Akhenaten - Heretic Pharaoh or Visionary?
Akhenaten is an odd ball among Egyptian pharaohs. In a culture where adherence to tradition was a widely respected virtue, he skewed Egyptian belief right and left. As pharaoh, Akhenaten became a religious revolutionary, the so-called first monotheist in history.
Ancient Egyptians had always worshipped Re-Herakhty, the creator
sun god as a supreme universal deity. Aten was the visible manifestation of
this god, the solar disk, with all its beneficial aspects to nature and to the
well being of all Egyptians. Each region in Egypt had their local gods and goddesses,
who were more or less important in relation to the city associated with their
worship. By the time the new king ascended to the throne as Amenhotep IV, during
the Eighteenth Dynasty, the god Amen of Thebes had become a very powerful god.
Amen and Re were usually merged into one god, Amen-Re, Lord of Thebes.
Akhenaten simplified this syncretism by proclaiming the visible sun itself
as the only deity, effectively doing away with Amen and Re and all the deities
of the Egyptian pantheon. This action had disastrous consequences on the politics
of the country and even beyond. It created a turmoil for the priests of Amen,
whose power and wealth had been steadily increasing and represented a challenge
to the pharaoh's authority. Egypt's foreign allies were also affected by the
pharaoh's neglect of his political duties as ruler of a massive empire, and
conflicts along Egypt's borders promptly arose. In the meantime, the pharaoh
had decided in the fifth year of his reign to move the capital from Thebes to
a new city, Akhetaten, The Horizon of Aten, presently known as Amarna.
This new capital would be entirely devoted to the worship of Aten, with him
and his beautiful wife Nefertiti as high priests.
The new religion also provoked a dramatic change of style in Egyptian
art. Artistic depictions of the royal family became more natural with displays
of affection never seen before. There is much speculation about Akhenaten's
health and mental condition on account of the rather bizarre representations
of the pharaoh in painting and sculpture.
After Akhenaten's death, Egypt returned to the old ways. Akhetaten was quickly abandoned and its temples destroyed. His name was erased from the King's List and his mummy has never been found.
But his legacy of one universal god prevailed.
Category: Ancient Egypt
Mystery of the Sun God's servant: A lavish tomb records the rise and fall of a heretical pharaoh and the staying power of a savvy CFO. Read the full story here.
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