Difference between revisions of "Akhenaten" - New World Encyclopedia

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'''Akhenaten''', known as '''Amenhotep IV''' at the start of his reign, was a [[Pharaoh]] of the [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt]]. He was born to [[Amenhotep III]] and his Chief Queen [[Tiy]] at some point during his father's reign. Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of his 38-year reign, possibly after a [[co-regency]] between the two of up to 12 years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten's reign (subject to the debates surrounding [[Egyptian chronology]]) are from [[1367 BC]] to [[1350 BC]] or from [[1350 BC]]/[[1349 BC]] to [[1334 BC]]/ [[1333 BC]]. Akhenaten's chief wife was [[Nefertiti]], who has been made famous by her [[bust]] in the [[Ägyptisches Museum]] in [[Berlin]].
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'''Akhenaten''', known as '''Amenhotep IV''' at the start of his reign, was a [[Pharaoh]] of the Eighteenth dynasty of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. He was born to Amenhotep III and his Chief Queen Tiy at some point during his father's reign. Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of his 38-year reign, possibly after a co-regency between the two of up to 12 years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten's reign (subject to the debates surrounding Egyptian chronology) are from 1367 BCE to 1350 BCE or from 1350 BCE/1349 BCE to 1334 BCE/ 1333 BCE. Akhenaten's chief wife was [[Nefertiti]], who has been made famous by her bust in the Ägyptisches Museum in Berlin.
 
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''other names:''
 
''other names:''
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* '''Nefer-kheperu-Rê''' (''praenomen'', or throne name)
 
* '''Nefer-kheperu-Rê''' (''praenomen'', or throne name)
 
* '''Naphu(`)rureya''' (Variant of throne name found in the [[Amarna letters]])
 
* '''Naphu(`)rureya''' (Variant of throne name found in the [[Amarna letters]])
* Alternative spellings of '''Akhenaten''' (Name taken on conversion to [[Atenism]])
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* Alternative spellings of '''Akhenaten''' (Name taken on conversion to Atenism, exclusive worship of the sun deity )
 
- '''Akhnaten''', '''Akhenaton''', '''Akhnaton''', '''Ankhenaten''', '''Ankhenaton'', '''Ikhnaton'''  
 
- '''Akhnaten''', '''Akhenaton''', '''Akhnaton''', '''Ankhenaten''', '''Ankhenaton'', '''Ikhnaton'''  
 
==Atenist revolution==
 
==Atenist revolution==
''Main article: [[Atenism]]''
+
 
 
[[Image:Aten_disk.jpg|right|325px|thumb|Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten]]
 
[[Image:Aten_disk.jpg|right|325px|thumb|Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten]]
  
A religious revolutionary, Amenhotep IV introduced Atenism in the first year of his reign, raising the previously obscure god [[Aten]] (sometimes spelt Aton) to the position of supreme deity. Aten was the name for the sun-disk itself — hence the fact that it is often referred to in English in the impersonal form "the Aten". Akhenaten vastly simplified Egyptian religion by proclaiming the visible sun itself to be the sole deity, thus introducing [[monotheism]]. Some commentators interpret this as a proto-[[scientific]] naturalism, based on the observation that the sun's energy is the ultimate source of all life. Others consider it to be a way of cutting through the previously [[ritual]]istic emphasis of Egyptian religion to allow for a new "personal relationship" with God. This religious reformation appears to have begun with his decision to celebrate a [[Sed-festival]] in his third regnal year — a highly unusual step, since a Sed-festival, a sort of royal [[jubilee]] intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's divine powers of kingship, was traditionally held in the thirtieth year of a Pharaoh's reign.
+
A religious revolutionary, Amenhotep IV introduced Atenism in the first year of his reign, raising the previously obscure god Aten (sometimes spelt Aton) to the position of supreme deity. Aten was the name for the sun-disk itself — hence the fact that it is often referred to in English in the impersonal form "the Aten". Akhenaten vastly simplified Egyptian religion by proclaiming the visible sun itself to be the sole deity, thus introducing [[monotheism]]. Some commentators interpret this as a proto-scientific naturalism, based on the observation that the sun's energy is the ultimate source of all life. Others consider it to be a way of cutting through the previously [[ritual]]istic emphasis of Egyptian religion to allow for a new "personal relationship" with God. This religious reformation appears to have begun with his decision to celebrate a Sed-festival in his third regnal year — a highly unusual step, since a Sed-festival, a sort of royal [[jubilee]] intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's divine powers of kingship, was traditionally held in the thirtieth year of a Pharaoh's reign.
  
