Atenism and Pharaoh Akhenaten’s Attempt to Deify Himself

Abstract

18th Dynasty (1550-1295 BCE) pharaoh Amenhotep IV (d. 1336 BCE), later known as Akhenaten, founded what was arguably Egypt’s first monotheistic religion, which was based around the solar god Aten. This essay posits that Akhenaten founded this new religion as an attempt to deify himself. Evidence from both The Great Hymn to the Aten and Amarna Period artwork point to an attempt by Akhenaten to establish himself, not just as another pharaoh god-king, but as the sole, eternal living god. He was not simply the son of Aten, but the incarnation of Aten himself.