Search Results

This chapter describes and discusses the first part of the reign of Amenhotep IV, down to his change of name to Akhenaten. This highlights the evolution of the way in which the king was depicted, and how the god Aten moved from being merely a particular manifestation of Re-Horakhty to being a deity, with a unique mode of representation and universal dominion. In doing so, the king's building projects at Karnak are described and discussed, along with other memorials of this phase of the reign. There is also a treatment of the king's foreign policy, based on the Amarna Letters, and of his family relationships, before concluding with the first phase of the foundation of the new capital city at Tell el-Amarna (Akhet-Aten).

This chapter describes and discusses the middle part of the reign of Akhenaten, from the move to Amarna to the international celebration (‘durbar’) held in Year 12. In doing so, it considers the layout of the city and how this related to its conception and employment, as well as the necropoleis that formed a fundamental part of it. It also discusses the further evolution of the Aten-cult, quoting the Great Hymn to the Aten and considering the relationship of the Aten to other deities. In particular, it is argued that the iconoclastic antipathy shown towards Amun was not so much a manifestation of a generalised hatred for other gods (most deities’ names and images remained untouched), but for Amun's claim to dominion as ‘King of the Gods’ – a universal dominion that was now reserved for the Aten. The king's family and officials are also discussed, together with his wider building projects and foreign policy, again based on the evidence of the Amarna Letters. There is also a consideration of the further evolution of the period's artistic style.

This chapter concludes the book by examining whether there were any direct or indirect influences of Atenism on the Hebrews, who according to the biblical tradition were likely in Egypt during Akhenaten’s reign. A comparative analysis between Psalm 104 and the Great Aten Hymn suggests that there was no direct connection between them. The axial movement theory held that religions evolved toward monotheism, with breakthroughs occurring in 7th–5th centuries B.C. in different parts of the world. Atenism in the 14th century B.C. shows the inadequacy of this popular theory, which many scholars have applied to Israelite religion. By way of analogy with Atenism, it is suggested that there is no reason to reject the notion of Mosaic monotheism in the century after Akhenaten. Atenism died with Akhenaten, as the reign of Tutankhamun demonstrates.

The Great Hymn and short hymns to Aten are thought to represent the teaching and theology of Akhenaten’s religion. A careful analysis of key and frequently repeated terminology in the hymns allows one to draw out the principal dogma of Atenism. The result is that the main theme is that Aten is creator and sustainer of all life. This chapter further shows that while there is much traditional, solar language in the hymns, in some cases reaching back to the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts, While couched in traditional language in some cases new monotheistic nuances emerge in these hymns. Similarities to biblical monotheism and the introduction of the God Yahweh in the Bible are discussed.

This chapter provides an account and discussion of the reigns of Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV. It discusses the campaigns of Amenhotep II into Syria-Palestine, his officials, the problems surrounding that king's family and his building projects, before moving on to the issues surrounding the accession of the Thutmose IV and the probability that the latter was irregular. It then concludes with a similarly-structured treatment of Thutmose IV's reign, including the question of his role in the development of what was to become the Aten-cult.

This chapter deals with the reign of Amenhotep III, covering his family relationships, government, monuments and foreign relations. This includes discussions of the ramifications of the family of his Akhmim-based in-laws and the identities of the holders of the key sacerdotal and secular offices during the reign. There are also discussions of the reign's religious developments, in particular the implications of the innovations brought about at the time of the king's First Jubilee regarding the king's divinity and how this related to subsequent events. It also discusses the question of whether Amenhotep III and his successor Amenhotep IV ever ruled together; it concludes that they did not, although the latter had been formally nominated as crown prince in Year 30, following the death of the first heir, Thutmose B. The discussion of foreign affairs draws principally on the evidence of the Amarna Letters, together with the ‘Aegean’ statue base at Kom el-Hetan.

