The Death of Ramses II

When King Ramses II was 92 years old, In his reign in Year 67, he was finally united with his beloved Amon. His tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV7) was completed long before his death. Unfortunately for us, very little was left that the plundering tomb robbers hadn't stolen. Using the magnificent tomb of the relatively minor King Tutankhamon as a point of comparison, we can imagine that it must have been absolutely splendid. Ramses mummy was removed and hidden by the Valley priests at the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period, and the discover of KV5 was in a cache at Deir el-Bahari in 1881.

The new discover for KV5:

In 1989, an old tomb that had been deemed unimportant by Howard Carter in 1902 was rediscovered. It was KV5, now known to be the tomb of many of the sons of King Ramses II. It contains over 110 corridors and chambers dug hundreds of feet into the hillside. It is one of the largest tombs in all of Egypt, and is currently under excavation.

Daily hundreds of tourists stream past the remains and temples that once were either surrounded by the hustle and bustle of daily Ancient Egyptian activity, or echoed the silent communication between the Gods and humankind. Three thousand years have slipped over the desert, and day by day new discoveries appear.

The massive stone monuments, vibrating sympathetically with their celestial counterparts, have been covered and uncovered by those sands over the years. But late at night, when the humans sleep, and the nocturnal animals roam, Sirius rises in the east. And the wind whispers the name of King Ramses II or Ramesses II.

Cartouche of Ramses II

The temple in the city of Sohag of Upper Egypt, in the north side of the temple of Seti I. Any one can go to Sohag city from the capital (Cairo) by Nile river cruise or by train.

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Family, Life and Childhood of Ramses II

The son of King Ramses I was Seti I, and was the pharaoh who truly restored Egypt power to the greatness and harmony it had enjoyed before the Amarna period (which in the capital moved in the reign of Ankhenaten). He instituted a major building program and a clearly defined foreign policy abroad. He assumed the title "repeater of births," which indicated the beginning of a new and legitimate era.

The efforts of Seti secured the eastern borders with Syria and the western borders with Libya. Later, foreshadowing the famous battle of Kadesh led by his son Ramses II, Seti attempted for once and all to restore Egyptian dominance in Most importantly, Setis 13-year reign represents one of the most important periods in the history of Ancient Egypt, architecture and culture. The quality of the reliefs the temples and his tomb are unique in all of Egyptian art.

Seti continued on the great building project his father began in Karnak that his son Ramses would later complete: the Hypostyle Hall in the Temple of Amon. He built the magnificent temple at Abydos, the city sacred to Osiris. It is in this temple that the "Royal List of Abydos" is found. This is one of the important sources of Egyptian history and chronology.

Beyond this temple is the massive and mysterious "Osirion" or "Tomb of Osiris।" historians also attribute this to Seti, although there is evidence that it is much older. Setis finest work was his tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV17), the discover of KV17 by Belzoni in 1817. It is the longest, deepest and most beautiful of all of the tombs in the Valley.

The Valley of The Kings

Seti married within his own military "caste." King Ramses mother was Queen Tuya. She outlived her husband by many years. She was queen-mother in until her death in Year 22 or 23 of the reign of King Ramses the great, and statues of her appear frequently in Ramses temples and constructions. She appears on the facade at Abu Simbel, and in statue at the Ramesseum and at Ramses Delta capital, Piramesse. A beautiful portrait of Tuya was appeared in 1972 during a reclearance of her large tomb in the Valley of the Queens.

At 10 years of age, Seti recognized Ramses as "Eldest Kings Son," even though there were no other sons, for Ramses older brother died young. He was carefully trained as future king. He was named after his grandfather, a military man, the vizier and friend of Pharaoh Horemheb. Ramses, too, was trained in the martial techniques, and by his mid-teens he is seen as a participant of Setis Libyan campaign in the inscribed portrayals at Karnak. He rode alongside his father, learning directly from the pharaoh, but also learned from the masters of the various techniques and sciences: the inscriptions refer to the youth as overseer in the cutting of obelisks in the granite quarries of Aswan and working on his fathers many building projects. Again and again, inscriptions from the epoch around the empire refer to Ramses as an astute young leader.

