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Akhenaten - The Glory of the Aten
Akhenaten - Amenophis IV
Ruled 1352-1336 BC.
Father: Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC)
Mother: Queen Tiy
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There have been theories that Akhenaten shared the throne with his
father Amenhotep III for a time. After his father's death,
however, he initiated drastic changes in his state. First,
he built a temple on the perimeter of the famous Temple of Amun
at Karnak during the first year of his reign, dedicated to Aten,
rather than Amun (the principal deity at the time). Originally Amenhotep
IV ('Amun is content'), he changed his name to Akhenaten ('glory
of the Aten') in the sixth year of his reign. He erased the names
of other gods, particularily Amun, and even expunged the plural
'gods' from the language. He also erased his father's name wherever
he found it. Akhenaten then relocated the capital to
Akhet-Aten, where palaces and buildings were
swiftly built from mud brick, and in which he built a splendid temple
to the Aten filled with religious art. |
Akhenaten apparently neglected foreign policy, allowing Egypt's
captured territories to be taken back, though it seems likely that
this image can be partially explained by the iconography of the
time, which downplayed his role as warrior. Akhenaten ruled for
eighteen years, to be succeeded by 'Smenkhkara,' believed by some
to be Nefertiti herself, and soon afterwards
by Tutankhaten, who quickly changed his name to Tutankhamun, and
whom we all know well as 'King Tut' after his tomb was discovered
intact. The new city was abandoned, and worship of the Amun was
reestablished. The story of Akhenaten and his name itself was erased
efficiently from Egyptian history, and he was referred to as 'that
heretic' or 'rebel' if necessary. |
An intriguing mystery remains about the bodies of Akhenaten and
his family. Though he did begin building a royal tomb, it appears
to have been left unfinished, and only one of Akhenaten's daughters
was buried there, Meketaten. One scholar (Theodore Davis, 1907)
discovered a mummy believed to be Akhenaten, lying with funerary
equipment of Queen Tiy in the Valley of
the Kings, but more recent hypotheses suggest it is not. To further
the mystery, it has been suggested it belongs to Smenkhkara, the
mystery successor of the Pharaoh. The identification of Akhenaten's
mummy would be of interest to the medical community too. Due
to the very distinctive style of portrayal of the Pharaoh in the
art of the time, it has been suggested that
Akhenaten had Marfan's
Syndrome.
Find out more at our Web Links:
Akhenaten.
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