Akhenaten (who was born Amenhotep IV), is best known for his radical changes during his reign like elevating Aten the Sun Disk to the supreme deity, and moving the capital of Ancient Egypt to Amarna, a site which has given its name to the time period now referred to as the Amarna Period of Egypt. Amenhotep IV began his rule after his father’s death pretty normally, although he did begin to erect a few temples here and there for the Aten which was a bit odd. Then, in the fourth or the fifth year of his reign, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten (which basically means successful for or of great use to the god Aten), and moved the Egyptian capital from Thebes to a brand new city which he called Akhetaten (a site that is now known as Amarna or Tell-el-Amarna).
Akhenaten instituted some serious religious reforms in Egypt - he outlawed the old polytheistic Egyptian religion and elevated the Aten or the sun disk as the ultimate deity, establishing monotheism, and proclaimed himself as the living incarnation of the Aten. The people could only worship the sun disk through the pharaoh (which was him) all while also proclaiming himself and his queen Nefertiti as gods who were aspects of Aten and so his construct is still considered monotheistic. When his son Tutankhamun (born Tutankhaten) assumed the throne, he returned the capital to Thebes and reinstated the old religious practises to Egypt.
— CHAPTERS —
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Ancient Egypt Under Amenhotep III
2:59 Amenhotep IV Becomes Akhenaten
6:07 Amarna and the Amarna Letters
8:35 Akhenaten’s New Artistic Style
11:20 The Family of Akhenaten
14:26 Outro
