The Heresy of Akhenaten: The Creation and Doctrine of the First Monotheism

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

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hymn Aten, Founding Fathers, Khafre Giza, Disk Aten, Suti Hor, Akhenaten Monotheism, Egyptian Religion, Period Akhenaten, Living Truth, Schools Interpretation, university press, priesthood amun, cornell university press, university press ithaca, cornell university, sole god, press ithaca, amenhotep iv, egyptian religion, amarna period, monotheistic religions, amenophis iii, cycle life death, oxford press london,
Approximate Word count = 4237
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)