Akhenaten In Egyptian Culture

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Akhenaten means, ‘the one who is useful to Aten,’ he reigned for sixteen years creating much political and social change during the Armana period. Akhenaten is one of the most controversial figures in Egyptian studies, as he was at first considered a monotheist and to have completely subverted traditional Egyptian ways of belief. Taking both written and material evidence into account it is clear that this viewpoint is symptomatic of western, christian, anachronistic belief systems reflected within the interpretation of primary sources. For years within the intellectual community Akhenaten was disregarded as an outlier, and extremist, however he did attempt to synthesize his own agenda with traditional Egyptian dogma. During his reign, traditional …show more content…
As a young pharaoh, Akhenaten followed ingrained traditions of Egyptian culture through art and religious worship. Seen in the southern entrance to the temple to Amun-Re in Thebes where he is depicted worshipping Re-Harakhti. However, in conjunction with these representations of Akhenaten, he also constructed a temple to Aten at Karnak called Gempaaten, which could be considered the primordial movement towards his personal worship of Aten from Amun. (Cheng 2000, 112) This change is incredibly important as the pharaoh is the main representation of divinity upon earth, as well as the sole worshipper on behalf of the Egyptian population. (Cheng 2000, 112) As well as this, Akhenaten changed the capital of Eygpt from the traditional city of Thebes, to Amarna which was built specifically for the worship of the Aten. (Cheng 2000 112) During this shift towards Aten, a new style of artist representation flourished, one of naturalism, which held a stark contrast to the sharp lines of the traditional styles. (Cheng 2000, 112) Specifically, this artistic representation was most common in Amarna where artists were encouraged to explore more realistic forms of representation. This was especially prominent in representations of the royal family, with long faces and willowy limbs, instead of the strong imposing figures that were more common among …show more content…
Originally an aspect of the Sun god Ra, Aten comes into prominence during the reign of Akhenaten seen within his poem titled, The Great Hymn to Aten (Akhenaten sect.8), in which he
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