“He is the King of Heaven…Whose body is unknown” (qtd. in Redford 162). In New Kingdom Egypt, in the 14th Century BCE, one man would attempt to force a change, a revolution, on a people that had remained unchanged and unchanging for 2000 years. This man, the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, promoted monotheism primarily because of religious intentions and not for political or personal gain. He selected one God, Aten, and it was this deity that was the center of attention during Amenhotep’s reign. Amenhotep IV, who would later take the name Akhenaten, would lead a controversial reign which would result in failure. He would eventually be deemed the “heretic king” (Assmann 149), but what was it that earned him this title? Was Amenhotep IV truly a “heretic king?” What manner of man was Aten’s ‘first prophet’? Because of his religious reforms, Akhenaten has for long struck a chord in today’s predominantly monotheistic world, and the fact that pharaoh’s revolution ultimately failed has seemed only to confirm his role as an early revealer of religious truth- a power for good. (Reeves 8-9). Amenhotep IV was born in c. 1365 BCE during the 18th dynasty in Egypt to Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye (Aldred 11). He was given his name in honor of the Gods Amun and Re whom Amenhotep III sought to be the earthly representative of (Bratton 17). Amun-Re was the creator God, and Re was the God of the sun (Assmann 485-6). Combined, these two deities were the most powerful God and are therefore normally referred to by their conjoined name of Amun-Re (Redford 97). Although Re was the sole Sun God, there were others under him who were individually responsible for a specific detail of the sun-God. Aten was an aspect of R... ... middle of paper ... ...ompletely devoid of their complicated and cruel theologies. By implementing this revolutionary ideal, the heretical king hasted his empire’s end and his own tragic fate. But his failure earned him a reputation so unique in the records of civilization that Breasted, the great Egyptologist characterized him as “the first individual in history” (Bratton 49-50). Works Cited Aldred, Cyril. Akhenaten, King of Egypt. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1988. Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs. New York: Metropolitan, 2002. Bratton, Fred Gladstone. The First Heretic; the Life and times of Ikhnaton the King. Boston: Beacon, 1961. Redford, Donald B. Akhenaten: the Heretic King. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1984. Reeves, C. N. Akhenaten, Egypt's False Prophet. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2001
The Old Kingdom of Egypt (from 2700 to 2200 B.C.), saw the commencement of many of the rigid, formal beliefs of the Egyptian civilization, both in regards to their religious and political beliefs, as they were very closely intertwined. "... There was a determined attempt to impose order on the multitude of gods and religious beliefs that had existed since predynastic times... and the sun-god Re became the supreme royal god, with the ki...
Aside from being a priest, the importance of Paankhenamun’s position was due to his association with the Amun, who was a significant god of Egyptian Thebes. Viewed as chief divinity, Amun was often equated with the famous god Zeus and he even had his own worshiping cult (Freedman, 322). Moreover, Amun was originally one of the eight gods of Hermopolis, known as the god of air. However, at the time of the New Kingdom, this ch...
The reunification of upper and Lower Egypt catalysed the syncretism of prominent sun deities Amun and Re. Consequently, a powerful cult emerged that became the prevailing religious ideology, as well as an important political power base which secured dynastic legitimacy. The importance and impact of the Amun cult is diverse, as it developed social cohesion, shaped the ideology of kingship, facilitated economic and military prosperity, and formed a new power base; the Amun Priesthood.
As we understand the Aten to be of extreme importance to Akhenaten, his family held a similar importance as he felt it necessary to depict them posing with the Aten, bringing glory and life to the royal family. It is also possible that in the stela of his parents, [Akhenaten] was trying to utilise his father’s renowned power and greatness by associating him with his radical new religion, making it familiar to the Egyptian people who already revered Amenhotep III as a ruler. As Johnson notes, Akhenaten’s predecessor and father Amenhotep III’s involvement in Akhenaten’s reign is highly debated, and especially notes that Amenhotep III’s devotion to Amun-Re was widely known and thus may have been unlikely to support his son’s interest in the Aten. Images like the limestone stela of Amenhotep III worshipping underneath the Aten were created when the reign had already been handed to Akhenaten. In fact, Johnson points out that by the end of Amenhotep III’s thirty-nine-year reign, he was considered the living embodiment of Re on earth, who was deeply related to the image of the sun-disk, and that this is what must have theologically influenced Akhenaten’s interest in the Aten.
Akhenaten went completely against the former views of New Kingdom Egypt – that Amun-Re is the god of gods. Instead he put in place the Aten which is the ‘sun disc’ above Ra’s head and forced this religion upon his people. A fact which is acknowledged by an American university professor of history, Damen (2013) who states that by the third year of Akhenaten’s reign a major shift in Egyptian religion began. Firstly, Akhenaten changed his name from Amunhotep IV to honour his own god Aten by ridding his name of the god Amun-Re. Akhenaten also removed the word ‘gods’ from inscriptions replacing it with ‘god’ and destroyed some of Amun’s temples and monuments, thus declaring war against the dominant religious authority of his day {Damen (2013)}). An educated opinion by oft-cited English historian and Egyptologist, Weigall (1910) insinuates that Akhenaten ‘objected heroics and loved naturalness’ tel...
