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How Did Egypt Change

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How Did Egypt Change
Sarah Barnard
HIST1108
Professor Murphy
October 2014 CREATIVE TITLE

Life was going decently well in Egypt under the rule of Amenhotep III, however not all good things last forever, and when he passed away, his oldest living son, Amenhotep IV, took the throne. His subjects were not prepared for what was to occur in the coming years under the new ruler. The beginning of Amenhotep IV’s reign didn’t hold too many changes but as the years progressed, one by one, transformations to the Egyptian way of life (religion especially) began to take place. These changes that were initiated were not only in religion, but in art, writing, politics, architecture, and all were based on his new philosophy.
Egypt had always been known for worshipping many deities, and not just
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Akhenaten was to transform Egypt from being a polytheistic society, to a monotheistic society in a few short years. Everyone was to worship his god, and anybody who said or thought otherwise would not be tolerated by the new ruling system. As much as people seemed to dislike their leader, what he did actually makes sense for what he was trying to accomplish, however, the way he went about it wasn’t the best. Polytheism doesn’t have a focus on one particular god or religion, and each has its own followers. The monotheistic concept meant that everyone would be worshipping the same deity, which would allow for unification of the citizens, and for the power to no longer be separated. Akhenaten wanted to choose the god that everyone worshipped because he wanted to have that kind of power. He wanted to show that he had the authority to bring Egypt together under one god and one god only, and have everyone give all their effort, money and time towards the god that he believed in and was passionate

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