The Kings of the Sun
The Kings of the Sun
This chapter looks at the several generations of Eighteenth-Dynasty kings whose histories were tied to “the Aten”—the sun god. The Aten has long been a designation of the physical body of the sun, but during the Eighteenth Dynasty had begun to attain a separate divine status, until, under Amenhotep III, it had become a considerable deity in its own right. However, under Amenhotep IV (later, “Akhenaten”), the Aten was to become something far more: at first paramount, and then effectively sole god. In addition, the chapter also marks a different path in Akhenaten's legacy—the reign of Akhenaten's son, Tutankhamun (“Tutankhaten”), and the “counter-reformation” movement against Atenism.
Keywords: Aten, Eighteenth Dynasty, Akhenaten, sun god, Tutankhamun, Horemheb, Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV, Smenkhkare
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