Akhenaten

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Akhenaten
Amenhotep IV
Amenophis IV, Naphu(`)rureya, Ikhnaton[1]

Statue of Akhenaten in the early Amarna style.
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign 1353 BC – 1336 BC[2] or
1351– 1334 BC[3],  18th Dynasty
Predecessor Amenhotep III
Successor Smenkhkare? or Tutankhamun

Consort(s) Nefertiti, Kiya, Meritaten?, possibly Ankhesenpaaten, an unidentified sister
Children Smenkhkare? Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, Setepenre, Tutankhamun, Ankhesenpaaten-ta-sherit?
Father Amenhotep III
Mother Tiye
Died 1336 or 1334 BC
Burial Royal Tomb of Akhenaten KV55
Monuments Akhetaten, Gempaaten, Hwt-Benben

Akhenaten (pronounced /ˌɑːkəˈnɑːtən/;[1] often also spelled Echnaton, Akhnaton, or rarely Ikhnaton; meaning Effective spirit of Aten) was known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV (sometimes given its Greek form, Amenophis IV, and meaning Amun is Satisfied). A Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, he ruled for 17 years and died in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten, which is sometimes described as monotheistic or henotheistic. An early inscription likens him to the sun as compared to stars, and later official language avoids calling the Aten a god, giving the solar deity a status above mere gods.

Akhenaten tried to bring about a departure from traditional religion, but in the end it would not be accepted. After his death, traditional religious practice was gradually restored, and when some dozen years later rulers without clear rights of succession from the Eighteenth Dynasty founded a new dynasty, they discredited Akhenaten and his immediate successors, referring to Akhenaten himself as 'the enemy' in archival records.[5] He was all but lost from history until the discovery, in the 19th century, of Amarna, the site of Akhenaten, the city he built for the Aten. Early excavations at Amarna by Flinders Petrie sparked interest in the enigmatic pharaoh, which increased with the discovery in the Valley of the Kings, at Luxor, of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, who was proven to be his son with DNA testing in 2010[6]. Akhenaten remains an interesting figure, as does his Queen, Nefertiti. Their modern interest comes partly from his connection with Tutankhamun, partly from the unique style and high quality of the pictorial arts he patronized, and partly from ongoing interest in the religion he attempted to establish.

Early life

The future Akhenaten was a younger son of Amenhotep III and his Chief Queen Tiye, his elder brother Crown Prince Thutmose having died when both were children. Thus, Akhenaten's early education might have prepared him for the priesthood like his maternal uncle Anen; at any rate, in an inscription dating to his early reign he emphasized his familiarity with ancient temple documents.[7]

Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of his 38-year reign, or possibly after a coregency lasting one to two years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten's reign (subject to the debates surrounding Egyptian chronology) are from 1353 BC-1336 BC or 1351 BC–1334 BC. Akhenaten's chief wife was Nefertiti, made famous to the modern world by her exquisitely sculpted and painted bust, now displayed in the Neues Museum of Berlin, and among the most recognised works of art surviving from the ancient world.

After four years of reign, Akhenaten began building a new city to serve as the seat of the Aten and a governmental capital of Egypt. Its buildings were decorated in a startling new style which was intended to express the tenets of the new worship.

Religious policies

Some recent debate has focused on the extent to which Akhenaten forced his religious reforms on his people. Certainly, as time drew on, he revised the names of the Aten, and other religious language, to increasingly exclude references to other gods; at some point, also, he embarked on the wide-scale erasure of traditional gods' names, especially those of Amun. Some of his court changed their names to remove them from the patronage of other gods and place them under that of Aten (or Ra, with whom Akhenaten equated the Aten). Yet, even at Amarna itself, some courtiers kept such names as Ahmose ("child of the moon god", the owner of tomb 3), and the sculptor's workshop where the famous Nefertiti bust, and other works of royal portraiture, were found, is associated with an artist known to have been called Tuthmose ("child of Thoth"). An overwhelmingly large number of faience amulets at Amarna also show that talismans of the household-and-childbirth gods Bes and Taweret, the eye of Horus, and amulets of other traditional deities, were openly worn by its citizens. Indeed, a cache of royal jewelry found buried near the Amarna royal tombs (now in the National Museum of Scotland) includes a finger ring referring to Mut, the wife of Amun. Such evidence suggests that though Akhenaten shifted funding away from traditional temples, his policies were fairly tolerant until some point, perhaps a particular event as yet unknown, toward the end of the reign.