Akhenaten And Tutankhamen

The Amarna Period, named after the site of an innovative capital city that was the center of the new religion, included the reigns of heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten and his presumed son, the boy king Tutankhamun.

Once Akhenaton came to power in fourteenth-century Egypt, life changed dramatically. He completely reformed the country’s religion, and he replaced the traditional gods with a single god: Aton the sun god. His religious fervor went so far that he changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning “beneficial to the Aton,” from Amenhotep IV. His people were dissatisfied, and soon after his death, and with the rule of Tutankhamen, the country returned to its traditional deities. Although Tutankhamen is famously known for his lavish tombs, his short rule is also marked by the restoration of art and any temples damaged during Akhenaton’s rule.

Once Akhenaton came to power in fourteenth-century Egypt, life changed dramatically. He completely reformed the country’s religion, and he replaced the traditional gods with a single god: Aton the sun god. His religious fervor went so far that he changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning “beneficial to the Aton,” from Amenhotep IV. His people were dissatisfied, and soon after his death, and with the rule of Tutankhamen, the country returned to its traditional deities. Although Tutankhamen is famously known for his lavish tombs, his short rule is also marked by the restoration of art and any temples damaged during Akhenaton’s rule.

This catalogue brings to life the extraordinary world of ancient Egypt through more than 250 beautiful works of art, while essays by leading Egyptologists describe the Amarna period, a time of unprecedented changes - in art and architecture, technology, the role of women in religion and government - and the dramatic break with polytheism. Sculpture, architectural elements, ceramics, jewelry, clothing, tools and furniture illustrate the culture of this period. More than 400 illustrations of these objects from renowned collections - such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ägyptisches Museum in Berlin, the British Museum and the Louvre are reproduced in this handsome volume.

First Published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, was king of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty and reigned from 1375 to 1358 B.C. E. Called the "religious revolutionary," he is the earliest known creator of a new religion. The cult he founded broke with Egypt's traditional polytheism and focused its worship on a single deity, the sun god Aten. Erik Hornung, one of the world's preeminent Egyptologists, here offers a concise and accessible account of Akhenaten and his religion of light.Hornung begins with a discussion of the nineteenth-century scholars who laid the foundation for our knowledge of Akhenaten's period and extends to the most recent archaeological finds. He emphasizes that Akhenaten's monotheistic theology represented the first attempt in history to explain the entire natural and human world on the basis of a single principle. "Akhenaten made light the absolute reference point," Hornung writes, "and it is astonishing how clearly and consistently he pursued this concept." Hornung also addresses such topics as the origins of the new religion; pro-found changes in beliefs regarding the afterlife; and the new Egyptian capital at Akhetaten which was devoted to the service of Aten, his prophet Akhenaten, and the latter's family.

The force that forged an empire. The furious thunder of thousands of hooves, the clatter and sheen of bronze armor sparkling in the desert sun, the crunch of wooden wheels racing across a rock-strewn battlefield-and leading this terrifying chariot charge, the gallant Pharaoh, the ribbons of his blue war crown streaming behind him as he launches yet another arrow into the panicking mass of his soon-to-be-routed enemies. While scenes like the one depicted above did occur in ancient Egypt, they represent only one small aspect of the vast, complex, and sophisticated military machine that secured, defended, and expanded the borders of the empire during the late Eighteenth Dynasty. In Tutankhamun's Armies, you'll discover the harsh reality behind the imperial splendor of the New Kingdom and gain a new appreciation for the formidable Egyptian army-from pharaoh to foot soldier. You'll follow "the heretic king" Akhenaten, his son Tutankhamun, and their three Amana-Period successors as they employ double-edge diplomacy and military might to defeat competing powers, quell internal insurrections, and keep reluctant subject states in line. This vivid and absorbing chronicle will forever change the way you think about the glories and riches of ancient Egypt.

The Pilgrimage The first section of the story of Akhenaten is told by Ambrose, the soul self of Akhenaten/Smenkhkare. He begins by speaking of the distant beginnings of Earth's evolvement and that of all earlier species and the divine orchestration behind all of Earth's evolvement and adorning.' Thereafter he speaks of Amilius Hermes and the Great Division that was brought about the creative experimentation indulged in by a certain group of Divine Brethren (not of the angelic realm). From there he speaks of the pilgrimages that were required in divine reparation and healing, that which brought about the Hermetic vibration. He goes on to speak of the returning pilgrimages by the incarnate visitations of the extra-terrestrially evolved Hermetic vibration as well as those who eventually incarnated solely upon Earth. Soon he comes to speaking briefly of his overlapping dual incarnations as the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten and his brother Prince Smenkhkare and their soul's close connection with Amilius Hermes and the Hermetic vibration. And so he finishes by summing up his own soul self's spiritual lineage and a brief address to the reader of his story. Meritaten It is Meritaten who tells the second section of the story and therein she gives her account of her father Akhenaten and his life. She tells us of her father and includes details of her own life and that of her beloved sisters and soon informs us that when she was born she already had two older sisters. She also speaks of her mother Nefertiti and even twice briefly mentions her beloved grandmother Tiy and grandfather Amenophis III. Of course she in due time speaks adoringly of the two loves of her life, her husband Prince Smenkhkare (and later the Pharaoh Smenkhkare) and her son Tutankhaten (Tutankhamun). Near the beginning of her story she informs us that she and her sisters were all taught not only to write detailed stories but also to perform them. Meritaten is a consummate story teller with a great sense of place and a sometimes poetic turn of phrase. Her account expresses the whole range of their human experience amid the fine detail of their physical surroundings. She ranges from poignant and touching, often amusing and right through to her own personal traumatic emotional pain and thereafter to the gradual tragedy all of their lives eventually became. (Keep in mind that Meritaten and Tutankhaten were the dual soul aspects of Ambrose's twin self Ursu). Tutankhaten And now it is (Tutankhamun) who takes up the telling of the third and final part of the story of Akhenaten, speaking from the position he assumed when having incarnated as Akhenaten's only son. He speaks openly about the fact that thereafter Akhenaten and Smenkhkare's deaths he was soon forcibly renamed Tutankhamun when crowned. Even from the very beginning of his account he decidedly states that his true name was and is Tutankhaten. While sharing his memories of his father, he also tells very well the story of his own short lifetime and that of his adored mother Meritaten and Smenkhkare whom he fondly called his second-father. His amiable half-sisters he speaks of also, and later of his grandmother Nefertiti and her brother the universally despised Ay. The latter being his greatest oppressor. And last but certainly far from least, we are privy to a most fervently detailed account of the unenviable relationship between himself and his beloved half-sister and queen Ankhesenapaaten (who was also forcibly renamed Ankhesenamun). And that they had been compelled to marry under such duress he also refers to their life as captives of state, those living within a luxuriously appointed prison. Like his mother Meritaten he later recounts his experiences after passing over into Spirit, although his personal experiences were quite different from hers in that they contain strong elements of both the dark and the light. Even s