King’s son dies

King’s son dies

In the year 1400 BC, the civilized world was effectively bounded by the Black Sea and Persian mountains to the north and east, and by the Arabian deserts and adjoining seas on the south, while to the west it extended no further than Crete and the shores of Greece. Within this ancient Near Eastern world the word of Egypt's kings was law northward through Syria almost to the Euphrates, and southward for over a 1,000 miles along the valley of the Nile. In the Levant, two other great powers courted Egypt's favour and coveted her rich Syrian provinces, namely the kings of Mitanni and the kings of the Hittites.

Colonnade at Deir el Bahiri showing the head and shoulders
of Amenophis IV. He later changed his name to Akhenaton
when he established himself as a god - king.

From about 1402 to 1364 BC, Amenophis Ill ‘the Magnificent’ ruled in the utmost splendour. Egypt’s future seemed brilliant and assured, and to rest with the king’s eldest son Tuthmosis. But the premature death of Tuthmosis meant that it was his younger brother, the Prince Amenophis — a young man of peculiar physique and determined character — who inherited the throne instead, and as Akhenaton, the name he was to adopt, he made a unique impression on Egyptian history.

But this splendid realm was no over-night creation, nor was life at its court just one long, carefree idyll. By 1400 BC, Egypt had witnessed over 16 centuries of alternating achievement and eclipse. From about 1550 BC on, the Princes of Thebes in Upper Egypt had expelled a line of foreign rulers, reunited Egypt, recovered Nubia, and even extended their rule into Palestine and Syria. As a result, the wealth of Western Asia and Africa poured intoEgypt, and much of this was presented by the pharaohs to the giver of victory Amun, god of Thebes. Soon, Amun’s splendid temples in Thebes, especially Karnak, and his ever-growing wealth far outstripped those of any other god or institution except for the pharaohs themselves. Ancient Memphis in the north was the real capital, but Thebes served as sub-capital for Upper Egypt, as leading relligious centre, and burial-place of the pharaohs.

The successors of Tuthmosis III were not prepared to risk their authority being overshadowed or undermined by either the bold theology or the economic strength of Amun. They therefore transferred some of their patronage to the two ‘senior’ gods, Ptah of Memphis and Re of Heliopolis, and hand-picked loyal supporters to fill the post of high priest of Amun. Amenophis III combined these policies with an outward generosity towards Amun in the form of the most impressive temple-buildings so far erected in Egypt, but with special favours going to Memphis and its notables. Thus Prince Tuthmosis served as high priest of Ptah, and Memphite dignitaries were given the highest posts in Thebes itself. However, in court circles, greater devotion was affected for the sungod Re, particularly as manifested in the sun’s disc under the name Aton. Such was the background and atmosphere against which the younger Prince Amenophis grew up. When the time came to effect his reforms Amun and his priests were the pharaoh’s first target.

At first, the new king ruled as Amenophis IV, outwardly a traditional New Kingdom pharaoh. But behind the scenes, there were tensions within the state. In his father’s closing years several prominent dignitaries fell into disgrace, and their sumptuous Theban tomb-chapels were defaced. In a later inscription, Amenophis IV refers to ‘evil things’ occurring under Tuthmosis IV, Amenophis III and in his own first and fourth years of reign. Moreover, the new king was not content merely to juggle with priestly appointments and to favour other gods within the court circle. By Year 4, he had resolved on more direct policies. He openly promoted the worship of the sun-god above all others, Amun included. One quarry inscription even assigns to the king the remarkable title of ‘High Priest of Harakhte [the sun-god], rejoicing in the horizonin his name of Shu who is Aton'. From the same quarry came the stone for a vast temple of Aton due east of Amun’s own great Karnak temple. Upon his new temple, the Pharaoh conferred rich endowments of offerings and personnel; grain was issued for every god by strict ration, but for Aton with heaped-up measures! At Karnak, sun-worship assimilated to that of Amun was one thing, but a vast rival establishment was quite another matter. The resulting tensions by Year 4 simply strengthened the king’s resolve to reduce the status of both Thebes and Amun.

In his fifth or sixth year, the king celebrated in Thebes a ‘jubilee’ or feast of the renewal of kingship, and used the occasion to make a double break with Amun and Thebes. Henceforth he called himself not Amenophis (‘Amun is content’) but Akhenaton (it is well with Aton’), and he founded a new southern capital to supplant Thebes. About halfway between Memphis and Thebes, on the east bank of the Nile, Akhenaton selected for the new city a superb desert plain bounded by cliffs, with rich agricultural land on the west bank to feed its populace. Here, and here only, proclaim the boundary inscriptions, was Akhet-Aton, Horizon of the Disc. It is known in modern times as Tell el-Amarna.

Hope next article:-"Symbol of Life"