Year 5 marks the beginning of his construction of a new capital, [[Akhetaten]] ('Horizon of Aten'), at the site known today as [[Amarna]]. In the same year, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten ('Effective Spirit of Aten') as evidence of his new worship. Very soon afterward he moved the religious capital of Egypt from [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] to Akhetaten, though construction of the city seems to have continued for several more years. In honor of Aten, Akhenaten also oversaw the construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt, including one at [[Karnak]], close to the old temple of [[Amun]].  In these new temples, Aten was worshipped in the open sunlight, rather than in dark temple enclosures, as the old gods had been. Akhenaten is also believed to have composed the [[Great Hymn to the Aten]].
+
Year 5 marks the beginning of his construction of a new capital, Akhetaten ('Horizon of Aten'), at the site known today as Amarna. In the same year, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten ('Effective Spirit of Aten') as evidence of his new worship. Very soon afterward he moved the religious capital of Egypt from [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] to Akhetaten, though construction of the city seems to have continued for several more years. In honor of Aten, Akhenaten also oversaw the construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt, including one at Karnak, close to the old temple of Amun.  In these new temples, Aten was worshipped in the open sunlight, rather than in dark temple enclosures, as the old gods had been. Akhenaten is also believed to have composed the Great Hymn to the Aten.
  
Initially, Akhenaten presented Aten as a variant of the familiar supreme deity '''Ra-Harakhti''' (itself the result of an earlier fusion of two solar deities, [[Ra]] and [[Horus]]), in an attempt to put his ideas in a familiar Egyptian religious context. However, by Year 9 of his reign Akhenaten declared that Aten was not merely the supreme god, but the only god, and that he, Akhenaten, was the only intermediary between Aten and his people. He even ordered the defacing of Amun's temples throughout Egypt.   
+
Initially, Akhenaten presented Aten as a variant of the familiar supreme deity '''Ra-Harakhti''' (itself the result of an earlier fusion of two solar deities, Ra and Horus), in an attempt to put his ideas in a familiar Egyptian religious context. However, by Year 9 of his reign Akhenaten declared that Aten was not merely the supreme god, but the only god, and that he, Akhenaten, was the only intermediary between Aten and his people. He even ordered the defacing of Amun's temples throughout Egypt.  Departing from the btraditional of claiming to be divine, Akhenaton appears to have regarded himself as high priest, and his chief wife, Nefertiti, as high priestess.  He afforded Nefertiti with a great deal of authority.  Indeed, the size of their
  
 
Aten's name is also written differently after Year 9, to emphasise the radicalism of the new regime, which included a ban on [[idols]], with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays (commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten, who by then was evidently considered not merely a sun god, but rather a universal deity.  
 
Aten's name is also written differently after Year 9, to emphasise the radicalism of the new regime, which included a ban on [[idols]], with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays (commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten, who by then was evidently considered not merely a sun god, but rather a universal deity.  

