Preview

The Rise And Fall Of Akhenaten's Ruling Egypt

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
324 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Rise And Fall Of Akhenaten's Ruling Egypt
Akhenaten, while only ruling Egypt for 14 years, brought uncertainty and instability that lasted past his time. Known as the “Heretic Pharaoh”, Akhenaten introduced a new religious system centered on the sun god Aten. At first, Aten was presented as a variant to the god of mystery and secrets, Amun-Re, (who interestingly enough was a merger between the gods Amun and Ra), but this would change later in Akhenaten’s rule. Originally, Akhenaten was fairly tolerant of people worshipping the other gods of the previous Egyptian religious system, but in year 9 of his reign, he decided to end that. Akhenaten declared himself the sole intermediary between the people and Aten. People became so scared of Akhenaten that they destroyed all references to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    For centuries, the god Amun served as the pre-eminent god in New Kingdom Egypt, and his priests enjoyed privileges and power. However, Akhenaten revolutionised religious life with his adoption of the cult of Aten and the introduction of monotheism to Egypt. Along with this religious change came many others, Akhenaten changed Egypt’s foreign policy, art and architecture.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The cult of Amun God of the air, the sun, and sky, was followed by Egyptians during the beginning Amenhotep’s reign. Worshiping more than one God is referred to as polytheism. After the first few years of ruling, Amenhotep shifted his beliefs to a monotheistic religion, worshiping one god in the cult of Aten, as opposed to the worshiping of multiple gods as Egypt was accustomed. This belief changed Egyptian culture during the reign of Akhenaten. “Amenhotep IV outlawed the old religion and proclaimed himself the living incarnation of a single, all-powerful, deity known as Aten” (Ancient History Encyclopedia). Akhenaten as a ruler used forced conversion by outlawing past beliefs. The cult of Aten was the belief that “Aten was a being who represented the God or spirit of the sun, and the actual solar disk. He was depicted as a disk with rays reaching to the earth” (Ancient Egypt: The mythology). It was then that Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, “translated to mean `successful for' or `of great use to' the god Aten”. (Ancient History Encyclopedia). This belief can be closely related Jesus in Christianity, where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead three days later, just as Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, both symbolize the rebirth of the Son of…

    • 1873 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    With these newfound religious ideas came new beginnings. Again throwing away Egyptian traditions he decided to build a completely different capitol city and abandon Thebes. This idea began the construction of Amarna or horizon of the sun which was built in a desolate land about 200 miles north of Thebes. Akhenaten’s justification for doing so was to escape the influences of the high priests. In the capitol he built the temple of Aten, a very open space that was built to embrace and spread the rays of Aten. In this new settlement he again defies ancient traditions and marries a commoner, Nefertiti. Together they ruled almost equally. Within his regime to further embrace Aten he created the hymn of Aten which praises the sun as the creator of the natural world. This hymn had an overall general message which is life comes from the sun god and is distributed equally. Suddenly, Nefertiti vanished out of existence and historians today still don’t know what became of her. Along with this his mother died as well as one of his daughters sending him into a downward spiral of persecution. Akhenaten went so far as to blame all the gods besides Aten for his…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another, yet subsidiary, argument the author makes relates to Ancient Egypt’s new Pharaoh in 1370 B.C. Pharaoh Akhenaton discarded tradition and religion in favor of new ideas. “He had no time for the Egyptian religion, with its many gods and its mysterious rituals. ‘There is only one God,’ he taught his people, ‘and that is the Sun, through whose rays all is created and all sustained. To Him alone you must pray’ (Gombrich 15).” As you can see, the Pharaoh created a new belief amongst the people, by stating that there is only one god that exists, which is the Sun. Akhenaton says the Sun’s rays is what created everything on Earth and sustains it even now. The new Pharaoh also changed the style of architecture from a “severe, rigid, and solemn”…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One may know who king Akhenaten was, he was King Tut’s father. King Akhenaten also wasn’t very popular and still isn’t too popular today. The reason King Akhenaten wasn’t remembered throughout history, was because when he was Pharaoh he only believed in one god! And the villagers despised him for believing this. They thought that the gods would be displeased and punish the village people. Though no one would dare try to kick him out of his place as king for his horrible act! If they even tried to do anything to displease him, the gods would become even more angry. Also in honor of…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the course of human civilization many empires have risen and fallen, however the empires of Sargon the Great, the Assyrian’s, and the Persian’s have left their legacy due to their innovativeness and creativity. For example, Sargon the Great created the notion of appointing governors in conquered territories. Also the Persian’s adopted one single language (Aramaic) to help innovate their road systems, postal services, and trades. These are just some of the many tools these empires used to grow in size and conquer vast lands.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Akhenaton’s reign lasted from 1353 BC-1336 BC or 1351 BC–1334 BC (the dates are subject to debate). After 4 years of his reign he built a new capital of Egypt (Amarna) and dedicated the city to the supreme deity Aten. Akhenaton attempted to change the religion in Egypt and attempted to unite all of the traditional gods and goddesses of Egypt into one supreme deity (History records were careful not to mention Aten as a god but compared him to the sun and the stars to make him more important than a normal god.) Aten was the deity Akhenaton tried to convert everyone to. At the time many nobles changed their names to names related to Aten instead of names based on the traditional Egyptian gods. Akhenaton means: the effective spirit of Aten. His son Tutankhaten’s name means living…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hammurabi Dbq

