Queen Hatshepsut

Akhenaten

Akhenaten (also spelled Akhenaten; meaning "the living spirit of Aten") was also known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV. Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty ruled Egypt for 17 years and probably died in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is best known for renouncing the plurality of traditional Egyptian deities and introducing a new cult centered on Aten, which is sometimes described as a monotheistic or hinotistic religion. Early inscriptions represent the Aten in the Sun, by comparison with the stars, and later the official language avoided the designation of Aten as a god, giving him a solar deity higher than merely being a god.

Akhenaten tried to make a paradox about traditional religion, but in the end it was unacceptable. After his death, traditional religious practice was gradually restored, and a few years later some rulers were not without clear rights of succession from the Eighteenth Dynasty and founded a new family, misrepresenting Akhenaten and his successors, referring to Akhenaten himself as the “enemy” in archival records.

He tried to unite the gods of ancient Egypt where there were many gods in which they worshiped in their various regions, including the great god Amun-Re in the form of one god Aten. Although there are doubts about the extent of his success in this, the transfer of the capital from Thebes [?] To his new capital Akhetaton Minya, and where there appeared realistic art, especially in sculpture and painting, such as in the tomb of Ra Musa and the emergence of new literature featuring songs for the new god Aten, or what is now known system Tel Amarna.

Akhenaten was married to his wife, the main queen Nefertiti, who shared his thought in the cult of Aten and appeared with him in religious ceremonies. He married a second wife, Kiya, who is probably the mother of Tutankhamun. In April 2010, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that based on DNA tests known as deoxyribonucleic acid (RNA), these tests showed that Tutankhamun was indeed the son of King Akhenaten.

King Akhenaten was preoccupied with his philosophy and religious reforms, and departed from foreign policy and the administration of the empire extending to the upper Euphrates and Nubia in the south. After his death, Simankh-kare, who ruled briefly, then succeeded his brother, Tutankhamun, who was young and renounced the doctrine of Aten and left the capital of Akhetaten back to Thebes (Luxor today). They were still on the doctrine of the god Amun-Re, rejecting what Akhenaten offered them from the idea of ​​the new god Aten. Under such pressure, because of his young age, he changed his name from "Tutankhamun" to Tutankhamun. The priests of Thebes demolished the ruins of Akhenaten and his city, Akhetaton, erased his name from it, and people abandoned it.

There are many theories about Akhenaten's fate, but there is no conclusive evidence of what happened to him years after he moved to his new capital. According to his correspondence with the king of the Hittites, he received a congratulation from the king to move to the new capital, Akhetaton. According to the manuscripts, the king of the Hittites complained that Akhenaten did not answer his letters. Akhenaten was busy thinking and worshiping the new god Aten, and was strongly opposed by the priests of the god Amun to his new religion, thereby neglecting the foreign affairs of the country. In this era, other great countries rivaled Egypt.
Distribution of regional blocs in the Middle East during the rule of Akhenaten.

The search for the tomb of King Akhenaten has continued since the first tombs of the Valley of the Kings were found in the 19th and 20th centuries without conclusive results, until the studies conducted by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the University of Cairo on mummies began. Genetic Footprint and Genetic Analysis: «Mummy in Cemetery 55 in the Valley of the Kings is the mummy of the father of the Golden King Tutankhamun, was believed to belong to a man who died between the ages of 20 and 25 years, but it was found from the results of research that he died between the ages of 45 and 50 years, a The son of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, suggesting it And the same Akhenaten "

Tests of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt showed that Tutankhamun was probably the son of Akhenaten from his secondary wife, Kya. In April 2010, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that on the basis of DNA tests, Tutankhamun was the son of King Akhenaten.

Akhenaten was the youngest son of King Amenhotep III of Queen Tiye, who was Amenhotep III's favorite great wife, and Akhenaten was not destined to be crown prince until the death of his older brother Tuthmosis.

The reign of King Amenhotep III extended for 38 years, after which he died, leaving the throne to his son Amenhotep IV, probably after a common rule (lasted between 2 to 12 years), where he is believed to have shared his father in power at the age of sixteen, and it is believed that the reign of Akhenaten is from 1353 BC - 1336 BC or 1351 BC - 1334 BC.

There is much controversy over whether Amenhotep IV assumed the throne after the death of his father, Amenhotep III, or whether there is similarly common judgment, and although it is accepted that Akhenaten himself died in the 17th year of his reign, there is much controversy as to whether Akhenaten was probably in the last two or three years of Akhenaten. Semnakh Ka became the only pharaoh over Egypt, and is likely to rule for less than a year.

When he took the throne of the country, Akhenaten tried to unite the gods of ancient Egypt, including the god Amun-Re in the form of worshiping the sun god alone. In the fourth year of his reign, Akhenaten chose a site for his new capital to move away from Thebes, the cult center and priests of Amun-Re, who resisted his new religion. The following year, he began to build a new temple for the god Aten and a large palace surrounded by a large city. There are currently only remnants of this city but it was on a large area and was characterized by urban planning. The Nefertiti statue was found during excavations in Akhetaten, and is preserved by the German Museum in Berlin (in Germany called the Egyptian Museum in Berlin). The king and his beautiful wife, Nefertiti, played the role of mediator between Lord Aten and the people.

Nefertiti, the royal wife of Akhenaten, had married her at the beginning of his reign, and had six daughters, and perhaps two of his children know sons from his other wife, Kia.
    Kiya, a secondary wife, was taken by Akhenaten and probably the mother of Tutankhamun (1332 - 1322 BC).

The daughters of Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti are:

    Meritaten Meritaten, his eldest daughter in his late reign, though it is more likely that she got this title because of her marriage to Samankare.
    Mekitaton's son Akhenaten II The reason for this assumption is the death of Mekitaton due to childbearing in the fourth year of Akhenaten's reign.
    The third daughter, who became the wife of Tutankhamun later, was Ank.

Doubtful relationships

There is a suspicion of the relationship between Akhenaten and his brother (Samankar) and the relationship between Akhenaten and his mother Queen Ti.

Twelve years after the death of Amenhotep III, his mother, Queen T, is still remembered in inscriptions as the Queen and beloved of the King. It has been suggested that Akhenaten and his mother acted as husbands until her death. This would be seen as incest at that time. Proponents of this theory view that Akhenaten's historical model is the legendary King Adipus of Thebes.

Akhenaten's love for Smenkh-kare and his attachment to him was out of the ordinary. Some have suggested that Samankare was the nickname for Nefertiti or Kia, and thus one of Akhenaten's wives.