One of the first sources of Ramses early years is found at Abydos, the dedication stele he set up in his father Setis temple. After his fathers death, Ramses had sailed to Abydos, the sacred shrine and ancient burial site of Osiris, and found that his fathers massive temple project was left unfinished and the burial sites of the earlier kings lay in ruins. Ramses immediately summoned the Court and reinitiated the project, making it clear that he would fulfill Setis wishes. On the stele he describes his youth.

King Seti himself made me great, while I was a child, until I reignedI was installed as eldest son, as hereditary prince upon the throne of Geb [the earth god or the world god] [He, Seti, said] "Crown him as king, that I may see his beauty while I live with him"He equipped me with women, a royal harem, as beautiful as those of the palace, those of the South and North were under my feet.

By the age of 15, Ramses had already married his two principal wives, Nefertari and Istnofret. Nefertari was always the Chief wife, until her death in Year 24 of Ramses reign. Her famous tomb is the most beautiful of all in Upper Egypt. The paintings inside her tomb are extraordinary, and have recently been completely restored. At Nefertaris death, Istnofret took her place. Apparently, she lived until Year 34.

These two wifes bore Ramses most important children. The first son of Ramses, Crown Prince Amenhirkhopshef, as well as at least three other sons and two daughters, were born unto Nefertari. Istnofret bore Merneptah, who would eventually succeed his father. She also bore a son named for his father, and Khaemwaset, who is often referred to today as the first archeologist. In his lifetime, as High Priest of Memphis, he was venerated as a great magician and restorer of ancient monuments.

One example of his restoration projects is the pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara, which contains the famous "Pyramid Texts." Over the course of his life, Ramses had eight principal wives. Following pharaonic custom, Ramses included several family members in his harem. One of his sisters and three of his daughters eventually became royal wives.

The power of Egypt forced the Hittites's king send his daughter to be wed to Ramses at the conclusion of the Hittite wars, and another one of his daughters came to join her 7 years later. There were also a number of Syrian and Babylonian royal ladies in Ramses harem. Ramses fathered over 100 children. He outlived twelve of his heirs. Merneptah, Ramses thirteenth son, became pharaoh when he was in his sixties.

Rameses had his name cartouched and writings about him made so deep in the surface of temples, that any successor would not be able to remove them.

Ramses II Childhood:

As a boy Ramses II (or Ramesses II) knew royalty was his future. When he was only about 10, he became heir to the throne of the 19th dynasty of Egypt by order of his father, Pharaoh Seti I. Ramses later married Nefertari. At about age 25, Ramses became Egypt’s pharaoh, or ruler, when his father died.

Ancient Egyptians thought of their pharaohs as gods in human form. Ramses’ cartouche (car−TOOSH), or symbol, shows his throne name. Part of it means "One Chosen by [the sun god] Re."
By the time Ramses came to power, the great Sphinx and the pyramids at Giza had already been standing for more than a thousand years near the banks of the Nile River. To remind people of his godlike status, Ramses built large statues and temples. One of his massive works was the city of Pi−Ramses, or House of Ramses. He placed obelisks, or tall stone pillars, everywhere and decorated the palace with brightly colored tiles.

Before Ramses ever became pharaoh, the Hittites, an enemy people, had taken control of the Egyptian city of Kadesh. During Ramses’ fifth year as pharaoh, he fought to get the city back. In battle, the Hittites caught Ramses and most of his troops in a surprise attack. According to Ramses’ accounts−−inscribed on stone temple walls all over Egypt−−he bravely charged the enemy, holding them off until more Egyptian soldiers arrived. The conflict ended in a draw, but Ramses declared victory. The Egyptians and the Hittites signed a treaty 16 years later, and Ramses also married a Hittite princess. A peaceful time period then began, and many Egyptians prospered under Ramses’ rule.

Ramses II Family:

King Ramses II married about 200 wives and fathered over 100 children. As a young man he co-ruled Egypt with his father, Seti I. He also successfully led Egypt in a series of wars against the Hittites and greatly expanded Egyptian territory.

The 19th Dynasty ended in political turmoil. Small wonder, with 59 daughters and 79 sons! Talk about a succession crisis! Ramses II outlived his first 12 sons, and was succeeded by his 13th. This son had a reasonably successful reign, but the dynasty stumbled along to end with an assortment of short and unremarkable claimants to the throne.

The original Prince Khaemwaset was one of the more famous sons of Ramses II as he became High Priest of Ptah but this Prince Khaemwaset although he also became a priest of Ptah did not rise to the same heights as his namesake.