In Middle Egypt, the ancient site of Amarna was the capital city of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, the devotee of a single sun-god, and his chief consort, Nefertiti. Occupied for just sixteen or so years in the fourteenth century BC, the city lay largely abandoned and forgotten until excavations over the last hundred years brought it back into prominence. Discovered at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Amarna did not initially excite much interest among archaeologists. In the last 1920s and early 1930s the key figure in excavations in Amarna was the great and highly eccentric Englishman John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury. The Amarna era ended as suddenly as it had begun, and under very obscure circumstances.

This chapter looks at the several generations of Eighteenth-Dynasty kings whose histories were tied to “the Aten”—the sun god. The Aten has long been a designation of the physical body of the sun, but during the Eighteenth Dynasty had begun to attain a separate divine status, until, under Amenhotep III, it had become a considerable deity in its own right. However, under Amenhotep IV (later, “Akhenaten”), the Aten was to become something far more: at first paramount, and then effectively sole god. In addition, the chapter also marks a different path in Akhenaten's legacy—the reign of Akhenaten's son, Tutankhamun (“Tutankhaten”), and the “counter-reformation” movement against Atenism.

This chapter introduces the earlier years of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), seeking to understand his early religious preferences. Why did he develop an aversion for Amun-Re, and how could this once powerful god be so quickly demoted? The developments in Akhenaten’s religion are followed, as well as the changes that took place in or shortly after his first year in office. The old god, Re-Harakhty, initially became associated with the earliest expression of Aten, and his first didactic name is introduced no later than the king’s second year in power. Then slowly this falcon god was replaced by just the sun-disc and its rays, and this iconic representation of Aten would remain the official way of presenting Akhenaten’s god.

This chapter deals with the temples that Amenhotep IV built to the Aten at Karnak. He used a unique block (called talatat) for the construction. After the Amarna period, the Aten temples were dismantled and the blocks were reused elsewhere, making the original location of the temples a mystery. Excavations in east Karnak in the 1970s revealed the location of the Gem-pa-Aten Temple, which was used to celebrate his Heb Sed Festival. In connection with this ceremony, the king’s name was changed to Akhenaten. The famous colossal statues of Akhenaten were originally from this temple. The Aten temples at Thebes provide important information about the early years of Akhenaten’s religion.

This critical chapter examines the development of Atenism, seeking an explanation for what prompted this revolution. Taking a clue from the name of the temple, Gem-Pa-Aten (used of a temple at Amarna and in Nubia), and means something like “the Aten is found,” it is suggested that this name refers to an original theophany that motivated the religious changes that followed. Other texts hint that he experienced a theophany and by revelation was urged to build a new capital, which occurred at Tell el-Amarna and was named Akhet-Aten. The boundary stelae around Akhet-Aten suggest that Aten discovered this sacred spot for the king, just as previously Aten was discovered by the king.

This chapter traces how Aten emerged as Akhenaten’s sole god. Akhenaten built temples of talatat blocks throughout Egypt, including at Heliopolis and Memphis, and as far south as Nubia and apparently north to Sinai, to judge from talatat blocks discovered at Tell el-Borg by this author. At this site, textual evidence was found for Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, and the little known royal figure Ankh-Kheperure. These remains just beyond the northeastern border of Egypt, represent the north-most remains of an Aten temple. Meanwhile, as Akhenaten was engaged in a massive building program for Aten, other temples were cut off, abandoned, and closed.

This chapter argues that Akhenaten’s religion was monotheistic, defined as the exclusive worship of one deity and the rejection of or the denial of the existence of others. This understanding is demonstrated by the iconoclasm directed against images and writings and titles of the former chief deity, Amun, and other deities. After the move to Amarna, a final change to the didactic name occurred in which all vestiges of other gods were removed, specifically, Ra-Harakhty and Shu. During the final decade of his reign, even traditional solar images were banished, and only the sun-disc and its rays, along with Aten’s name, remain in the iconography at Amarna. This combination of factors, it is argued, points to a monotheistic faith.