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Akhenaten (pronounced / ˌ æ k ə ˈ n ɑː t ən /), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton (Ancient Egyptian: ꜣḫ-n-jtn ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy, pronounced [ˈʔuːχəʔ nə ˈjaːtəj], meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c. 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
- Overview
- Early reign
Akhenaten married the noblewoman Nefertiti about the time he became pharaoh, in 1353 BCE. Nefertiti was a powerful queen who helped Akhenaten transform the Egyptian religious landscape. Together they had at least six daughters. Although it is unclear whether Akhenaten’s son, Tutankhaten, was also Nefertiti’s, the young prince became the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun.
What religious reforms did Akhenaten make?
Early in his reign, Akhenaten identified himself with the sun god Aton and elevated the cult of Aton above the worship of most other gods, including Amon, the king of the gods. Akhenaten saw himself as Aton’s earthly manifestation. The pharaoh later erased the names of other gods from temples; the reason is unclear.
Was Akhenaten a monotheist?
Akhenaten’s exclusive worship of the sun god Aton led early Egyptologists to claim that he created the world’s first monotheistic religion. However, modern scholarship notes that Akhenaten’s cult drew from aspects of other gods—particularly re-Harakhte, Shu, and Maat—in its imagining and worship of Aton.
How did Egyptian art change under Akhenaten?
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. At or shortly after the time of his accession, Amenhotep IV seems to have married the chief queen of his reign, Nefertiti. The earliest monuments of Amenhotep IV depict the traditional worship of deities executed according to the artistic style of the preceding reign—with the exception of a prominent role accorded to the falcon-headed god Re-Harakhte, who is given an unusual epithet containing the phrase “who rejoices in his horizon, in his aspect of the light which is in the sun’s disk.”
Within the first few years of his rule, Amenhotep IV introduced sweeping changes in the spheres of religion, architecture, and art (see Amarna style). Near the main precinct of the god Amon at Karnak, he founded several new temples dedicated to Re-Harakhte, who was now provided with a lengthy epithet placed in two royal cartouches and was described as “the light which is in the sun’s disk (aton).” Moreover, the new god, Aton, was no longer portrayed in anthropomorphic form but as the sun’s disk itself, elevated to the heavens and extending its multiple rays down over the royal family. Each ray ended in a tiny hand with which the Aton might offer the sign of life to the king and queen or even embrace their limbs and crowns.
Unlike the traditional ritual prescribed for most Egyptian deities, which was carried out in small, darkened sanctuaries in the innermost recesses of their temples, Amenhotep IV’s devotion to the Aton was celebrated through the presentation of foodstuffs on large numbers of offering tables and made in open sunlight. The Aton temples at Karnak therefore consisted of a series of vast open-air courts in which there was virtually no interior space at all. The only preserved architecture from Karnak indicates that these courts were flanked by roofed porticos with colossal statues of the king placed against the pillars. The new temples were built entirely of relatively small blocks of sandstone of uniform size, known as talatat, apparently for speed in construction—an understandable convenience, considering the scale of the project. The walls were decorated with reliefs executed entirely in sunk relief, a method well-suited for exterior surfaces exposed to direct sunlight. The scenes, reconstructed from thousands of individual talatat blocks, portray the royal couple and their eldest daughter, Meritaton, engaged primarily in making offerings to the Aton, although scenes of offering-bearers, cattle designated for slaughter, foreigners in obeisance, and detailed depictions of the royal palace are also abundant. One series of reliefs shows Amenhotep IV at the celebration of his jubilee, a ceremony normally observed by kings of the New Kingdom (c. 1539–1075 bce) only beginning in their 30th regnal year. One temple at Karnak shows only Nefertiti as the primary officiant before the Aton, sometimes accompanied by Meritaton—an unprecedented privilege for a mere queen. In addition, the enormous expanse of the exterior temple wall provided a stone canvas on which experiments in large-scale composition were undertaken.
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The introduction of a new cult was accompanied by innovations in the portrayal of the human form in both relief and sculpture. The royal family was depicted with features that, by comparison with standard conventions of Egyptian art, appear noticeably exaggerated: a prognathous jaw, a thin neck, sloped shoulders, a pronounced paunch, large hips and thighs, and spindly legs. Facial features were characterized by angular, slitted eyes, fleshy lips, nasolabial wrinkles, and holes for ear plugs, while the princesses are often each depicted with an inflated, egg-shaped cranium. Much scholarly debate has centred on whether these features reflect the actual appearance of the king—extended by convention to his family and retainers—and various theories have been argued about the presumed pathology of Amenhotep IV and what medical conditions might produce the anatomical traits shown. The Karnak colossi in particular show these new characteristics in notably exaggerated form, including one that apparently depicts the king without male genitalia. 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. More simply, the remarkable innovations of Amenhotep IV in several cultural spheres at once may be reasonably viewed as a manifestation of the intimate connection in Egyptian culture between art and religion. In devising a radically different cult based on the worship of the sun’s natural form, the king was forced to develop a new artistic idiom with which to express it. That Amenhotep IV was personally involved in these changes seems clear: the biographical text of one of the reign’s master sculptors indicates that he was instructed by the king himself.
Apr 17, 2014 · Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 BCE) was a pharaoh of 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt. He is also known as 'Akhenaton' or 'Ikhnaton' and also 'Khuenaten', all of which are translated to mean 'successful for' or 'of great use to' the god Aten. Akhenaten chose this name for himself after his conversion to the cult of Aten.
- Joshua J. Mark
Akhenaten | The Heretic Pharaoh. Akhenaten (aka Akhenaton) is one of Ancient Egypt's most controversial and notable pharaohs. He ruled for 17 years during the 18th Dynasty and came to be known by some fascinating names, including Great Heretic , The Heretic Pharaoh, and Rebel Pharaoh .
Akhenaton, or Akhnaton orig. Amenhotep IV, (r. 1353–36 bc) Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (1539–1292 bc). He came to power during a period of Egyptian preeminence, with Egypt controlling Palestine, Phoenicia, and Nubia.
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Akhenaton was an Egyptian pharaoh. He ruled ancient Egypt from 1353 to 1336 bce. Akhenaton is remembered for changing the traditional Egyptian religion during his rule. Ancient Egyptians worshipped many different gods, but Akhenaton wanted people to worship only Aton, a sun god.
Feb 26, 2024 · Ancient Egypt. Akhenaten, the 'heretic' pharaoh who brought a new religion to ancient Egypt. The revolutionary 14th-century pharoah brought change to the ancient Egyptian kingdom, including changing his name, the country’s religion and the capital. Jonny Wilkes. Published: February 26, 2024 at 3:01 PM.
