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| Akhenaten's Worship to Aten |
Akhenaten has been described as a seer who cut through the formalities of Egyptian religion to make a connection with one God, the
Aten. To some, Akhenaten was the first Monotheist who may have been inspired by Joseph or
Moses. However, it is by no agency as simple as that. Although Akhenaten's religion did central on one god, it was not strictly monotheistic and was by no means same to the Israelites. It seems that the Apis cult was observed and other
gods are still named in letterings (although they are usually solar gods or prosopopoeias of abstract ideas). In fact, the names of the Aten (which were saved in a cartouche) name the god in terms of the other gods. Furthermore, it appears that the personal kinship with the Aten did not offer to the common people, good the Royal Family. Akhenaten and his family are frequently shown worshipping the Aten or only enjoying average bodily functions beneath the close rays of the Aten disk, reinforcing the link between the king and his god. Ordinary people could not idolize the Aten directly, they precious the King and the royal family. This gave the king good power over secular and sacred life in Egypt. For this reason, some have indicated that Akhenaten's argues were cynically semipolitical. They argue that the king was worried about the developing power of the priests of
Amun, as his father
Amenhotep III had been. By making a new order which refused Amun in favour of the Aten (who was easy primarily to the king) he took faith back from the priests. As well as Nefertiti, Akhenaten involved himself with a number of powerful women whom he distinctly adored and observed. Each of the royal women had her own sunshade temple where she could revere the Aten. They were generally set within beautiful gardens complete with ritual pools where the wonders of nature could be loved. The Armarna women, in particular Nefertiti, seem to have described the feminine expression of the Aten as creator.
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