Akhenaten(Amenhotep IV)Neferkheperure Wa'enre 1349-33 · The cult of Aten the Sun disc, established as the state religion, replacing that of Amun of Thebes· The state capital moved to Akentaten, where a new city is built· The Great Royal Wife Nefertiti seems to wield unprecedented power as queen, and possible co-regent· All forms of art characterised by a revolutionary new style…
For centuries, the god Amun served as the pre-eminent god in New Kingdom Egypt, and his priests enjoyed privileges and power. However, Akhenaten revolutionised religious life with his adoption of the cult of Aten and the introduction of monotheism to Egypt. Along with this religious change came many others, Akhenaten changed Egypt’s foreign policy, art and architecture.…
With these newfound religious ideas came new beginnings. Again throwing away Egyptian traditions he decided to build a completely different capitol city and abandon Thebes. This idea began the construction of Amarna or horizon of the sun which was built in a desolate land about 200 miles north of Thebes. Akhenaten’s justification for doing so was to escape the influences of the high priests. In the capitol he built the temple of Aten, a very open space that was built to embrace and spread the rays of Aten. In this new settlement he again defies ancient traditions and marries a commoner, Nefertiti. Together they ruled almost equally. Within his regime to further embrace Aten he created the hymn of Aten which praises the sun as the creator of the natural world. This hymn had an overall general message which is life comes from the sun god and is distributed equally. Suddenly, Nefertiti vanished out of existence and historians today still don’t know what became of her. Along with this his mother died as well as one of his daughters sending him into a downward spiral of persecution. Akhenaten went so far as to blame all the gods besides Aten for his…
Another, yet subsidiary, argument the author makes relates to Ancient Egypt’s new Pharaoh in 1370 B.C. Pharaoh Akhenaton discarded tradition and religion in favor of new ideas. “He had no time for the Egyptian religion, with its many gods and its mysterious rituals. ‘There is only one God,’ he taught his people, ‘and that is the Sun, through whose rays all is created and all sustained. To Him alone you must pray’ (Gombrich 15).” As you can see, the Pharaoh created a new belief amongst the people, by stating that there is only one god that exists, which is the Sun. Akhenaton says the Sun’s rays is what created everything on Earth and sustains it even now. The new Pharaoh also changed the style of architecture from a “severe, rigid, and solemn”…
The cult of Amun God of the air, the sun, and sky, was followed by Egyptians during the beginning Amenhotep’s reign. Worshiping more than one God is referred to as polytheism. After the first few years of ruling, Amenhotep shifted his beliefs to a monotheistic religion, worshiping one god in the cult of Aten, as opposed to the worshiping of multiple gods as Egypt was accustomed. This belief changed Egyptian culture during the reign of Akhenaten. “Amenhotep IV outlawed the old religion and proclaimed himself the living incarnation of a single, all-powerful, deity known as Aten” (Ancient History Encyclopedia). Akhenaten as a ruler used forced conversion by outlawing past beliefs. The cult of Aten was the belief that “Aten was a being who represented the God or spirit of the sun, and the actual solar disk. He was depicted as a disk with rays reaching to the earth” (Ancient Egypt: The mythology). It was then that Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, “translated to mean `successful for' or `of great use to' the god Aten”. (Ancient History Encyclopedia). This belief can be closely related Jesus in Christianity, where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead three days later, just as Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, both symbolize the rebirth of the Son of…
One may know who king Akhenaten was, he was King Tut’s father. King Akhenaten also wasn’t very popular and still isn’t too popular today. The reason King Akhenaten wasn’t remembered throughout history, was because when he was Pharaoh he only believed in one god! And the villagers despised him for believing this. They thought that the gods would be displeased and punish the village people. Though no one would dare try to kick him out of his place as king for his horrible act! If they even tried to do anything to displease him, the gods would become even more angry. Also in honor of…
Akhenaton’s reign lasted from 1353 BC-1336 BC or 1351 BC–1334 BC (the dates are subject to debate). After 4 years of his reign he built a new capital of Egypt (Amarna) and dedicated the city to the supreme deity Aten. Akhenaton attempted to change the religion in Egypt and attempted to unite all of the traditional gods and goddesses of Egypt into one supreme deity (History records were careful not to mention Aten as a god but compared him to the sun and the stars to make him more important than a normal god.) Aten was the deity Akhenaton tried to convert everyone to. At the time many nobles changed their names to names related to Aten instead of names based on the traditional Egyptian gods. Akhenaton means: the effective spirit of Aten. His son Tutankhaten’s name means living…
