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Akhenaten (pronounced /ˌækəˈnɑːtən/[8]), also spelled Echnaton,[9] Akhenaton,[3] Ikhnaton,

[2]
 and Khuenaten[10][11] (Ancient Egyptian: ꜣḫ-n-jtn, meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was
an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning circa 1353–1336[3] or 1351–1334 BC,[4] the tenth ruler
of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep
IV (Ancient Egyptian: jmn-ḥtp, meaning "Amun is satisfied," Hellenized as Amenophis IV).

Akhenaten is noted for abandoning Egypt's traditional polytheistic religion and

introducing Atenism, worship centered on the sun disc Aten. The views
of Egyptologists differ whether Atenism should be considered as absolute monotheism, or
whether it was monolatry, syncretism, or henotheism.[12][13] This culture shift away from
traditional religion was not widely accepted. After his death, Akhenaten's monuments were
dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from lists of
rulers compiled by later pharaohs.[14] Traditional religious practice was gradually restored,
notably under his close successor Tutankhamun, who changed his name from Tutankhaten
early in his reign.[15] 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" or "that criminal" in
archival records.[16]

Akhenaten was all but lost to history until the late 19th century discovery of Amarna, or
Akhetaten, the new capital city he built for the worship of Aten. [17] Furthermore, in 1907, a
mummy that could be Akhenaten's was unearthed from the tomb KV55 in the Valley of the
Kings by Edward R. Ayrton. Genetic testing has determined that the man buried in KV55
was Tutankhamun's father,[18] but its identification as Akhenaten has since been questioned.
[6][7][19][20][21]

Akhenaten's rediscovery and Flinders Petrie's early excavations at Amarna sparked great

public interest in the pharaoh and his queen Nefertiti. He has been described as "enigmatic,"
"mysterious," "revolutionary," "the greatest idealist of the world," and "the first individual in
history," but also as a "heretic," "fanatic," "possibly insane," and "mad." [12][22][23][24][25] The
interest comes from his connection with Tutankhamun, the unique style and high quality of
the pictorial arts he patronized, and ongoing interest in the religion he attempted to establish.

Contents

 1Family

 2Early life

 3Reign

o 3.1Coregency with Amenhotep III

o 3.2Early reign as Amenhotep IV

o 3.3Name change
 o 3.4Founding Amarna

o 3.5International relations

o 3.6Later years

o 3.7Death, burial, and succession

o 3.8Legacy

 4Atenism

o 4.1Implementation and development

o 4.2Atenism and other gods

o 4.3Following Akhenaten's death

 5Artistic depictions

 6Speculative theories

o 6.1Akhenaten and monotheism in Abrahamic religions

o 6.2Possible illness

 7In the arts

 8Ancestry

 9See also

 10Notes and references

o 10.1Notes

o 10.2Bibliography

o 10.3Further reading

 11External links

Family[edit]

See also: Family tree of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt

Brown quartzite inlay head of Akhenaten or Nefertiti. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna,
Egypt. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL, London

Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children

Pharaoh Akhenaten (center) and his family worshiping the Aten, with characteristic rays
seen emanating from the solar disk.

The future Akhenaten was born Amenhotep, a younger son of pharaoh Amenhotep III and
his principal wife Tiye. Crown prince Thutmose, Amenhotep III and Tiye's eldest son and
Akhenaten's brother, was recognized as Amenhotep III's heir, but he died relatively young
during his father's reign.[26] Following Thutmose's death, Akhenaten was the next in line for
the throne.[27] Akhenaten also had four or five sisters, Sitamun, Henuttaneb, Iset or
Isis, Nebetah, and possibly Beketaten.[28]

Akhenaten was married to Nefertiti, his Great Royal Wife; the exact timing of their marriage
is unknown, but evidence from the king's building projects suggest that this happened either
shortly before or after Akhenaten took Egypt's throne.[11] A secondary wife of Akhenaten
named Kiya is known from inscriptions. Some have theorized that she gained her
importance as the mother of Tutankhamen, Smenkhkare, or both. Some Egyptologists, such
as William J. Murnane, proposed that Kiya is a colloqial name of
the Mitanni princess Tadukhipa daughter of the Mitanni king Tushratta, widow of Amenhotep
III and later wife of Akhenaten.[29][30] Akhenaten's other attested consorts are the daughter
of Šatiya, ruler of Enišasi,[31] and a daughter of Burna-Buriash II, king of Babylonia.[31]

Seven or eight children are proposed based on inscriptions. Egyptologists are fairly certain
about his six daughters, who are well attested in contemporary depictions.[32] Among his six
daughters, Meritaten was born in regnal year one or five; Meketaten in year four or
six; Ankhesenpaaten, later Queen of Tutankhamun, before year five or
eight, Neferneferuaten Tasherit in year eight or nine; Neferneferure in year nine or ten;
and Setepenre in year ten or eleven.[33][34][35][36] There is less certainty around his relationship
with Smenkhkare, his successor, who could have been Akhenaten's son or daughter; he
could have been Akhenaten's eldest son with an unknown wife, who later married Meritaten,
his sister.[37] DNA analysis has revealed a mummy found in KV55 and the so-called "Younger
Lady" mummy as children of Amunhotep III and Tiye as well as the parents of Tutankhaten,
the later Tutankhamen.[38] The identification of the KV55 mummy with Akhenaten, however,
remains highly controversial (see under Death, burial, and succession).
Some historians, such as Edward F. Wente and James Peter Allen, have proposed that
Akhenaten took some of his daughters as wives or sexual consorts to father a male heir.[39]
[40]
 While this is debated, some historical parallels exist: Akhenaten's father Amenhotep III
married his daughter Sitamun, while Ramesses II married two or more of his daughters,
even though their marriages might simply have been ceremonial. [41][42] In Akhenaten's case,
Meritaten, for example, recorded as Great Royal Wife to Smenkhkare, is also listed
alongside pharaohs Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten as Great Royal Wife on a box from
Tutankhamen's tomb. Letters written to Akhenaten from foreign rulers also make reference
to Meritaten as "mistress of the house." Akhenaten might also have fathered a child with his
daughter Meketaten. Meketaten's death, at perhaps the age of ten to twelve, is recorded in
the Amarna royal tombs from around regnal years thirteen or fourteen. Early Egyptologists
attributed her death possibly to childbirth, because of a depiction of an infant in her tomb.
Because no husband is known for Meketaten, the assumption has been that Akhenaten was
the father. Aidan Dodson believed this to be unlikely, as no Egyptian tomb has been found
that mentions or alludes to the cause of death of the tomb owner, and Jacobus van Dijk
proposed that the child is a portrayal of Meketaten's soul.[43] Finally, various monuments,
originally for Kiya, were reinscribed for Akhenaten's daughters Meritaten and
Ankhesenpaaten; the revised inscriptions list a Meritaten-tasherit ("junior") and an
Ankhesenpaaten-tasherit. Some view this to indicate that Akhenaten fathered his own
grandchildren. Others hold that, since these grandchildren are not attested to elsewhere,
they are fictions invented to fill the space originally filled by Kiya's child.[44][39]

Early life[edit]

Egyptologists know very little about Akhenaten's life as prince. Egyptologist Donald B.