Revision as of 12:44, 8 February 2006

Akhenaton redirects here. For the French hip hop artist, see Akhenaton (rapper).
Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
style="border-bottom:2px solid Template:Hiero/nk/bordercolour; background:Template:Hiero/nk/bgcolour; padding:5px; text-align:center;"|Amenhotep (IV)
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style="border-bottom:2px solid Template:Hiero/nk/bordercolour; background:Template:Hiero/nk/bgcolour; padding:5px; text-align:center;"|Akhenaten in hieroglyphs
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Akhenaten, known as Amenhotep IV at the start of his reign, was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. He was born to Amenhotep III and his Chief Queen Tiy at some point during his father's reign. Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of his 38-year reign, possibly after a co-regency between the two of up to 12 years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten's reign (subject to the debates surrounding Egyptian chronology) are from 1367 B.C.E. to 1350 B.C.E. or from 1350 B.C.E./1349 B.C.E. to 1334 B.C.E./ 1333 B.C.E. Akhenaten's chief wife was Nefertiti, who has been made famous by her bust in the Ägyptisches Museum in Berlin.

other names:

  • Amenhotep (IV), (nomen, or birth name)
  • Amenophis (Greek variant of birth name)
  • Nefer-kheperu-Rê (praenomen, or throne name)
  • Naphu(`)rureya (Variant of throne name found in the Amarna letters)
  • Alternative spellings of Akhenaten (Name taken on conversion to Atenism, exclusive worship of the sun deity )

- Akhnaten', Akhenaton, Akhnaton, Ankhenaten, Ankhenaton, Ikhnaton

Atenist revolution

File:Aten disk.jpg
Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten

A religious revolutionary, Amenhotep IV introduced Atenism in the first year of his reign, raising the previously obscure god Aten (sometimes spelt Aton) to the position of supreme deity. Aten was the name for the sun-disk itself — hence the fact that it is often referred to in English in the impersonal form "the Aten". Akhenaten vastly simplified Egyptian religion by proclaiming the visible sun itself to be the sole deity, thus introducing monotheism. Some commentators interpret this as a proto-scientific naturalism, based on the observation that the sun's energy is the ultimate source of all life. Others consider it to be a way of cutting through the previously ritualistic emphasis of Egyptian religion to allow for a new "personal relationship" with God. This religious reformation appears to have begun with his decision to celebrate a Sed-festival in his third regnal year — a highly unusual step, since a Sed-festival, a sort of royal jubilee intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's divine powers of kingship, was traditionally held in the thirtieth year of a Pharaoh's reign.

Year 5 marks the beginning of his construction of a new capital, Akhetaten ('Horizon of Aten'), at the site known today as Amarna. In the same year, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten ('Effective Spirit of Aten') as evidence of his new worship. Very soon afterward he moved the religious capital of Egypt from Thebes to Akhetaten, though construction of the city seems to have continued for several more years. In honor of Aten, Akhenaten also oversaw the construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt, including one at Karnak, close to the old temple of Amun. In these new temples, Aten was worshipped in the open sunlight, rather than in dark temple enclosures, as the old gods had been. Akhenaten is also believed to have composed the Great Hymn to the Aten.

Initially, Akhenaten presented Aten as a variant of the familiar supreme deity Ra-Harakhti (itself the result of an earlier fusion of two solar deities, Ra and Horus), in an attempt to put his ideas in a familiar Egyptian religious context. However, by Year 9 of his reign Akhenaten declared that Aten was not merely the supreme god, but the only god, and that he, Akhenaten, was the only intermediary between Aten and his people. He even ordered the defacing of Amun's temples throughout Egypt. Departing from the btraditional of claiming to be divine, Akhenaton appears to have regarded himself as high priest, and his chief wife, Nefertiti, as high priestess. He afforded Nefertiti with a great deal of authority. Indeed, the size of their

Aten's name is also written differently after Year 9, to emphasise the radicalism of the new regime, which included a ban on idols, with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays (commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten, who by then was evidently considered not merely a sun god, but rather a universal deity.

The early stage of Atenism appears to be a kind of henotheism familiar in Egyptian religion*, but the later form suggests a proto-monotheism. The idea of Akhenaten as the pioneer of monotheistic religion was promoted by Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis), in his book Moses and Monotheism and thereby entered popular consciousness. Recently Ahmed Osman has even claimed Moses and Akhenaten to be the same person, supporting his belief by interpreting aspects of biblical and Egyptian history. This would mesh with Osman's other claim that Akhenaten's maternal grandfather Yuya was the same person as the Biblical Joseph.

