Prior to this conversion, he was known as amenhotep iv or amenophis iv. He moved his capital from thebes to a place now called tell elamarna or amarna, more than 200 miles 300 km north, on a desert bay on the east. The religious change introduced into egyptian society by. Amenhotep iv, also known as the pharaoh akhenaten, was destined to be remembered for his attempt at a religious conversion of ancient egypt. King akhenaten one of the kings in the 18th dynasty who ruled ancient egypt from53 b.
Akhenaten came to power as the pharaoh of egypt in either the year 53 or 51 bce and reigned for roughly 17 years during the 18th dynasty of egypts new. Egypt during the new kingdom, the cult of the sun god ra became increasingly important until it evolved into the uncompromising monotheism of pharaoh akhenaten amenhotep iv, 6447 b. Tutankhamun was the son of akhenaten originally named amenhotep iv who is believed to be the mummy found in tomb kv55. In the fifth year of his reign, the king changed his name from amenhotep amun is pleased to akhenaten, or servant of the aten thus formally declaring his new religion. Akhenaten, considered by many as a heretic pharaoh, was the ruler responsible for taking ancient egypt towards an entirely different religious lifestyle, trying to reconstruct religion departing from traditional ancient egyptian polytheism. That being said, this article focuses on the research and theories of nicholas reeves, in his book, akhenaten. See how king tuts rebel dad changed the face of egypt. Egyptologists are still tying to figure out what actually happened during his lifetime as much of the truth was buried after he died. Facts about egyptian pharaohs, king akhenaten amenhotep.
The religious tenets akhenaten espoused in his worship of the aton are not spelled out in detail anywhere. He was the second son to the pharaoh amenhotep iii. According to the cult, ra created himself from a primeval mound in the shape of a pyramid and then created all other gods. Various writers have depicted this strange ruler of the fourteenth century b. Information about king akhenaten king akhenaten facts.
Amarna was the capital city conjured out of the desert sands in roughly 50 b. In addition to being the brother of queen tiye, ay was the father of nefertiti and, therefore, fatherinlaw of akhenaten. Akhenatens wife is believed to have, at the very least, been a relative and most likely his halfsister, nefertiti. Akhenaten upended the religion, art, and politics of ancient egypt, and then his legacy was buried. Come see the slowmotion trainwreck dumpsterfire that is the reign of akhenaten, egypts most insane pharaoh. Akhenaten was an egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the eighteenth dynasty of the new kingdom period of ancient egypt.
Akhenaten lived at the peak of egypts imperial glory. The aton god, or the most commonly referred to as the solar disc, is described in ancient egyptian literature as a deity in the 12th dynasty sinuhes story, in which the deceased king ascends to heaven, as a god, and joins with the solar disk. Akhenaten synonyms, akhenaten pronunciation, akhenaten translation, english dictionary definition of akhenaten. Akhenaten ikhenaten, akhenaton, or amenhotep iv was born on about 54 b. An alabaster statue of queen tiye was recently discovered in luxor, egypt, when archaeologists were trying to lift the statue of king amenhotep iii, which was buried in sand. The mummy is currently at the egyptian museum in cairo, egypt. At birth he was named tutankhaten, a name reflecting the atenist beliefs of his father. Praise the great king, the exalter of the name of aten, akhenaten, pharaoh of egypt and keeper of the nile. While it is known from an amarna letter by ribhadda that the hittites seized all the countries that were vassals of the king of mitanniea 7524 akhenaten managed to preserve egypts control over the core of her near eastern empire which consisted of present day palestine as well as the phoenician coast while avoiding conflict with the.
Akhenaten was an ancient egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 36 bc or 34 bc. Dubbed a heretic king by modern scholars, akhenaten was immensely unpopular. Redford, who excavated akhenatens earliest temple at karnak in modern thebes, describes how akhenaten instituted worship of aten the cult of the sundisk emerged from an iconoclastic war between the good god akhenaten, and all the rest of the gods. He ruled egypt after his father pharaohs amenophis iii death at the end of his 38year reign, he was the second son of amenophis. Akhenaten also spelled echnaton, akhenaton, ikhnaton, and khuenaten was an ancient egyptian pharaoh reigning circa 5336 or 5134 bc, the. He was the son of yuya, an influential member of amenhotep iiis court and father of queen tiye. Alongside your queen, nefertiti, you cast aside egypts polytheistic faith and devoted your reign to the worship of aten the solar deity and to erecting great cities and monuments in his name. Amenhotep iv changed his name to akhenaten and defied tradition by establishing a new religion that believed that there is but one god. Controversial theories about akhenaten, ancient egypts. Akhenaten was particularly remarked by abandoning traditional egyptian polytheism and introducing cult centered on the worship of aton or aten god. His reign was characterized by vast changes to art and the movement of the capital city. Changes during his 17year reign included new styles of art and.
