Akhenatens artistic legacy, however, survived to influence the work of future craftsmen. Please note that some of these recommendations are listed under our old name, Ancient History Encyclopedia. However he deserves acknowledged for being a revolutionary leader. Akhenaten drastically revised the religious and political structure of Egypt, developed new art and architectural styles, and generally caused great chaos during the Middle Bronze Age. Expert Answer. World History Encyclopedia. Pharaoh during Egypt's 18th Dynasty, Amenhotep established a monotheistic religion worshipping the sun god Aten, alleged creator of the universe. The British Museum is free to everybody and opens at 10am every day. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. This can also be explained as stemming from Akhenaten's religious beliefs in that the Aten, not the pharaoh, was the most important consideration, and under the influence of the Aten's love and grace, the pharaoh and his family thrives. He moved Egypt's capital city from Thebes to the newly built Akhenaten. according to many sources. Mark, J. J. 1379 BCE). His son Tutankhamun (ruled ca. Priests of Amun who had the time and resources hid statuary and texts from the palace guards sent to destroy them and then abandoned their temple complexes. Pharaoh Akhenaten. They had six daughters but no sons; the oldest, Meritaten and Ankhesenpaaten, were to become wives of their father. In art, Akhenaten's reign also ushered in a decidedly different style. The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, 10028-0198. Amenhotep III's adoration of Aten had been in part political; the priests of the previously most-followed god, Amen-Re, had grown quite powerful in 14th-century Egypt. NEW TRAILER: Marvel's 'Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' coming to Disney+, January 18's New Marvel Comics: The Full List, 'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania': Tickets On Sale Now, Storm Faces the Full Destructive Potential of Her Omega-Level Powers in Electrifying New Solo Series. In the fifth year of his reign, Akhenaten rejected the traditional religion in favour of worshiping the Aten, or sun disc . Akhenaten further reshaped Egypts religious sphere through the persecution of some traditional gods, most notably Amun Egypts state deity for much of the 18th dynasty. Omissions? Along with these changes, Akhenaten . The names of the god Amun and the other gods were chiseled from monuments throughout Egypt, the temples were closed, and the old practices outlawed. 3.3 Transfer of Capital to Akhetaten: Political and Religious Motives. By the time Amenhotep IV came to power, the priests of Amun were on almost equal standing with the royal house in wealth and influence. Reeves argues that, far from being the idealistic founder of a new . Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaton, meaning "the Servant of Aten" early in his reign. 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. L04: Reading Quiz (Taking this quiz unlocks Lesson 4.2) Due No due date Points 2 Questions 2 Time Limit None Instructions You Rise up against Lilith and her forces December 2, 2022. In Akhenaten's new religion, this figure generally came to be represented as a sun disk and is best understood as the light produced by the sun itself. | 22 The depiction, then, could illustrate Akhenaten and Nefertiti as those who had been transformed to god-like status by their devotion to the Aten to such an extent that their faith is seen even in their children. Akhenaten's lack of concern for foreign policy unraveled some of the hard-fought alliances made by his father, Amenhotep III. He ruled from 1352-1336. pr. He was the son of Amenhotep III (1386-1353 BCE) and his wife Tiye, husband of Queen Nefertiti, and father of both Tutankhamun (by a lesser wife named Lady Kiya) and Tutankhamun's wife Ankhsenamun (by Nefertiti). His queen, Nefertiti, to whom many historians believe he delegated numerous governing responsibilities, died during the festivities. That same year Akhenaten moved his capital to a new site some 200 miles (300 km) north of Thebes. Amarna, Northern PalaceChanel Wheeler (CC BY-SA). Aten created and fashioned the cosmos, authorized life, created people and languages and light and dark. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. View L04 Reading Quiz.pdf from PHIL 119 at Pennsylvania State University. Although there is no recorded dissension or push back from the people while the king lived, once he was gone, everything was disassembled. Eventually, dissatisfied priests and civil officials combined with the army to discredit the new religion. Amenhotep IV may have been co-regent with his father, Amenhotep III, and it has been noted that the sun-disk known as the 'Aten' is displayed on a number of inscriptions from this period of the earlier king's reign. Babylon. Nefertiti's name was expanded to Neferneferuaten ("Beautiful Is the Beauty of Aton")-Nefertiti. A> Akhenaten, formerly Amenhotep IV, an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, who was married to Nefertiti, worshiped the Egyptian god Aten, renamed himself, wrote the Hymn to Aten, and, therefore, could be considered one of the first monotheists. However, one pharaoh tried to overthrow these gods and replace them with his own system. Your key for reading. The first works commissioned by the king