Tomb of Ramses II's Sons:

The search for the tomb of Ramses II sons is on:

All of the other tombs in the vicinity were already excavated.

KV5 was only cursorily explored, then lost again.

Burton’s maps showed KV5’s entrance in the southern half of a long slope not far from KV6, the tomb of Ramses IX.

KV5

Queen Nefertari, which is located a few hundred feet from her husband’s memorial. Nefertari’s temple looks much alike the one we just visited in our visit to Egypt, but it has more statues, a total of 9, and the sanctuary has three doors leading inside. Most of the statues show the queen as making offerings to various gods of her era.

Related Posts:

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The Death of Ramses II
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Royal King List of Karnak (Karnak Tablet)
Royal King List of Abydos (Abydos Tablet)
Palermo Stone Kings List
Turin Canon Kings List
 

List of Egyptians Pharaohs

List of Egyptians Pharaohs, The rulers of ancient Egypt: c. 1725 BC – Sobekhotep IV c. 1695-1685 BC – Ay c. 1615-1595 BC – Nevbererau I c. 1560 BC – Taa (Thebes); first engagement between Thebes and Hyksos kings (Apepi) occurred during his reign

c. 1555 BC - Apepi (Hyksos)

1555-1550 BC – Kamose (Theban) 1550-1525 BC – Ahmose 1525-1504 BC – Amenhotep I 1504-1492 BC – Thutmose I 1492-1479 NC – Thutmose II 1473-1458 BC – Queen Hatshepsut 1479-1425 BC – Thutmose III (some co-regency with Hatshepsut) 1427-1400 BC – Amenhotep II 1400-1390 BC – Thutmose IV 1390-1352 BC – Amenhotep III 1352-1336 BC – Amenhotep IV 1336-1327 BC – Tutankhamun 1327-1323 BC - Ay 1323-1295 BC – Horemheb 1295-1294 BC – Ramses I 1294-1279 BC – Sety I 1279-1213 BC – Ramesses II 1213-1203 BC – Merenptah 1200-1194 BC – Sety II (yes there is a gap) 1194-1188 BC – Saptah 1188-1186 BC – (queen) Tausret – Sety’s principal queen 1186-1184 BC – Sethnakht 1184-1153 BC – Ramesses III – last to send expeditions to Punt 1153-1147 BC – Ramesses IV 1147-1143 BC – Ramesses V 1143-1136 BC – Ramesses VI 1136-1129 BC – Ramesses VII 1129-1126 BC – Ramesses VIII 1126-1108 BC – Ramesses IX 1108-1099 BC – Ramesses X 1099-1069 BC – Ramesses XI 1069-1043 BC – Smendes – power base at new delta city of Tanis 1043-1039 BC - Amenemnisu 1039-991 BC – Psusennes I 984-978 BC – Osorkon the Elder (Libyan) 978-959 BC – Siamun 959-945 – Psusennes II 945-924 BC – Sheshonq I (Libyan) 924-889 BC – Osorkon I (Libyan) 874-850 BC – Osorkon II (“) 850-825 BC – Takelot II (“) 825-773 BC – Sheshonq III (“) 702-690 BC - Shabitqo 690-664 BC – Taharqo (Nubian) 664-656 BC – Tanutamani 664-610 BC – Psamtek I – reunified Egypt (I know there’s an overlap, I don’t know why) 610-595 BC – Nekau II 595-589 BC – Psamtek II 589-570 BC – Apries; revolt of mercenaries at Elephantine during this time 570-526 BC – Ahmose II 526-525 BC – Psamtek III 525-522 BC – Cambyses 522-486 BC – Darius 486-465 BC – Xerxes 424-405 BC – Darius II 405-359 BC – Artaxerxes II 393-380 BC – Hakor 380-362 BC – Nectanebo I 362-360 BC – Teos 360-343 BC – Nectanebo II 343-338 BC – Artaxerxes III 205-180 BC – Ptolemy V Epiphanes reign 1532-1528 BC – Ahmose’s conquest of Avaris 818-793 BC – Pedubastis I – first local ruler to call himself king 746-716 BC – Nubian ruler Piy launches military expedition into Egypt and takes over Thebes (in Aswan) and many towns and cities in northern Upper Egypt