Redford dated his birth before his father Amenhotep III's 25th regnal year, 1363–1361 BC,
based on the birth of Akhenaten's first daughter, which likely happened fairly early in his own
reign.[45][4] The only mention of his name, as "the King's Son Amenhotep," was found on a
wine docket at his father Amenhotep III's palace at Malkata, where some historians suggest
he was born. Others contend that he was born at Memphis, where growing up he was
influenced by the worship of the sun god Ra practiced at nearby Heliopolis.[46]

Some historians have tried to determine who was Akhenaten's tutor during his youth, and
have proposed scribes Heqareshu or Meryre II, the royal tutor Amenemotep, or
the vizier Aperel.[47] The only person we know for certain served the prince was Parennefer,
whose tomb mentions this fact.[48]

Egyptologist Cyril Aldred suggested that prince Amenhotep might have been a High Priest of
Ptah in Memphis. It is known that Amenhotep's brother, crown prince Thutmose, served in
this role before he died. If Amenhotep inherited his brother's roles in preparation for his
accession to the throne, he might have become a high priest in Thutmose's stead. Aldred
proposes that Akhenaten's unusual artistic inclinations might have been formed during his
time serving Ptah, who was the patron god of craftsmen, and whose high priest were
sometimes referred to as "The Greatest of the Directors of Craftsmanship."[49]

Reign[edit]

Coregency with Amenhotep III[edit]

There is much controversy around whether Amenhotep IV succeeded to the throne on the
death of his father Amenhotep III or whether there was a coregency (lasting perhaps as long
as 12 years). Eric Cline, Nicholas Reeves, Peter Dorman, and other scholars have argued
strongly against the establishment of a long coregency between the two rulers and in favour
of either no coregency or a brief one lasting at most two years.[50] Donald Redford, William
Murnane, Alan Gardiner, and Lawrence Berman contest the view of any coregency
whatsoever between Akhenaten and his father.[51]

Most recently, in 2014, archeologists found both pharaohs' names inscribed on the wall of
the Luxor tomb of vizier Amenhotep-Huy. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities called this
"conclusive evidence" that Akhenaten shared power with his father for at least 8 years,
based on the dating of the tomb.[52] This conclusion has been called into question by other
Egyptologists, according to whom the inscription only means that construction on
Amenhotep-Huy's tomb commenced during Amenhotep III's reign and concluded under
Akhenaten's, and Amenhotep-Huy thus simply wanted to pay his respects to both rulers.[53]

Early reign as Amenhotep IV[edit]

Wooden standing statue of Akhenaten. Currently in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

Akhenaten most likely took Egypt's throne in 1353 [54] or 1351 BC.[4] It is unknown how old
Akhenaten was when he did this; estimates range from 10 to 23. [55] He was most likely
crowned in Thebes, or perhaps Memphis or Armant.[55]

The beginning of his reign followed established pharaonic traditions, as Amenhotep IV did
not immediately start distancing himself from other gods and focusing solely on the Aten.
According to Egyptologist Donald B. Redford, this implies that Akhenaten's eventual
religious policies were not conceived well in advance and the pharaoh did not follow a pre-
established plan or program. Redford points to three pieces of evidence to support this. First,
surving inscriptions show Amenhotep IV worshipping several different gods,
including Atum, Osiris, Anubis, Nekhbet, Hathor,[56] and the Eye of Ra, and texts from this
era refer to "the gods" and "every god and every goddess." Second, even though he later
moved his capital from Thebes to Akhetaten, his initial royal titulary honored Thebes (for
example, his nomen was "Amenhotep, god-ruler of Thebes"), and recognizing its
importance, he called Thebes "Southern Heliopolis, the first great (seat) of Re (or) the Disc."
Third, his initial building program sought to build new places of worship to the Aten and did
not destroy temples to the other gods.[57]

Indeed, the new pharaoh started a building program soon after his coronation. In Thebes, he
decorated the southern entrance to the precincts of the temple of Amun-Re with scenes of
him worshiping Re-Harakhti.

He also ordered the construction of temples or shrines to the Aten in several cities across
the country, such as Bubastis, Tell el-Borg, Heliopolis, Memphis, Nekhen, Kawa, and Kerma.
[58]
 However, the most significant temple decitated to the Aten was built at the Karnak
Temple Complex in Thebes. This Temple of Amenhotep IV was called the Gempaaten ("The
Aten is found in the estate of the Aten"). The Gempaaten consisted of a series of buildings,
including a palace and a structure called the Hwt Benben (named after the Benben stone)
which was dedicated to Queen Nefertiti. Other Aten temples constructed at Karnak during
this time include the Rud-menu and the Teni-menu, which may have been constructed near
the Ninth Pylon. During this time he did not repress the worship of Amun, and the High Priest
of Amun was still active in the fourth year of his reign.[27] The king appears as Amenhotep IV
in the tombs of some of the nobles in Thebes: Kheruef (TT192), Ramose (TT55) and the
tomb of Parennefer (TT188).[59]

In the tomb of Ramose, Amenhotep IV appears on the west wall in the traditional style,
seated on a throne with Ramose appearing before the king. On the other side of the
doorway, Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti are shown in the window of appearance, with the Aten
depicted as the sun disc. In the Theban tomb of Parennefer, Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti are
seated on a throne with the sun disk depicted over the king and queen.[59]

In the first five or six years of his reign, perhaps in regnal year two or three, Amenhotep IV
organized his first Sed festival. The exact reason for this is disputed. Sed festivals were
celebrations of the pharaoh that usually took place for the first time around the thirtieth year
of a pharaoh's reign and every three or so years thereafter. The celebrations were
specifically aimed at the ritual rejuvenation of the aging pharaoh. There are only
speculations as to why Amenhotep IV organized a Sed festival when he was likely still in his
early twenties. Some historians see this as evidence of the coregency between Amenhotep
III and Amenhotep IV, and that Amenhotep IV's Sed festival coincided with one of his father's
celebrations. Others speculate that Amenhotep IV chose to hold his festival three years after
his father's death, aiming to show his rule as a continuation of Amenhotep III's. Yet others
believe that the festival was held in honor of the Aten on whose behalf the pharaoh ruled
Egypt, or, as Amenhotep III was considered to have become one with the Aten following his
death, the Sed festival honored both the pharaoh and the god at the same time. It is also
possible that the purpose of the ceremony was to fill Amenhotep IV with strength before his
great enterprise: the introduction of the Aten cult and the founding of the new capital
at Amarna. Regardless of the true aim of the celebration, Egyptologists studying the
surviving artistic impressions have concluded that during the festivities, the pharaoh only
made offerings to the Aten rather than the many gods and goddesses, as customary.[49][60][61]

Among the discovered documents that refer to Akhenaten as Amenhotep IV the latest in his
reign are two copies of a letter from Ipy, the high steward of Memphis, to the pharaoh. These
letters, found in Gurob and informing the pharaoh that the royal estates in Memphis are "in
good order" and the temple of Ptah is "prosperous and flourishing," are dated to regnal year
five, day nineteen of the growing season's third month. About a month later, day thirteen of
the growing season's fourth month, a boundary stone at Amarna already had the name
Akhenaten carved on it, implying that Akhenaten changed his name during this timeframe. [62]
[63][64][65]

Name change[edit]

In regnal year five, Amenhotep IV decided to show his devotion to the Aten by changing
his royal titulary. No longer would he be known as Amenhotep and be associated with the
god Amun, but rather he would completely shift his focus to the Aten. Egyptologists debate
the exact meaning of Akhenaten, his new personal name, as the term "akh" (Ancient
Egyptian: ꜣḫ) could have different translations, such as "satisfied," "effective spirit," or
"serviceable to," and thus Akhenaten's name could be translated to mean "Aten is satisfied,"
"Effective spirit of the Aten," or "Serviceable to the Aten," respectively. [66] Gertie
Englund and Florence Friedman have arrived at the translation "effective for the Aten" by
analyzing contemporary texts and inscriptions, in which Akhenaten often described himself
as being "effective for" the sun disc. England and Friedman concluded that the frequency
with which Akhenaten used this term likely means that his own name meant "Effective for
the Aten."[66]

