Both he and his wife began to take their new religion to extreme standards as they built a new city and even by changing their names to honor their deity. Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten which means “The living spirit of Aten” and Nefertiti changed her name to Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti, meaning "beautiful are the beauties of Aten, a beautiful woman has come." Scholars believe Egypt was against this movement because soon after the Pharaohs death, the people went back to their belief