727-720 BC – Tefnakt declares himself king and gains control of western delta and Memphis 672-664 BC – Assyrian records indicate rule of king Nekau I; killed by Nubian King Tanutamani in 664 BC

c. 574-570 BC – Apries makes good use of Egyptian fleet in strategically well-conceived series of campaigns moved to Cyprus and Phoenicia

c. 510-497 BC – Darius completes construction of canal that runs from Pelusiac branch of the Nile thru Adi Tumilat to the Bitter Lakes and the Red Sea 343-342 BC – Artaxerxes III and Persians invade and conquer Egypt’s Nectanebo II (who has 20,000 mercenaries). See ancient egypt List of King's Cartouches

King Khufu

King Thutmose III

King Tut

Cartouche

Nefertiti woman is queen nefertiti

Queen Nefertiti: Her name means “the beautiful [or youthful] woman has come.” In ancient times, when the scene was complete, Nefertiti would have been seen with her husband, the pharaoh Akhenaten. King Akhenaten and Nefertiti are best known for leading a religious transformation. They tried to change Egyptian religious practice from the worship of multiple gods to the worship of one deity only—Aten, the disc of the sun. They moved the capital of Egypt from Thebes to Amarna and dedicated it to Aten to show their devotion. At some time during her husband’s reign, Nefertiti was made core gent, the pharaoh’s equal. Proof of this is seen on other reliefs that show her the same size as the pharaoh.

Nefertiti was the wife of the pharaoh Akhenaton. Akhenaton was an Egyptian pharaoh who reigned Egypt from 1353 to 1336 BC. Nefertiti supported her husband's revolution in the Egyptian religion. Which was the religion that celebrated the power of the sun disk Aten and the sun god Aton.

Nefertiti is best known for her portrait bust, found at Tell el- Amarna. Which was the main province in the country. Nefertiti had six daughters. Two of them had later became queens of Egypt. At around the 12th year of Akhenaton's reign Nefertiti probably retired after losing favor from Akhenaton, if not she must have died. Some of Nefertiti's things were found in a place in Amarna.

Nefertiti is standing with her arms raised offering a bouquet of lotus flowers to a god whose multiple arms and hands reach out to accept the gift. Who do you think the god could be? What might the many hands symbolize?

Nefertiti jumps out at us from history thanks to this sculpture, which was found in the abandoned Amarna workshop of the sculptor Tuthmosis by German archaeologists in 1912. She stood out in her time for her power as well as her beauty. Ancient carvings show images of Nefetiti killing traditional Egyptian enemies. Usually, only pharaohs were shown in this powerful and aggressive pose. Nefertiti was Akhenaten’s most important wife, and the mother of six daughters. Historians aren’t sure if she or another of Akhenaten’s wives was the mother of King Tut. This statue is now in Germany inside one of the most famous museum in the world.

King Akhenaten, his beautiful wife Nefertiti, and his probable son Tutankhamun were all part of this dynasty (dynasty 18). During this time one of the most dramatic changes in Egypt took place: Akhenaten built a new city as a capital, Amarna, for a god named the Aten, and outlawed all other gods. The Amarna period, sometimes called “The Amarna Experiment,” resulted in some of the bestknown art, tombs, writing and records of ancient Egypt. That is why, even though the period was only around 30 years long, it is one of the most famous in Egyptian history.

In fact Akhenaten focused in his religion ideas and didn't care of the foreign affairs like traded or the power of Egypt in Asia.

Questions and Facts about Nefertiti:

Did Mutnodjmet really exist?

Yes, Mutnodjmet really existed, as did Nefertiti, Queen Tiye, Akhenaten, Vizier Ay, Lady Kiya, General Horemheb, General Nakhtmin... Suffice it to say that almost every character in the book was based on an historical personage.

While the main historical events are accurate, such as Ay’s rise to power, Akhenaten’s obsession with Aten, the dream of Amarna, and Nefertiti’s unparalleled influence at court, liberties were taken with personalities, names and minor historical events. For instance, no one can be certain how Mutnodjmet felt about her sister’s vision of an Egypt without the Amun Priests, but in an image of her found in Amarna she is standing off to one side, her arms down while everyone else is enthusiastically embracing Aten. In a period where art attempted to portray reality for the first time, I found this significant. And while Nefertiti did have six daughters with Akhenaten, she never, so far as we know, produced twins the way she did in the novel. Historical uncertainties revolve as well around the questions of whether Amunhotep the Younger ever had a co-regency with his father, or whether Nefertiti ever did rule on her own. These are questions that can only be answered by conjecture, and I went with what seemed most plausible given the historical evidence.

