The Pharaoh Who Was Called Akh Essays - Amarna Period, Akhenaten

The Pharaoh Who Was Called Akh The Pharaoh Who Was Called Akhenaten By Bob Disherman A research paper submitted to Mr. Touma in partial fulfillment of the requirements for World Cultures Charlotte Country Day School Charlotte, North Carolina November 20, 2000 Akhenaten will always be remembered as a great heretic ruler, who uprooted traditional Egyptian religions, and conjured a monotheistic religion that is very close in nature to Christianity and Judaism. His political power was not his strong point, but with the creation of the religion, and the vast change in art forms, Akhenaten will never be forgotten. Amenhotep IV, the name Akhenaten was born with, was the son of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Amenhotep III's second wife Tiye (Vansten 6). Amenhotep III was the great-grandson of the famous conquer Thutmose III (Editora, ?Part I? 1), who had gained enormous amounts of land and respect from North Africa and the Middle East, and because he was, the glory that his great-grandfather produced, was laid onto him (Redford 34). Therefore, his role in Egypt was somewhat diminished because he accomplished no great victories or wars, but he did command the power of the people, and made them believe that he was the Sun King (Redford 34). However, one of his most significant ideas was the introduction of co-regency, (Aldred 178) which forever changed the way that Pharaohs would rule. Amenhotep III first marriage was slightly uncommon in traditional beliefs. Normally, a pharaoh would not be allowed to marry a commoner, but that is exactly what Amenhotep III did, he married Tiye (Editora, ?Part 1? 1), a girl from the Middle Egypt whose father was a foreigner named Yuya (Redford 36). Tiye was ?the Great King's Wife until one of their daughters, Sat-amun, was elevated higher then she was (Redford 36). During this marriage, Amenhotep III and Tiye produced two boys and six girls (Redford 36). Amenhotep IV was the second of the boys, and was born c. 1385 BC (Redford 36) Aminadab, the Hebrew equal to Amenhotep, lived and was educated in the eastern delta region, where Egyptian priests of Ra taught him about Amun, and the other important deities such as Aten (Vansten 6). After he was educated in the eastern delta region, he went to live in Thebes for his teenage years (Redford 24-25). Not much is known about his teenage or adolescent years, but many scholars believe that during his stay in Thebes, he became involved with a Ra cult, that worshiped the god Amun. Many believe this is where Amenhotep IV began to believe in the iconology such as the sun disk (Redford 170). During this time frame, circa 1368 BC, Amenhotep III became seriously ill, and could not continue governing Egypt without help (Vansten 6). Therefor, Amenhotep IV, who was the only male still in the direct hereditary line, sense his older brother was dead, was pronounced to marry Nefertiti, who was the daughter of Ay and Tey (Redford 222). Nefertiti was a niece of Tiye and Ay was a close friend of Amenhotep III, so it would easily come that Nefertiti and Amenhotep IV should rule as a co-regent until the death of Amenhotep III, so that the ?power could be buttressed? (Aldred 170). There is some speculation during the co-regency, as to whether Nefertiti held a higher position then Amenhotep IV, but it is known that when Amenhotep III died, Amenhotep IV took over as Pharaoh, with Nefertiti being his chief queen (Aldred 178). After taking control of the throne in 1346, Amenhotep IV transferred the city of rule from Thebes to a new city called Armana (Akhen-taten)(Giuliano 2). Supposedly, Armana was the only spot in Egypt where the ?old? religion had not tainted it (Hawkins ?Who 1), and where the natural surroundings outlined the city with a sun-disk-like design (Aldred 269). It took him a record four years to bring the entire capital cabinet, statues, and citizen population from the old city to the new (Ross 3). Once Amenhotep IV had settled into his new city, he changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten, in recognition of the sun god Aten in 1344 BC (Hawkins Akhenaten's Life 2). Thus began the deconstruction period for ancient Egyptian polytheistic religions. After Akhenaten renounced