Some historians, such as Edel Elmar, Gerhard Fecht, and William F. Albright have proposed

that Akhenaten's name is misspelled and mispronounced. These historians believe "Aten"
should rather be "Jāti," thus rendering the pharaoh's name Akhenjāti (pronounced /ˌækə
ˈnjɑːtɪ/), as it could have been pronounced in Ancient Egypt.[67][68][69] Contemporaneously, the
name would have been pronounced as Akhey-niyatnu.[69][page  needed]

Amenhotep IV Akhenaten

Horus name

Kanakht-qai-Shuti Meryaten

"Strong Bull of the Double Plumes" "Beloved of Aten"

Nebty name
Wer-nesut-em-Ipet-swt Wer-nesut-em-Akhetaten

"Great of Kingship in Karnak" "Great of Kingship in Akhet-

Aten"

Golden Horus
 Wetjes-khau-em-Iunu-Shemay
name Wetjes-ren-en-Aten
"Crowned in Heliopolis of the South"
"Exalter of the Name of Aten"
(Thebes)

Prenomen
Neferkheperure-waenre
"Beautiful are the Forms of Re, the Unique one of Re"

Nomen
Amenhotep Netjer-Heqa-Waset
Akhenaten
"Amenhotep god-ruler of Thebes"
"Effective for the Aten"

Founding Amarna[edit]

One of the stele marking the boundary of the new capital Akhetaten.

Main article: Amarna

Around the same time he changed his royal titulary, on the thirteenth day of the growing
season's fourth month (around mid-April of the Gregorian calendar), Akhenaten decreed that
a new capital city be built: Akhetaten (Ancient Egyptian: ꜣḫt-jtn, meaning "Horizon of the
Aten"), better known today as Amarna. The event Egyptologists know the most about during
Akhenaten's life are connected with founding Akhetaten, as numerous stele with surviving
inscriptions have been found around the city to mark its boundary. [70] The pharaoh chose a
site about halfway between Thebes, the capital at the time, and Memphis, on the east bank
of Nile, where a wadi and a natural dip in the surrounding cliffs forms a silhouette similar to
the "horizon" hieroglyph. Additionally, the site was previously uninhabited. On one of the
stele, Akhenaten said that the site is appropriate for a city dedicated to the Aten because of
this, for "not being the property of a god, nor being the property of a goddess, nor being the
property of a ruler, nor being the property of a female ruler, nor being the property of any
people able to lay claim to it."[71]

Historians do not know for certain why Akhenaten chose to build a new capital and leave the
old capital of Thebes. The stele detailing the founding of Akhetaten is damaged where it
explains Akhenaten's motives for the relocation. The parts that survive claim what happened
to Akhenaten was "worse than those that I heard" previously in his reign and worse than
those "heard by any kings who assumed the White Crown," and alludes to "offensive"
speech to the Aten. Egyptologists believe that Akhenaten could be referring to conflict with
the priesthood and followers of Amun, patron god of the capital Thebes. The great temples
of Amun, such as Karnak, were all located in the capital of Thebes, and the priests achieved
significant power earlier in the Eighteenth Dynasty, especially
under Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, thanks to the pharaohs offering large amounts of
Egypt's growing wealth to the cult of Amun; historians such as James Henry
Breasted therefore posited that by moving to a new capital Akhenaten may have been trying
to break with Amun's priests and their god.[72][73][74][75]

Akhetaten was a planned city with the Great Temple of the Aten, Small Aten Temple, royal
residences, records office and government buildings in the city center. Some of these
buildings, such as the Aten temples, were ordered to be built by Akhenaten on the stele
announcing the city's founding.[74][76][77]

The city was built quickly, thanks to a new construction method that used substantially
smaller stone blocks than under previous pharaohs. These blocks, called talatats, measured
1
⁄2 by 1⁄2 by 1 ancient Egyptian cubits (c. 27 by 27 by 54 cm), and because of their small
weight and standardized size, using them during constructions was more efficient than using
heavy building blocks of varying sizes.[78][79] One year after decreeing a new capital city, in
regnal year six, Akhenaten visited the city under construction to monitor progress. By regnal
year eight, Akhetaten had reached a state where it could be occupied by the royal family.
Not the entire Theban court, only his most loyal subjects followed Akhenaten and his family.
While the city was being built, in years five through eight, construction work began to stop in
Thebes: the Aten temples that had begun were not continued, and a village of workers
working on the tombs of the Valley of the Kings was relocated to the workers' village of
Akhetaten. However, construction work was continued in the rest of the country, as larger
cult centers such as Heliopolis and Memphis also had temples built for Aton.[80][81]

International relations[edit]
Akhenaten in the typical Amarna period style.

Painted limestone miniature stela. It shows Akhenaten standing before 2 incense stands,
Aten disc above. From Amarna, Egypt. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian
Archaeology, London

Head of Akhenaten
Plaster portrait study of a pharaoh, Ahkenaten or a co-regent or successor. Discovered
within the workshop of the royal sculptor Thutmose at Amarna, now part of the Ägyptisches
Museum collection in Berlin.

Further information: Amarna letters

The Amarna letters have provided important evidence about Akhenaten's reign and foreign
policy. The letters are a cache of 382 diplomatic texts and literary and educational materials
discovered between 1887 and 1979[82] and named after Amarna, the modern name for
Akhenaten's capital Akhetaten. The diplomatic correspondence comprises of clay
tablet messages between Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun, various subjects
through Egyptian military outposts, rulers of vassal states, and the foreign rulers
of Babylonia, Assyria, Syria, Canaan, Alashiya, Arzawa, Mitanni, and the Hittites.[83]

The Amarna letters portray the international situation in the Eastern Mediterranean that

Akhenaten inherited from his predecessors. The kingdom's influence and military might
increased greatly before starting to wane in the 200 years preceding Akhenaten's reign,
following the expulsion of the Hyksos from Lower Egypt at the end of the Second
Intermediate Period. Egypt's power reached new heights under Thutmose III, who ruled
approximately 100 years before Akhenaten and led several successful military campaigns
into Nubia and Syria. Egypt's expansion led to confrontation with the Mitanni, but this rivalry
ended with the two nations becoming allies. Amenhotep III aimed to maintain the balance of
power through marriages – such as his marriage to Tadukhipa, daughter of the Mitanni
king Tushratta – and vassal states. Yet under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, Egypt was
unable or unwilling to oppose the rise of the Hittites around Syria. The pharaohs seemed to
eschew military confrontation at a time when the balance of power between Egypt's
neighbors and rivals was shifting, and the Hittites, a confrontational state, overtook the
Mitanni in influence.[84][85][86][87]

Early in his reign, Akhenaten had conflicts with Tushratta, the king of Mitanni, who had
courted favor with his father against the Hittites. Tushratta complains in numerous letters
that Akhenaten had sent him gold-plated statues rather than statues made of solid gold; the
statues formed part of the bride-price which Tushratta received for letting his
daughter Tadukhepa marry Amenhotep III and then later marry Akhenaten. An Amarna letter
preserves a complaint by Tushratta to Akhenaten about the situation:
"I...asked your father Mimmureya for statues of solid cast gold, [...] and your father said,
'Don't talk of giving statues just of solid cast gold. I will give you ones made also of lapis
lazuli. I will give you too, along with the statues, much additional gold and [other] goods
beyond measure.' Every one of my messengers that were staying in Egypt saw the gold for
the statues with their own eyes. [...] But my brother [i.e., Akhenaten] has not sent the solid
[gold] statues that your father was going to send. You have sent plated ones of wood. Nor
have you sent me the goods that your father was going to send me, but you have reduced
[them] greatly. Yet there is nothing I know of in which I have failed my brother. [...] May my
brother send me much gold. [...] In my brother's country gold is as plentiful as dust. May my
brother cause me no distress. May he send me much gold in order that my brother [with the
gold and m]any [good]s may honor me."[88]

