Explain Why Akhenaten Moved His Capital to Amarna

This investigation attempts to correctly analyze in what way the geography of Egypt influenced the ancient Egyptian religion. This query is very relevant because, certain geographical items influenced the creation of the ancient religion that helped shape many religions that are very prevalent today such as Christianity and Judaism. The issues that will be addressed are how the great Sahara Desert surrounding the civilization, the Nile river that nourishes the whole population, and how the overall common beliefs and myths built the foundation of the ancient Egyptian religion and subsequently influenced modern day religions. This analysis will focus on the time period of 3110 BCE to 550 CE and the place being examined is the country of Egypt. This will be accomplished through the exploration of research documents and informational novels.

Akhenaten is often not credited as being one of the great pharaoh’s of ancient Egypt; his name is not as recognized as his son, Tutankhamen. However he deserves acknowledged for being a revolutionary leader. Akhenaten is most well-known as being a spiritual enthusiast and instigator of revolution within the kingdom of Egypt. Many historians have recognized Akhenaten with being solely responsible for developing a religious revolution in Egypt. Nevertheless his struggles defined as the first true effort at instituting a monotheistic state in a polytheistic society, his efforts were not eternal. The reasoning behind his decisions to change Egypt's faith is still observed though to this day. “Today most historical resources believe Akhenaten

Amenhotep IV commenced his reign in 1353 BCE and was of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. When Amenhotep IV came to power, the priests of Amun had been gradually growing in power and were almost equal with the royal house in terms of wealth and influence. During the 5th year of his reign he outlawed the ancient religion which was centered on the worship and offerings to many Gods in particular those of the composite deity Ra-Amun-Horus (Ra- daytime sun, Amun- underworld sun, - Horus- the sunrise). He then changed his name to Akhenaten, proclaiming himself to be the living incarnation of the all-powerful, single deity known as ‘Aten’ (The visible sun). Traditionally, as described in the Coffin Texts of the Middle kingdom, the ‘Aten’ was the name for the sun-disk and in the "Story of Sinuhe", Amenemhat I is described to have soared into the sky, uniting with the Aten, his creator. The early stages of "Atenism" was as a henotheistic religion (devotion to a single god but recognising the existence of others), but quickly developed into a monotheistic system where the worship of all other Gods was banned, including the making and worship of idols, allowing only the rayed sun-disk to be displayed as a representation of ‘God’, for the ‘Aten' was the sole deity. Ordinary people could not worship the Aten

The king’s decision to move the capital from Thebes to this new site was due to the fact that the sun rose from a dip in the surrounding mountaintops, which he believed to be Aton coming up to watch over the city. Akhenaten commemorated the founding of his new capital by erecting boundary stelae, markers placed around the capital to show the limit of the city. These markers were also used to keep any god other than Aton, out of the city. After a year of residing in the new capital, Akhenaten prohibited the worship of Amun-Ra completely and ordered that all temples dedicated to the worship of Amun-Ra be closed. The king also prohibited all festivals and worship of Osiris, Isus, Mut and Ptah and any and all other major and minor deities, as only one god was to be worshipped, that god being Aton. In this sense, Akhenaten became a ruler with a newly created religion, monotheism. The total defilement of Amun-Ra from all statues, papyrus and temples meant that his father’s name had to be defiled too. To wipe out a person’s name meant wiping out a part of that person’s being. Therefore, that person could not be introduced to the God’s and resurrected – one of the ancient Egyptian’s worst fears.

I think that without the past there is no future. The future is very important and in this essay I will explain the Egyptian civilization in mesopotamia and information about their beliefs, way of life and leadership. I will also include the role of pharaoh and priests of Mesopotamia.

As a result, Amenhotep III soon shifted attention and investment of resources to various solar deities/cults including Nekhbet, Thoth, Hathor, Ptah, and largely developed interest in the Aten “the dazzling sun disk”. His self-deification as Amun and later Aten as discussed by Jan Assman, aside from reinforcing control of territory, was a direct political challenge to the power of the Amun priesthood, as evident through his depiction at the Soleb temple with the horns of Amun. In his identification and claims to be an incarnation ofAmun, a main deity, who he no longer fell subject to the Amun priesthood’s religious will, but rather was in a more dominant position over them, further reasserting his authority as Pharaoh-god. Influences of Aten were starting to feature prominently as religious symbolism, such as the replacing of the neb glyph/ traditional depiction of the solar boat with new iconography and epithets on royal regalia; and adding Aten to names of buildings, royal barges and even his daughter, Bakenaten. This rebellion endured and most possibly shaped his son,

The ancient regime did not allow anyone to make much decision making, unless they were the king. Everybody was below the king and there was no national citizenship. This is important to know because of the second estate, who were more educated than the third, recognized the King's unhealthy spending habits and demanded for a reform.. Eventually, the third estate followed in the

