King Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)

After the death of Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV ascended to the throne of Egypt. He was a sensitive and deep-thinking king who sought to establish a new worship of the Aton (the sun disk) and abandon the worship of Amun, the god of Karnak. The priests of Amun opposed this new doctrine, so the king changed his name from “Amenhotep”, which associated with the god Amun, to “Akhenaten”, that associated with the Aton. He established a new capital in Minya, far from Thebes and Memphis, the old capital, and named it “Akhet Aton” (Tell Al Amarna). There, he worshipped with his beautiful wife “Nefertiti” and their lovely daughter “Merit Aton”. He had six daughters with Nefertiti but had a son named “Tut Ankh Amun” with a secondary wife. Akhenaten was preoccupied with depicting himself, his wife, and his children in naturalistic poses, such as eating and drinking. This was a departure from traditional Egyptian art, which typically depicted the pharaoh in idealized form. As a result, his artistic style is known as the Amarna style or the Realistic School. Due to Akhenaten’s preoccupation with his new religion and ideas, the governors of the provinces, who had been raised in Egypt and returned to rule their respective lands, faced rebellions. They sent messages to Akhenaten requesting help, but he did not respond. They then turned to his mother, Queen Tiye, and wrote these letters in cuneiform (the language of Mesopotamia). Queen Tiye visited her son in “Tell Al Amarna”, and we do not know exactly what transpired between them. However, we do know that after this visit, Nefertiti’s images disappeared from the royal palace, and Akhenaten married his daughter “Merit Aton”. The circumstances of Akhenaten’s death remain unknown, but we do know that his son “Tut Ankh Amun” succeeded him.