Meet king tuts father, egypts first revolutionary akhenaten upended the religion, art, and politics of ancient egypt, and then his legacy was buried. Feb 06, 2011 a documentary on the strange life of akhenaten. Royal tombs project, valley of the kings, and the curator of egyptian. The pharaoh akhenaten, who ruled egypt in the midfourteenth century bce, has been the subject of more speculation than any other character in egyptian history. Oct 14, 2017 whether one regards akhenaten as a hero or villain in egypts history, his elevation of the aten to supremacy changed not only that nations history, but the course of world civilization. Controversial theories about akhenaten, ancient egypts. It is not inconceivable to most people to understand that every civilization on earth at this time actually devolved from the ancient sumerians, this was the place in which people branched out.
He is also known as akhenaton or ikhnaton and also khuenaten, all of which are translated to mean successful for or of great use to the god aten. On day, month 8, in the fifth year of his reign, the king arrived at the site of the new city akhetaten now known as amarna. Reeves argues that, far from being the idealistic founder of a new. Akhenaten sought to impose upon egypt and its people the worship of a single godthe sun godand in so doing changed the country in every way. Mar 09, 2020 everything we think we know about ancient egypt can be completely upended with a new discovery of something as seemingly innocuous as a single stone carving. Akhenaten chose this name for himself after his conversion to the cult of aten. This informative, wellwritten and illustrated book, is, in part, a summary of aldreds numerous studies previously published, including some from his earlier akhenaten. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Publication date 1988 topics akhenaton, king of egypt publisher new york, n. He shows that even the ten commandments betray the direct influence of spell 125 in the egyptian book of the dead. About akhenaten from the winner of the nobel prize for literature and author of the cairo trilogy, comes akhenaten, a fascinating work of fiction about the most infamous pharaoh of ancient egypt. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including oxford university, michigan state university, and university of minnesota we have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications. Ancient history encyclopedia limited is a nonprofit company registered in the united kingdom.
A biography of the notorious godking of ancient egypt. An alternative view of the heretic king ancient origins. It is a mix between a volume for specialists, and an interesting detective novel. King akhenaten and his wife nefertiti praying to the sungod aten who provided his rays to the king and the queen. The account that follows is indepth, detailed, focused on the archaeological evidence rather than fringesensationalist theories and displays no obvious author bias. Akhenaten issued a new epithet to aten, according to david p. Describes the world of akhenaten, a ruler of ancient egypt who attempted to introduce monotheism through worship of the sun.
Everything we think we know about ancient egypt can be completely upended with a new discovery of something as seemingly innocuous as a single stone carving. Egypts false prophet and over 8 million other books are. They are first mentioned in chapter 6 of the book of genesis and. The summary as written on line prepared one for this book. The revolutionary cult of sunworship that akhenaten introduced, and such contentious issues as the role of nefertiti as a goddess, the dominant part played by plague during akhenatens reign, and likely events of the kings twilight years are treated with new insight and set within the framework of an authoritative overview of the entire period. Prior to this conversion, he was known as amenhotep iv or amenophis iv. A religious reformer he made the aten, the sun disc, the center of egypt.
Often called the originator of monotheism and the worlds first recorded individual, he has fascinated and inspired both scholars of egyptology and creative talents as diverse as sigmund freud and philip glass. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. In this beguiling novel, originally published in arabic in 1985, mahfouz tells with extraordinary insight the story of the heretic pharaoh, or sun king,the first known monotheistic. He replaced the traditional image of a falcon as the symbol of deity with the sun disk showing rays of light shooting down and terminating in hands that reached out to the king and his family. Redford has produced a remarkable book, one that engages both scholar and general reader. Cyril aldred recent archaeological studies form the basis of this work on the fourteenthcentury b. Jewels of the pharaohs appeared in 1971, published by thames and hudson. His books include the complete tutankhamun and, with richard h.
Though some features are out of date, overall aldreds book is very fine. Akhenaten, also known as amenhotep iv, was king of egypt during the eighteenth dynasty and reigned from 75 to 58 b. Moses and akhenaten provides a radical challenge to longstanding beliefs concerning the origin of semitic religion and the puzzle of akhenaten. The tale starts in his childhood where, as a gifted child, his parents, amenhotepthemagnificent and queen tiye attempt to guide him along the right path without much success. The revolutionary cult of sunworship that akhenaten introduced, and such contentious issues as the role of nefertiti as a goddess, the dominant part played by plague during akhenaten s reign, and likely events of the king s twilight years are treated with new insight and set within the framework of an authoritative overview of the entire period. King akhenaten was known as heretic king, he unified the old gods in only one god aton sun disk, he left his capital thebes that supports amun to his new city thats made it his new capital horizon of aton in modern armarna and he order to cut the name of amun from his temples in all of egypt, he was ruled an empire.
On day, month 8, in the fifth year of his reign, the king arrived at the site of. Moses and akhenaten the secret history of egypt at the time of the exodus. King of egypt paperback april 1, 1991 by cyril aldred author. Akhenatens son, tutankhaten, restored the disgraced amun as king of the gods, and he renamed himself tutankhamun to honor amun. Akhenaten was a pharaoh of egypt who reigned over the country for. He claims that moses of the bible is no other than king akhenaten who ruled egypt for 17 years in the mid14th century bc. Akhenatens artistic legacy, however, survived to influence the work of future craftsmen. Here is a striking portrait of akhenaten, monotheistic worshiper of the sun and bestknown egyptian king next to tutankhamen. But i was hoping to learn more about akhenaten, that this book would be more biographical in nature but there was relatively little i could find here about the man himself. Ancient history encyclopedia foundation is a nonprofit organization registered in canada. Ahmed osmans recent archaeological discoveries and historical documents contend that akhenaten and moses were one and the same man. It was published by princeton university press and has a total of 255 pages in the book.