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Why would a pharaoh, already acknowledged as divine, attempt a religious revolution? Why did he fail? In the passage of “Hymn to the Aten” monotheism is expressed as one sun and God. It talks of how the sun gives life and light. It expresses God as the sun which gives live during the day and in the sunset we die. I do not really understand why a pharaoh would attempt a religious revolution but maybe he wanted power for one man. I think he was comparing himself to the one God and he wanted to become that one God. In my opinion he failed because he lacked power and control. He lacked followers and there were many who believed in many gods in ancient times. Many people saw Akhenaten as the…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Supporting her husbands’ beliefs she changed her name to Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti when Akhenaten changed the focus from the ‘Chief God, Amun and other gods to the worship of a single god, Aten.’ The Aten became the center of Egypt’s new religion During her reign as queen, Egypt went about many radical religious changes, the first being her name. 
Her reign with Akhenaten was unlike the traditional ways Egypt had seen she was more than just a typical queen and helped to promote Akhenaten’s views. Her reign was approximately only 12 years, but she was one of the most powerful queens to ever rule. Her importance was greatly valued by Akhenaten and he went to great lengths to show her as his counterpart as seen in source A. As queen, she took on powerful roles and showed herself in ways only Egyptian kings did. An example of this being, she was often shown with the crown of a pharaoh or was depicted in scenes of battle smiting her enemies. Akhenaten valued her so much, that he also allowed her to practice that art of priesthood and she too was allowed to make offerings to…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Akhenaten, the so called "Heretic Pharaoh  was a Ruler of Egypt during the period known as the 18th Dynasty. He ascended to the throne as Amenhotep IV, succeeding his father Amenhotep III. Akhenaten's brief reign, of hardly more than sixteen years, happened at a difficult time in Egyptian history; a period in which the decline of the previously unparalleled Egyptian empire seemed inevitable. Many scholars maintain that Akhenaten was responsible for this decline, but evidence suggests that it had already started. Whatever his connection with the decline of the Empire, one aspect of Akhenaten's reign is indisputable: his religious reforms. Effectively discarding the beliefs of an Empire, Akhenaten denounced the existing polytheist religious…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Tut

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Akhenaten changed many things during his campaign. Akhenaten’s name was previously Amenhotep IV before he changed it to signify the transition to Aten. Sun god, Ra, according to the cult, created himself from a primeval mound in the shape of a pyramid and then created all other gods. He was invoked as Aten or the Great Disc that illuminated the world of…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In New Kingdom Egypt, the military became very important. The army evolved from being a disorganised band of conscripted peasants into a lethal, professional outfit well equipped and ready for combat. Egypt became the most expansionist it had even been in its history. The emergence of Egypt’s army started in the 18th Dynasty when Ahmose expelled the Hyksos from Egypt. Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III and also Ramses II and Ramses III further maintained Egypt’s military strength in campaigns ranging from Nubia to Syria.…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Did Egypt Change

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Akhenaten was the Pharaoh of Egypt for 17 years during the Eighteenth Dynasty which took place from 1352 to 1336 B.C. He was born the son of Amenhotep III and Queen Tyie. His was originally named after his father, Amenhotep IV, but decided to change his name during the fifth year of his reign. During that year he changed his name to Akhenaten, which means “horizon of the sun,” or can also be translated to “He who is of service to Aten.” He had six daughters, Merytaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten-tasharit, Neferneferure, and Sotepenpre. Akhenaten was also suspected of having two more sons, Smenkhkare who succeeded him on the thrown, and Tutankhamun whom reigned after his brother. Both sons were born from different mothers. His first wife Neferiti, who was renamed to Nefernefruaten by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, which translated, means “beautiful is the beauty of Aten,” was also known as the “great royal wife” during the early years of his reign. He also had 3 consorts during…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Akhenaten Art Style

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Pharaoh Amenhotep IV did not just change his name to Akhenaten and the religion of ancient Egypt creates the first known monotheism, but the artistic style made the immediate conversion from the traditional Egyptian style of depicting people with ideal physiques, to a unique and rather unsettling form. He utilized this art to show his objective of carrying out things abnormally.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays