Amarna Style Essay

In the middle Kingdom, between the 11th and the 12th dynasty, a new religious writing came to be: coffin writings. “By the 18th Dynasty Amun –the local god of Thebes- became Ancient Egypt’s greatest god, united with Ra as Amun-Ra. The high priests of Amun gained power and challenged Pharaonic authority by the late 20th Dynasty.” When Akhenaten ruled, monotheism was accepted. This special cult was displeasing to the Ancient Egyptians and so, after Akhenaten died, polytheism returned. Last but not least, the Ptolemaic Period.

The conquest of the country by Alexander the Great in 332 bc and by the Romans in 30 bc brought Egypt into the Classical world, but the ancient artistic traditions persisted. Alexander and his successors were depicted on the walls of temples as Egyptian kings in an Egyptian style of relief carving. Temples were built in the Ptolemaic period (the dynasty founded by Alexander) and in the Roman period that echoed traditional Egyptian styles in architecture. Egyptian art also exerted a powerful influence on the cultures of the invaders. Early Greek artists acknowledged a debt to Egypt in the development of their own styles.

The Reign of Pharaoh Akhenaton During the Reign of pharaoh Akhenaton (Amunhotep IV) which was a short 16 years from 1360 to 1344 B.C.E. He managed to change religion from what it had been to would it became. It went from many gods to a single god and he tried to rub out the existence of other gods. He never listened to anything the people he ruled said and many other things I will discuss in the paper. The first thing he did was he changed religion.

In this paper I plan to discuss the evolvement of Egyptian Religious Beliefs throughout the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms and analyze why Amenhotep IV may have brought about such religious reforms. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...oyal couple changed their names to Tutankhamen, demonstrating their renewed allegiance to Amen-Re.

For instance, the mysterious deities of the Egyptians were immortalized in hieroglyphic drawings, and the Egyptians’ belief in an afterlife led them to construct some of the most recognizable monuments in the world. However, for a brief instant in Egyptian history, a new, monotheistic cult overshadowed the traditional worship practices (Damen sec 1). Akhenaten, a pharaoh who reigned during the time now known as the “Amarna Period,” was the founder of this radical new religion (Damen sec 2). Originally named Amunhotep, a name which pays homage to the god Amun, the pharaoh started his widespread religious reforms by changing his own name to Akhenaten, which means “he is agreeable to the sun-disk” (Damen sec. 2B-C).

Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs Ashish Verma MS09029 1 The Egyptian Hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system employed by the ancient Egyptians. The decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs was a very important event for the advancement of Egyptology. 1.1 About Ancient Egypt The Egyptian state was established in 3150 BC (more than 5,000 years ago). It went through several stable kingdoms and followed by invasions from a series of foreign powers, until around 30 BC when it lost its independence and merged into the Roman Empire (and was no longer a distinct political entity). There was a period of more than 3,000 years when it was socially and culturally distinct.

with the unification of Egypt and the development of writing. According to history, Ancient Egyptian religion was largely polytheistic, having over two thousand gods and goddesses and ever evolving over the centuries. Egyptians did not have a word for religion because it was an intricate and part of everyday life for Egyptians. Over time, Egyptian religion changed and certain gods became more significant than others as the pharaoh in power decided. Some of the most significant gods were Amun, Ra, Ptah, Isis, Osiris, and Horus.

They include illustrations and pictures that sometimes show the individual person as they make their journey to their afterlife. Pharaohs and wealthy families would have personal inscriptions, but the average middle class family could not usually afford the cost (Hoffman September 16th). Mythology had a huge impact on all of ancient Egyptian culture. It was part of the core things that Egypt revolved around. Even though throughout time periods there were different main gods of that time, everyone followed what the pharaohs and religion was at that time.

In other words, Egypt can be termed as the founding father of a majority of the systems in the world. However, there has been a continual improvement, change and modification of the systems originally established in Egypt. As such, this paper traces back to the distant origins of art and architecture in Egypt and elucidates the progressive changes leading to present-day practices in art and architecture. Egypt was initially divided into two independent regions, North Egypt and South Egypt, each under a different ruler. Special hats were made and worn by the rulers as a mark of authority.

Abydos grew in religion terms for the royal necropolis. Toward the end of the Old Kingdom (2200 BC)... ... middle of paper ... ...ide and out with carving scenes and inscription relating to the two pharaohs and afterlife. Unfortunately, overtime the site of the temple has faded away to only its foundation and fragments of its original architecture. In relief to reconstruct the temple back to its original appearance. Although the Middle Kingdom was often identified as the classical age, dynasties eleven, twelve and thirteen were known as the archaeology of this time period.