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Atenism, also known as the Aten religion, [1] the Amarna religion, [2] the Amarna revolution, and the Amarna heresy, was a religion in ancient Egypt. It was founded by Akhenaten , a pharaoh who ruled the New Kingdom under the Eighteenth Dynasty . [ 3 ]
Following Akhenaten's death, Egypt gradually returned to its traditional polytheistic religion, partly because of how closely associated the Aten became with Akhenaten. [210] Atenism likely stayed dominant through the reigns of Akhenaten's immediate successors, Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten , as well as early in the reign of Tutankhaten. [ 211 ]
The worship of Aten and the coinciding rule of Akhenaten are major identifying characteristics of a period within the Eighteenth Dynasty referred to as the Amarna Period (c. 1353 – 1336 BCE). [1] Atenism and the worship of the Aten as the sole god of ancient Egypt state worship did not persist beyond Akhenaten's death.
Akhenaten is depicted in an androgynous and highly stylized manner, with large thighs, a slim torso, drooping belly, full lips, and a long neck and nose. [2] Some believe that the break with convention was due to "the presence at Amarna of new people or groups of artists whose background and training were different from those of the Karnak ...
The exclusion of all but one god from worship was a radical departure from Egyptian tradition and some see Akhenaten as a practitioner of monolatry or henotheism rather than monotheism, [37] [38] as he did not actively deny the existence of other gods; he simply refrained from worshipping any but the Aten. Under Akhenaten's successors Egypt ...
In the reign of Akhenaten (c. 1353 –1336 BC) in the mid-New Kingdom, a single solar deity, the Aten, became the sole focus of the state religion. Akhenaten ceased to fund the temples of other deities and erased gods' names and images on monuments, targeting Amun in particular.
The earliest dated stele from Akhenaten's new city is known to be Boundary stele K which is dated to Year 5, IV Peret (or month 8), day 13 of Akhenaten's reign. [12] (Most of the original 14 boundary stelae have been badly eroded.) It preserves an account of Akhenaten's foundation of this city.
It is known that Atenism did not solely attribute divinity to the Aten. Akhenaten continued the imperial cult, proclaiming himself the son of Aten and encouraging the people to worship him. [5] The people were to worship Akhenaten; only Akhenaten and the pharaoh's wife Nefertiti could worship Aten directly. [6]