Akhenaten Beliefs

Akhenaten Beliefs

Ancient Egypt is one of the finest examples of an ancient civilization known today. Their culture was one of many marvels. These included architectural wonders like the famous pyramids of Giza, as well as many other mathematical and medicinal advancements. One of the more fascinating elements of ancient Egyptian culture was their diverse and interesting religion. Egyptian religion covered all of the standard elements of life that most religions do, but was different in how certain elements of life and death were handled. The stories of the Egyptian gods are quite dramatic, with fighting and arguing with a dash of fratricide. Egyptian religion was not without its questioners however; with the most famous case being a pharaoh named Akhenaten.



Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, which is the belief in more than one god. Every religion has its ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...This changed with the rise of a new pharaoh named Akhenaten. Akhenaten is most famous for his belief that only one god should be worshipped: Aton, god of the sun (McKay et al. 26). This belief led to the pharaoh moving the capital of the country from Thebes to a new city: Amarna (Redford 22). This was a far–cry from the beliefs of the old Egypt, with only one god getting attention, and the others being neglected (it was said that the other gods were still acknowledged as existent, in some way, shape or form) (Redford 13). This new series of beliefs did not hold well with the Egyptian people, who bounced back to polytheism right after his death. Although author McKay at el. State that the ideas did not survive because of "no connection to the past" and "persecution of nonbelievers", perhaps the resistance to the new form of religion was because of the loss of power and jobs in the temple sect of the Egyptian economy (McKay 26)? No one can tell for

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