While Akhenaten was certainly not a close friend of Tushratta, he was evidently concerned
at the expanding power of the Hittite Empire under its powerful ruler Suppiluliuma I. A
successful Hittite attack on Mitanni and its ruler Tushratta would have disrupted the entire
international balance of power in the Ancient Middle East at a time when Egypt had made
peace with Mitanni; this would cause some of Egypt's vassals to switch their allegiances to
the Hittites, as time would prove. A group of Egypt's allies who attempted to rebel against
the Hittites were captured, and wrote letters begging Akhenaten for troops, but he did not
respond to most of their pleas. Evidence suggests that the troubles on the northern frontier
led to difficulties in Canaan, particularly in a struggle for power
between Labaya of Shechem and Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem, which required the pharaoh to
intervene in the area by dispatching Medjay troops northwards. Akhenaten pointedly refused
to save his vassal Rib-Hadda of Byblos – whose kingdom was being besieged by the
expanding state of Amurru under Abdi-Ashirta and later Aziru, son of Abdi-Ashirta – despite
Rib-Hadda's numerous pleas for help from the pharaoh. Rib-Hadda wrote a total of 60 letters
to Akhenaten pleading for aid from the pharaoh. Akhenaten wearied of Rib-Hadda's constant
correspondences and once told Rib-Hadda: "You are the one that writes to me more than all
the (other) mayors" or Egyptian vassals in EA 124. [89] What Rib-Hadda did not comprehend
was that the Egyptian king would not organize and dispatch an entire army north just to
preserve the political status quo of several minor city states on the fringes of Egypt's Asiatic
Empire.[90] Rib-Hadda would pay the ultimate price; his exile from Byblos due to a coup led
by his brother Ilirabih is mentioned in one letter. When Rib-Hadda appealed in vain for aid
from Akhenaten and then turned to Aziru, his sworn enemy, to place him back on the throne
of his city, Aziru promptly had him dispatched to the king of Sidon, where Rib-Hadda was
almost certainly executed.[91]

Several Egyptologist in the late 19th and 20th centuries interpretated the Amarna letters to
mean that Akhenaten neglected foreign policy and Egypt's foreign territories in favor of his
internal reforms. For example, Henry Hall believed Akhenaten "succeeded by his obstinate
doctrinaire love of peace in causing far more misery in his world than half a dozen elderly
militarists could have done,"[92] while James Henry Breasted said Akhenaten "was not fit to
cope with a situation demanding an aggressive man of affairs and a skilled military
leader."[93] Others noted that the Amarna letters counter the conventional view that
Akhenaten neglected Egypt's foreign territories in favour of his internal reforms. For
example, Norman de Garis Davies praised Akhenaten's emphasis on diplomacy over war,
while James Baikie said that the fact "that there is no evidence of revolt within the borders of
Egypt itself during the whole reign is surely ample proof that there was no such
abandonment of his royal duties on the part of Akhenaten as has been assumed."[94]
[95]
 Indeed, several letters from Egyptian vassals notified the pharaoh that they have followed
his instructions, implying that the pharaoh sent such instructions:

To the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, the Sun from the sky: Message of Yapahu, the ruler
of Gazru, your servant, the dirt at your feet. I indeed prostrate myself at the feet of the king,
my lord, my god, my Sun, the Sun from the sky, 7 times and 7 times, on the stomach and on
the back. I am indeed guarding the place of the king, my lord, the Sun of the sky, where I
am, and all the things the king, my lord, has written me, I am indeed carrying out –
everything! Who am I, a dog, and what is my house, and what is my [...], and what is
anything I have, that the orders of the king, my lord, the Sun from the sky, should not obey
constantly?[96]

The Amarna letters also show that vassal states were told repeteadly to expect the arrival of
the Egyptian military on their lands, and provide evidence that these troops were dispatched
and arrived at their destination. Dozens of letters detail that Akhenaten – andd Amenhotep
III – sent Egyptian and Nubian troops, armies, archers, chariots, horses, and ships.[97]

Additionally, when Rib-Hadda was killed at the instigation of Aziru,[91] Akhenaten sent an

angry letter to Aziru containing a barely veiled accusation of outright treachery on the latter's
part.[98] Akhenaten wrote:

[Y]ou acted delinquently by taking [Rib-Hadda] whose brother had cast him away at the gate,
from his city. He was residing in Sidon and, following your own judgment, you gave him to
[some] mayors. Were you ignorant of the treacherousness of the men? If you really are the
king's servant, why did you not denounce him before the king, your lord, saying, "This mayor
has written to me saying, 'Take me to yourself and get me into my city'"? And if you did act
loyally, still all the things you wrote were not true. In fact, the king has reflected on them as
follows, "Everything you have said is not friendly."

Now the king has heard as follows, "You are at peace with the ruler of Qidsa (Kadesh). The
two of you take food and strong drink together." And it is true. Why do you act so? Why are
you at peace with a ruler whom the king is fighting? And even if you did act loyally, you
considered your own judgment, and his judgment did not count. You have paid no attention
to the things that you did earlier. What happened to you among them that you are not on the
side of the king, your lord? [...] [I]f you plot evil, treacherous things, then you, together with
your entire family, shall die by the axe of the king. So perform your service for the king, your
lord, and you will live. You yourself know that the king does not fail when he rages against all
of Canaan. And when you wrote saying, 'May the king, my Lord, give me leave this year, and
then I will go next year to the king, my Lord. If this is impossible, I will send my son in my
place' – the king, your lord, let you off this year in accordance with what you said. Come
yourself, or send your son [now], and you will see the king at whose sight all lands live.[99]

This letter shows that Akhenaten paid close attention to the affairs of his vassals in Canaan
and Syria. Akhenaten commanded Aziru to come to Egypt and proceeded to detain him
there for at least one year. In the end, Akhenaten was forced to release Aziru back to his
homeland when the Hittites advanced southwards into Amki, thereby threatening Egypt's
series of Asiatic vassal states, including Amurru.[100] Sometime after his return to Amurru,
Aziru defected to the Hittite side with his kingdom.[101] While it is known from an Amarna
letter by Rib-Hadda that the Hittites "seized all the countries that were vassals of the king of
Mitanni."[102] Akhenaten managed to preserve Egypt's control over the core of her Near
Eastern Empire (which consisted of present-day Israel as well as the Phoenician coast)
while avoiding conflict with the increasingly powerful Hittite Empire of Suppiluliuma I. Only
the Egyptian border province of Amurru in Syria around the Orontes river was permanently
lost to the Hittites when its ruler Aziru defected to the Hittites.

Only one military campaign is known for certain under Akhenaten's reign. In his second or
twelfth year,[103] Akhenaten ordered his Viceroy of Kush Tuthmose to lead a military
expedition to quell a rebellion and raids on settlements on the Nile by Nubian nomadic tribes.
The victory was commemorated on two stelae, one discovered at Amada and another
at Buhen. Egyptologists differ on the size of the campaign: Wolfgang Helck considered it a
small-scale police operation, while Alan Schulman considered it a "war of major
proportions."[104][105][106]

Other Egyptologists suggested that Akhenaten could have waged war in Syria or the Levant,
possibly against the Hittites. Cyril Aldred, based on Amarna letters describing Egyptian troop
movements, proposed that Akhenaten launched an unsuccessful war around the city
of Gezer, while Marc Gabolde argued for an unsuccessful campaign around Kadesh. Either
of these could be the campaign referred to on Tutankhamun's Restoriation Stela: "if an army
was sent to Djahy [southern Canaan and Syria] to broaden the boundaries of Egypt, no
success of their cause came to pass."[107][108][109] John Coleman Darnell and Colleen
Manassa also argued that Akhenaten fought with the Hittites for control of Kadesh, but was
unsuccessful; the city was not recaptured until 60–70 years later, under Seti I.[110]

Later years[edit]

In regnal year twelve, Akhenaten received tributes and offerings from allied countries and
vassal states at Akhetaten, as depicted in the tomb of Meryra II.

