Akenaten Gallery

Akhenaten and Nefertiti under the rays of the Aten, Ancient Egyptian, Amarna period, c1350-1334 BC

Akhenaten and Nefertiti under the rays of the Aten, Ancient Egyptian, Amarna period, c1350-1334 BC. A painted limestone sunken relief from the facade of a shrine showing the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Queen, Nefertiti, offering libations to Aten, the sun god. During the Amarna period shrines in the form of pylons were placed in private houses to serve as altars for the cult of the royal family and the god Aten. This example was discovered in the house of Paneshy at Amarna. From the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

© Werner Forman Archive / Egyptian Museum, Cairo / Heritage-Images

Sandstone head of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, Ancient Egyptian, 18th dynasty, c1350 BC

Sandstone head of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, Ancient Egyptian, 18th dynasty, c1350 BC. From the Aten Temple, Karnak. The pharaoh is depicted wearing the blue crown or khepresh. After he ascended to the throne in c1350 BC Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) set about transforming the religion of Ancient Egypt, replacing the existing polytheism with a monotheistic cult of worshipping Aten, the god of the disc of the Sun. In addition, he decreed that Egypt's capital was to be moved from Thebes to a new site 180 miles to the north, to be named Akhetaten (modern El-Amarna). These massive upheavals generated growing opposition to Akhenaten, particularly amongst the priesthood. In c1334 BC Akhenaten died and Egypt turned its back on his reforms. The city of Akhetaten was abandoned and Egyptians returned to worshipping their traditional gods From the Egyptian Museum, Berlin

© Werner Forman Archive/ Egyptian Museum, Berlin/Heritage-Images

Akhenaten, Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, 14th century BC (1926). Artist: Winifred Mabel Brunton

Akhenaten, Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, 14th century BC (1926). After he ascended to the throne in c1350 BC Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) set about transforming the religion of Ancient Egypt, replacing the existing polytheism with a monotheistic cult of worshipping Aten, the god of the disc of the Sun. In addition, he decreed that Egypt's capital was to be moved from Thebes to a new site 180 miles to the north, to be named Akhetaten (modern El-Amarna). These massive upheavals generated growing opposition to Akhenaten, particularly amongst the priesthood. In c1334 BC Akhenaten died and Egypt turned its back on his reforms. The city of Akhetaten was abandoned and Egyptians returned to worshipping their traditional gods. A print from Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt, portraits by Winifred Brunton, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1926

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images