Amenhotep IV: The Revolutionary Ruler of Ancient Egypt
Amenhotep IV (1332 BC–1356 BC) was known as a revolutionary or even heretic king of Egypt because his reign was characterized by unprecedented transformation that lasted throughout his time as ruler. An old-fashioned and traditional Egyptian religion was introduced with a radical view that used to be unthinkable.
This was an unlikely decree for everyone to abide by, which is the belief that there was only one god — Aten. Read this article to discover what made Amenhotep IV stand out from the other rulers of his time.
Who Was Amenhotep IV?
Amenhotep IV was the second son of the great Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye. Little was known about him until his older brother — the would-be king — died. The unfamiliar and unrehearsed son was then appointed as co-regent to his father for almost eight years. Co-regency helped future kings to be prepared for the throne as they were exposed to important matters in the kingdom during this period.
After Amenhotep III died, Amenhotep IV eventually became the next crowned king of Egypt. He married Nefertiti, one of the most famous women of ancient Egypt, with whom he fathered six daughters. Having no sons, he later married his step sister with whom he had his son, Tutankhaten. Tutankhaten became Tutankhamen, who later succeeded to the throne.
Amenhotep IV’s Religious Influence
Many believe that Amenhotep IV’s delight for Aten was influenced by both his father, Amenhotep III, and mother, Queen Tiye. The adoration of Amenhotep III, who also called himself “Dazzling Sun Disk of All Lands,” for Aten was political. On the contrary, Queen Tiye’s preference was at a personal level. She even named her boat “The Aten Gleams.”
These seemingly innocent acts showed how the sun disk was becoming a matter of great importance in the religious point of view of the Egyptian rulers, even before Amenhotep IV’s leap of faith. Five years into his reign, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, which means “Living Spirit of the Aten” and/or “Beneficial to Aten,” with reference to the sun disk Aten.
His fervor for the Aten god brought unwanted changes and dissatisfaction all over Egypt, as their religion starkly moved from polytheism to monotheism (from many gods to one god). These alterations in the daily lives of Egyptians were short-lived, though. After the death of Amenhotep IV, everything went back to normal, including traditional religious activities and reverting to more familiar gods.
King Amenhotep IV
During the onset of his rule, everything was in order. King Amenhotep IV inherited a wealthy, prosperous kingdom. Egypt was at the top of the world in terms of military power, wealth and technology owing to the political prowess of his father.
As a dutiful son, he followed in his father’s footsteps and honored him with monuments. He offered temples and served the gods of Egypt, building a great family along the way with his beautiful wife, Nefertiti. It was a common belief that Queen Nefertiti assumed a vital role in the governance of the kingdom during the middle up to the later period of her husband’s reign.
Yet, near the middle of the king’s reign, he suddenly changed his name from Amenhotep IV, meaning “Amun is Pleased,” to Akhenaten, signifying “The Living Spirit of Aten.” He decreed that all Egyptians should worship one god alone, which was Aten. In his zeal, he ordered the shutdown of temples dedicated to Amun-Re. Images of any other gods were also banned, except those of Aten, to the displeasure of the wealthy priests.
Economic Decline
The affluence of the priests was challenged by this new decree. They eventually became impoverished with the vanishing of their most important source of revenues: the temples and the offerings. Also, their services were no longer needed.
Financial support to the pharaohs by the priests was no longer possible as Akhenaten became the only priest of Aten. Hence, this started the economic decline of the kingdom.
King Amenhotep IV was so focused on his religion for reasons unknown that he did not notice that his kingdom was now in danger of deterioration. Such a great kingdom was built by his ancestors only to suffer from his follies.
King Amenhotep IV took extra care to erase the remnants of Amun-Re and his ensembles in almost all crafts and relics, including testaments and memorials. This act slighted the documents of the history of the entire kingdom of Egypt and even affected the history of his father, whose name has the word Amon in it.
Remarkably, this same act happened to him after his death as well. Records of him were erased from history as if he never existed and never played an important role in the kingdom of Egypt.
The Heretic King Amenhotep the Fourth
Unlike the reign of Amenhotep III, which brought ancient Egypt to its golden glory, the supremacy of Amenhotep the Fourth almost placed the kingdom into a downfall. Amenhotep IV was considered a disgrace to Egypt, to the extent that his name was deliberately omitted from their country’s list of great rulers and kings.
It was as if the great god Amun-Re himself punished Akhenaten for turning his back on the supreme god. His successors also denounced his teachings right after he died and abandoned the city he built in honor of his god, Aten, leaving it in ruins.
Amenhotep IV, also called the heretic king, ruled the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt with so much fallibility. He was a one-of-a-kind ruler, not because of his skills as a leader but rather due to his religious beliefs and enactments that almost cost the prosperity of the entire kingdom.
Pharaoh Akhenaten
Right after his change of name, Amenhotep IV, now Akhenaten, changed the capital of his kingdom to a new location 200 miles from Thebes. He built a new city out of the barren land, a place which, according to him, was shown to him by the god Aten himself.
He chose such a place for it was free of other gods and claimed that no other deities had entered that place, only Aten. This city is called Tell el-Amarna today, and, accordingly, his almost 18 years of rule is called the Amarna Interlude or Amarna Period.
The new location was called Akhetaton, which means the Horizon of Aton, where the sun shines the brightest. It was a city devoted to the adoration of the god Aten. In its boundaries were the stelae that served as markers for its borders. Written on these boundary markers were his teachings or sermons, and people often gathered in these boundaries to listen to him teach.
In most historical images found by experts, it was revealed how Akhenaten lived a happy life together with his wife and daughters in Akhetaton. This was depicted in the relaxed, informal and familiar artwork, as opposed to the more common rigid and formal portrayals of royal families. The images showed an exemplary life projected by the prominent followers of Aten.