Egyptologists know little about the last five years of Akhenaten's reign, beginning
in c. 1341[3] or 1339 BC.[4][111] These years are poorly attested and only a few pieces of
contemporary evidence survive; the lack of clarity makes reconstructing the latter part of the
pharaoh's reign "a daunting task" and a controversial and contested topic of discussion
among Egyptologists.[112] Among the latest pieces of evidence is an inscription discovered in
2012. That year, it was announced that a Year 16 III Akhet day 15 inscription dated explicitly
to Akhenaten's reign which mentions, in the same breath, the presence of a living Queen
Nefertiti, was found in a limestone quarry at Deir el-Bersha just north of Amarna.[113][114] The
text refers to a building project in Amarna, and establishes that Akhenaten and Nefertiti were
still a royal couple just a year before Akhenaten's death.

Before the 2012 discovery of the Deir el-Bersha inscriptions, the last known fixed-date event
in Akhenaten's reign was a royal reception in regnal year twelve, in which the pharaoh and
the royal family received tributes and offerings from allied countries and vassal states
at Akhetaten. Insriptions shows tributes from Nubia, the Land of Punt, Syria, the Kingdom of
Hattusa, the islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and Libya. Egyptologists such as Aidan
Dodson consider this year twelve celebration to be the zenith of Akhenaten's reign.[115]

Historians are uncertain about the reasons for the year twelve reception. Possibilities include
the celebration of the marriage of future pharaoh Ay to Tey, celebration of Akhenaten's
twelve years on the throne, the summons of king Aziru of Amurru to Egypt, a military victory
at Sumur in the Levant, a successful military campaign in Nubia, [116] Nefertiti's ascendancy to
the throne as co-regent, or the completion of the new capital city Akhetaten. [117] However,
thanks to reliefs in the tomb of courtier Meryre II, historians know that the royal family,
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and their six daughters, were present at the royal reception in full.[115]

Following year twelve, Donald B. Redford proposed that Egypt was struck by an epidemic,
most likely a plague.[118] Contemporary evidence suggests that a plague ravaged through the
Middle East around this time,[119] and Egyptologists suggested that ambassadors and
delegations arriving to the pharaoh's year twelve reception might have brought the disease
to Egypt.[120] Alternatively, letters from the Hattians suggested that the epidemic originated in
Egypt and was carried throughout the Middle East by Egyptian prisoners of war.
[121]
 Regardless of its origin, the epidemic might account for several deaths in the royal family
that occurred in the last five years of Akhenaten's reigh, including those of his
daughters Meketaten, Neferneferure, and Setepenre.[122][123][124]

Whether Smenkhkare became co-regent perhaps two or three years earlier or enjoyed a
brief independent reign is unclear.[125] If Smenkhkare outlived Akhenaten, and became sole
pharaoh, he likely ruled Egypt for less than a year. The next successor was Neferneferuaten,
a female pharaoh who reigned in Egypt for two years and one month.[126] She was, in turn,
probably succeeded by Tutankhaten (later, Tutankhamun), with the country being
administered by the chief vizier, and future pharaoh, Ay. Tutankhamun was believed to be a
younger brother of Smenkhkare and a son of Akhenaten, and possibly Kiya although one
scholar has suggested that Tutankhamun may have been a son of Smenkhkare instead.
DNA tests in 2010 indicated Tutankhamun was indeed the son of Akhenaten.[127] It has been
suggested that after the death of Akhenaten, Nefertiti reigned with the name of
Neferneferuaten[128] but other scholars believe this female ruler was rather Meritaten. The so-
called Coregency Stela, found in a tomb in Amarna possibly shows his queen Nefertiti as his
coregent, ruling alongside him, but this is not certain as the names have been removed and
recarved to show Ankhesenpaaten and Neferneferuaten.[129]

Death, burial, and succession[edit]

Further information: Amarna succession

Akhenaten's sarcophagus reconstituted from pieces discovered in his original tomb
in Amarna, now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The desecrated royal coffin of Akhenaten found in Tomb KV55

Profile view of the skull of Akhenaten recovered from KV55

Akhenaten was initially buried in the Royal Tomb of Amarna, located in the Royal Wadi east
of Akhetaten. The order to construct the tomb and to bury the pharaoh there was
commemorated on the Boundary Stelae deliniating the his capital city's borders: "Let a tomb
be made for me in the eastern mountain [of Akhetaten]. Let my burial be made in it, in the
millions of jubilees which the Aten, my father, decreed for me." [130] His sarcophagus was
destroyed and remained in the Amarna necropolis; reconstructed, it is in the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo as of 2019.[131] After Tutankhamun abandoned Amarna and returned to
Thebes, Akhenaten's mummy was removed from the Amarna tombs and moved to
tomb KV55 in Valley of the Kings near Thebes.[132][133] This tomb was later desecreated, likely
during the Ramesside period.[134][135]

Egyptologists believe that Akhenaten was most likely succeeded by Smenkhkare, who might
have been Akhenaten's coregent for up to the last five years of Akhenaten's reign.[136]
[137]
 Smenkhkare's relationship with Akhenaten is uncertain; he could have been the son of
Akhenaten or his brother, as the son of Amenhotep III with Tiye or Sitamun.[138] Archeological
evidence makes it clear, however, that Smenkhkare was married to Meritaten, Akhenaten's
eldest daughter.[139]

Recent genetic tests have confirmed that the body found buried in tomb KV55 was the father
of Tutankhamun.[140] While the author of this paper conclude that he was therefore "most
probably" Akhenaten, a number of experts disagree with this assessment, citing the young
age at death as evidence.[21][141][142][143][144] The identity of the KV55 mummy continues to be
controversial.

Legacy[edit]

With Akhenaten's death, the Aten cult he had founded fell out of favor: at first gradually, and
then with decisive finality. Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun in Year 2 of his
reign (c. 1332 BC) and abandoned the city of Akhetaten.[145] Their successors then attempted
to erase Akhenaten and his family from the historical record. During the reign of Horemheb,
the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the first pharaoh after Akhenaten who was
not related to Akhenaten's family, Egyptians started to destroy temples to the Aten and
reuse the building blocks in new construction projects, including in temples for the newly
restored god Amun. Horemheb's successor continued in this effort. Seti I restored
monuments to Amun and had the god's name re-carved on inscriptions where it was
removed by Akhenaten. Seti I also ordered that Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Neferneferuaten,
Tutankhamun, and Ay be excised from official lists of pharaohs to make it appear that
Amenhotep III was immediately succeeded by Horemheb. Under the Ramessides, who
succeeded Seti I, Akhetaten was gradually destroyed and the building material reused
across the country, such as in constructions at Hermopolis. The negative attitudes toward
Akhenaten were illustrated by, for example, inscriptions in the tomb of scribe Mose (or Mes),
where Akhenaten's reign is referred to as "the time of the enemy of Akhet-Aten."[146][147][148]

