Existing comment:
Known as the "Heretic Pharaoh," Akhenaten broke with Egypt's religious traditions, which called for the worship of many gods.
He declared the solar deity Aten to be the one true god. Aten was depicted as the disk of the sun with radiating rays ending in human hands holding the ankh, symbol of life. In order to provide Aten with a home where other gods had not been worshiped, Akhenaten built a new capital city which he named Akhenaten, "Horizon of the Aten." It was here that he lived with his queen, Nefertiti, and their six daughters. After Akhenaten's death, the city was abandoned during the reign of his son-in-law, Tutankhamen, who reverted to the old religious beliefs. Later rulers, in an attempt to erase all memory of the heresy, demolished Akhenaten's city and reused its stone blocks for other sanctuaries. |