Akhenaten, previously known as Amenhotep IV, was one of the most controversial Pharaohs to rule Egypt. As pharaoh, Akhenaten changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to a monotheistic religion devoted to the Aten, which was depicted as a sun disk. The Egyptians despised this radical idea, but were forced to change their religion, art and their overall way of life. His reign began at around 1353 BC in the 18th Dynasty, following the death of his father Amenhotep III, and lasted until 1336 BC. His father’s reign was peaceful and prosperous, leaving Akhenaten with an Egypt of immense power and wealth.
This is where the idea was planted for Akhenaten that Aten was “above all other gods” (Tim Maynor, 2011) and believes that Aten is everywhere and visible to everyone. That he is a god of everyday life. Ultimately Amenhotep III created himself as the God and tipped the power away from the priests of Amun, and thus, the Priests of the Old God were unhappy as they had lost their significant power and believed that Aten was eclipsing their power. When Akhenaten became king after his fathers death, he believed that if a pharaoh was God, then he should have no competition, and therefore, Akhenaten, to modern historians “[undid] 1500 years of tradition and rattle[d] Egypt to its foundation” (Tim Maynor, 2011). At first, Akhenaten escalated the conflict with the priests that his father had started.
Akhenanten IV was the son of Amenhotep III and his queen Tiye. Akhenaten came to power in the 1353 BCE and reign in the eighteenth dynasty. Akhenaten was crowned Amenhotep IV and was left behind with a prosperous land. Akhenaten ruled Egypt in a way it had never been ruled before. He transformed centuries of polytheism into monotheism, relocated the capital of Egypt, and “created” a new style of art.
The author deduces that it would be easy for Hebrews to arrive at the conclusion of worshipping in only one god. On the other hand, the author
There were a few religious changed put in place by Amenhotep III during his reign, a few being quite stark in contrast with what we know about many Pharaohs before and after. Amenhotep III really built himself up higher than any other Pharaoh, doing what could be considered extremely controversial. He built up himself to be a real god in the eyes of the people, oversaw an intense increase of monuments and temples built in Egypt. The 18th dynasty of Amenhotep’s reign would show many religious changes that are actually quite surprising, such as identifying with the gods more than his own royal blood line. Pharaoh Amenhotep really took to the idea that he was a god among mortals.
Akhenaten was a devoted man that put all of his faith in the god Aten, who was the god of the sun disk. The pharaoh was originally known as Amenhotep the fourth but changed his name to Akhenaten, which meant “He who serves Aten.” Akhenaten was a strong believer in his god that having another gods name in his name was unacceptable to him. After the pharaoh fully devoted himself to his god, he tried to bring other people in worshipping Aten by developing a temple at Thebes. Although, people’s faith in their gods was much stronger and they refused to worship Aten, Akhenaten did not give up.
For centuries civilization has evolved and spread across the globe, causing for many cultures, traditions, and especially religions to develop. Even in ancient societies such as Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, religion was one of, if not, the most important aspect of an individual 's life. The religions found in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt would shape how relationships within society functioned, including how communities related themselves to the divine and the role of leaders and priests. Furthermore, these religions would also affect how each of these societies thought about justice and even influenced attitudes toward the afterlife.
Ancient Egypt was ruled by a person called a Pharaoh. These Pharaohs were like kings and emperors. The Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader of the people. They were about 170 pharaohs and they ruled from 3150BCE to about 31BCE. Out of 170 pharaohs, they were a few of them who stand out because of their accomplishment.
The Egyptian hierarchy was like the pyramids that they built. At the very top was the pharaoh and their gods. Under the pharaoh and the other gods, there was a chief minister call a ‘vizier’ that watched over tax collection, and monitored the government records that were kept by the scribes.
The ancient Egyptians believed that people and nature are ruled by powerful gods. As Taylor says in his book “Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt”, the Egyptians believed that the universe consisted of three types of beings: the gods, the living, and the dead. Egyptians connected everything happening in their life in terms of relationship between
Akhenaten is regarded as one of the most unusual and the least known pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. One of the main reasons that Akhenaten is regarded as the most unusual was his introduction of monotheism and the god Aten. Scholars, historians, archaeologists, and most of the general public doesn't know a whole lot about Akhenaten because most references of his rule were destroyed at the end of his reign. However there is at least enough information regarding his rule that we are able to decipher some of his accomplishments and his twist of religion. Akhenaten, born Amenhotep IV, was a pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for seventeen years and died some where between 1336 BC or 1334 BC.
The complicated agreement is that of religious syncretism, which is the idea of blending two or more cultures together. In this case it was Upper and Lower Egypt unifying their own beliefs into one. In the city of Heliopolis there were three main gods that were idolized. The three forms of spirits were Atum who was considered to be the first god, having created himself, sitting on a mound or identified with the mound itself. Next was Ra who merged with the god Horus and renamed Ra-Horakhty.
There Gods were powerful, forceful & mystical. 1. Amun Ra Amun Ra was the most powerful God over entire Egypt (Link 1). Egyptian considers him as the King of Gods & God of Kings. He is the oldest & most worshipped God over entire Egypt.
One of the biggest changes Akhenaten made was shifting the primary worship away from the god Amun, and focused on the god of the sun, Aten. His father also ordered the images of other Egyptian gods be destroyed, which upset many Egyptians. After giving the order to destroy all images, Akhenaten also had the temples of the different gods destroyed or closed. Although the Egyptian people were probably happy to hear of Akhenaten’s death, his young son was not ready to ascend to the throne (“King Tut”
Theism in the simplest of terms means the belief in at least one god. Whether it be believing in the one true God or believing in a lot of different gods, there is at least one god that is believed in. There are many different branches of theism. There's deism, pantheism, and agnostic theism. There is even atheism which is actually the lack of belief in a god.
