Akehenaton, the heretic pharaoh

Akehenaton, the heretic pharaoh

To the ancient Egyptians the gods controlled every event in life. Amenophis IV, set on changing his people’s ways, had first to destroy the gods and then establish himself as god – king.

The empire at its zenith. The pharaoh Akhenaton,
determine to break the power of the old gods'
priests, ignored the wiles of Egypt's greedy
neighbour - to the country's cost.

WESTERN MAN has ‘compartmentalized’ religion — that is, made it a thing apart. But to the Ancient Egyptian it was everything. Every event in his life — social, political economic — was determined by the attitude of the gods. The rising of the Nile, the failure of the crops, the death of a dog — all could be attributed to the whims of the gods. But in the middle of the fourteenth century BC — during the period in Egypt’s history known as the New Kingdom — a new pharaoh came to the throne. And Amenophis IV, as he was initially known, was determined on change. Paradoxically, though Egypt had grown in strength to become the greatest power in the civilized world, when Amenophis came to rule the power of. the pharaohs had waned. Victories in the field were attributed to the gods. And it was the priests who served the gods — not the pharaohs — who reaped the rewards. Amenophis, determined to restore the power of the pharaohs, had to breakthe clergy. To do this he had to destroy the gods.

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