Today, some of these questions could be answered by a firm identification of the Amarna mummies. Although much of Kiya’s funerary equipment was found in her son Tutankhamun’s tomb, little to nothing remains that was Akhenaten’s or Nefertiti’s. How old was Nefertiti when she died? What killed Tiye? Dr. Joann Fletcher contends that a cache of mummies found in tomb KV55 are the bodies of Nefertiti and the Dowager Queen. If so, they were stunning beauties even in death.

Some historians mentioned that Nefertiti had been captivedand and prison in a Northern Palace in the end of Akhenaten' reign, Is that true?

No. This belief was predicated upon an inscription on the Northern Palace which archaeologists believed read “Nefertiti.” The name had been removed from the palace while Nefertiti was still alive and replaced with the name of Princess Meritaten. If Princess Meritaten had truly removed her mother’s name from the palace, it would indeed seem to indicate a daughter taking the place of her mother. However, the inscription was later discovered to actually read “Kiya.” After Kiya’s death Nefertiti and her daughter set out to erase the existence of Nefertiti’s only real rival. Unfortunately, many internet sites haven’t bothered to update their information, so the erroneous theory of Nefertiti having been banished persists.

Is it true that Akhenaten had Marfan’s syndrome?

There is absolutely no anthropological or DNA evidence to suggest this was the case. Those who believe that Akhenaten had Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by unusually long limbs and curvature of the spine, do so simply because some of his statues show a man with long arms and an elongated head. It is essential to remember, however, that Akhenaten purposefully changed the artistic style which all of his predecessors had used, creating a new style known today as Amarna Art. For as many images as there are of Akhenaten with a long, leonine face and feminine hips, there are just as many images from when he was a child displaying none of these startling features. During the Amarna period, all of Akhenaten’s family begins to appear with long arms, elongated heads and large hips, even Nefertiti. It is highly unlikely that the entire royal family had this connective tissue disorder, particularly in light of Nefertiti’s bust which resides in Berlin and shows none of the characteristics that those with Marfan Syndrome typically display.

Nefertiti ever ruled as Pharaoh, Is that true?

This depends on which Egyptologist you ask and what camp they fall into. Amunhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, and when Nefertiti became co-regent with her husband she changed her name to Ankhkheperura-Neferneferuaten. It is not beyond the limits of plausibility, then, to imagine that Nefertiti later became Pharaoh Ankhkheperura-Smenkhkara, who ruled briefly after Akhenaten’s death. A beautiful gold figurine in Tutankhamun’s tomb depicts a female Pharaoh (not a queen) walking atop an ebony leopard. Egyptologists have dated the figure back to Akhenaten’s reign, which means there is only one possibility of who this feminine ruler of Egypt could be: Nefertiti. There is also evidence of foreign correspondence during Pharaoh Ankhkheperura-Smenkhkara’s time that points to Egypt’s Pharaoh being Nefertiti. If you want more information about this, I suggest checking out the work of Dr. Joann Fletcher, who wrote The Search for Nefertiti: The True Story of an Amazing Discovery and whose work was featured on the Discovery Channel. Dr. Fletcher stirred up quite the controversy with this book and her announcement that she discovered the body of Nefertiti.

Dating as far back as 1500 BCE, palaces were more comfortable than you or I might imagine given that it was 3,500 years ago. The wealthy shaved with copper razors and bathrooms were discovered in Amarna equipped with toilet seats that matched the limestone sink bowls. Royal women regularly applied face cream, eye shadow and lipstick. Women had elaborate containers for their makeup, and very wealthy women carried handheld mirrors made of polished brass the way women carry purses today.

If Nefertiti ruled on her own, then who would have been her queen?

Just as Hatshepsut made herself Pharaoh and her daughter queen, Nefertiti would have named her eldest daughter Meritaten as her consort. Surprising though this may seem, rulers of Egypt searched for balance, the feminine with the masculine, and in religious ceremonies it was necessary to have a female part which Pharaoh, as a “man,” couldn’t play.

