 - Abt 1336 B.C.
-
| Name |
Akhenaten |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
Abt 1336 B.C. |
| Notes |
- «b»http://fabpedigree.com/s058/f000008.htm
«/b»(10th PHARAOH) of 18th Dynasty EGYPT
aka Neferkheperure-Wa'enre Akhenaten; aka Amenhotep IV; first monotheist; (`Akhenaton' = `He Who is of Service to Aten'); (some descents shown from his daughters are probably from one of his sisters, e.g. Baktaten, q.v.)
«b»http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenaten
Akhenaten«/b» (pronounced;«u»[1]«/u» often also spelled «b»Echnaton«/b», «b»Akhnaton«/b», or rarely «b»Ikhnaton«/b»; meaning «i»Effective spirit of «u»Aten «/u»«/i») was known before the fifth year of his reign as «b»Amenhotep IV«/b» (sometimes given its Greek form, «i»Amenophis IV«/i», and meaning «u»«i»Amun «/u» is Satisfied«/i»). A «u»Pharaoh «/u» of the «u»Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt «/u», he ruled for 17 years and died in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the «u»Aten «/u», which is sometimes described as «u»monotheistic «/u»; but «u»henotheism «/u» would be a more accurate description, since he ranked the Aten above other gods but did not deny their existence. Indeed, an early inscription likens them to stars as compared with the sun, and later official language avoids calling the Aten a god, as if to create for the solar deity a status above mere gods.
Akhenaten tried to bring about a departure from traditional religion, but in the end it would not be accepted. After his death, traditional religious practice was gradually restored, and when some dozen years later rulers without clear rights of succession from the Eighteenth Dynasty founded a new dynasty, they discredited Akhenaten and his immediate successors, referring to Akhenaten himself as 'the enemy' in archival records.«u»[5]«/u» He was all but lost from history until the discovery, in the 19th century, of «u»Amarna «/u», the site of Akhetaten, the city he built for the Aten. Early excavations at Amarna by «u»Flinders Petrie «/u» sparked interest in the enigmatic pharaoh, which increased with the discovery in the «u»Valley of the Kings «/u», at «u»Luxor «/u», of the tomb of King «u»Tutankhamun «/u», who may have been his son. Akhenaten remains an interesting figure, as does his Queen, «u»Nefertiti «/u». Their modern interest comes partly from his connection with Tutankhamun, partly from the unique style and high quality of the pictorial arts he patronized, and partly from ongoing interest in\emdash and, all too often, less than verifiable claims about\emdash the religion he attempted to establish.
«b»Early life
«/b»The future Akhenaten was a younger son of «u»Amenhotep III «/u» and his Chief Queen «u»Tiye «/u», his elder brother «u»Crown Prince Thutmose «/u» having died when both were children. Thus, Akhenaten's early education might have prepared him for the priesthood like his maternal uncle «u»Anen «/u»; at any rate, in an inscription dating to his early reign he emphasized his familiarity with ancient temple documents.«u»[6]
«/u»
Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of his 38-year reign, or possibly after a «u»coregency «/u» lasting one to two years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten's reign (subject to the debates surrounding «u»Egyptian chronology «/u») are from 1353 BC-1336 BC or 1351 BC\endash 1334 BC. Akhenaten's chief wife was «u»Nefertiti «/u», made famous to the modern world by her exquisitely sculpted and painted «u»bust «/u», now displayed in the «u»Altes Museum «/u» of «u»Berlin «/u», and among the most recognised works of art surviving from the ancient world.
After four years of reign, Akhenaten began building a new city to serve as the seat of the Aten and a governmental capital of Egypt. Its buildings were decorated in a startling new style which was intended to express the tenets of the new worship. Aten was the sungod.
«b»Family and relations«/b»
Amenhotep IV was married to Nefertiti at the very beginning of his reign, and the couple had six known daughters. Two possible sons of Akhenaten by other women have also been identified, Smenkhkare who succeeded him on the throne, and Tutankhamun. Their mothers are unknown. A secondary wife of Akhenaten named «u»Kiya «/u» is known; some have theorized that she gained her importance as the mother of one or both of these male heirs. This is a list of Akhenaten's children (known and theoretical) with suggested years of birth:
«tab»«u»Smenkhkare «/u»?\endash year 35 or 36 of Amenhotep III's reign
«tab»
«u»«tab»Meritaten «/u» \endash year 1.
«tab»
«u»«tab»Meketaten «/u» \endash year 3, possibly earlier.
«tab»
«u»«tab»Ankhesenpaaten «/u», later Queen of «u»Tutankhamun «/u» \endash year 4.
«tab»
«u»«tab»Neferneferuaten Tasherit «/u» \endash year 8.
«tab»
«u»«tab»Neferneferure «/u» \endash year 9.
«tab»
«u»«tab»Setepenre «/u» \endash year 9.
«tab»
«u»«tab»Tutankhaten «/u»\endash year 8 or 9 \endash renamed Tutankhamun later.
«tab»
His known consorts were:
«tab»«u»Nefertiti «/u», his «u»Great Royal Wife «/u».
«tab»
«u»«tab»Kiya «/u», a lesser Royal Wife.
«tab»
It has also been suggested that, like his father Amunhotep III, Akhenaten may have taken some of his daughters as consorts:
«tab» Meritaten, recorded as Great Royal Wife late in his reign, though it is more likely that she got this title due to her marriage to Smenkhkare, Akhenaten's co-regent;
«tab»
«tab»Meketaten, Akhenaten's second daughter. The reason for this suggestion is Meketaten's death due to childbirth in, or after, the fourteenth year of Akhenaten's reign, though nowhere does she have the title or cartouche of a queen.
«tab»
«tab»Ankhesenpaaten, his third daughter, also on tenuous evidence. In his final year or after his death, Ankhesenpaaten married Akhenaten's successor Tutankhamun.
«tab»
Inscriptions refer to a daughter of Meritaten, «u»Meritaten-ta-sherit «/u» and may record a daughter for Ankhesenpaaten, «u»Ankhesenpaaten-ta-sherit «/u», though the latter depends on a questionable reading of a single fragmentary inscription. The texts in question all once belonged to Kiya and were re-inscribed for the princesses later. The daughter (or, perhaps, hoped-for future daughter) might have replaced Kiya's daughter in those scenes.«u»[10]
«/u»
Two other lovers have been suggested, but are not widely accepted:
«tab» Smenkhkare, Akhenaten's successor and/or co-ruler for the last years of his reign. Rather than a lover, however, Smenkhkare is likely to have been a half-brother or a son to Akhenaten. Some have even suggested that Smenkhkare was actually an alias of Nefertiti or Kiya, and therefore one of Akhenaten's wives (see below).
«tab»
«tab»Tiye, his mother. Twelve years after the death of Amenhotep III, she is still mentioned in inscriptions as Queen and beloved of the King, but kings' mothers often were. The few supporters of this theory (notably «u»Immanuel Velikovsky «/u») consider Akhenaten to be the historical model of legendary King «u»Oedipus «/u» of «u»Thebes «/u», «u»Greece «/u» and Tiye the model for his mother/wife «u»Jocasta «/u».
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| Person ID |
I61739 |
Glenn Cook Family |
| Last Modified |
19 Jun 2013 |
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