From the winner of the nobel prize for literature and author of the cairo trilogy, comes akhenaten, a fascinating work of fiction about the most infamous pharaoh of ancient egypt. Information about king akhenaten king akhenaten facts. Akhenaten and the strange physiques of egypts 18th dynasty. How god is one, edited by hershel shanks and jack meinhardt, presents an exciting, provocative and readily understandable discussion of the origins and evolution of monotheism within judaism and christianity. Dominic montserrat, whose akhenaten book is subtitled history, fantasy and ancient egypt, noted that we often take scattered evidence from ancient times and. Despite being first published over twenty years ago, cyril aldreds akhenaten. The 10 digit isbn is 9774242041 and the digit isbn is 9789774242045. Finally, a balanced view has been formulated and shaped by the late egyptologist cyril aldred in his book akhenaten. King of egypt this book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. In akhenaten, nicholas reeves presents an entirely new perspective on the turbulent events of akhenatens seventeenyear reign. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. Nefertiti by michelle moran, pillar of fire by judith tarr, the egyptian by mika waltari, i, the sun by janet e.
This is a detail from a stone relief fragment exhibited in egyptian museum, cairo, egypt. Catalog of an exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences by cyril aldred book. Aldreds book akhenaten, pharaoh of egypt a new study, was published in 1968. This book is a must for all interested in the amarna period, whether they be a serious student or one whose interest is casual.
Nicholas reeves founded the amarna royal tombs project, valley of the kings. Akhenaten, nefertiti and the aten, a circular disk with rays terminating in hands, reaching down toward them. The title of this book is akhenaten and it was written by donald b. During his reign, the pharaoh akhenaten was able to abolish the complex pantheon of the ancient egyptian religion and replace it with a single god, aten, who had no image or form. By the time akhenaten took the throne, his family had been ruling egypt for nearly two hundred years and had established a huge empire dominating palestine, phoenicia, and nubia. Even in akhenatens religion, whether it was fully monotheistic or not. In a stunning retelling of the exodus story, osman details the events of mosesakhenatens life. He was a loving family man and father, but has been dubbed a revolutionary, a heretic, a poet, and the first individual in history. In a stunning retelling of the exodus story, osman details the events of moses akhenaten s life. May 04, 2018 akhenaten is one of egypt s most interesting rulers.
King of egypt by cyril aldred and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. May 03, 2019 amenhotep iv, also known as the pharaoh akhenaten, was destined to be remembered for his attempt at a religious conversion of ancient egypt. Akhenaten was one of egypts most controversial pharaohs, in part because of his strange appearance in images produced after he had declared aten, the sundisc, his oneandonly god. He was born to amenhotep iii and his chief queen tiye and was his fathers younger son. Biblical religion involves a different conception of what this one god is. There is a lot in this book about ancient egypt, in more detail than most people would ever need to know, and its well written.
Pharaoh akhenaten, amenhotep iv, attempted to convert ancient egypt to monotheism, but his story is more. Set in ancient egypt the book is based on the life and times of king akhenaten. That being said, this article focuses on the research and theories of nicholas reeves, in his book, akhenaten. Various writers have depicted this strange ruler of the fourteenth century b. The biblical archaeology society publication aspects. Exodus exodus fact or fiction exodus hero free ebooks gods of egypt movie hershel shanks historicity of the exodus israel in egypt israelites jerusalem king akhenaten king tut moses moses and nefertiti out of egypt pharaoh pharaoh akhenaten pharaohs. King of egypt is one of the best books on egypt s most enigmatic pharaoh. King of egypt by aldred, cyril and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Redford describes the world of akhenaten, a ruler of ancient egypt who attempted to introduce monotheism through worship of the sun. Though slightly dated, the work is still the largest depository of knowledge concerning akhenaten other than the late cyril aldred, himself.
Who better to chronicle the life of ancient egypts most controversial godking than nicholas. Moses and akhenaten one and the same person graham hancock. Aug 30, 20 akhenaten was a pharaoh of egypt who reigned over the country for about 17 years between roughly 53 b. Pdf akhenaten and the strange physiques of egypts 18th. Akhenaten, also spelled akhenaton, akhnaton, or ikhnaton, also called amenhotep iv, greek amenophis, king 5336 bce of ancient egypt of the 18th dynasty, who established a new cult dedicated to the aton, the suns disk hence his assumed name, akhenaten, meaning beneficial to aton. Akhenaten was one of egypt s most controversial pharaohs, in part because of his strange appearance in images produced after he had declared aten, the sundisc, his oneandonly god. Until recently, the egyptian pharaoh akhenaten was considered a revolutionary reformer, an idealist and pacifist. Over 100 photographs and sketches bring the latest finds to light. King of egypt is one of the best books on egypts most enigmatic pharaoh.
In pagan religion, the gods and goddesses were identified with forces in nature. From describing the history of the heretic pharaoh and the gradual unraveling of who he. An ambitious and exceptionally lucid and accessible book, akhenaten is a work only mahfouz could render so elegantly, so irresistibly. Akhenaten sought to impose upon egypt and its people the worship of. The biblical archaeology society publication aspects of monotheism. Amenhotep iv changed his name to akhenaten and defied tradition by establishing a new religion that believed that there is but one god.