Some Egyptologists, such as Jacobus van Dijk and Jan Assmann, believe that Akhenaten's
reign and the Amarna period started a gradual decline in the Egyptian government's power
and the pharaoh's standing in Egyptian's society and religious life. [149][150] Akhenaten's
religious reforms subverted the relationship ordinary Egyptians had with their gods and their
pharaoh, as well as the role the pharaoh played in the relationship between the people and
the gods. Before the Amarna period, the pharaoh was the representative of the gods on
Earth, the son of the god Ra, and the living incarnation of the god Horus, and maintained
the divine order through rituals and offerings and by sustaining the temples of the gods.
[151]
 Additionally, even though the pharaoh oversaw all religious activity, Egyptians could
access their gods through regular public holidays, festivals, and processions. This led to a
seemingly close connection between people and the gods, especially the patron deity of
their respective towns and cities.[152] Akhenaten, however, banned the worship of gods
beside the Aten, including through festivals. He also declared himself to be the only one who
could worship the Aten, and required that all religious devotion previously exhibited toward
the gods be directed toward himself. After the Amarna period, during
the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties – c. 270 years following Akhenaten's death – the
relationship between the people, the pharaoh, and the gods did not simply revert to pre-
Amarna practices and beliefs. The worship of all gods returned, but the relationship between
the gods and the worshipers became more direct and personal, [153] circumventing the
pharaoh. Rather than acting through the pharaoh, Egyptians started to believe that the gods
intervened directly in their lives, protecting the pious and punishing criminals. [154] The gods
replaced the pharaoh as their own representatives on Earth. The god Amun once again
became king among all gods.[155] According to van Dijk, "the king was no longer a god, but
god himself had become king. Once Amun had been recognized as the true king, the
political power of the earthly rulers could be reduced to a minimum."[156] Consequently, the
influence and power of the Amun priesthood continued to grow until the Twenty-first
Dynasty, c. 1077 BC, by which time the High Priests of Amun effectively became rulers over
parts of Egypt.[157][150][158]

Atenism[edit]

Further information: Atenism and Aten

Relief fragment showing a royal head, probably Akhenaten, and early Aten cartouches. Aten
extends Ankh (sign of life) to the figure. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Solar worship had been growing in popularity even before Akhenaten, especially during
the Eighteenth Dynasty and the reign of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten's father. During the New
Kingdom, the pharaoh started to be associated with the sun disc; for example, one
inscriptions called the pharaoh Hatshepsut the "female Re shining like the Disc," while
Amenhotep III was described as "he who rises over every foreign land, Nebmare, the
dazzling disc."[159] During the Eighteenth Dynasty, a religious hymn to the sun also appeared
and became popular among Egyptians.[160] However, Egyptologists have questioned whether
there is a causal relationship between the cult of the sun disc before Akhenaten and
Akhenaten's religious policies.[160]

Implementation and development[edit]

The implementation of Atenism can be traced through gradual changes in the

Aten's iconography, and Egyptologist Donald B. Redford divided its development into three
stages, earliest, intermediate, and final, in his studies of Akhenaten and Atenism. The
earliest stage was associated with a growing number of depictions of the sun disc, though
the disc is still seen resting on the head of the god Ra-Horakhty. The intermediate stage was
marked by the elevation of the Aten above other gods and the appearance
of cartouches around his name in inscriptions—cartouches traditionally indicating that the
enclosed text is a royal name. The final stage had the Aten represented as a sun disc with
sunrays terminating in human hands and the introduction of a new epithet for the god: "the
great living Disc which is in jubilee, lord of heaven and earth."[161]

In the early years of his reign, Amenhotep IV lived at Thebes with Nefertiti and his six
daughters. Initially, he permitted worship of Egypt's traditional deities to continue but near
the Temple of Karnak (Amun-Ra's great cult center), he erected several massive buildings
including temples to the Aten. Aten was usually depicted as a sun disk with rays extending
with long arms and tiny human hands at each end.[162] These buildings at Thebes were later
dismantled by his successors and used as infill for new constructions in the Temple of
Karnak; when they were later dismantled by archaeologists, some 36,000 decorated blocks
from the original Aton building here were revealed which preserve many elements of the
original relief scenes and inscriptions.[163]
One of the most important turning points in the early reign of Amenhotep IV is a speech
given by the pharaoh at the beginning of his second regnal year. A copy of the speech
survives on one of the pylons at the Karnak Temple Complex near Thebes. Speaking to the
royal court, scribes or the people, Amenhotep IV said that the gods were ineffective and had
ceased their movements, and that their temples had collapsed. The pharaoh contrasted this
with the only remaining god, the sun disc Aten, who continued to move and exist forever.
Some Egyptologists, such as Donald B. Redford, compared this speech to a proclamation or
manifesto, which foreshadowed and explained the pharaoh's later religious reforms centered
around the Aten.[164][165][166] In his speech, Akhenaten said:

The temples of the gods fallen to ruin, their bodies do not endure. Since the time of the
ancestors, it is the wise man that knows these things. Behold, I, the king, am speaking so
that I might inform you concerning the appearances of the gods. I know their temples, and I
am versed in the writings, specficially, the inventory of their primeval bodies. And I have
watched as they [the gods] have ceased their appearances, one after the other. All of them
have stopped, except the god who gave birth to himself. And no one knows the mystery of
how he performs his tasks. This god goes where he pleases and no one else knows his
going. I approach him, the things which he has made. How exalted they are.[167]

Akhenaten depicted as a sphinx at Amarna.

In Year five of his reign, Amenhotep IV took decisive steps to establish the Aten as the sole
god of Egypt: the pharaoh "disbanded the priesthoods of all the other gods...and diverted the
income from these [other] cults to support the Aten". To emphasize his complete allegiance
to the Aten, the king officially changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten or 'Living
Spirit of Aten.'[163] Akhenaten's fifth year also marked the beginning of construction on his
new capital, Akhetaten or 'Horizon of Aten', at the site known today as Amarna. Very soon
afterwards, he centralized Egyptian religious practices in Akhetaten, though construction of
the city seems to have continued for several more years. In honor of Aten, Akhenaten also
oversaw the construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt.
In these new temples, Aten was worshipped in the open sunlight rather than in dark temple
enclosures as had been the previous custom. Akhenaten is also believed to have composed
the Great Hymn to the Aten.

Inscribed limestone fragment showing early Aten cartouches, "the Living Ra Horakhty".
Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology,
London

Fragment of a stela, showing parts of 3 late cartouches of Aten. There is a rare intermediate
form of god's name. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of
Egyptian Archaeology, London
Initially, Akhenaten presented Aten as a variant of the familiar supreme deity Amun-Re (itself
the result of an earlier rise to prominence of the cult of Amun, resulting in Amun's becoming
merged with the sun god Ra), in an attempt to put his ideas in a familiar Egyptian religious
context. However, by Year nice of his reign, Akhenaten declared that Aten was not merely
the supreme god, but the only worshipable god, and that he, Akhenaten, was the only
intermediary between Aten and his people. He ordered the defacing of Amun's temples
throughout Egypt and, in a number of instances, inscriptions of the plural 'gods' were also
removed.[168][169] This emphasized the changes encouraged by the new regime, which
included a ban on images, with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays
(commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten, who by
then was evidently considered not merely a sun god, but rather a universal deity.
Representations of the Aten were always accompanied with a sort of hieroglyphic footnote,
stating that the representation of the sun as all-encompassing creator was to be taken as
just that: a representation of something that, by its very nature as something transcending
creation, cannot be fully or adequately represented by any one part of that creation.[170]

Siliceous limestone fragment of a statue. There are late Aten cartouches on the draped right
shoulder. Reign of Akhenaten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian
Archaeology, London

Aten's name was also written differently starting around regnal year nine – or as early as
year eight or as late as year fourteen, according to some historians.[171] From "Living Re-
Horakhty, who rejoices in the horizon in his name Shu-Re who is in Aten," the god's name
became "Living Re, ruler of the horizon, who rejoices in his name of Re the father who has
returned as Aten," removing the Aten's connection to Shu and Re-Horakhty, two other gods.
[172]

