Akhenaten

Statue of Akhenaten in the earlyAmarnastyle: one of the things this pharaoh did was to introduce a more realist style on carved and painted portraits.

Akhenaten(first known asAmenhotep IV) was apharaohof the Eighteenth dynasty ofEgypt.His reign is dated as 1353–1336BCor 1351–1334 BC.

Akhenaten is one of Egypt's most well-known pharaohs. In the fifth year of his reign, he changed his name from Amenhotep IV, meaning "Amun is satisfied". He did this because he left Egypt's traditionalpolytheism.He founded amonotheisticworship of the Egyptian sun god,Aten.He destroyed the temples ofAmun.His new religion was calledAtenism.It was the first known attempt atmonotheismin the world. Naturally, this made enemies of the many priests of the old religion.

This culture shift away from traditional religion was not widely accepted. This helps to explain why after his death, his monuments were dismantled, his statues were destroyed, and his nameexcludedfromlists of rulerscompiled by later pharaohs.Traditional religious practice was gradually restored, notably under his close successorTutankhamun,who changed his name from Tutankhaten early in his reign. However, it wasHoremhebwho destroyed all the works of Akhenaten.

Akhenaten was all but lost to history until the late 19th century discovery ofAmarna,the new capital city he built for the worship of Aten. Its rediscovery andFlinders Petrie's early excavations sparked great public interest in the pharaoh and his queenNefertiti.The interest comes from his connection with Tutankhamun, the unique style and high quality of the pictorial arts he patronized, and interest in the religion he attempted to establish.