appeared in the traditional Theban style, employed by nearly every 18th dynasty pharaoh preceding him. But one thing external peace could not protect against was the instability of its pharaoh's whims. However, the pharaoh's loyalty was not enough, and soon Akhenaten required that all of Egypt adopt his new god and abandon . Nefertiti was a powerful queen who helped Akhenaten transform the Egyptian religious landscape. K. Kris Hirst is an archaeologist with 30 years of field experience. Last modified April 17, 2014. It would not be until the Christian era that the Egyptians would finally reject the old gods in favour of a single universal deity. The preponderance of the evidence, both from the Amarna letters and from Tutankhamun's later decree, as well as archaeological indications, strongly suggests that Akhenaten was a very poor ruler as far as his subjects and vassal states were concerned and his reign, in the words of Hawass, was "an inward-focused regime that had lost interest . 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 . In devising a radically different cult based on the worship of the suns natural form, the king was forced to develop a new artistic idiom with which to express it. Akhenaten attempted to abolish most of the complex mythology of the solar cycleno longer was it a nightly struggle against the forces of evil, nor were there explanations for the existence of sorrow and evil in the world. 220 lessons Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of a 38-year reign, possibly after a co-regency between the two for up to 12 years. One of the earliest landmarks of Paleolithic culture is. Some historians have praised Akhenaten's reforms as the first instance of monotheism and the benefits of monotheistic belief, but these reforms were not at all beneficial to the people of Egypt at the time. In the middle of the 14th Century BC, the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten adopted the main worship of a single god, the sun-disk or Aten, eradicating Egyptian traditions that had lasted for millennia and drastically altering the art style to reflect this new freedom of expression. Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten and defied tradition by establishing a new religion that believed that there is but one god; the sun god Aten. In just under two decades on the throne, Akhenaten imposed new aspects of Egyptian religion, overhauled its royal artistic style, moved Egypts capital to a previously unoccupied site, implemented a new form of architecture and attempted to obliterate the names and images of some of Egypts traditional gods. Akhenaten's single-minded overhaul of Egyptian religion caused him to withdraw from other matters. When he laid out his city, he also commanded that a series of boundary stelae be carved in the cliffs surrounding the site. There is some evidence that he took the legendary beauty Nefertiti as a consort while he was co-king, although she is not acknowledged as queen until after Amenhotep IV began his transformation. Akhenaten remains an interesting figure, as does his Queen, Nefertiti. Monotheism or Monopoly? This obsession caused him to relocate Egypt's capital, destroy the Egyptian priesthood, and declare that he alone could communicate with the god, Aten. Scribes jot down the words of the . The king ascended the throne under his birth name, Amenhotep IV, but in his fifth regnal year, he changed his name to one that better reflected his religious ideas (Amenhotep = Amun is satisfied, Akhenaten = Effective for Aten). Akhenaten is often not credited as being one of the great pharaoh's of ancient Egypt; his name is not as recognized as his son, Tutankhamen. Amenhotep's jubilee didn't celebrate Amun, Ptah, Thoth, or Osiris; there was only one god represented: Re, the sun god. His son, Tutankhamun (c. 1336-1327 BCE) was given the name Tutankhaten at birth but changed his name upon ascending the throne to reflect his rejection of Atenism and his return of the country to the ways of Amun and the old gods. Web. Things took a turn for the worse for Akhenaten when he held a massive celebration in the 12th year of his reign dedicated to Aten. When Akhenaten died, he was succeeded briefly by Smenkhkare, his favorite, and then by Tutankhaten who change his name to Tutankhamun, dropping the Aten and embracing Amun. 100% (5 ratings) Answer The following events are ordered from earliest to latest: 1. Together they had at least six daughters. Your hypothesis might have some merit, had both Akhenaten and Moses lived during the same period. However, in the fifth year, he underwent a dramatic religious transformation, changed his devotion from the cult of Amun to that of Aten, and, for the next twelve years, became famous (or infamous) as the 'heretic king' who abolished the traditional religious rites of Egypt and instituted the first known monotheistic state religion in the world and, according to some, monotheism itself. Later Egyptian historians would refer to him only as the heretic king.. Freud quotes from James Henry Breasted, the noted archaeologist, that: It is important to notice that his name, Moses, was Egyptian. Amarna Letter from Burna-Buriash II to Amenhotep IIIOsama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright). There is some evidence that at the urging of Tiy, the queen mother, Akhenaten made compromises to placate the different factions