The Heretic Pharaoh "Akhenaten"
As a young child Akhenaten was raised in a traditional Ancient
Egyptian manner and observed religious rituals to the god Amon. In
Thebes, Amon was the god that was elevated to the highest position.
In time, Akhenaten turned his focus and beliefs to another deity
called Aten. (Aten is the sun god and was taken into battle with
Tuthmosis IV and later taken by Akhenaten).
Soon after becoming pharaoh of Egypt, Akhenaten discarded his royal
name and loyalty to Amon. He turned away from old priests and began
the cult of the sun disk -- the Aten. Akhenaten acknowledged that
Aten was the single god except Re, the sun god. He claimed he was
the only person able to converse with his god. This only caused an
absence of priests and he soon came to ban those that remained. He
banned the worship of Amon and closed down sacred temples.
Akhenaten’s wife’s name Nefertiti was also changed to “Nefer Nefru
Aten” meaning “Beautiful is the Beauty of Aten.” The couple then
moved out of Thebes to a new captial called Akhetaton. Everyone from
the old captial moved to the new constructed captial including the
court and artisans.
The New Capital
Amarna was erected in 1353-1335 B.C. in honor of the god Aten.
(Amarna is the modern name for the city called Akhetaton) It had
more naturalistic styles and the art portrayed natural scenes and
life-like figures. The couple raised many extraordinary buildings
and conducted sophisticated ceremonies in the temples and palaces.
His new captial attacked the cults of other deities in Egypt,
especially Amon. Sites of Amon were desecrated and any evidence of
worship to this god destroyed. Akhenaten even had his father's
cartouches destroyed because it had Amon’s name encrypted upon it.
This continued to outrage the people of Egypt and left the
population uneasy and angry. Most of the cities in Egypt were
deprived of their estates and plantations. Corruption fell upon the
temples and soon they were dependant on the city of Akhetaton.
Art
The art during the Amarna period had made a colossal change. People
were portrayed as they were. Unlike most pharaohs, Akhenaten
portrayed himself less god like and more human. This new style of
art was portraying people in everyday lifestyles and sometimes with
minute details. Bek was Akhenaten’s main artist during this period.
The disfigured pharaoh showed an almost strange elongation of the
head, large breasts, swollen stomach, and the diminutive splayed
legs. He looked more feminine then masculine.
Not only did Akhenaten show his naturalness but also the
surroundings around him. His paintings were detailed and unique in
that they showed naturalism along the Nile River. The scenes of the
time period showed the river engulfed with vegetation and wild
animals.
Pharaohs in earlier periods showed themselves as being well
proportioned and taller then their subjects. Akhenaten, on the other
hand, was depicted as being at equal level with his surroundings
that showed him in inappropriate scenes. Such scenes included him
kissing his daughters and sitting with his wife in a family oriented
manner.
The End of Akhenaten’s Reign
During the 12th year of his reign, Queen Tiy joined Akhenaten in his
city. She brought with her a princess named Baketaten (Later
Baketamon). Akhenaten soon provided her with housing and constructed
a temple in honor of her. Nefertiti was no longer a favorite to
Akhenaten and she soon disappears from the time period.
Historians are puzzled as to why and where she left. Her daughter
soon took her place and held the duties her mother once did. His daughter was then replaced
with Ankhesenpaaten. He soon found anther queen who was named Kiya
and might have been from the Mitanni heritage. At around the
eighteenth year of his ruling Akhenaten died. Everything was
destroyed and demolished soon after his death. His mummy has never
been found. Everything was ravished and destroyed upon his death.
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