ageing father, Amenhotep III. It is much debated how long this co-regency lasted, but it was probably just a few years. At any rate, Amenhotep IV was quick to introduce his great religious reform by building a temple at Karnak dedicated to Aten, presumably to the annoyance and discontent of the powerful priests of Amun-Ra. But here is the catch. For as Manchester University Egyptologist Rosalie David pointed out,
Akhenaten probably first envisaged the cult as a development closely associated with the older solar worship; this is indicated in his early inscription in the sandstone quarry at Gebel-el-Silseleh, where he describes himself as the ‘First Prophet of Re-horakhti , Rejoicing-in-his-Horizon, in his name of Sunlight which is in Aten’. 50
British Museum Egyptologist George Hard goes even further. According to him, ‘Aten is really the god Ra absorbed under the iconography of the sun disc.’ 51 In this he is backed by the German Egyptologist Hermann Schlogl, who stated that in the early years of Akhenaten’s reign, ‘the sun god Ra-Horakhti . . . was identical with Aten’ and that ‘Aten’s didactic name meant “the living One, Re-Horakhti who rejoices in the Horizon”.’ 52
Centuries after the temple of Karnak was founded, and certainly by the time Akhenaten ascended the throne, the priests of Karnak had acquired immense material wealth through taxation and donations, and also from a share in the spoils of war. Evidence shows that they owned vast tracts of land and practically controlled the whole commercial life of Upper Egypt. The priests of Karnak flaunted their sun-god Amun as the most supreme god of Egypt, absorbing the powers and even the names of the older solar gods of Heliopolis, Ra and Horakhti. The symbols, iconography and nomenclature of Amun began to be seen everywhere in preference to those of the older Heliopolitan solar deities, inevitably causing a schism between north and south, as much later in history a deep schism was caused between east and west by the different symbols, iconography and nomenclature of Islam and Christianity, even though they venerated the same unique supreme god.
With such power and wealth the priests began also to pose a political threat to the pharaoh, for as the old saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is clear from the many statements attributed to Akhenaten that tension between him and the priests of Karnak ran very high, and that the young king feared for his throne and even his life. Was it this excess of power of the priests of Karnak that prompted Akhenaten to look back to the epoch when the sun religion was in the hands of the more pure and loyal priests of Heliopolis? Or was he mainly prompted by the cosmic order that indicated that the great return of the solar phoenix was imminent and that he, Akhenaten, would oversee this event? Or was it both his fear of the Karnak priests and the dictates of the cosmic order? At any rate, it was during his fourth or fifth year of reign that Amenhotep IV changed his name to Ahkenaten, which means ‘Glory of the Aten’. This must have made the priests of Amun-Ra fume, for they surely regarded the name change from Amun -Hotep to Akhen- Aten as a slap in the face. The crunch came when Akhenaten then announced that the cult of Amun-Ra was banned and that the great temple of Karnak would be officially closed. Along with this unthinkable decision came another, even more devastating blow to the priests of Thebes: Akhenaten declared that he intended to move himself and the whole court to a new city dedicated to the Aten called Akhet-Aten (‘Horizon of the Sun Disc’) which he intended to have built further north.
Sometime in the early spring of the year 1348 BC, 53 the king and some members of his court visited the site of the future city of Akhet-Aten a few kilometres to the west of the modern town of Tell El Amarna. Riding in a chariot made of electrum and looking as radiant as
Akhenaten probably first envisaged the cult as a development closely associated with the older solar worship; this is indicated in his early inscription in the sandstone quarry at Gebel-el-Silseleh, where he describes himself as the ‘First Prophet of Re-horakhti , Rejoicing-in-his-Horizon, in his name of Sunlight which is in Aten’. 50
British Museum Egyptologist George Hard goes even further. According to him, ‘Aten is really the god Ra absorbed under the iconography of the sun disc.’ 51 In this he is backed by the German Egyptologist Hermann Schlogl, who stated that in the early years of Akhenaten’s reign, ‘the sun god Ra-Horakhti . . . was identical with Aten’ and that ‘Aten’s didactic name meant “the living One, Re-Horakhti who rejoices in the Horizon”.’ 52
Centuries after the temple of Karnak was founded, and certainly by the time Akhenaten ascended the throne, the priests of Karnak had acquired immense material wealth through taxation and donations, and also from a share in the spoils of war. Evidence shows that they owned vast tracts of land and practically controlled the whole commercial life of Upper Egypt. The priests of Karnak flaunted their sun-god Amun as the most supreme god of Egypt, absorbing the powers and even the names of the older solar gods of Heliopolis, Ra and Horakhti. The symbols, iconography and nomenclature of Amun began to be seen everywhere in preference to those of the older Heliopolitan solar deities, inevitably causing a schism between north and south, as much later in history a deep schism was caused between east and west by the different symbols, iconography and nomenclature of Islam and Christianity, even though they venerated the same unique supreme god.
With such power and wealth the priests began also to pose a political threat to the pharaoh, for as the old saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is clear from the many statements attributed to Akhenaten that tension between him and the priests of Karnak ran very high, and that the young king feared for his throne and even his life. Was it this excess of power of the priests of Karnak that prompted Akhenaten to look back to the epoch when the sun religion was in the hands of the more pure and loyal priests of Heliopolis? Or was he mainly prompted by the cosmic order that indicated that the great return of the solar phoenix was imminent and that he, Akhenaten, would oversee this event? Or was it both his fear of the Karnak priests and the dictates of the cosmic order? At any rate, it was during his fourth or fifth year of reign that Amenhotep IV changed his name to Ahkenaten, which means ‘Glory of the Aten’. This must have made the priests of Amun-Ra fume, for they surely regarded the name change from Amun -Hotep to Akhen- Aten as a slap in the face. The crunch came when Akhenaten then announced that the cult of Amun-Ra was banned and that the great temple of Karnak would be officially closed. Along with this unthinkable decision came another, even more devastating blow to the priests of Thebes: Akhenaten declared that he intended to move himself and the whole court to a new city dedicated to the Aten called Akhet-Aten (‘Horizon of the Sun Disc’) which he intended to have built further north.
Sometime in the early spring of the year 1348 BC, 53 the king and some members of his court visited the site of the future city of Akhet-Aten a few kilometres to the west of the modern town of Tell El Amarna. Riding in a chariot made of electrum and looking as radiant as
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