Mainstream Egyptologists do not take these speculations seriously, pointing out that there are direct connections between early Judaism and other Semitic religious traditions, but no identifiable links to Atenism. It is also known that Yuya's family were part of the regional nobility of Akhmin, in Upper Egypt, which would make it very unlikely that he was an Israelite.

Immanuel Velikovsky, in Oedipus and Akhnaton, Myth and History, Doubleday, 1960, argued that Moses was neither Akhenaton, nor one of his followers. Instead, Velikovsky identifies Akhenaton as the history behind Oedipus and moved the setting from the Greek Thebes to the Egyptian Thebes.

  • It is worth noting that there is a modern-day religion akin to ancient Egyptian religious practice (with the exception of Atenism) which is referred to as "Kemetic Orthodoxy." (http://www.kemet.org) The point of mentioning it here is that the practitioners consider both the ancient Egyptian religion and their modern equivalent to be monolatrous Monolatrism.(http://www.kemet.org/kemexp1.html) Changes in Atenism are easier to understand as a shift from monolatry to proto-monotheism is considerably less radical than a shift from henotheism.

Depictions of the Pharaoh and his family

File:Akhenaten (realistic).jpg
a portrait of Akhenaten in the naturalistic style of the late-Amarna period, associated with the sculptor Thutmose

Styles of art that flourished during this short period are markedly different from other Egyptian art, bearing a variety of affectations, from elongated heads to protruding stomachs, exaggerated ugliness and the beauty of Nefertiti. Significantly, and for the only time in the history of Egyptian royal art, Akhenaten's family was depicted in a decidedly naturalistic manner, and they are clearly shown displaying affection for each other. Nefertiti also appears beside the king in actions usually reserved for a Pharaoh, suggesting that she attained unusual power for a queen. Artistic representations of Akhenaten give him a strikingly bizarre appearance, with slender limbs, a protruding belly and wide hips, giving rise to controversial theories such as that he may have actually been a woman masquerading as a man, or that he was a hermaphrodite or had some other intersex condition. The fact that Akhenaten had several children argues against these suggestions.

However, it is also suggested by Bob Brier, in his book "The Murder of Tutankhamen", that the family suffered from Marfan's syndrome, a dominant autosomal mutation of Chromosome 15, which is known to cause elongated features, a long thin face, arachnodactyly (spider like fingers), a sunken chest and an enlarged aorta, with a proneness for heart problems. Conic shaped eyes also gives a distinctive slit eyed appearance, and may be associated with short-sightedness. Brier speculates that this may explain Akhenaten's appearance, and perhaps his fascination with the sun - since Marfan's sufferers often feel cold easily. See http://www.exn.ca/Stories/1999/03/05/56.asp

As evidence of Marfan's Syndrome, being a dominant characteristic it tends to be passed on to the children, usually appearing after 10 years of Age. Artists tended to show Akenaten's children as suffering the same physical character as their father. If the family did suffer from Marfan's syndrome it could help explain the high mortality of Akhenaten, three of his daughters, and his son Smenkhkare within a brief period of 5 years at the end of his reign. Against the Marfan's diagnosis is the fact that his son, Tutankhamon, does not appear to have suffered from the condition. An alterntive source of the elevated mortality of the Royal Family of the Amarna period is the fact that a known pandemic was sweeping the region (see below).

It is possible that the history of the royal family inbreeding could have finally taken a physical toll. This claim is countered by the fact that Akhenaten's mother Tiy was not from within the royal family, probably being the sister of Ay (Pharaoh after Tutankhamon), and High Priest Anen.