We see many source one of them at Michelle Moran online

Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)

During Akhenaten's rule, from 1353 to 1336 BCE, He moved the capital city of Egypt from Thebes to Amarna, then known as Akhetaten, a city he constructed on what had been just a piece of desert. There he created a new religion and new temples. His influence lived on beyond his death.

Akhenaten

You may know that throughout their history ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods and goddesses. In some ways these deities were a lot like people: they had arguments, could get married and had children. Together, they were believed to control everything from health to rainfall.

Everyday Egyptians kept images of the gods and goddesses in their homes and communicated with them. Making offerings,celebrating religious holidays and preparing complex fun eralswere all a part of Egyptians’ constant interactions with their royal gods.

Akhenaten was born into this world of many gods. At that time, Amun Re was the most important of Egypt’s gods. Amun Re was a mysterious god with many abilities, but he appeared to the people as the sun. A powerful group of priests served Amun-Re.

When Akhenaten became king in 1353 BC he began to make changes. He declared that there was only one god who could be worshiped –the Aten – and he declared that as pharaoh he was the only person who could communicate with this god.

Why did Akhenaten make this huge change?Some people think he wanted to get rid ofthe powerful priests of Amun Re, whose power could challenge the pharaohs. Other people think that Akhenaten was totally dedicated to the Aten, and that he was one of the first people in history to express unique and personal thoughts on spirituality.

The Aten literally meant “the disk of the sun.” Akhenaten searched for a place to build a new city for the Aten. He found it in a spot where the sun appeared to rise from an eastern valley and spread its light over abroad piece of land in front of the Nile river.The new city was named Akhetaten, “horizon of the Aten.” Today, historians call the city Amarna.

The pharaoh lived at Amarna with his family. As a result,all the government officials, artists, builders and families who served the king moved there, too. This was a great huge move.

As the population grew, the city stretched north and south along the Nile, which was the source of water for the wells the people of Amarna dug into the desert. Official royal buildings and the temples of the Aten were concentrated in the heart of the city. Suburbs, where most people lived, surrounded the center of the city.

Surely, daily life went on for the Egyptian people. They farmed, fished and built as they had for hundred of years. The king, his wives and children went about their daily lives, but the family had a new significance in the new religion. Instead of the many statues of gods the people had been used to seeing when worshiping in the past, the king’s family were now Egyptians visible link to god. In sculpture, at important events, and even traveling around the city, the pharaoh family were not only royalty or representatives of gods on earth: they were the people’s only link to god. They also took the place of myths of the gods and their families.

During the rule of Akhenaten’s father, Amenhotep III, the numerous gods of ancient Egypt were worshiped widely, but Amun Re was held above the rest. The priests of Amun Re became so powerful and wealthy that they could even challenge the pharaoh. This wasn’t good for the royal family, and within his reign Amenhotep III made steps to raise other gods up and control the power of the priests. One of the gods he called attention to was the Aten, a solar god who was represented by an image of the sun in the sky.

About the year 1350 BCE, new rules were given by Pharaoh Akhenaten to the people of Egypt, and they came as a shock. The one and only god would be the Aten, which had no human or animal form. It was simply the sun in the sky. Only Akhenaten could know the Aten’s wishes, or ask the Aten for help.

When Akhenaten closed all the gods’ temples, including those of Amun Re, and announced that he was moving to a new city, priests suddenly lost all their power.

When the traditional gods were outlawed, everyday Egyptians lost their connection to the spiritual world. Akhenaten proclaimed that he and his family were the only ones capable of communicating with the Aten. If people wanted to communicate with the god, they would have to look to the pharaoh.

Of course, some people weren’t happy about all these changes, but they had also been trained for generations to think that the pharaoh was a god on Earth. They didn’t challenge his changes.

You may hear people claim that the religion of the Aten was monotheistic, which means a religion with only one god. Certainly the religion of the Aten was much closer to monotheism than the religion of the many gods Egyptian shad worshiped before. But there is one problem: The people had to worship Akhenaten, his wife Nefertiti and their family as the representatives of the Aten. The royal family would, in turn, worship the Aten. This isn’t strictly monotheism as we know it today.

Think of it - what if you had to worship the president,who could then worship god. The Egyptians were used to thinking of their leaders as godly, so it wasn’t as strange to them as it would be to you - but they still remembered the old ways.

