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Akhenaten
Akhenaten was pharoah from 1379 to 1362 BC, a time-span known as the Amarna period. He rejected all the earlier gods in favour of the world's first monotheistic religion based on a deity called Aten who had been associated with the sun-god. Aten is represented in this carving by a sun disc from which rays are striking the royal family. Some people think he did this because he wanted to fight the power of the priests who controlled all the temples.
At any rate, he closed down all the old temples and built himself a new capital city. Art of the period was distinguished by showing naturalism, rather than the formal poses of the other pharoahs, and an emphasis on the delights of life rather than trials and judgment after death.
His pre-eminent wife was Nefertiti who achieved status very close to his own, very unusual for the pharoahs. In this carving, Akhenaten and Nefertiti are playing with their children. Their fates are obscure. The happiness of the early years did not seem to have lasted. After Akhenaten's death, Tutankhamun became pharoah and Egypt returned to its ancient traditions and cities.
E-mail: gplonker@usa.net
Osiris
| Nut |
Horus
| Falcon
| Eye |
Burial
| Scarab
| Ankh
| Maat
| Anubis
| Thoth
Hathor
| Cat |
Lotus
| Akhenaten
