Atenism

predominant failure; his overall contribution was poor as much of what he achieved in regards to religion, architecture and art was destroyed and reversed following his death. As Freud (1955) states, Akhenaton 's memory was “scorned as that of a felon” and his contributions were diminished by his successors following his death. He additionally failed to adequately address foreign policy - focusing almost solely on his internal reforms. Ultimately, Akhenaten’s contribution to Egyptian religion was a failure; his transformation of religion, while initially successful, proved too radical for the Egyptian population and was entirely reversed in the years following his death. Akhenaten was responsible for introducing his nation to the concept of ‘Atenism’, an action which, as accurately verified by Jarus (2013) resulted in the elimination of Egypt’s traditional system of worship. In his fifth reigning year, the Pharaoh proclaimed himself the “living incarnation” (Mark, 2014) of an omnipotent god called the Aten and established it as Egypt’s supreme deity, outlawing the old religion. He forced the closure of all other temples and suppressed religious practices. The Pharaoh’s close relationship with the Aten, encapsulated within Akhenaten’s “Great Hymn to Aten”, provided him with absolute power over his citizens; as the ordinary population were restricted from worshipping the deity directly, they instead worshipped the royal family. Historians including Grimal (1998) compellingly…

Uniquely, the story of Sinuhe is an ancient Egyptian poem, a narrative, possibly written circa 1875 BC during the twelfth dynasty, found on a tomb. The Egyptian story has many religious passages throughout. The poem over the course of a couple thousand years being scribed, copied and passed down from generation to generation. Furthermore, being used as a study from ancient times to the present, thus, making The Tale of Sinuhe one of the most read and admired Egyptian poems ever written.…

Under this religion, only the pharaoh could present offerings to the God. Before this was established, a priesthood held authority, controlling the temples and their vast wealth. With Atenism, however, only the pharaoh held religious power. Akhenaten’s control was made more absolute, providing another reason to be disliked. Under his rule, Akhenaten paid little attention to outlying territory. There is record of city officials writing to Akhenaten, pleading for assistance with military…

Monotheism is the belief of just one supreme and all powerful god. Throughout the world there are many religions that have a belief of worshipping only one god such as Baha'i Faith, Caodaiism, Cheondoism, Christianity, Deism, Eckankar, Islam, Judaism, Mandaeism, Rastafari, Shaivism, Seicho no Ie, Shaktism, Sikhism, Tengrism, Tenrissm, Vaishnavism, and Zoroastrianism as well as other ancient religions that are no longer in practiced such as Atenism. Those who only worship one god normally believe…

When Amarna was first discovered, archaeologists thought Akhenaten was a woman, and the only thing they could understand was that something very strange had occurred at the site they discovered. James K. Hoffmeier explains in his book that even from his discovery, Egyptologists did not agree on the true nature of Atenism; he writes: “While in recent years, there has been a tendency to consider Akhenaten's religion to be monotheistic, there have been those who reject this interpretation of the…

women in ancient Egypt took their rank from their husband or father, and were often featured alongside males in these inscriptions, highlighting that full equality did not exist between these two genders (Lawless, 2010). Nefertiti conforms to these gender expectations, as she is shown as a deity only through coregent association with Akhenaten. Akhenaten, Nefertiti’s husband, enacted a religious revolution in 1350BC which was a dramatic overthrow of traditional beliefs. The religion prior…

important, and leader-like. They will probably make some excellent decisions while in authority. Then more power kicks in, and as a result it will be too much for them to handle all the stress and power, which will lead them to do psychotic and unthinkable actions. There are many clear examples of big leaders in history that collapsed in the fullness of time. One of the many ancient Pharaohs of Egypt, known as Akhenaten, ruled during the 18th dynasty of Egypt (The mid-1300s BC). He gained his…

Amun-Ra’s rise gives the Amun priesthood much power. The Amun priesthood faces a great challenge when Akhenaten takes over the throne and establishes a new religion.(lecture) Akhenaten brings upon many changes to Egypt and its religion through the Aten Revolution. He moves the capital of Egypt and becomes the first king to establish an official religion and attempt to remove the idea of there be many gods and instead suggesting that there is only one. (site) This one god is Aten, one religion is…

I chose Nefertiti because she is one of the most powerful women in ancient history. She was the Great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh, Akhenaten, and therefore queen. As most pharaoh's had many wives, only the Great Royal Wife or chief consort was queen. It was the children of the Great Royal Wife whom inherited the throne, as well. She and her husband left a rather large mark on Egyptian history and Culture even changing the religion and capital of Egypt. Transforming the polytheistic religion into a…

With the exception of the religions Yahwism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Atenism that were monotheistic the majority of religions worshipped in the ancient Near East by the Sumerians, Egyptians, Hittities, Hurriasn, Assyrians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Greeks, Romans and Arabian Pantheons were polytheistic. Most of these cultures practiced similar purification and cleansing rituals, animal and human sacrifices, sacred prostitution, life after death and divination. Historical records discovered at…