The pharaoh akhenaten, king tuts controversial father, departed from centuries of tradition after taking power in 53 b. Life and death of egyptian queen tiye, mother of akhenaten. In the bar article the monotheism of the heretic pharaoh, donald b. King of egypt has been added to your cart add to cart. King tutankhamun or tutankhamen ruled egypt as pharaoh for 10 years until his death at age 19, around 24 b. The account that follows is indepth, detailed, focused on the archaeological evidence rather than fringesensationalist theories and displays no obvious author bias.
Many believe that he had been the driving force for egypt since the death of akhenaten. King of egypt is one of the best books on egypts most enigmatic pharaoh. What akhenaten suffered from was the same ailment king tut and most of the other egyptian pharoahs were saddled with and it is unofficially known as nubianism. Akhenaten definition of akhenaten by the free dictionary. Everything we think we know about ancient egypt can be completely upended with a new discovery of something as seemingly innocuous as a single stone carving. Drunvalo melchizedek, initiate of the great pyramid and. Was pharaoh akhenaten so cruel that he forced children to. There is no known cure for this curious illness which has struck fear in the hearts of mindless curators, egyptologists and historians for centuries. The skeleton belonged to a child who lived at amarna more than 3,300 years ago, when the site was egypts capital. The entire cemetery, which is located near an ancient stone quarry, could contain thousands of burials. King akhenaten was born to amenhotep iii and queen tiye. Among the ancient ruins in amarna, egypt, lies a giant statue of akhenaten. Because religion played such a significant role in all of egypts history, the period becomes a. History, fantasy and ancient egypt, noted that the king has become a sign rather than a person.
Akhenaten, who was known before the fifth year of his reign as amenhotep iv was a pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of egypt who ruled for 17 years. He was one out of the many children born by amenhotep iii and tiye. Ancient egyptian cemetery holds proof of hard labor. He broke the conventions of egyptian art by showing himself in warm family scenes with his wife and children, and portraying himself and the rest of the royal family in a much more human and naturalistic manner than any of his predescessors had. King of egypt who rejected the old gods and initiated a monotheistic worship of. Its a fitting scene for this ancient pharaoh, who ruled the kingdom between 52 and 36 b. She encouraged and supported her husband in his revolutionary ideas and together they took on the religious establishment. Akhenaten took on the might of the priesthood of amunra. How akhenaten demolished centuries of egyptian tradition.
Egypt cult of the sun god and akhenatens monotheism. He is noted for abandoning traditional egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the aten notably instead of amun, the temples of which he destroyed, the name of whom he rubbed off and the priests of whom he left without resources, which is sometimes. C, his name meaning living spirit of aten, hes also known as amenophis iv, akhenaton, ikhnaton, and khuenaten. Akhenaten, an egyptian pharaoh during the eighteenth dynasty of the new kingdom, ruled between 53 and 36 b.
Akhenaten was a pharaoh who made religious reforms, built a new capital at amarna and sired tutankhamun, one of the most famous ancient. Ancient egypt akhenaten the nephilim god king youtube. Inevitably, when akhenaten died in 32 bc, egypts ancient religion was restored under his successor tutankhamun and the heretical city of amarna was abandoned and forgotten. 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. By the time akhenaten took the throne, his family had been ruling egypt for nearly two hundred years and had established a huge empire dominating palestine, phoenicia, and nubia. 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. The city was founded by akhenaten, a king who, along with his wife nefertiti. The amarna period in egyptian history is a spectacular time filled with mystery, regardless of the massive research and analysis of egyptologists and layman enthusiasts. Despite being first published over twenty years ago, cyril aldreds akhenaten. A biography of the notorious godking of ancient egypt. Facts about ancient egypt, god aten king akhenaten was very patient till the 4 th year of his rule, then he replaced god amun by the new one, god aten.
Akhenaten, also spelled akhenaton, akhnaton, or ikhnaton, also called amenhotep iv, greek amenophis, king 5336 bce of ancient egypt of the 18th dynasty, who established a new cult dedicated to the aton, the suns disk hence his assumed name, akhenaten, meaning beneficial to aton. Free shipping get free shipping free 58 day shipping within the u. They must be reconstructed largely from the iconography of the temple reliefs and stelae that depict him with his deity and from the one lengthy religious text from tell elamarna, the aton hymn, preserved in several of the private tombs. He was the father of tutankhamun, one of the most famous ancient egyptian pharaohs. His wet nurse was a woman called maia, known from her tomb at saqqara while some suggestions have been made that tutankhamuns mother was. It was a common, and expected, tradition among ancient egyptian pharaohs, for the ruler to marry the eldest daughter of his father. While akhenaten led a reform on the ancient egyptian religion, he also revolutionized egyptian art. Akhenaten, king of ancient egypt of the 18th dynasty, who established a new cult dedicated to the aton, the suns disk. Egypt had never been richer, more powerful, or more secure. Alien rulers of ancient egypt was akhenaten alien king. Here is a striking portrait of akhenaten, monotheistic worshiper of the sun and bestknown egyptian king next to tutankhamen. Akhenaten chose this name for himself after his conversion to the cult of aten.
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