Akhenaten

This paper will examine the motifs behind Akhenaten’s shift to a

monotheistic religion

 18th King Dynasty

 Most controversial and highly debated. “Religious maniac”. Fanatic. “Heretic
King”
 “I can not conceive of a more tiresome regime under which to be fated” – C.
14 1st page
 Country began to suffer and decline under his rule
 Before his rule the country’s religious ideology was monotheistic. Had
hundreds of gods
 Akhenaten’s city was destroyed and name obliterated
 Unclear whether people outside the immediate region (city of Akhenaten)
followed Akhenaten’s teachings
 Seems that Akhenaten may have never made a large effort to impose his new
religion on the rest of the region
 “Outside of Akhenaten, life was no better than before and may, indeed, have
been more burdensome and ominous” (p. 248 King of Egypt)
Amarna Letters (sources)
 Letters on clay tablets in cuneiform
 From rulers of small kingdoms to the empire
 Belief that Akhenaten neglected his empire
 This source may not be able to be taken at face value. Pleas could just be
attempts at getting more gold. In this case he was just ignoring pleas
Aten
 Aten/Aton – Akhenaten’s god. Solar deity
 Universal solar symbol visible all over the world. Manifestation of imperial
power, solar manifestation with which pharaohs, in death, became one. To
promote the Aten as a universal god was to promote kingship
 Symbolized by a solar disk called the Aten (hence the name)
 Similar in many ways to Re
 Giver of light, remover of darkness. Giver of life to plants, animals and
humans
Popularity was increasing before Akhenaten took the throne. His father
helped increase the popularity and shift the focus from Amun-Re to Aten
Achieved divine status during the rain of Amenhotep III (his father)
Cannot be said that Akhenaten was solely responsible for the rise of the Aten
Sole god who created himself daily (no female counterpart. “father Aten”)
Amun-Re
 Rise to prominence began during Middle Kingdom (Amun)
  Official divinity of Egypt was Amun-Re (complete Egyptian backgrounds).
Due to the increase of travelers and foreigners moving in and out of Egypt,
non-Egyptian background deities were in worship
 Sun god. This was always a major force in Egypt
 Dominant god throughout Old Kingdom
 Most powerful god at the ascension of Akhenaten
 Dominated religious thought
 Northern Re was combined with southern cult of Amun
 Amun was a air and fertility god
 Spiritual center was located at Thebes
 Was declared an enemy of the people of Egypt. Name was removed from
everywhere
Egypt at the time of ascension
 Took throne when Egypt was at peak of power
 Empire extended from Syria to Palestine and from the Nile to Kush
 Country was rich from gaining tribute/wealth from conquered countries
 Priests of cult of Amen-re (most powerful god at the time) received large
amount of wealth gained from tribute
 Temples were one of the richest/most powerful institutions at the time
 Priests challenging political power of king/pharaohs
 Empire had been expanding with militaristic campaigns prior to Akhenaten
taking the throne
 Kings and their troops had been gone on long campaigns allowing the priests
to use their propaganda and further strengthen their power
 Progressive increase in importance and mention of Aten
Akhenaten’s goals/actions
 Preached monotheism – belief of one god. Worship of an omnipotent and
singular divinity. King was the prophet of the god
 Reduce power of priests while restoring former power of pharaohs
 Turn power away from Amun-Re and bring it to Aten
 Completely denounce Amun-Re
 Establish solar deity and priesthood that was under his control
 Changed his name from Amunhotep IV to Akhenaten
 Removed priests of Amun-Re and other religious cults. Shut down their
temples
 Removed other gods names from any sculptures, temples and buildings
 Removed the word “gods”. Singular “god”
 Founded new capital city: Akhenaten
 Wrote poems and hymns to Aten
 Removed many festivals
 One of his 1st official acts was to build a temple for Aten in Thebes (angered
priests of Amun-Re)
 Soon realized no matter how powerful Aten grew Thebes belonged to Amun-
Re and he needed a new spiritual center
  Decreed that the people of Egypt officially had no other gods to worship but
Aten
 Not strong in his foreign affairs. Lacked decisive action and an understanding
of the complex political situation
 Unable to establish strong followers who would continue to preach his
teachings after he died
 “His contribution to religion was only a brief momentary flash that was
buried with him at his capita Akhenaten” (p.199 chap 14)
Ma’at
 King must live in accordance with it
 Akhenaten placed emphasis on actuality and the here and now
 Modernizing of language – what was spoken and written
 Belief in a world beyond
 No aspect of maat was to small/large for Akhenaten
 “Living in ma’at”
 “A man more interested in the truth than tradition” (chap. 14 p. 195)
Religious Changes/Non-changes
 Removal of all gods and an imposition of Aten
 Changed eschatological beliefs
 Afterlife lost pleasantness and became another area of which to worship the
Aten
 Suppression of Osiris (peoples favourite god)
 Retained many elements of funerary beliefs (mummification, coffins, grave
goods, canopic jaws
 Deceased dependant on Aten (not Osiris) to safeguards them in the afterlife
 New religion lacked appealing elements of compassion and love
 Religion was doomed due to the lack of deep spiritual and emotion needs of
the people
 Akhenaten’s teaching declared heresy after he dies. All old traditions and
gods re-established

Akhenaten Egypt’s false prophet. By Nicholas Reeves. Publisher Thames & Hudson
2001 New York, New York.

Akhenaten. History, Fantasy and Ancient Egypt.. By Dominic Montserrat. Publisher

Routledge 2000 London, England

“It was an era which, though starting off well enough, had degenerated rapidly into
mayhem and widespread religious persecution, an orgy of wanton destruction and
almost total economic collapse” (p. 8 false prophet)

“Pharaoh’s existence systematically expunged” (p. 8 false prophet) – referring to

akhenaten
Aten was an expanded version of the solar deity
One of the major religious changes was doing away with Osiris and the underworld
concept
Akhenaten’s changed were neither well met nor well received. His memory seemed
to be basically shunned. His predecessors failed to acknowledge him
Wasn’t known until accidentally discovered by locals in the late 1800s

Akhenaten’s devotion to the solar religion was fully developed at the beginning of
his reign. He seemed in a rush to completely change the religious face of Egypt
“Atenist Revolution”
New Iconography
Resistance by Amun priesthood. This may have only strengthened Akhenaten’s
resolve

“An epithet employed by Akhenaten from the very start of his reign was ankh em
maat…..better understood as living according to the proper order” (p. 139 false
prophet)
His aim was to return to first principles, to purity, ruthlessly, a way of life be
believed had strayed from its true course

“As James Allen has recognized, the worship of the Aten ‘has less to do with man’s
relationship to god than with his understanding of the fundamental nature of
reality’” (p. 145 false prophet)

The new god was merely an abstraction and only the king himself had direct access
“Akhenaten and his family worshipped the Aten, while the populace worshipped
them” (p. 146 false prophet)

“The Aten was worshipped through his earthly representatives, the king and queen,
who presented themselves as divine intermediaries, the means of access to the
Aten” (p. 23 history, fantasy)