In about 1346 BC Akhenaten chose Amarna as the site of a new city to be built for the Aten. All the people whose jobs depended on the pharaoh, from sculptors to builders to government officials, left their homes in Thebes and traveled to Amarna to begin a new life under one god. There, temples were built without roofs, so that the sun could be seen in the sky.

Did Akhenaten really believe in the Aten, or did he just use the Aten to upset Egypt’s power structure and reshape it the way he wanted? Signs show that Akhenaten really did believe in his spiritual connection to the Aten. He composed songs and poems in honor of the god, and sometimes neglected Egypt’s well-being and safety in his pursuit of building the perfect home for the Aten. But all of Akhenaten’s devotion to the Aten couldn’t erase what the people of Egypt had known for hundreds of years.

Soon after Akhenaten’s death, Amarna was abandoned and the capital cities moved to Memphis and Thebes,where the Aten was turned back into just one of many minor gods.

Akhenaten set out to build the Aten a city so amazing, rich and beautiful that it put memories of old gods out of his subjects’ minds. He wanted to create a place worthy of his god, and one that would impress his people with the Aten’s magnificence.

Because the pharaoh was so wealthy, he could hire as many painters, sculptors and artisans as he wanted - and it seems that a virtual army of artists lived in Amarna during the city’s short time. Akhenaten himself developed a new style for showing the human body in art. Instead of the very stiff and straight traditional figures, his were long and curved, with large hips and thin arms. Some people have even wondered if Akhenaten was born with an illness that gave him a strange figure - but now it is believed he was shown in this way as part of the new artistic style.

Family portraits of the royal family, Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters, also changed at this time. In addition to formal, ceremonial pictures, the family was shown playingand relaxing together, holding each other and enjoying age under the rays of the Aten.

On this block from a temple relief, Akhenaten (ack-en-AH-ten), recognizable by his elongated features, holds a duck up toward Aten, the solar disk. Akhenaten believed that light was the only divine power in the universe and thus was the source and sustainer of all creation. The solar disk was the means through which this power came into the world. Akhenaten’s god was not portrayed in human or animal form but through the symbol of the solar disk with rays ending in small human hands, one of which holds an ankh, symbol of life, toward the king’s nose. The sun-disk symbol is a large-scale hieroglyph meaning ‘light”

On this block from a temple relief, Akhenaten (ack-en-AH-ten), recognizable by his elongated features, holds a duck up toward Aten, the solar disk. Akhenaten believed that light was the only divine power in the universe and thus was the source and sustainer of all creation. The solar disk was the means through which this power came into the world. Akhenaten’s god was not portrayed in human or animal form but through the symbol of the solar disk with rays ending in small human hands, one of which holds an ankh, symbol of life, toward the king’s nose. The sun-disk symbol is a large-scale hieroglyph meaning ‘light”

On this block from a temple relief, Akhenaten (ack-en-AH-ten), recognizable by his elongated features, holds a duck up toward Aten, the solar disk. Akhenaten believed that light was the only divine power in the universe and thus was the source and sustainer of all creation. The solar disk was the means through which this power came into the world. Akhenaten’s god was not portrayed in human or animal form but through the symbol of the solar disk with rays ending in small human hands, one of which holds an ankh, symbol of life, toward the king’s nose. The sun-disk symbol is a large-scale hieroglyph meaning ‘light”

With one hand Akhenaten holds the duck firmly by its wings and with the other he wrings its neck before offering it to his god. Although early depictions of Akhenaten often appear strangely exaggerated, his sculptors later in his reign attempted a more naturalistic style, emphasizing transitory motion and a sense of space and atmosphere. Akhenaten’s hands here are grasping and straining to hold on to the struggling duck. Such a scene, capturing a moment in a sacrifice being made by a king, would never have been attempted in another period. Akhenaten’s right hand, however, is twisted so that all five fingers can be seen, a pose that conforms to the Egyptian convention of presenting each part of the body as completely as possible.

The type of relief used here is called sunk relief. Instead of cutting the background away and leaving the figures raised above the surface of the stone (as in raised relief), the artist has cut the outlines of the figures into the surface. Sunk relief in general appears mostly on the outside of buildings, where the outlines are emphasized by shadows cast by Egypt’s brilliant sunlight, but during the Amarna period almost all relief was executed in this technique.