The history of the Pharaohs of Egypt has been but an endless line of king lists with few pharaohs of note and even fewer with any individual personality, as far as we can glean from the texts, and with few major societal changes. Akhenaten, of the XVIII Dynasty, stands out as one of the rare pharaohs in Egyptian history whose glaring uniqueness both shocks and intrigues scholars at the same time. He ruled for seventeen years from 1375 BC to 1358 BC (though Egyptological dating is far from an exact science), but in this short span he single handedly turned Egyptian Religion and Art on its head. In his History of Egypt, Henry Breasted said of the pharaoh, "He was the first individual in human history," and as with all individuals there has been endless speculation into his nature and character. Theories abound in respect to his daily life: portrayals as that of a loving, and affectionate father to a father who may have been too affectionate; there are even theories that he !

had a more than "fraternal" relationship with his successor Smenkhare . All theories aside, the name of Akhenaten evokes images of a

Breasted, James H. The Dawn of Conscience. 1944: Charles Scribner's Son, London.

sun-drenched paradise, filled with a love of nature and a place where death lasted only as long as the night. Unlike most New Kingdom pharaohs, little is left of the written accounts of his reign. His successors made sure that as much evidence of his existence was wiped from the historical accounts as was possible. Inscriptions were hacked out of walls, his name was defaced wherever it was found, and his image as well as his symbol the Disk of Aten was destroyed. Which begs the question: why? What was his great crime that warranted his, as well as his successors, near total erasure from history?

As Aten's "prophet", Akhenaten was the source of all Atenist religious doctrine, it was unlikely if not impossible for his religion to survive after his passing; he had no apostles/disciples, nor the political power base to propagate his faith after he had died. Whereas Moses had Joshua, and Jesus had St. Paul, Akhenaten had courtiers who probably worshipped Aten solely for the political benefits, which it conferred on them.

Monotheism is a very complex form of religion, due to its sheer uniqueness. Historically, monotheistic religions do not exist as first religions, they must therefore, be "founded" by negating the "primary religions" usually through revelation or revolution. Such "positive" acts like revelation and revolution have their negative complements in the form of rejection and persecution. If this is the definition of true monotheism, where then does Akhenaten's religion fit into this category? In truth, it does not, unlike traditional monotheistic religions, it does not negate the primary religion; instead, it simply ignores the concepts it does not agree with, as evidence, the term god is never once used in any Atenist texts.

The Doctrine of the Aten: The Hymns to Aten

Secondly, God is alone. This is more a corollary to the first concept, as a support of the Aten's Oneness. In the Hymn, Akhenaten goes on to "...enumerate several significant aspects of the creation, thus broaching the mystery of how the Many came from the One." In the Judeo-Christian-Islamic belief, the unity of God - the One - is unattainable to the living - the Many - that are separated from him by an infinite void created by sin. Perhaps this idea originated with the monotheism of Akhenaten. "You are the One yet millions of lives are in you..." is perfectly indicative of this fact.

The second hymn outright mentions the name of the Aten and in the most prominent place: the beginning stating that the Aten is the "Creator of all, who makes them live."

It is as simple as this: he was the founder of the world's first known monotheistic religion . Within the span of half a decade he transformed Egypt's polytheistic religion - a cultic tradition in existence for over two millennia - negated the pantheon of gods, and declared the Aten (the sun-disk) the sole god responsible for all of creation. His influence is far-reaching, if subtle, and, as some academics argue, is felt in every major western religion and mythology. Before delving into the particulars of his religion , scholarship necessitates a brief description of the various schools of interpretation regarding the "Heresy" of Akhenaten.

Upon his accession as the Pharaoh of Egypt, Amenhotep IV slowly and quietly began his religious revolution. As mentioned earlier, his father had already elevated himself, the position of pharaoh, to that of a major deity or rather an aspect of the god Re-Harakthi, also known as Aten, or at least his living incarnation. It was said of Amenophis III that, "every one of his statues corresponds to a manifestation of the person of Ra [sic]." Amenophis IV would continue this tradition but worked to put Aten on the same level as Amun. He constructed several temples and may well have constructed a shrine to Aten at Thebes.

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