Through extensive research of ancient Egyptian history, we see that there was a change in religion, and even lifestyle. The king of Egypt, Akhenaton, made a sudden change during his rule in the religious support of the Egyptian gods. With Akhenaton's preoccupation with new ideas and religious ideals, he cost Egypt its proud empire. We see that Amun-Ra was truly the most important and most powerful god in ancient Egypt. Akhenaton's changing the religious ideals did not last long. Even though Aton was claimed the sole god during Akhenaton's rule, Egypt and its people and the new rulers quickly altered the religious ideals towards Amun-Ra's favor by claiming him the sole god once again, after Akhenaton's death.

The most important Egyptian god during most of Egyptian history was Ra, the god of the sun. He was also known as; Re, Amun-Re, Amen-Ra, Amun-Ra, Amun, or Amon.(www, Mysteries) His name, Amon, meant "The Hidden One", also Amun means "the hidden" and Re means "the sun".( www,

Mysteries) To trace the origin of Amun-Re, we must go back to the Old Kingdom and Heliopolis, where the god Re first appeared as the primary manifestation of the sun god. Re is depicted with the he

When Akhenaton died, he was succeeded briefly by Smenkhkare, Akhenaton's first son in law, and then by a second son-in-law, Tutankhaton. The latter was forced to change his name to Tutankhamen, dropping the Aton and embracing Amon, to abandon Amarna and move back to Thebes, and to pay penance by giving the old gods new riches and privileges.(www, Britannica, Aton)

Taking this into account, we can truly state that Amun-Ra was the greatest god in Egyptian ideals. He was so powerful and favored by the people, that when his ideals were attempted to be changed to Aton, it caused the downfall of the ruler who attempted to make these changes. There is no dispute, Amun-Ra was truly the most powerful and respected god in ancient Egyptian history.

north to a desert bay on the east side of the Nile River, a place now known as Amarna. Here he began to build a new city, which he called Akhetaton, meaning "Place of the Aton's Effective Power".

During the rule of Ra, the people were happy. The people called him the god of light among other names such as; "The Becoming One... The Great

Akhenaton was the king of Egypt of the 18th dynasty. He established a new monotheistic cult of Aton. Akhenaton was a strange figure, spiritually and physically. Pathologists with no unanimous conclusions have studied representations of his peculiar, unmanly body.(www,Britannica, Aton) Some modern scholars have also questioned his ability to father children, but the presence of six daughters would certainly indicate that he was potent. Despite conflicting statements in the literature, it now seems certain that his mummy has never been found. Anciently and modernly he has been a controversial person, but the very fury of the controversy shows that he was a major figure of ancient history. The strong and changing forces of his day shaped his determined nature, and yet he stood estranged from his day in the strength of his ideas and ideals.

Within his first few years as pharaoh there were changes. He abandoned the temple to Re-Harakhte and began to build a place to worship a new form of sun-god--the disk of the sun, called the Aton.(www,Britannica, Aton) It had been a little-known deity for two generations before him. The

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