The Armana Period

     Egyptian power was at its height in the early 14th century when Amenhotep IV became pharaoh. Amenhotep IV (1364 B.C.-1347 B.C.), later called Akhenaton (Akena’tun) or Ikhnaton (Ikna’ tun) was married to Nefretiti, the daughter of a general. His reign began in 1378 B.C. when he was co-ruler with his father, Amenhotep III. Shortly after he became sole ruler in 1364 B.C., he instituted dramatic religious changes which shook Egyptian society. Amenhotep IV rejected the cult of Amon-Re, began to worship the sun disc Aton, and took the name Akhenaton (meaning it is well with, pleases, or serving Aton). He then moved his residence to a remote area of the Nile where he established his capital, Akhataton (horizon of the sun disc), the site of the modern city of Tel-el-Armana, which gives its name to the period.

     Akhenaton’s changes are often viewed as a revolutionary departure from traditional Egyptian religion because he declared Aton the only God, establishing a type of monotheism, and declared himself to be the son of Aton. He also encouraged artists to abandon convention and turn to nature for inspiration.
    
    Some historians doubt there was real fundamental change in the reforms. There was nothing new in worshiping the sun or changing the sun god’s name. The sun god had many names, including Khepra, Atum, and Re, changed to Amon-Re in sixth dynasty. The priests of the 14th dynasty had long ago interpreted the sun god as the sole god made for eternity, an interpretation that Amenhotep III had applied in the worship of Aton. Nor is there anything new in a pharaoh declaring himself to be a god or the Son of God. 

     What is startling about Akhenaton’s reign is its political challenge to the power of the priest class. After moving his capital and changing the name of the chief god, Akhenaton dismissed the priests of Amon-Re and defaced all monuments inscribed with the name that god. Akhenaton’s foreign policy based on pacifism was another departure. This weakened Egypt’s control of the empire, displeasing the military and further alienating the priests already put out by the religious changes. About 400 tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform were found in Tel-el-Armana in 1887, correspondence between Amenhotep III and Akhenaton and the governors in the provinces of Palestine and Syria. By the end of Akhenaton’s reign these provinces and Nubia had broken away.
    
Atonism was abandoned with the death of Akhenaton. Early in the reign of his young son, Tutankhamen (1347-1338 B.C.), the old cults were restored. Tutankhamen, immortalized by the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922, was a boy king with a short reign. In 1338 B.C. the kingship went to a general, Horemhab, who established the 19th dynasty and regained the support of the priest class by making gifts of land to the temples.

     With the reign of Ramses II (1298-1232 B.C.) magnificence on a grand scale returned to Egyptian court life. Building projects became grandiose and colossal. At Karnak, near the city of Thebes, Ramses II built a huge temple of Amon. One of the largest religious buildings of the ancient world, Karnak covers 10 acres and has 70 columns, 70' high and 12' in diameter. Ramses II was a man of great personal bravery, but his attempt to restore Syria, lost to the Hittites in the reign of Akhenaton, was only partially successful. After his rule, the fortunes of the empire declined.

     The last important pharaoh of ancient Egypt was Ramses III (1198-1167 B.C.), the second king of the 20th dynasty. He repelled attacks by Libyans and the Sea Peoples of the Aegean, but after his death in 1167 B.C., the internal problems of the New Kingdom increased. Feuding within the royal family caused decentralization and allowed the priests of Amon-Re to increase their power. Libyan invasions, economic difficulties, and widespread government corruption ultimately led to a loss of Egypt’s Asian empire and the disruption of trade. With the fall of the 20th dynasty the New Kingdom came to an end.  In 945 B.C. Egypt was overrun by foreign invaders. This would eventually be followed by Persian rule, Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt and a period of rule by a Greek dynasty, and finally conquest by Julius Caesar and rule by Rome.

Mystery of King Tut's Death

Section 13

Section 15