Akhenaten- Or how to make the Ancient Egyptians hate you in 3 easy steps

Good news Everyone!

I am home for Christmas! I arrived back today and am now prepared for 4 weeks of vague relaxation, and most importantly CHRISTMAS!

This week Bryony asked us to try at something. I had an essay to write, and I feel that counts as trying- so challenge achieved! Unfortunately I didn’t get a medal, as life isn’t like Mario Kart.

So I have been very busy this week, what with writing my essay, then celebrating having written my essay, and haven’t had much time to sit down and write a blog post. Consequently, my planned epic on Egyptian history is shortened to a few pieces of information on one pharaoh, but as I usually ramble too much maybe being snappy will help!

So I’m going to discuss Akhenaten. I also left my book in my suitcase, meaning this is all from memory- and therefore I may make mistakes, or misspell Akhenaten. But nevertheless!

Who was he?

Akhenaten was an 18^th Dynasty Pharaoh, ruling from around 1353-1336 BCE. His 17 year reign contained some of the most drastic changes that ever occurred in Egyptian history, impacting the religion, art and empire of the country.

So what did he do to religion?

Egypt was a polytheistic country, with an awesome pantheon of gods with wings and cat heads and stuff. Osiris had blue skin and ruled the underworld. Hathor had cow ears. Pretty cool deities’ right? Well Akhenaten decided he’d had enough of that, and thought monotheism was the way to go. He began closing (some) temples, determined everyone would now worship the ‘Aten’, the solar disc. Akhenamun (as he was then known) changed his name to reflect the new state religion, and built a new capital city called Akhetaten (I know these names are confusing! But bear with me) with a grand temple to worship the sun from.

What happened to the artwork then?

It’s fair to say Egyptian art wasn’t very exciting. Governed by rules and decorum it is pretty dull, figures forming the same positions, and committing the same actions to display an intended message. Anyway, under Akhenaten the repetitive nature of Egyptian art decreased. Figures became more relaxed, there was some diversity in bod shape and expressions, and notably faces became elongated. Intimacy in the royal family had been a feature of the art for the entire 18^th dynasty, but under Akhenaten this became much more pronounced, and there are many famous works of him, his queen Nefertiti and their daughters together. Also, the Aten appeared A LOT. Unlike previous gods the Aten wasn’t depicted with a human form, but as a circle with sun rays coming from it. Essentially, an ancient form of this:

Perhaps without the sunglasses though

How did he screw up his empire?

Ah, now that is where you have me. I don't know. I haven’t got my notes beside me. I’ll check Wikipedia for you. Nope, not that useful. Basically, he was instrumental in LOSING the empire. He didn’t get on that well with the neighbouring Kings, and the Hittites took at least one province. My lectures focuses mostly on his artwork, so I can’t tell you much more!

So how did people feel about him?

They HATED him. The priesthood held a lot of power, and owned a lot of land in ancient Egypt. Having their temples closed and their gods persecuted did not go down that well with them. While the dynamics of the Egyptian religion made the Pharaoh infallible, and therefore prevented any reaction during Akhenaten’s life, he was pretty much wiped out of the history books afterwards, along with his son, Tutankhamun (born Tutankhaten!)

Overall, Akhenaten didn’t have a great record.

Oh well, have a picture of him- until next week my friends!

The babies in this image are maybe the strongest evidence that aliens DID in fact live in ancient Egypt!