Talatat blocks from Akhenaten's Aten temple in Karnak

Atenism and other gods[edit]

Some debate has focused on the extent to which Akhenaten forced his religious reforms on
his people.[173] 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.
[174]
 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 Thutmose ("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.[175]

Archaeological discoveries at Akhetaten show that many ordinary residents of this city chose
to gouge or chisel out all references to the god Amun on even minor personal items that they
owned, such as commemorative scarabs or make-up pots, perhaps for fear of being
accused of having Amunist sympathies. References to Amenhotep III, Akhenaten's father,
were partly erased since they contained the traditional Amun form of his name: Nebmaatre
Amunhotep.[176]

Following Akhenaten's death[edit]

As the Egytologist Nicholas Reeves wrote:

Such displays of frightening self-censorship and toadying loyalty are ominous indicators of
the paranoia which was beginning to grip the country. Not only were the streets [of
Akhetaten] filled with the pharaoh's soldiers; it seems the population now had to contend
with the danger of malicious informers.[176]

In the end, Akhenaten's revolution collapsed from within after his death since the massive
costs of founding a new capital city at El-Amarna and the closing of the Amun temples
choked off the growth of the Egyptian economy. A notable result of Akhenaten's
centralisation tendencies was the appearance of large-scale corruption among the king's
state officials who held unprecedented control over all the wealth and produce of Egypt. This
was a tendency that the last Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Horemheb was compelled to deal
with by threatening to cut off the nose of any officials who were found to be involved in state
corruption or abuses in a major stela erected near the 10th pylon of Karnak.[177] Nicolas
Grimal stated that Akhenaten's closure or limitations on the activities of non-Aten temples
and his confiscation of priestly goods for the benefit of the state directly led:

to an increase in centralization of both the administration and its executive arm, the army.
The neglect of local government increased the problems of maintaining an effective
administration and introduced a whole new [state] system characterized by corruption and
arbitrariness... The construction of the new capital [at Akhetaten] and new temples was to
the detriment of the economy in general and the temple-based economy in particular: the
system of divine estates was, from a centralizing viewpoint, harmful, but its abandonment in
the Amarna period led to the ruination of a whole [economic] system of production and
distribution without providing any new structure to replace it.[178]

Artistic depictions[edit]

Further information: Amarna art

The Wilbour Plaque, c. 1352–1336 BC, Brooklyn Museum This relief depicts Akhenaten and
Nefertiti late in their reign.

Styles of art that flourished during the reigns of Akhenaten and his immediate successors
are markedly different from the traditional art of ancient Egypt. In many cases,
representations are more realistic or naturalistic,[179] especially in depictions of animals and
plants, and convey more action and movement for both non-royal and royal individuals than
the traditionally static representations.[180][181][182]

The portrayals of Akhenaten himself greatly differ from the depictions of other pharaohs.
Traditionally, the portrayal of pharaohs – and the Egyptian ruling class – was idealized, and
they were shown in "stereotypically 'beautiful' fashion" as youthful and athletic. [183] However,
Akhenaten's portrayals are unconventional and "unflattering" with a sagging stomach; broad
hips; thin legs; thick thighs; large, "almost feminine breasts;" a thin, "exaggeratedly long
face;" and thick lips.[184]

Based on Akhenaten's and his family's unusual artistic representations, including potential
depictions of gynecomastia and androgyny, some have argued that the pharaoh and his
family have either suffered from aromatase excess syndrome and sagittal craniosynostosis
syndrome, or Antley–Bixler syndrome.[185] In 2010, results published from genetic studies on
Akhenaten's purported mummy did not find signs of gynecomastia or Antley-Bixler
syndrome,[18] although these results have since been questioned.[186]

Arguing instead for a symbolic interpretation, Dominic Montserrat in Akhenaten: History,

Fantasy and Ancient Egypt states that "there is now a broad consensus among
Egyptologists that the exaggerated forms of Akhenaten's physical portrayal... are not to be
read literally".[187][176] Because the god Aten was referred to as "the mother and father of all
humankind," Montserrat and others suggest that Akhenaten was made to
look androgynous in artwork as a symbol of the androgyny of the god. This required "a
symbolic gathering of all the attributes of the creator god into the physical body of the king
himself", which will "display on earth the Aten's multiple life-giving functions". [187] Akhenaten
claimed the title "The Unique One of Re", and he may have directed his artists to contrast
him with the common people through a radical departure from the idealized traditional
pharaoh image.[187]

Depictions of other members of the court, especially members of the royal family, are also
extremely stylized and exaggerated.[180] Significantly, and for the only time in the history of
Egyptian royal art, Akhenaten's family are shown taking part in decidedly naturalistic
activities, showing affection for each other, and being caught in mid-action; [188][189] in
traditional art, a pharaoh's divine nature was expressed by repose, even immobility.[190]
Small statue of Akhenaten wearing the Egyptian Blue Crown of War

Nefertiti also appears, both beside the king and alone, or with her daughters, in actions
usually reserved for a pharaoh, such as "smiting the enemy," a traditional depiction of male
pharaohs.[191] This suggests that she enjoyed unusual status for a queen. Early artistic
representations of her tend to be indistinguishable from her husband's except by her regalia,
but soon after the move to the new capital, Nefertiti begins to be depicted with features
specific to her. Questions remain whether the beauty of Nefertiti is portraiture or idealism.[192]

Speculative theories[edit]

Sculptor's trial piece of Akhenaten.

Akhenaten's status as a religious revolutionary has led to much speculation, ranging from

scholarly hypotheses to non-academic fringe theories. Although some believe the religion he
introduced was mostly monotheistic, many others see Akhenaten as a practitioner of an
Aten monolatry,[193] as he did not actively deny the existence of other gods; he simply
refrained from worshiping any but the Aten while expecting the people to worship not Aten
but him.

Akhenaten and monotheism in Abrahamic religions[edit]

The idea that Akhenaten was the pioneer of a monotheistic religion that later
became Judaism has been considered by various scholars.[194][195][196][197][198] One of the first to
mention this was Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in his book Moses and
Monotheism.[194] Basing his arguments on his belief that the Exodus story was historical,
Freud argued that Moses had been an Atenist priest who was forced to leave Egypt with his
followers after Akhenaten's death. Freud argued that Akhenaten was striving to promote
monotheism, something which the biblical Moses was able to achieve.[194] Following the
publication of his book, the concept entered popular consciousness and serious research.[199]
[200]

Freud commented on the connection between Adonai, the Egyptian Aten and the Syrian
divine name of Adonis as the primeval unity of languages between the factions;[194] in this he
was following the argument of Egyptologist Arthur Weigall. Jan Assmann's opinion is that
'Aten' and 'Adonai' are not linguistically related.[201]

It is widely accepted that there are strong stylistic similarities between Akhenaten's Great
Hymn to the Aten and the Biblical Psalm 104, though this form of writing was widespread in
ancient Near Eastern hymnology both before and after the period.