An Unconventional Ruler
A great city, obedient and law-abiding constituents, and a great temple for the god he adored — everything was in accordance with Akhenaten’s plan. He took care of the religious aspect, while his queen played a significant role in governance.
This was another unconventional feat started by this unlikely ruler, as women were not allowed to take great responsibilities during this time, especially that of running a kingdom. That was not the case during his rule.
This peace, nevertheless, was followed by succeeding tragedies, the first being the death of the pharaoh’s mother, Queen Tiye. Next was the death of Queen Nefertiti, his beautiful wife, which was followed by the death of one of his daughters. Although the causes of these deaths were not thoroughly discussed in history, these were indeed devastating occurrences in his life.
These dark times persuaded Akhenaten to heighten his crusade against the temples and priests of Amun-Re. Later, it was discovered that Akhenaten’s campaign only affected the high echelon of society who might have directly benefited from following the orders of the pharaoh. The extent of his campaign is still questionable, as excavations revealed that those who belonged to the lower level of society still held on to their previous gods and goddesses, as evidenced by the remains in the city of Akhetaton.
Pharaoh Amenhotep IV’s Death
Before he could reap the fruits of his fanatic endeavors, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV died in the city that he built. The cause of his death was not fully recorded in the book of history, but many believe that he was buried in his city, with his tomb being plundered by Amun-Re’s disciples. Meanwhile, others believe that his body was buried at the Valley of the Kings.
Temple of Amenhotep IV
Traditionally, Karnak was a religious place for Egyptians. It was a place where temples were built in honor of the many gods they had, especially those of the supreme god, Amun-Re. Similarly, Amenhotep IV built temples for his god as well. In Akhetaton, the massive temple for the god Aten was one of the highlights of the city.
Gem-pa-Aten, which literally means “The Aten is found,” was one of the temples built by Amenhotep IV in Karnak for the god Aten. Notably, the building was constructed differently for it only contained pillars and open spaces for sunlight to enter, with large tables for food offerings.
Unlike traditional temples that were enclosed in massive walls, this building had specific walls where the great deeds of pharaohs would be documented. It was built with no roofs as a sign of respect for the sun disk god.
Traditional temples were decorated with different gods’ paintings and statues brought by pious believers from all over Egypt, but this was not the case for Gem-pa-Aten. There was only a painting of Akhenaten, the living conduit between the people and the god. Akhenaten considered himself and his family as the representative of the god Aten, the mediator.
Amenhotep IV's Accomplishments
Religion
The contributions of the revolutionary king of ancient Egypt paved the way toward the modern views and cultures inherited by the world today. A notable example is the practice of monotheism, or the belief in one god and the denial of the existence of other gods. The three main religions in the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are firm practitioners of monotheism.
Despite being unpopular during his time, Amenhotep IV was able to let Egypt experience this unique religious view and belief which was later embraced by the world. Another novelty started by Amenhotep IV was how gods were represented in a more abstract way rather than in their usual anthropomorphic appearance. Thus, Aten was mostly shown only as rays of the sun reaching the royal family below it.
Arts and Culture
Where there is religion, arts and culture also follow. Unconventional art was encouraged by Amenhotep IV. He and his wife were represented not in the ideal and formal way associated with royalty, but rather in an intimate and domestic setup, such as being depicted while the king and queen were holding hands, which was not prevalent during this time.
Pharaohs and kings’ sculptures were made more angular to represent strength, vigor and youthfulness. However, Amenhotep IV also deviated from this. Historical artists unanimously show that Amenhotep’s sculptures were more feminine than those of his contemporaries, with the presence of rounded and protruding bellies, thick thighs, sloped shoulders, thin necks, an elongated face and chin, and spindly legs.
The concepts of naturalism and realism were also introduced by Amenhotep IV. Realism refers to the creation of what artists saw, especially in the depiction of the human body. A lot of articles discussed that Amenhotep IV himself was suffering from a physical deformation that was medical in nature, possibly from Marfan syndrome. Hence, the representations made of him showed such an aspect.
Talatat
Another accomplishment during this interval, the Amarna Period — named after the capital city he built — was the development of talatat, which referred to small blocks used for the construction of new buildings.
These small blocks were quite manageable even by a single worker. It was nothing like the previous materials they used, which were massive blocks that were considerably heavy and required several men to lift, even for just one block.
Talatat became a very handy material for temple and other building constructions, with no roofing to hinder the sunshine from entering the buildings. The talatat proved to be a remarkable choice for these structures, and the magnificent city of Amarna was built from these small, humble blocks.
Conclusion
Despite being unpopular among many of his constituents, one cannot deny that Amenhotep IV brought many novel views and ideas during his reign. His views may not have been popular then, but they paved the way to the monotheism that is now practiced by followers of the biggest modern religions.
Amenhotep IV was the second son of the great Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye.
He was the husband of Nefertiti and father of Tutankhamen.
In the middle of his reign, he changed his name to Akhenaten and decreed that all Egyptians should worship one god alone, which was Aten.
This decree eventually led to the decline of the kingdom.
He changed the capital of his kingdom to a new location 200 miles from Thebes and called it Akhetaton.
He took care of the religious aspect, while his queen played a significant role in governance, which was unconventional at that time.
Pharaoh Amenhotep IV died in the city that he built without a clear cause of death.
Amenhotep IV built temples for his god, one of which was Gem-pa-Aten.
His contributions paved the way toward the modern views and cultures inherited by the world today, such as monotheism.
He also spearheaded the development of talatat, which are small, manageable blocks used for the construction of new buildings.
Amenhotep IV’s reign, despite being marred by the decline of ancient Egypt’s prosperity, brought about many new ideas and innovations, making his rule a truly memorable one.
