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Ancient History Assessment Essay: Amarna Revolution - Religious Changes
Friday, December 19

 Ancient History Year 12 Assessment
Task: Analyse the religious changes introduced during the Amarna ‘Revolution’ and their impact during this period.

The vast amount of significant religious changes during the Amarna ‘Revolution’ greatly impacted Egyptian society, and their radicalism suggests Akhenaten, the pharaoh of the time, used these religious reforms as a front to gain power and redefine the role of the king. The pharaoh introduced religious reforms that stemmed from the worship of the Aten, and branched out to the demolishment of the Amun cult and other traditional afterlife beliefs, impacting Egyptian culture in a mannerism that contributed to his self-deification. The development of monotheistic ideology is also speculated upon by historians and the lack of evidence supporting this theory indicates the pharaoh’s reasons behind the ‘revolution’ were due to personal political gain. The obvious elevation of the pharaoh’s status during the period and the evidential impacts of the religious reforms propose that Akhenaten’s intentions were to increase his power as king of Egypt throughout the time of his rule.
Though it appears the pharaoh during the Amarna ‘Revolution’ had religious ambitions prior to and ensuing his ascension, his installation of the Aten was not an innovative development to Egyptian religion, proposing an ulterior motive for the change. The Aten meant the physical disc of the sun, and was initially represented as a falcon-headed god with the sun-disc upon its head, known as Re-Horakhte. In the second or third year of his reign, Akhenaten changed this symbol with an icon; the Aten was thereafter represented as a giant disc with a ureaus and extending rays with hands, often depicted offering an Ankh to the pharaoh on temple pylons at Karnak. The new iconography impacted traditional art forms in Egypt, and the representations of the Aten continued as a disc and eventually as a globe. In many temple scenes, the king is drawn larger than the Aten, showing his dominance and power. However, despite the pharaoh’s claims that this ‘new’ god was unique and different, evidence validates that the Aten originated from his predecessors, and sun worship had already been amalgamated with other existing gods such as Amun-Re. The inscriptions of hymns carved into rock-cut tombs from the reign of Thutmose III mention the sun-disc in one of his titles: “The Aten when he reveals himself.” Religious reformations were constantly developing in Egypt, and according to the modern historian Gardiner: “revolution was already ‘in the air’” [1] during the reign of Amenhotep III. The iconic change, depictions of the pharaoh and the already existing presence of the Aten in Egyptian culture promote the idea of these religious reforms to have an ulterior motive that advocates Akhenaten as powerful and reaffirming of the king’s divinity.
The implementation of Akhenaten’s belief that the sun-disc was the only god in existence during year’s five to nine of his reign was a radical reformation of the basis of Egyptian belief, but also proved greatly beneficial to elevating the pharaoh’s status. During this time within the Amarna ‘Revolution’, he built a cult center exclusively for Aten, and begun about the removal of all other cults dedicated to other gods. He primarily attacked the god Amun, as it was the center of Egyptian worship; the pharaoh ordered the closure of temples to all gods and erased their names from the walls of all temples and tombs. The removal of the Amun cult greatly lowered the prestige and roles of priesthood, and as Akhenaten became more regarded as a god, the priests were degraded to performing lesser duties, such as carrying the king’s sandals. An enclosed cartouche with Aten’s name furthermore proposes that the Aten was the king’s divine co-regent, and shrines dedicated to Aten and the royal family found without private homes at Amarna highlight the increasing divinity of the pharaoh. Akhenaten also moved Egypt’s capital to a new capital city named Akhetaten, located halfway between Memphis and Thebes, in dedication to Aten. It became the religious and administrative centre of Egypt during year eight of the pharaoh’s reign, and diverted the estates and income of the Amun priests to building the new city. Fourteen boundary stelae were carved into rocks surrounding the city, with inscriptions revealing Akhenaten’s status as the son of the Aten: “Now it was the sun-disc, my father that the [proposal] concerning Akhentaten;” This text also presents the close relationship between Akhenaten and the Aten. The power reduction on priesthood and the upsurge of the pharaoh’s divine eminence accentuate that a likely reason for revolutionizing Egyptian religion was for Akhenaten’s personal economical gain and advancement of his divine status.
The religious changes during the Amarna period have been said to create a monotheistic religion, however the lack of evidence towards this theory provides more reasoning towards the pharaoh’s personal advantage. The little evidence that does advocate the change from polytheism includes funeral inscriptions from tombs no longer mentioning Osiris or Anubis, indicating the changes to afterlife beliefs and funerary customs Akhenaten made. This change impacted ritual practice as traditional Osirian beliefs and practice were abandoned, as were all notions of the idea of an ‘afterlife’. The inscription instead cited the Aten, showing the extent of the induction of Akhenaten’s religious beliefs. However, it is clear that the worship of other gods was not stopped in their entirety. Small amulets dedicated to the gods Hathor and Bes owned by workers in Amarna prove that citizens worshipped them. This suggests that Akhenaten’s focus wasn’t primarily of radically reforming the religious beliefs of the Egyptians, but rather on raising his own authority and redefining the status of kingship. Emphasis on his deific position is also seen in the ‘Hymn to the Aten’: “Save your son Nefer-kheperu-Re Wa-en-Re, (Akhenaten),” through stating that Akhenaten is the direct son of a god. The significance placed upon Aten and his relationship to Akhenaten can be seen to portray the pharaoh as eager for power, whilst Akhenaten’s intensity of inflicting belief in the Aten was not as intense at it appeared, gives evidence to show that self-deification was at the forefront of his motives.
The Amarna ‘Revolution’ was a period of great religious change that impacted Egyptian society, affecting iconography, priesthood, funerary customs, people and the economy. The pharaoh Akhenaten responsible for these reforms in Egyptian religion is implied to have a personal motive for his radical changes. Through examination of sources in regards to worship of the Aten, the removal of traditional gods and the Amun cult, as well as the possible installation of monotheism in Egyptian culture, the evidence suggests that many of the changes made by Akhenaten were not due to his ambitious religious beliefs, but for a new and more divine representation of kingship to exist, and thus allow him more power and authority as king. The changes to priesthood and the dedication of a new city to the Aten can be seen as a display of his increase of political power and economic benefit. By discerning the religious changes and their impact during the Amarna ‘Revolution’, the idea that the pharaoh Akhenaten brought about the revolution for his own personal gain can be observed.


By Caitlin Preval

FYI it's not the best essay so would not recommend plagiarism.

[1] “Egypt of the Pharaohs: An Introduction” By Alan Henderson Gardiner