growing within Egyptian society. It had several royal greater-than-lifesized statues made in a new art style, located north of the temple of Amun, and near a mudbrick palace for the king. Thanos then eradicated the Celestial Order's race in a past time period before they first accessed the Heart and pronounced him God, effectively preventing Akhenaten's assault on Earth and erasing his actions since encountering the Order. Later Horemheb razed the city to the ground and Rameses II reused the stone blocks of its temples for his work at nearby Hermopolis. Ikhnaton was the first individual in history.. https://www.worldhistory.org/Akhenaten/. The end of Akhenatens reign is murky. AKHENATON. Akhenaten and His Religious-Political Reform By Ji Jank . Donald B. Redford dates his birth before his father Amenhotep III's 25th regnal year, c. 1363-1361 BC, based on the birth of Akhenaten's first daughter, who was likely born relatively early in his reign. In Akhenaten, Nicholas Reeves presents an entirely new perspective on the turbulent events of Akhenaten's seventeen-year reign. Amenhotep IV likely ascended to the throne of Egypt as a teenager. Egypt's standing in the ancient world suffered during Akhenaten's reign. Some sports fans, for example, can't even maintain good personal relationships, such is their ardor for their favorite team. Beginning with the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom, pharaohs held "sed festivals," over-the-top parties of eating, drinking, and dancing that were jubilees of kingly renewal. AKHENATON (or Akhenaten) was the tenth pharaoh of Egypt's eighteenth dynasty (c. 1352 - 1336 bce) and the founder of the earliest historically documented monotheistic religion. Both defiled and admired during his lifetime and long after, the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (c. 1385 B.C.-c. 1350 B.C.) Amenhotep III celebrated three, beginning with his 30th year as pharaoh. Reign: 1350 - 1334 BC. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Akhenaten, Ancient Origins - Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King, LiveScience - Akhenaten: Egyptian Pharaoh, Nefertiti's Husband, Tut's Father, Akhenaton - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Akhenaton - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Akhenaton and Nefertiti under the sun god Aton. Her work has appeared in scholarly publications such as Archaeology Online and Science. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Few scholars now agree with the contention that Amenhotep III associated his son Amenhotep IV on . The Amarna Letters preserve an inside look at Egyptian diplomacy, revealing how power brokers maneuvered, alliances were forged, and pharaohs were flattered. Akhenaten's obsession did not outlast his death, and after he died in 1336 B.C.E. Whit Schroder Amarna Final.doc. Akhenaten did not become Akhenaten until later in his reign. All men had been but drops of water in the great current. During the reign of the New Kingdom pharaoh Amenhotep IV, also called Akhenaten, the art of ancient Egypt underwent a considerable change. The religious beliefs espoused by Akhenaten are not described anywhere, except that the god is far away, radiant, untouchable. As the pharaoh Amenhotep IV, he came to power during the New . Akhenaten's attempt to suppress one god and advance another in a culture that reveled in a complex pantheon of ever-changing deities did not endure. Even before his father's death, probably in the fourth year of his co-regency, he changed his name from Amenhotep, meaning "Amun is satisfied," to Akhenaten, probably meaning "of service to Aten.". Occupation: Pharaoh of Egypt Born: Around 1380 BC Died: 1336 BC Reign: 1353 BC to 1336 BC Best known for: Changing the religion of Ancient Egypt and building the city of Amarna Biography: Akhenaten was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt. Whether one regards Akhenaten as a hero or villain in Egypt's history, his elevation of the Aten to supremacy changed not only that nation's history, but the course of world civilization. Son of Amenhotep III and the chief queen, Tiya, Akhenaton succeeded to the throne as Amenhotep IV and took a throne name meaning "the sun's ultimate perfection, unique one of the sun," reflecting the . At the center was the god Amun of Thebes and his priests had become powerful. Prior to this conversion, he was known as Amenhotep IV (or Amenophis IV). Yet no other pharaohsave perhaps his son . Akhnaten soon relocated with 20,000 people to a new capital city, named Akhetaten (and known to archaeologists as Amarna), while it was still under construction. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. These works are unique in Egyptian art, as they do not flatter the king and his family but reveal them as real people, in all their beauty and decay. in the 14th century BC, at a time when the Egyptian kingdom was at the height of power and luxury. The other aspect of Amarna Period art which differentiates it from earlier and later periods is the intimacy of the images, best exemplified in the Stele of Akhenaten showing the family enjoying each other's company in a private moment. 13791336 BCE) was one of the last pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom Egypt, who is known for briefly establishing monotheism in the country. 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