Why would a pharaoh, already acknowledged as divine, attempt a religious revolution? Why did he fail? In the passage of “Hymn to the Aten” monotheism is expressed as one sun and God. It talks of how the sun gives life and light. It expresses God as the sun which gives live during the day and in the sunset we die. I do not really understand why a pharaoh would attempt a religious revolution but maybe he wanted power for one man. I think he was comparing himself to the one God and he wanted to become that one God. In my opinion he failed because he lacked power and control. He lacked followers and there were many who believed in many gods in ancient times. Many people saw Akhenaten as the…
Supporting her husbands’ beliefs she changed her name to Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti when Akhenaten changed the focus from the ‘Chief God, Amun and other gods to the worship of a single god, Aten.’ The Aten became the center of Egypt’s new religion During her reign as queen, Egypt went about many radical religious changes, the first being her name. Her reign with Akhenaten was unlike the traditional ways Egypt had seen she was more than just a typical queen and helped to promote Akhenaten’s views. Her reign was approximately only 12 years, but she was one of the most powerful queens to ever rule. Her importance was greatly valued by Akhenaten and he went to great lengths to show her as his counterpart as seen in source A. As queen, she took on powerful roles and showed herself in ways only Egyptian kings did. An example of this being, she was often shown with the crown of a pharaoh or was depicted in scenes of battle smiting her enemies. Akhenaten valued her so much, that he also allowed her to practice that art of priesthood and she too was allowed to make offerings to…
Akhenaten, the so called "Heretic Pharaoh was a Ruler of Egypt during the period known as the 18th Dynasty. He ascended to the throne as Amenhotep IV, succeeding his father Amenhotep III. Akhenaten's brief reign, of hardly more than sixteen years, happened at a difficult time in Egyptian history; a period in which the decline of the previously unparalleled Egyptian empire seemed inevitable. Many scholars maintain that Akhenaten was responsible for this decline, but evidence suggests that it had already started. Whatever his connection with the decline of the Empire, one aspect of Akhenaten's reign is indisputable: his religious reforms. Effectively discarding the beliefs of an Empire, Akhenaten denounced the existing polytheist religious…
In New Kingdom Egypt, the military became very important. The army evolved from being a disorganised band of conscripted peasants into a lethal, professional outfit well equipped and ready for combat. Egypt became the most expansionist it had even been in its history. The emergence of Egypt’s army started in the 18th Dynasty when Ahmose expelled the Hyksos from Egypt. Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III and also Ramses II and Ramses III further maintained Egypt’s military strength in campaigns ranging from Nubia to Syria.…
Akhenaten changed many things during his campaign. Akhenaten’s name was previously Amenhotep IV before he changed it to signify the transition to Aten. Sun god, Ra, according to the cult, created himself from a primeval mound in the shape of a pyramid and then created all other gods. He was invoked as Aten or the Great Disc that illuminated the world of…
Akhenaten is viewed as one of the most controversial Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. The introduction of Akhenaten’s monotheistic views attributed to the decline of the Egyptian empire during his reign in the 18th dynasty. Akhenaten believed that Aten, the sun disk, was the one true god. This ideology was then adopted, though not willingly, throughout Egypt. Akhenaten focused the majority of his time into building temples and enforcing his new regime that he neglected his duties as Pharaoh. Consequently, Egypt’s boarders shrank and the citizens initiated revolts. Despite this, Akhenaten is seen as a revolutionary, being the starting point for major monotheistic religions such as Christianity.…
Throughout the course of human civilization many empires have risen and fallen, however the empires of Sargon the Great, the Assyrian’s, and the Persian’s have left their legacy due to their innovativeness and creativity. For example, Sargon the Great created the notion of appointing governors in conquered territories. Also the Persian’s adopted one single language (Aramaic) to help innovate their road systems, postal services, and trades. These are just some of the many tools these empires used to grow in size and conquer vast lands.…
The Pharaoh Amenhotep IV did not just change his name to Akhenaten and the religion of ancient Egypt creates the first known monotheism, but the artistic style made the immediate conversion from the traditional Egyptian style of depicting people with ideal physiques, to a unique and rather unsettling form. He utilized this art to show his objective of carrying out things abnormally.…