Akhenaten, or Amenhotep IV as he was first known, reigned during the prosperous golden age of Egypt’s 18th dynasty. He is generally associated with the neglecting the empire in order to pursue his dreams as a religious philosopher; letting the Egyptian border crumble, and ignoring their foreign colonies and provinces. Akhenaten was married to the most beautiful woman of ancient Egypt, who also happened to be his sister, Nefertiti. Delving into the reasons behind Akhenaten’s brief reform of Egyptian religion and art and the impact this had on Egypt’s golden age.
Egyptian religion is polytheistic. The gods are present in the form of elements of life – natural forces and human condition. Greek religion is also polytheistic. Like Egypt, the Greek gods exist to represent different aspects of life, but they also play an active social role in the people’s lives. In Greek mythology, the gods have feelings and flaws as the normal people do. Greek Gods have even had children and committed adultery with people. The Egyptian gods interact more with each other than with the people. They interact with the people more on a supernatural level. Osiris, the Egyptian god of agriculture and afterlife, judges people when they die. Amon, the king of gods, is hidden inside the ruler (This “king of gods” title was not always so as the popularity of Aton, the sun-disk rose through the reformation of Pharaoh Akhenaton in 1369-1353 BC). Hebrew religion, being monotheistic, had only one all-powerful god. Instead of being believed by the people to be somewhere in the world, the Hebrew god was completely separated from the physical universe. Abraham in Canaan (about 1800 BC) is the first known practicer of monotheism. As for monotheistic resemblance in other cultures, the Greek god Zeus is seen as a leader of the other gods, but not independent of them. Akhenaton’s short-lived reform of Egyptian religion reveres Aton as the source of all life. This is the earliest religious expression of a belief in a sole god of the universe. Akhenaton’s challenge to the power of the priests did not last beyond his own lifetime.
Scott, N. The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 31, No. 3, The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians (Spring, 1973), pp. 123-170
The Nation of Israel, specifically Abraham, has been credited with the birth of the first monotheistic religion; however, monotheistic principles were present in other ancient civilizations before the creation of the chosen people of Israel, specifically with Zoroastrianism and ancient Egyptian religions.
During this time he changed his name to Akhenaten, which means one who is akh for Aten. Hymn of Aten Not only challenges the original religion as only having one God but it also depicts a new Sun God as a sudden death in the ways that the sun rays are offering Life by the hands of the sun God's to both the king and the people nearest to him mostly the women. the Pharaoh would have songs of Sun to the Sun. Rather than having people praying and bring offerings like they did for Ra. When does radical departure it's separated the Pharaoh and his courts in the influence of the priesthood and centers of worship. Thus erasing all of the gods or attempting to for twenty years. Greek god and goddess of the Egyptian religion had his own family of priestesses temples shrines and rituals. When Atenism came through, they were destroyed. Aten What's to be worshipped as Open Spaces rather in dark Temple enclosures like the old gods had
Akhenaten, previously Amenhotep IV, was one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs. He ruled in the eighteenth dynasty from 1353 to 1336 BCE after his father, Amenhotep III (Harris 144). During his reign, one of his reforms was to annihilate all the gods except one, thus creating one of the first monotheistic religions. The worship of all gods that were not Aten was banned and their temples were closed (Ngo). This led to a large divide between the priestly caste and the dynasty (Ricart 58). Akhenaten also abandoned his palace in Thebes and moved to a newly created city (Harris 143). In that city, which he named Akhetaten, he built two elaborate palaces and multiple places of worship for Aten (Crosher 24). When Akhenaten died, he was erased from
‘The Hyksos forced Egyptian Pharaohs to look beyond their own borders, and involve themselves in the affairs and lives of their neighbor’s’ Through the notion of looking beyond their own borders, the necessity of constant battles was not only to expand but also protect Egypt’s borders, this eventually led to the image of the ‘Warrior Pharaoh’. Egypt became the pre-eminent power in the east due to talented civil, military and religious bureaucracies. The Hyksos ‘encouraged new nationalism and patriotism’ this could be seen through formation of administration, stable rule, gods and building externally while taking on board the establishment of the extensive diplomatic and trading contacts with the eastern Mediterranean region and Nubia. The economic influences created by the Hyksos include various influences that furthermore excelled New Kingdom Egypt to be a greater society. The ‘foreign rulers’ introduced olive and pomegranate trees as well as domesticated cattle to the agricultural practices to Egyptian society.
Although the people of both Lower and Upper Egypt believed in one creator who was referred to as the Ikka Nour, the two kingdoms referred to this religious figure by different names and meanings. In the northern kingdom, the Ikka Nour was known as “Ra”. Ra was associated with the sun giving rise to the quote “the sun that shines brilliantly everywhere”
Wilkinson, Toby A. H.. The rise and fall of ancient Egypt. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.
...n 1163 B.C., Egypt entered a period of slow decline (Scarre 1997:116). Pharaohs became less powerful, and their prestige dwindled. Hungry soldiers were terrorizing the community, while tomb robbers were raiding the pyramids for resources that were very much needed. They had buried their pharaohs with food, goods and jewelry, all of which were needed to keep the civilization in tact. They had built too many pyramids, and there were setbacks in Asia which corrupted trade. People did not understand why the pharaohs could not fix the problems that were going on. They viewed them as gods and lost trust and faith. Egypt fell apart as these things culminated with loss of belief in the pharaohs.