The palaces in which he and his family lived were to the north and a road led from the royal dwelling to the reception palace. Shortly after this first significant step, Akhenaten initiated a series of changes in Egyptian religion, art and writing that appeared to coincide with the jubilees of his deified father, Amenhotep III, and the Aten. Things took a turn for the worse for Akhenaten when he held a massive celebration in the 12th year of his reign dedicated to Aten. His legacy of monotheism, however, if Freud and others are correct, influenced other religious thinkers to emulate his ideal of one true god and reject the polytheism which had characterized human religious belief for millennia. The cult of Aton vanished. Occupation: Pharaoh of Egypt Born: Around 1380 BC Died: 1336 BC Reign: 1353 BC to 1336 BC Best known for: Changing the religion of Ancient Egypt and building the city of Amarna Biography: Akhenaten was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt. We know very little about Akhenaten's early life, except that he was born in Egypt's 18th Dynasty at some point in the mid-14th century BCE. Later, the faces of both he and Nefertiti are drawn down, their limbs thin and elongated and their bodies bloated. Son of Amenhotep III and the chief queen, Tiya, Akhenaton succeeded to the throne as Amenhotep IV and took a throne name meaning "the sun's ultimate perfection, unique one of the sun," reflecting the . He was the son of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye . The Amarna Letters, (correspondence found in the city of Amarna between the kings of Egypt and those of foreign nations) which provide evidence of Akhenaten's negligence, also show him to have a keen sense of foreign policy when the situation interested him. Few scholars now agree with the contention that Amenhotep III associated his son Amenhotep IV on the throne for several years of coregency; it is assumed here, in accordance with general scholarly consensus, that the older king died before his son gained power. $6.13 11 Used from $4.99 1 New from $19.95 1 Collectible from $14.94. 1386 to 1350 BCE) and his primary wife Tiy. Egypt suffered a devastating military loss, losing its territories in Syria. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Akhenaten was not the first pharaoh to show interest in the Aten. Please support World History Encyclopedia. King Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) King Akhenaten or Amenhotep IV was the great Egyptian pharaoh for the 18th dynasty for 17 years and died in 1336 B.C. was a revolutionary who transformed Egyptian society by instituting history's first monotheistic religion. "The Great Hymn to the Aten" in Lichtheim, Miriam 1978. Akhenaton started his reign as most Egyptian kings. What was unique about her was the she was not a Royal, as it was rare for kings . When Amenhotep IV took the throne in 1352 or 1353 B.C.E., Egypt was arguably the most prosperous and dominant state in the ancient world. Akhenaten. The Aten was not new to the rule of Akhenaten and, prior to his conversion, was simply another cult among the many in ancient Egypt. In the center of his city, the king built a formal reception palace where he could meet officials and foreign dignitaries. This effectively ended the priesthood of Amen-Re. - Mythology & Facts, Who was Telemachus? Instead, Akhenaten began his reign as Amenhotep IV, the son of Amenhotep III. In just under two decades on the throne, Akhenaten imposed new aspects of Egyptian religion, overhauled its royal artistic style, moved Egypts capital to a previously unoccupied site, implemented a new form of architecture and attempted to obliterate the names and images of some of Egypts traditional gods. View L04 Reading Quiz.pdf from PHIL 119 at Pennsylvania State University. Akhenaten saw himself as Atons earthly manifestation. Corrections? In the long course of Egyptian history, few figures have been as polarizing as Akhenaten. Amarna Letter from Burna-Buriash II to Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and the Royal Family Blessed by Aten. The next year, two of their daughters died, and his mother Queen Tiy died in the 14th year. One of the many unfortunate results of Akhenaten's religious reforms was the neglect of foreign policy. Your key for reading. Scribes jot down the words of the . Pharaoh Amenhotep IV was one of the most puzzling pharaohs of Egypt, also mentioned as the 'Heretic Pharaoh' or 'Rebel Pharaoh'. At the same time, he abolished the old . Mark, published on 17 April 2014. Akhenaten dies: 1335 BC 2. The new city would be dedicated to Aten and built far from the capitals of Thebes and Memphis. Mark, Joshua J.. It should be noted, however, that this is a point hotly debated among scholars, as is the whole of the so-called Amarna Period of Akhenaten's rule. Akhenaten attempted to abolish most of the complex mythology of the solar cycleno longer was it a nightly struggle against the forces of evil, nor were there explanations for the existence of sorrow and evil in the world. However, one pharaoh tried to overthrow these gods and replace them with his own system. When the pharaoh began openly preferring Aten to Amen-Re, it was a subtle attack on the stature of Amen-Re and the power of its priests. Pharaoh during Egypt's 18th Dynasty, Amenhotep established a monotheistic religion worshipping the sun god Aten, alleged creator of the universe. Akhnaten soon relocated with 20,000 people to a new capital city, named Akhetaten (and known to archaeologists as Amarna), while it was still under construction. In addition, settings became less formal as