Amenhotep IV or King Akhenaton
Amenhotep IV or Akhenaton was one of the famous kings of the 18th dynasty and all the Egyptian history and of course his importance is due to the new cult that he created which was known as Aton’s cult and also his fame was because of his being the first pharaoh to call for monotheism or the worship of one sole god.
Amenhotep IV was born around 1394 B.C. He was the 2nd son of king Amenhotep III from his chief wife Queen Ti as they had five daughters and two sons. He was called after his father Amenhotep meaning Amen is content or happy and became known to the historians as Amenhotep IV. He had no right and at some times had no hope to ascend the throne of Egypt as he had an elder brother called Thutmosis who was recognized as the heir of Amenhotep III and as a result he held the office of governor of Memphis and the high priest of it’s god Ptah; but he never succeeded his father. We must assume that he died prematurely.
It may be that Akhenaton was not expected to be the nest king he did not receive the suitable education and he was neither a good ruler nor a good warrior. As a ruler he did not pay any attention to the Egyptian internal and external Affairs. Most probably when he reached manhood at about 16 years of age he was appointed co-regent of Amenhotep III and his rule began. This co-regency, if true or if ever took place, most probably started in the 28th year of his father reign but we don’t know for sure how long he acted as his father’s co-regent. However, some claim that if there was co-regency at all it lasted only a few months. Others suggest that this period lasted for a long period which was about 11 years.
He was probably raised and educated at Heliopolis the center of the sun cult where he was influenced by the instructions of its priests. His reign can be divided into two periods; the first six years of his reign and the Amarna period. He passed the first six years of his reign at Thebes, in the 6th year of his reign the king changed his name from Amenhotep to Akhenaton which was incarnation of Aton and the Queen added to her name nfr w itn meaning fair is the goodness of Aton.
He opened quarries at Gabal el Selsela between Qena and Aswan and to the south of Edfu for extracting sandstone for the building of a great temple at Karnak for his god Aton which was located outside the enclosure wall of the east of Temple of Amen. In this temple he erected some deformed colossi representing him. This temple was destroyed by Hr m Hb and other kings of the 19th dynasty an its walls were cut into small pieces now called Talatat by the Egyptologists. Each block measures three hand spans, so the name came from the Egyptian word three. More than 50 000 of these Talatat ere discovered inside the 9th pylon at Karnak and in many other parts of the Temples of Luxor and Karnak.
About the 4th year of his reign he began to declare his new cult, the worship of one sole god Aton. He tried to spread this new cult in Thebes and that caused the hostility between him and the priests of Amen-Re who in turn prevented him from spreading his cult and ti seems that a revolution was about to start and there was a ay for making a re-conciliation between them. Thus, he started to think of moving into a new place and establishing a new capital there. He was obsessed with the idea of finding he place of origin where Aton had first manifested itself at the creation of the world, a place that belongs to no one whether a god, goddess, prince, princess or any man. Akhenaton claimed to have been directed in his search by his heavenly father Aton and under his divine guidance, he found that spot in which Aton originated, lying on the east bank of the Nile almost half way between Memphis and Thebes. He called the place Axt itn meaning the horizon of Aton and is called now Tell El Amarna derived from the Beni Amran Tribes who settled there two centuries ago. He marked the site of his new city by placing three stelae at the northern and southern extremities. These stelae date back to the 4th year of his reign. More stelae were added about the 6th year of his reign giving dimensions of the touch and specifically its boundaries. These stelae surrounded the area on both banks of the Nile. During these two years between the 4th and the 6th yea much of the central city was finished with houses for the wealthy and poor, the great palace, the great temple and a smaller temple. All the domestic buildings were in mud-brick. The temples and the offices of the great palace were built almost entirely of stone. The city contained three palaces, many temples for the cult of Aton and sculptors’ studios.
Amarna is one of the few cities in Egypt which has been possible to excavate because the site was abandoned some 15 years after it had been founded and thus the town escaped from the destruction which would have resulted from continuous habitation. About the sixth year of his reign he left Thebes and moved to Amarna together with his family, government and followers after finishing the construction of palaces and temples for the new cult.
Tell El Amarna is a miss named place as it is not a Tell or a hill at all. It is situated in a flat desert amphitheatre formed by the eastern mountains in Middle Egypt. The area was a virgin territory which had never been dedicated to any of the old god.
The persecution of the hated god Amen carried on systematically throughout the country. The name of Amen was erased every where and even when occurred in the name of King’s father. The word god in its plural form was also erased as a result of the new religion he didn’t pay any attention to the Egyptian external and internal affairs and he kept all the political affairs in the background. That made the priests of Amen to declare war against the king. During his reign Egypt’s Asiatic empire gradually collapsed as proved by Tell El Amarna Letters which were sent to him by the viceroys asking for his help.
During the life time of Akhenaton his second daughter mkyt itn died. She was buried in a suite of chambers leading from the main corridor of the royal tomb which was decorated with the unusual relieves showing the royal family mourning over the bed of the dead princess. Some opinions suggest that she died in child birth and if this is true the event can hardly have happened before year 14th at the beginning. Soon, after this Nefertiti herself disappeared from the history, the chief queen was removed from the scenes and was replaced by her eldest daughter mryt itn. A little later smnx kA ra a younger brother of Akhenaton most probably reached manhood and was appointed co-regent and married the royal heiress mryt itn. Only few monuments have been recovered from Amarna showing both kings functioning together in the worship of the Aton accompanied by mryt itn or another princess. It is probable however that smnx kA ra spent much of his time at Memphis which had always remained a great center and there were important royal residences.
Concerning Nefertiti and her disappearance and Queen Ti and her role we have different opinions. There is an opinion saying that the departure of mkyt itn may have been preceded by the death of Queen Ti since she can not be recognized among the mourners and it would be natural to expect her to be present among them if she had been living at that time. But this opinion is a weak one and few Egyptologists mentioned it. For Neferititi, she disappeared after the death of her daughter and was replaced by her eldest daughter.
The other opinion which is widely spread is that in the 12th year of Akhenaton’s reign Queen Ti paid a visit to Tell El Amarna to advise her son to find a settlement with the priests of amen at Thebes and to avoid the collapse of the Egyptian Empire in Asia. She succeeded in persuading him to send smnx kA ra to Thebes to conciliate the priests but the events after that are obscure and we don’t know what happened after this visit. All we know is that after this visit Akhenaton and Neferitit seem to have quarreled and separated and Nefertiti was replaced by her daughter in all the royal scenes. Also they said that Akhenaton, his younger brother and his eldest daughter lived in one palace while Nefertiti and her daughter Anx s n pA itn and Tutankhamen lived in another palace. Titles and names of Nefertiti were erased from the walls of the palace and replaced by her daughter’s. this quarrel cold probably have led to the return of Akhenaton to the worship of god Amen by the end of his reign while Nefertiti didn’t.
Akhenaton ruled for about 17 or 18 years. By the end of his reign it seemed that Akhenaton appointed his younger brother and his son in-law as co-regent and he ruled with him till his death as we have few monuments representing the two kings together while worshipping god Aton accompanied by mryt itn. His death is still a mystery. The causes of his death have not yet been figured out, whether it was murder or sudden death due to a disease. Also nothing is known about his tomb.
Physically, Akhenaton was weak with a feminine body. He appeared in all his monuments very badly deformed. Most probably he suffered from a disease called flurich syndrome which caused his feminine glands to be more active than his masculine. His characteristic features were cylindrical face, elongated skull with long thin neck and tow lines under the chin, fleshy lips, half closed eyes, narrow shoulders, narrow waist, high thighs with slim legs.
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