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... inherently. Before, the sculptors had drawn in their subjects and cut away the stone around them, now the artists chiseled the subject into the smooth wall so that it sank in rather than stand out. The hollow reliefs were more difficult to deface. Akhenaten had an easy time destroying the Amen images of those before him, his successors found things much harder. 15 Akhenaten here began a system of political reforms. He began temporarily thirty successful attempt to restore / regain the old power of the kingship.
Before Akhenaten there had been the polytheistic faiths. They had become static and traditional. A general feeling had presided that the gods had given a good order and the ruler must hold firmly to that order. When changes did come, religion tried to incorporate them into the system as if they came from creation.
The nation was rich, powerful, and coveted by lesser princes. To maintain this, a military group controlled the culture. This group interlocked with the priesthood. The richest and most powerful of the gods, such as Amun of Thebes or Re of Heliopolis, dictated the purpose of the state.
The king had to apply to the gods for oracles directing his daily activities. In return for wealth, elegance and position as figurehead, the pharaoh had relinquished his military and religious authority to others. 16 Among Akhenaten's reforms was the removal of Amun's name from the inscriptions throughout Egypt. Names of other gods and goddesses were removed from texts. Funeral rites now excluded Osiris and began the tradition of Akhenaten being the source of blessings after death. Nefertiti's figure replaced figures of goddesses on a stone sarcophagus. It was the closest to monotheism the world had seen up to that point. 17 For ten years it seemed there was peace, although there is evidence that the city was heavily guarded.
His rule's strength was by now crumbling. His persecution of the other gods may have been a primary reason for his loss of power. The army was definitely involved in the defiling of the temples of the other gods, if only as guards to protect those who did the defacement. In Memphis there was a growing feeling against Akhenaten. 18 At the advice of his personal advisor, Aye, he appointed a co-regent, Smenkhare. This was around his 15 th year.
Smenkhare moved with his new bride, Meritaten, where he began to restore the temples of Amun. He married his eldest daughter, Meritaten, to Smenkhare, who was considered mysterious in origin and character. He was rumored to be the illegitimate son of Amenhotep III, or a lapse in the part of Queen The, or a result of the relationship between Amenhotep III and his own daughter, Sitamun. By marrying the king's eldest daughter, Smenkhare secured his place in line for the throne. This is definitely an indication that the politics of the time are indeed, troubled. On November 21, 1352 B.
C. , chaos broke out in Akhenaten. Upon the death of Akhenaten's nine year old daughter, he became estranged from his wife. Nefertiti was stripped of all official status and place under house arrest in her Northern Palace in Akhenaten. The title of Great Royal Wife was taken over by Meritaten, and Smenkhare rose immediately to be co-regent. Around this time representations of the two men in a tender embrace emerged.
The only modern day explanations are those related to homosexuality. Akhenaten then married his 3 rd daughter Ankhesnpaaten, for reasons unclear. Akhenaten paid little attention to the army, and without a strong army and navy, foreign trade began to fall off, and internal taxes began to disappear into the pockets of local officials. Civil officials and the discontented priesthood finally combined with the army to discredit the new movement.
Akhenaten was strong enough to withstand their pressure, but his weaker successors could not. Aggressors took much of the Egyptian Empire during this time due to Akhenaten's neglect. This added to the negative feeling. 19 One of Akhenaten's fatal errors was that he hardly bothered with politics. He subordinated art, culture and politics to his idea.
Akhenaten ignored all pleas from other countries for help against invasion. 20 After Akhenaten's death he was succeeded briefly by Smenkhare. Three years after Smenkhare moved to Thebes, Akhenaten 'disappeared'. Smenkhare died, and was succeeded by another son-in-law, Tutenkhamen. He was forced to change his name to Tutenkhamen to re-embrace the former god Amun. He abandoned Amarna and moved back to Thebes, and paid penance by giving the old gods new riches and privileges.
After the death of Tutenkhamen the army took over the throne in the form of General Horemheb. He instituted counter reforms to restore old system fully. 21 Akhenaten's tomb has been found, but there is no evidence that he was ever actually buried there Despite conflicting statements, in the literature, it now seems certain that his mummy has never been found. Akhenaten died in 18 year of his reign. His successor, Horemheb claimed his reign began from the date of Amenhotep III, thus wiping out the entire rule of Akhenaten. 22 Egyptians had no point of reference for their system of dating. They started again with zero every time they acquired a new ruler. In the excavation of Amarna, the old belief that Akhenaten ruled for only eight years was refuted, proved erroneous because Flinders Petrie found several labeled storage jars dated up to 17.
From this, the 17 year reign was concluded, and so far this belief has not been refuted. After Akhenaten's death, the Horemheb was so successful at destroying evidence of Akhenaten's existence there was a ten year gap where there supposedly was no king. There was a very real 'historical gap. Finally, with the excavation of Amarna and Thebes, his existence was beyond question. For a good ten years, there records had shown no pharaoh at all. 23 Endnotes 1 Edward Malone, Akhenaton. n.
p. 1997, 1. 2 Breasted, James Henry. A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992), 201. 3 Edward Malone, Akhenaton. 4 Ibid. , 1. 5 Ibid. 2. 6 H. W. Janson.
History of Art. (New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. 1962), 57. 7 Ibid. , 48. 8 Ibid. , 58. 9 Ibid. , 57. 10 Phillip Vandenberg. The Golden Pharoah. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. , 1980), 49. 11 Ibid. , 51. 12 'Akhenaton' Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 1, 1989, 188. 13 Ibid. , 189. 14 Phillip Vandenberg. The Golden Pharoah. 299. 15 H. W. Hanson. History of Art. 49. 16 Ibid. , 57. 17 Phillip Vandenberg.
The Golden Pharoah. 299. 18 James Henry Breasted. A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to The Persian Conquest. 202 19 R. J. Williams. 'Amenhotep and the Hymn to Aten' Gods of the Ancient and Near East. (London: Thomas Nelson, 1958), 2. 20 Ibid. , 1. 22 Edward Malone. Akhenaton. 3. 23 Phillip Vandenberg. The Golden Pharoah. 97.
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