Need Information about a Egyptian Paroh?

Question

What was unusual about the religious beliefs of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten? What impact do you think he might have had on later history? Why would he have made so many enemies?

Answer 1

Akhenaten, abandoned the politheistic religion of his forefathers, abandoned his capital, went into the wilderness, built a new capital and worshiped the Sun. embodied in the sun disk. He frightened the underclasses who depended on him to mediate with the ancient gods they still believed in. He bankrupted the priesthoods of the other gods and removed their influence from Egyptian royal politics. Egypt...Palastine ajacent... monotheism. coincidence, I think not. If you can't fake up a quickee essay on what I give you your really dogging it.

Answer 2

Akhenaten (meaning He who is beneficial to the Aten), first known as Amenhotep IV (sometimes read as Amenophis IV and meaning Amun is Satisfied) before his sixth year, was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, especially notable for single-handedly restructuring the Egyptian religion to monotheistically worship the Aten.

Crucial evidence about the later stages of Akhenaten's reign has been provided by the discovery of the Amarna Letters, a cache of diplomatic correspondence discovered in modern times at el-Amarna, the modern designation of the Akhetaten site. This correspondence comprises a priceless collection of incoming messages on clay tablets, sent to Akhetaten from imperial outposts and foreign allies. The letters suggest that Akhenaten's neglect of matters of state were causing disorder across the massive Egyptian empire. The governors and kings of subject domains wrote to beg for gold, and also complained of being snubbed and cheated.

Early on in his reign, Akhenaten fell out with the king of Mitanni, Tushratta. He may even have concluded an alliance with the Hittites, who then attacked Mitanni and attempted to carve out their own empire. A group of Egypt's other allies who attempted to rebel against the Hittites were captured, and wrote begging Akhenaten for troops; he evidently did not respond to their pleas. Evidence suggests that the troubles on the northern frontier led to difficulties in Canaan, particularly in a struggle for power between Labaya of Shechem and Abdi-Kheba of Jerusalem, requiring the Pharaoh to intervene in the area by dispatching Medjay troops northwards. There is some evidence that the spread of plague throughout the Middle East at this time was precipitated by this action.

This Amarna period is also associated with a serious outbreak of a pandemic, possibly the plague, or polio, or perhaps the world's first recorded outbreak of influenza, which came from Egypt and spread throughout the Middle East, killing Suppiluliuma I, the Hittite King. The prevalence of disease may help explain the rapidity with which the site of Akhetaten was subsequently abandoned. It may also explain why later generations considered the gods to have turned against the Amarna monarchs. The Black Plague has also been suggested by Zahi Hawass due to the fact that at Amarna the traces of the plague have been found.

Finally, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, and Ay were excised from the official lists of Pharaohs, which instead reported that Amenhotep III was immediately succeeded by Horemheb. This is thought to be part of an attempt by Horemheb to delete all trace of Atenism and the pharaohs associated with it from the historical record. Akhenaten's name never appeared on any of the king lists compiled by later Pharaohs and it was not until the late 19th century that his identity was re-discovered and the surviving traces of his reign were unearthed by archaeologists.