Religious life was tied to social life in every aspect, and the Egyptian year was based around religious festivals. These festivals stopped under Atenism, and the people of Egypt were introduced to a new tradition: the procession of Akhenaten and Nefertiti mirroring the sun moving across the sky. However, this new tradition was not capable of adequately replacing the traditions of the past: “The festivals of the past which had divided the year and provided the stops and starts which powered day-to-day living were removed; and they do not seem to have been replaced-despite the fact, as Barry Kemp has observed that ‘worship of the sun provides a ready-made set of calendrical feasts [in the form of] the solstices and equinoxes.’ The progress of the king along the Royal Road, however splendidly orchestrated, offered but a poor substitute.” Egyptians lived their lives based around the various festivals of their gods, and in removing these festivals, Akhenaten removed a piece of culture he could not replace. Maat, the Egyptian concept of order controlled by the pharaoh meant that every single part of daily life was touched by the introduction of the new religion. Thebes, the cultural center of Egypt, was abandoned by the pharaoh, and he moved life to Akhenaten. For Egyptians outside of the city, what they experienced of Atenism was a loss of traditions they had followed for generations, and these changes did not bode well for a long-lasting

Another astonishing act to this religious revolution was the Akhenaten’s order of the construction of a new capital, far to the north of Thebes known as Amarna, horizon of the sun, claiming the sun god lead him there. A few years after, Akhenaten made the decision to abandon Thebes and ordered his people to pack up and leave behind the city built by his father to receive the blessings of Aten in the city of Amarna. Shortly thereafter, he abolished traditional gods and goddesses, declaring one monotheistic deity, Aten, and introduced in art as a more intimate worship in public and personal settings of the royal family, receiving blessings from Aten, and showing day to day life and activities.

?The main reason for the existence of Corinth is the same reason for its greatness.? The ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean world produced this city out of geographical and commercial necessity.? The southern

Third, I will be discussing how Amun-Re was worshiped in ancient Egypt. Amun-Re is seen in five ways, first, as a man, this is when he is seen on the throne as a king, holding a scepter in one hand and the symbol of life in the other. In

Tell el-‘Amarna, the city built by Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten was located between Luxor and Cairo along the Nile. The city was occupied during the reign of Akhenaten and abandoned after his death by his son, Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Although the city was along occupied for a short period of time, archaeologists have been able to reconstruct a fairly accurate representation of the city. However, because the city was associated with Aten and the religion of the heretic king, the city was partially destroyed and nearly all evidence of the culture during the reign of Akhenaten was destroyed. Although the Egyptian people attempted to erase this pharaoh from history, the city tells the story of the time through the few pieces of art, the tombs, and the city plans. The articles written by Croker and one of the ones written by Kemp discuss the value of architecture and how it related to status within the society of the time. The other articles written by Ikram, and Kemp, Stevens, Dabbs, Zabecki, and Rose discuss the art, religion, and ritual practices. The city of Amarna was created on the basis of abandoning the old gods in favor of the worship of a single god, Aten. Societies in ancient history were based primarily on religion, and while archaeologists try to use Amarna as a basis for the study of New Kingdom Egypt because the religions changed Amarna should not be used as a template. Akhenaten aimed to abandon the old ways

Amenhotep IV was the first pharaoh to challenge the Egyptian culture and religious beliefs. His decision to make Aten, “The God of the Sun Disk”, the only god, took power away from the temple priests. Before Amenhotep IV made the changes, Egypt practiced polytheism not only worshiping the Sun Disk God, but around 12 other gods with roles such as fertility, the sky, the Nile River, childbirth, etc. With Egypt practicing monotheisms the temple priest have lost control of any political or religious gain they once held. This will be the first time Egypt practices monotheism. In making this change Amenhotep IV became known as Akhenaten, “Shining Spirit of Aten”. Becoming Akhenaten was not the only changes reflected from his reign as pharaoh.

The Egyptians were not far behind the Sumerians in settling down to civilization and Empire. Like Rome they had a strong central government, a military structure, trade, a state religion and a civic structure. Rome was, however, superior to Egypt as well. Governmentally, the Pharaoh was an absolute ruler, as the Roman Emperor, but the Roman system was not reliant on a bloodline as was the Egyptian system, and was hence more likely to remain stable for long periods of time. The heir being intellectually picked and groomed greatly reducing the problems associated with hereditary rule. Militarily, Egypt was often strong enough to fight off invasion, but although they did project power, they did not conquer lands to expand their empire. Rome expanded their lands and grew more powerful, where the Egyptians seemed content with Egypt. Rome's policy of expansion helped fuel their trade routes and economy, boosting them past Egypt's limiting boarders. Egypt had a good infrastructure, largely an agrarian system of roads and irrigation, but it was nothing in comparison to the

Jan Assmann, the famous Egyptologist, covers the essence of researching Egyptian theology in his classic work Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen Hochkultur. Translated to English under the title “The search for God in Ancient Egypt”, the book tackles the complex goal of investigating Egyptian Theology and offers Assman’s scholarly theories on Egyptology. With that said, the focus of the book shifts away from the study of Egyptian deities and mythology but centers rather around the implication of divinity at a societal and individual level. Overviews of theology and piety take precedence over the specific practices and technical beliefs of Egyptian religion, though the latter is also heavily discussed to better elaborate on the former’s context.