well. Soon after his death, Egyptians flocked back to Thebes where they resumed traditional worship and religion. Hammurabi's Code is significant chiefly because it. Is usually comprehensive and extensive. The royal tomb intended for Akhenaten at Amarna did not contain a royal burial, which prompts the question of what happened to the body. In this lesson, we'll explore the reign of Akhenaten, his policies, and how his own fervent obsession shaped Egypt during his time as pharaoh. Ultimately, Akhenaten 's contribution to Egyptian religion was a failure; his transformation of religion, while initially successful, proved too radical for the Egyptian population show more content. Akhenaten's revolution became ugly as time progressed. In Akhenaten's new religion, this figure generally came to be represented as a sun disk and is best understood as the light produced by the sun itself. Thanos ultimately relinquished his new power to repair a terminal defect in the fabric of reality. 220 lessons By the time of Amenhotep IV, the cult of Amun owned more land than the king. The ancient Egyptian dynasties ruled the Nile Valley for thousands of years, worshipping a diverse pantheon of gods during most of that time. Hirst, K. Kris. Hirst, K. Kris. Priests of Amun who had the time and resources hid statuary and texts from the palace guards sent to destroy them and then abandoned their temple complexes. The historian Durant, for example, writes that Akhenaten's reforms were "the first out-standing expression of monotheism - seven hundred years before Isaiah [of the Bible] and an astounding advance upon the old tribal deities" (210). Whereas his father, Amenhotep III, had sought to reduce the increasing power of the priesthood, Akhenaton practically dismantled it. Both defiled and admired during his lifetime and long after, the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (c. 1385 B.C.-c. 1350 B.C.) A religious reformer he made the Aten, the sun disc, the center of Egypt . Books Whether such statues were intended to represent the male and female element combined in the person of the divine king or whether they are simply statues of Nefertiti has not been satisfactorily settled. This insistence on being the sole arbiter of ultimate truth leads to intolerance of other beliefs and their suppression; this is precisely what happened in Egypt. Amenhotep III's heir was to be his eldest son, Thutmosis, but when he died unexpectedly, Amenhotep IV was made heir and at one point co-regent to his father for perhaps the last two or three years of his reign. All men had been but drops of water in the great current. The highly anticipated animated series will be available February 15 on Disney+, following the February 10 premiere on Disney Channel. They sought local humans to guide each space sector through this transition, and . This was probably carried out, at least in part, by illiterate iconoclasts, presumably following the orders of their king. Elongated, spindly limbs and narrow eyes figure prominently in depictions of the royal family during this period, causing some scholars to wonder whether Akhenaten had a medical condition such as Marfan syndrome. 18 Jan 2023. Here he began to build a new city, which he called Akhetaten, Horizon of Aten.. A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. AKHENATON. The Cosmic Order used their ultimate might to force peace onto the universe. Tutankhamun's successors Ay (1327-1323 BCE) and, especially, Horemheb (c. 1320-1292 BCE) tore down the temples and monuments built by Akhenaten to honor his god and had his name, and the names of his immediate successors, stricken from the record. In the fifth year of his reign, the king changed his name from Amenhotep ("Amun is Pleased") to Akhenaten, or "Servant of the Aten" thus formally declaring his new religion. In the middle of the 14th Century BC, the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten adopted the main worship of a single god, the sun-disk or Aten, eradicating Egyptian traditions that had lasted for millennia and drastically altering the art style to reflect this new freedom of expression. On its walls were pictured the transformation of Amenophis III to the godly sphere, and the renaming of his son fromAmenophis ("the god Amun is content") to Akhenaten ("he who is effective on the Aten's behalf.". Step Two was enacted when he sent his workers to remove all . Without Egyptian influence in the region, traditional Egyptian enemies, such as the Hittites, grew in stature and expanded their territory at the expense of Egypt's allies. That same year Akhenaten moved his capital to a new site some 200 miles (300 km) north of Thebes. Akhenaten is most well-known as being a spiritual enthusiast and instigator of revolution within the . Perhaps, then, the elongation of the figures in these images was meant to show human transformation when touched by the power of the Aten. Your hypothesis might have some merit, had both Akhenaten and Moses lived during the same period. Travel Grant for Underrepresented Students, Antiquities Endowment Fund (AEF) Projects, Research Supporting Members (RSM) Projects. The king himself took responsibility for its cosmologically significant master plan. Tutors may have included the Egyptian high priest Parennefer (Wennefer); his uncle, the Heliopolitan priest Aanen; and the builder and architect known as Amenhotep son of Hapu. (45). In this article, you point out that Akhenaten reined between 1352 and 1336 BCE. Hirst, K. Kris. The religious beliefs espoused by Akhenaten are not described anywhere, except that the god is far away, radiant, untouchable.