Volta
ReligionAcceded c. 1353 BC

Religious Reform of Amenhotep IV

Also called: Amarna reform, Atenism

Amenhotep IV replaced the god Amun with the sole worship of the sun disc Aten, renamed himself Akhenaten and moved the capital to Amarna, but the reform was reversed after his death.

Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters beneath the rays of the Aten, an Amarna-style house altar — Neues Museum, Berlin
Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their daughters beneath the rays of the Aten, an Amarna-style house altar — Neues Museum, Berlin

myself ( Gerbil from de.wikipedia) · Public domain · Source

In the New Kingdom capital of Thebes the priests of Amun had amassed great wealth and power. Amenhotep IV, who came to the throne around 1353 BC, ordered the worship of the sun disc Aten alone and changed his name to Akhenaten, “effective for the Aten”. He then left Thebes, built a new capital at Akhetaten (modern Amarna) and curbed the priesthood of Amun.

The period produced the naturalistic Amarna art, which showed the royal family without idealization, and the Amarna letters, cuneiform diplomatic correspondence with neighbouring kings. After his death, however, the cult of Amun was restored under Tutankhamun and the capital returned. The reform is sometimes seen as an early form of monotheism, though its nature is debated.

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The map in 1353 BC

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States at the time
New Kingdom of Egypt
Places
Amarna, Thebes

People

  • Akhenaten1336 BC

    leader · Eighteenth-Dynasty pharaoh (r. c. 1353 – c. 1336 BC), born Amenhotep IV, who imposed the sole worship of the Aten

Before and after

Earlier
1550 BC New Kingdom Egypt and the Campaigns of Thutmose III
Later
1274 BC Battle of Kadesh

Themes that include this event

  • Early Civilizations and Empires3500 BC – 486 BC

    From the first civilizations in the great river valleys to the first empires of the Near East, India and China — comparing their writing, law, religion and rule