Others have likened some aspects of Akhenaten's relationship with the Aten to the
relationship, in Christian tradition, between Jesus Christ and God, particularly interpretations
that emphasize a more monotheistic interpretation of Atenism than a henotheistic
one. Donald B. Redford has noted that some have viewed Akhenaten as a harbinger of
Jesus. "After all, Akhenaten did call himself the son of the sole god: 'Thine only son that
came forth from thy body'."[202] James Henry Breasted likened him to Jesus,[203] Arthur
Weigall saw him as a failed precursor of Christ and Thomas Mann saw him "as right on the
way and yet not the right one for the way".[204]

Redford argued that while Akhenaten called himself the son of the Sun-Disc and acted as
the chief mediator between god and creation, kings had claimed the same relationship and
priestly role for thousands of years before Akhenaten's time. However Akhenaten's case
may be different through the emphasis which he placed on the heavenly father and son
relationship. Akhenaten described himself as being "thy son who came forth from thy limbs",
"thy child", "the eternal son that came forth from the Sun-Disc", and "thine only son that
came forth from thy body". The close relationship between father and son is such that only
the king truly knows the heart of "his father", and in return his father listens to his son's
prayers. He is his father's image on earth, and as Akhenaten is king on earth, his father is
king in heaven. As high priest, prophet, king and divine he claimed the central position in the
new religious system. Because only he knew his father's mind and will, Akhenaten alone
could interpret that will for all mankind with true teaching coming only from him.[202]

Redford concluded:

Before much of the archaeological evidence from Thebes and from Tell el-Amarna became
available, wishful thinking sometimes turned Akhenaten into a humane teacher of the true
God, a mentor of Moses, a christlike figure, a philosopher before his time. But these
imaginary creatures are now fading away as the historical reality gradually emerges. There
is little or no evidence to support the notion that Akhenaten was a progenitor of the full-blown
monotheism that we find in the Bible. The monotheism of the Hebrew Bible and the New
Testament had its own separate development – one that began more than half a millennium
after the pharaoh's death.[205]

Possible illness[edit]
Hieratic inscription on a pottery fragment. It records year 17 of Akhenaten's reign and
reference to wine of the house of Aten. From Amarna, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of
Egyptian Archaeology, London

Limestone trial piece of a king, probably Akhenaten, and a smaller head of uncertain gender.
From Amarna, Egypt. 18th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

The unconventional portrayals of Akhenaten – different from the traditional athletic norm in
the portrayal of pharaohs – have led Egyptologists in the 19th and 20th centuries to suppose
that Akhenaten suffered some kind of genetic abnormality. [184] Various illnesses have been
put forward, with Frölich's syndrome or Marfan syndrome being mentioned most commonly.
[206]

Cyril Aldred,[207] following up earlier arguments of Grafton Elliot Smith[208] and James

Strachey,[209] suggested that Akhenaten may have suffered from Frölich's syndrome on the
basis of his long jaw and his feminine appearance. However, this is unlikely, because this
disorder results in sterility and Akhenaten is known to have fathered numerous children. His
children are repeatedly portrayed through years of archaeological and iconographic
evidence.[210]

Burridge[211] suggested that Akhenaten may have suffered from Marfan syndrome, which,

unlike Frölich's, does not result in mental impairment or sterility. Marfan sufferers tend
towards tallness, with a long, thin face, elongated skull, overgrown ribs, a funnel or pigeon
chest, a high curved or slightly cleft palate, and larger pelvis, with enlarged thighs and
spindly calves, symptoms that appear in some depictions of Akhenaten.[212] Marfan
syndrome is a dominant characteristic, which means sufferers have a 50% chance of
passing it on to their children.[213] However, DNA tests on Tutankhamun in 2010 proved
negative for Marfan syndrome.[38]

By the early 21st century, most Egyptologists argued that Akhenaten's portrayals are not the
results of a genetic or medical condition, but rather should be interpreted through the lens of
Atenism.[176][187] Akhenaten was made to look androgynous in artwork as a symbol of the
androgyny of the Aten.[187]

In the arts[edit]

External video
  House Altar with
Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Three
Daughters (Amarna
Period) (5:03), Smarthistory[214]

 The Lost Pharaoh: The

Search for
Akhenaten (56:35), National
Film Board of Canada[215]

The life of Akhenaten has inspired many fictional representations.

On page, Thomas Mann made Akhenaten the "dreaming pharaoh" of Joseph's story in the

fictional biblical tetraology Joseph and His Brothers from 1933–1943. Akhenaten appears
in Mika Waltari's The Egyptian, first published in Finnish (Sinuhe egyptiläinen) in 1945,
translated by Naomi Walford; David Stacton's On a Balcony from 1958; Gwendolyn
MacEwen's King of Egypt, King of Dreams from 1971; Allen Drury's A God Against the
Gods from 1976 and Return to Thebes from 1976; Naguib Mahfouz's Akhenaten, Dweller in
Truth from 1985; Andree Chedid's Akhenaten and Nefertiti's Dream; and Moyra
Caldecott's Akhenaten: Son of the Sun from 1989. Additionally, Pauline Gedge's 1984
novel The Twelfth Transforming is set in the reign of Akhenaten, details the construction of
Akhetaten and includes accounts of his sexual relationships with Nefertiti, Tiye and
successor Smenkhkare. Akhenaten inspired the poetry collection Akhenaten by Dorothy
Porter. And in comic books, Akhenaten is the major antagonist in the 2008 comic book
series (reprinted as a graphic novel) "Marvel: The End" by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom. In this
series, pharaoh gains unlimited power and, though his stated intentions are benevolent, is
opposed by Thanos and essentially all of the other superheroes and supervillains in the
Marvel comic book universe. Finally, Akhenaten provides much of the background in the
comic book adventure story Blake et Mortimer: Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide vol.
1+2 by Edgar P. Jacobs from 1950.

On stage, the 1937 play Akhnaton by Agatha Christie explores the lives of Akhenaten,

Nefertiti, and Tutankhaten.[216] He was portrayed in the Greek play Pharaoh
Akhenaton (Greek: Φαραώ Αχενατόν) by Angelos Prokopiou.[217] The pharaoh also inspired
the 1983 opera Akhnaten by Philip Glass.

In film, Akhenaten is played by Michael Wilding in The Egyptian from 1954 and Amedeo

Nazzari in Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile from 1961. In the 2007 animated film La Reine
Soleil, Akhenaten, Tutankhaten, Akhesa (Ankhesenepaten, later Ankhesenamun), Nefertiti,
and Horemheb are depicted in a complex struggle pitting the priests of Amun against
Atenism. Akhenaten also appears in several documentaries, including The Lost Pharaoh:
The Search for Akhenaten, a 1980 National Film Board of Canada documentary based on
Donald Redford's excavation of one Akhenaten's temples,[215] and episodes of Ancient
Aliens, which propose that Akhenaten may have been an extraterrestrial.[218]}

In video games, for example, Akhenaten is the enemy in the Assassin's Creed Origins "The
Curse of the Pharaohs" DLC, and must be defeated to remove his curse on Thebes.[219] His
afterlife takes the form of 'Aten', a location which draws heavily on the architecture of the city
of Amarna. Additionally, a version of Akhenaten (incorporating elements of H.P.
Lovecraft's Black Pharaoh) is the driving antagonist behind the Egypt chapters of The Secret
World, where the player must stop a modern-day incarnation of the Atenist cult from
unleashing the now-undead pharaoh and the influence of Aten (which is portrayed as a real
and extremely powerful malevolent supernatural entity with the ability to strip followers of
their free will) upon the world. He is explicitly stated to be the Pharaoh who
opposed Moses in the Book of Exodus, diverging from the traditional Exodus narrative in that
he retaliates against Moses's 10 Plagues with 10 plagues of his own before being sealed
away by the combined forces of both Moses and Ptahmose, the High Priest of Amun. He is
also shown to have been an anachronistic alliance with the Roman cult of Sol Invictus, who
are strongly implied to be worshiping Aten under a different name.

In music, Akhenaten is the subject of several compositions, including the jazz

album Akhenaten Suite by Roy Campbell, Jr.,[220] the symphony Akhenaten (Eidetic
Images) by Gene Gutchë, the progressive metal song Cursing Akhenaten by After the Burial,
and the technical death metal song Cast Down the Heretic by Nile.