It has also been claimed that he suffered from acromegaly, a thyroid disorder that can cause longer and thicker bones, oversized jaw, dolicephaly, bilharzia and altered sex characteristics. However, other leading figures of the Amarna period, both royal and otherwise, are shown with some of these features, suggesting a possible religious connotation – though its also possible that his family and court were depicted as similarly formed to Akhenaten as a compliment to him. In addition, in Akhenaten's later reign, art becomes less idiosyncratic. Under the new chief sculptor Thutmose, Akhenaten is depicted as more normal-looking. Some claim that his earliest portraits appear the most normal, with a progression towards more elongated and feminine features later in life, suggesting an endocrine disorder of post-pubertal onset, but the earliest images of the pharaoh are in the conventional pre-Amarna style.

Unless Akhenaten's mummy is located and identified, these proposals are likely to remain speculative.

Problems of the reign

Crucial evidence about the latter stages of Akhenaten's reign was furnished by discovery of the so-called "Amarna Letters". These letters comprise a priceless cache of incoming clay tablets sent from imperial outposts and foreign allies. The letters suggest that Akhenaten's neglect of matters of state were causing disorder across the massive Egyptian empire. The governors and kings of subject domains wrote to beg for gold, and also complained of being snubbed and cheated. Early on in his reign, Akhenaten fell out with the king of Mitanni. He may even have concluded an alliance with the Hittites, who then attacked Mitanni and attempted to carve out their own empire. A group of Egypt's other allies who attempted to rebel against the Hittites were captured, and wrote begging Akhenaten for troops; he evidently did not respond to their pleas.

Plague and Pandemic

This Amarna period is also associated with a serious outbreak of a pandemic, possibly the plague, or perhaps the world's first outbreak of influenza, which came from Egypt and spread throughout the Middle East, killing Suppiluliumas, the Hittite King. The prevailance of disease may help explain the rapidity with which the site of Akhetaten was subsequntly abandonned. It may also explain the fact that later generations considered the Gods to have turned against the Amarna monarchs.

Family

Amenhotep IV was married to Nefertiti at the very beginning of his reign, and the couple had six known daughters. This is a list with suggested years of birth:

  • Meritaten - year 1.
  • Meketaten - year 2.
  • Ankhesenpaaten, later Queen of Tutankhamun - year 3.
  • Neferneferuaten Tasherit - year 5.
  • Neferneferure - year 6.
  • Setepenre - year 8.

His known consorts were:

  • Nefertiti, his Great Royal Wife early in his reign.
  • Kiya, a lesser Royal Wife.
  • Meritaten, recorded as his Great Royal Wife late in his reign.
  • Ankhesenpaaten, his third daughter, and who is thought to have borne a daughter, Ankhesenpaaten-ta-sherit, to her own father. After his death, Ankhesenpaaten married Akhenaten's successor Tutankhamun.

Two other lovers have been suggested, but are not widely accepted:

  • 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.
  • Tiy, his mother. Twelve years after the death of Amenhotep III, she is still mentioned in inscriptions as Queen and beloved of the King. It has been suggested that Akhenaten and his mother acted as consorts to each other until her death. This would have been considered incest at the time. Supporters of this theory (notably Immanuel Velikovsky) consider Akhenaten to be the historical model of legendary King Oedipus of Thebes, Greece and Tiy the model for his mother/wife Jocasta. Mainstream Egyptologists do not take these speculations seriously.

Burial

Akhenaten planned to start a relocated Valley of the Kings, in the Royal Wadi in Akhetaten. His body was probably removed after the court returned to Memphis, and reburied someone in the Valley of the Kings. His sarcophagus was destroyed but has since been reconstructed and now sits in the Cairo Museum.

Succession

There is some debate around whether Amenhotep IV succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Amenhotep III, or whether there was a co-regency (of as much as 12 years according to some Egyptologists).

Similarly, although it is accepted that both Smenkhkare and Akhenaten himself died in year 17 of Akhenaten's reign, the question of whether Smenkhkare became co-regent perhaps 2 or 3 years earlier is still unclear, as is whether Smenkhkare survived Akhenaten. If Smenkhkare outlived Akhenaten, becoming sole Pharaoh, he ruled for less than a year.

The next successor was certainly Tutankhaten (later, Tutankhamun), at the age of 9, with the country perhaps being run by the chief vizier (and next Pharaoh), Ay. Tutankhamun is believed to be a younger brother of Smenkhkare and a son of either Amenhotep III or Akhenaten.

With Akhenaten's death, the Aten cult he had founded almost immediately fell out of favor. Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun in year 2 of his reign (1349 B.C.E. or 1332 B.C.E.) and abandoned Akhetaten, the city eventually falling into ruin. Temples Akhenaten had built, including the temple at Thebes, were disassembled by his successors Ay and Horemheb, reused as a source of easily available building materials and decorations for their own temples, and inscriptions to Aten defaced.

Finally, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, and Ay were excised from the official lists of Pharaohs, which instead reported that Amenhotep III was immediately succeeded by Horemheb. This is thought to be part of an attempt by Horemheb to delete all trace of Atenism and the pharaohs associated with it from the historical record. Akhenaten's name never appeared on any of the king lists compiled by later Pharaohs and it was not until the late 19th century that his identity was re-discovered and the surviving traces of his reign were unearthed by archaeolologists.

Akhenaten in the arts

  • Moyra Caldecott: novel Akhenaten: Son of the Sun (1989, 2003 ISBN 1899142258, eBook 2000 ISBN 189914286X)
  • Moyra Caldecott: novel The Ghost of Akhenaten (2003 ISBN 1843190249, eBook 2001 ISBN 1899142894)
  • Mika Waltari: novel The Egyptian (1945)
  • Agatha Christie: play "Akhnaton: A play in three acts" (1973)
  • Philip Glass: opera Akhnaten (1983)
  • Naguib Mahfouz: novel Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth (1985)
  • Allen Drury, historical novels A God Against the Gods (Doubleday, 1976) and Return to Thebes (Doubleday, 1976)
  • Judith Tarr, historical fantasy Pillar of Fire (1995)
  • Lynda Robinson, historical mystery Drinker of Blood (2001, ISBN 0446677515)
  • Carol Thurston, fiction, The Eye of Horus (William Morrow & Co., 2000), posits "Akhenaten was Moses" theory
  • Gwendolyn MacEwen, historical novel King of Egypt, King of Dreams (1971, ISBN 1894663608)
  • Thomas Mann, in his fictional biblical tetralogy Joseph and his Brothers (1933-1943), makes Akhenaten the "dreaming pharaoh" of Joseph's story

Further reading

  • Cyril Aldred: Akhenaten: King of Egypt (Thames & Hudson, 1988)
  • Rita E. Freed, Yvonne J. Markowitz, Sue H. D'Auria, Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten - Nefertiti - Tutankhamen (Museum of Fine Arts, 1999)
  • Naguib Mahfouz, Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth, (Anchor, trans. 1998)
  • Dominic Montserrat, Akhenaten: History, Fantasy and Ancient Egypt, (Routledge, 2000)
  • Ahmed Osman, Moses and Akhenaten. The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus, (December 2002, Inner Traditions International, Limited) ISBN 1591430046
  • Graham Phillips, Act of God: Moses, Tutankhamun and the Myth of Atlantis, (Pan, 1998)
  • Donald B. Redford: Akhenaten : The Heretic King (Princeton University Press, 1984)
  • Nicholas Reeves, Akhenaten: Egypt's False Prophet, (Thames and Hudson, 2001)

External links


Template:Pharaoh

Template:Ancient Egyptians ar:أخناتون cs:Achnaton da:Amenhotep IV de:Echnaton et:Ehnaton es:Akenatón eo:Aĥnaton fr:Akhénaton it:Akhenaton he:אחנתון hu:Ehnaton nl:Achnaton pl:Echnaton pt:Akhenaton sk:Achnaton sl:Ehnaton fi:Akhenaten sv:Akhenaton zh:阿蒙霍特普四世

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