Fantastic, mysterious history and culture of Egypt enchants with its originality and grandeur. Archaeologists still have a lot of amazing and amazing secrets that the ancient land is in no hurry to share …
Amenhotep IV. So, out of the blue, the former outcast becomes the king.
Millennia swept over the world, and whole dynasties of great pharaohs succeeded each other on the golden throne of Egypt. Pharaoh - the autocratic ruler, the embodiment of the deity on earth, was considered the main representative of people before the all-powerful gods.
After death, it was the pharaoh who became the intercessor of the dead living in the world, ensured fruitful years, peace and prosperity for the country. From century to century, the pharaohs fulfilled their mission on earth, building temples and praising the many gods of Egypt.
But one day, about 3 400 years ago, a strange baby was born in the family of Amenhotep III. The boy was not considered an heir, since he was the second son of the pharaoh. In family pictures, in descriptions of religious festivals and festivals, there is not even a mention of him.
Now it is difficult to say why the family ignored the young prince. Maybe the reason lies in its unusual appearance?
He had an elongated face, a long skull, narrow shoulders and wide hips, long flexible fingers and toes. The ugly duckling in the thoroughbred family of the pharaoh.
Or maybe loved ones were alarmed by the prince's strange reflections about gods and human existence on this earth?
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One can imagine how a rejected boy by everyone swallows tears of resentment somewhere in the back room of the palace, while his royal family receives honors and has fun. Only his mother Teie, the king's wife, will furtively pity her strange son.
But now the great pharaoh Amenhotep III dies. And very soon, after him, his heir, the eldest son, dies. A young pharaoh, Amenhotep IV, appears on the stage of Egyptian history as if out of nothingness. So, out of the blue, the former outcast becomes the king. He marries a girl of incredible beauty, whose name translates as "beauty is coming." He worships his mother.
For some time, Amenhotep learns to rule the country, not really delving into the political troubles and rivalry of the priests. But, gaining strength and accustomed to power, the young king, like a bolt from the blue, amazes his subjects with the decision to carry out religious reforms. Pharaoh cancels all gods, except for the one and only one who always warmed him. This is the solar disk Aton, symbolizing light and energy.
A huge ancient country, which for thousands of years nurtured its many gods, shrouded in legends and myths, should have forgotten them overnight and worshiped one strange abstract god! People did not know how to behave, what to do with the grandiose richest temples. The priests at the moment were deprived of their power and livelihood. But disobedience was severely punished, and the whole way of life was turned upside down.
However, the young Pharaoh was of little concern. He is in charge here and can do whatever he wants! For example, change your name Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten. His beloved wife, the delightful Nefertiti, supported him in everything.
The people of Egypt had not yet had time to recover from the strange whim of the king, when Akhenaten announced his new decision - to move the capital of the country. He personally traveled to choose a location for the new city. A suitable valley was found north of Thebes. On the western side, it was washed by the waters of the Nile, and on the eastern side it was surrounded by a mountain range in the form of a horseshoe.
Akhenaten was struck by the amazing beauty of the sunrise at this place. The disk of the sun rose into the heavens from a hollow between the mountains, shaped like a boat. Pharaoh considered this a sign and, having ordered the installation of border steles in the four parts of the valley, vowed never to leave the boundaries of his new capital. This is how Akhetaton, the city of the god Aton, arose.
Houses, palaces and temples were erected at lightning speed. Unlike the majestic buildings of Thebes, they were built not from solid limestone slabs, but from ordinary clay bricks. The city was built in record time and amazed with its splendor. Wide streets and squares, wonderful palaces of the nobility surrounded by outlandish gardens, a comfortable marina, quarters of artisans and, of course, unprecedented beauty of open-air temples with countless altars dedicated to the eternal Aton.
Akhenaten was happy. Every day, he selflessly performed religious rituals dedicated to the sun disc, accompanied by his beloved wife and children. He was a son of the sun, and mere mortals had to pray only to their pharaoh in the hope of reaching out to God's mercy.
The king generously endowed his followers and admirers. But he did not want to know anything about what was happening outside Ahetaton. He was not worried about the provincial dissatisfaction with the new reforms, nor the weakening of the borders, nor the warlike mood of the Hittites in the north of the country. We must pay tribute, under Akhenaten there were no wars, people lived and worked peacefully.
But not everyone was happy with this. The country was deprived of the huge profits brought by the wars of conquest, the richest temples of the old gods were devastated. The priests who had lost their power were furious and turned the people against the king. Ordinary people kept figurines of ancient gods in hiding places and slowly prayed to them. Hatred for the heretic pharaoh grew in Egypt.
And only Akhenaten lived like a bright holiday, bathing in luxury, prosperity and ignorance. He was unusual in everything. In ancient Egyptian images, we are used to seeing the pharaohs as young slender people. Not a hint of old age or weakness. Under Akhenaten, the style of the image changes dramatically. The tsar, as if on purpose, orders the artists to flaunt their uniqueness.
Before us appears a man with strange, completely alien features, narrow shoulders, sagging belly and wide, almost feminine hips. In addition, images of scenes from the everyday life of the pharaoh appeared, confirming not so much his divinity as humanity. Here he embraces his incomparable Nefertiti, and here he tenderly kisses one of his daughters with his family. And everywhere above it, the sun disk Aton extends its blessed rays-arms, bestowing light, warmth and life.
Even the beautiful Nefertiti was not spared by realist artists. In one of her later portraits, a middle-aged woman appears before us with hunched shoulders and drooping cheeks, but still a proud and domineering look.
The beloved wife of the king never gave birth to a son, but gave him six daughters. And at some point she disappeared without a trace. Scientists have several versions on this score. Perhaps she was simply removed from the court, and she died in obscurity. Or perhaps Akhenaten, who was madly in love with his wife all his life, called her his co-ruler, Pharaoh Semnekhkara, who ruled for two more years after Akhenaten's death.
The fact is that the title of queen did not exist in Ancient Egypt. Was the main wife of the king. And in order to equate her with himself, Akhenaten bestows on her the male name and the title of Pharaoh. And the meticulous archaeologists, by the way, examined the female breast in the images of Semnekhkara who came from nowhere.
However, there is a version that this is just the eldest son of the pharaoh from one of the younger wives. But the mummy of Nefertiti has not yet been found.
After the death of Akhenaten and Semnekhkara, a nine-year-old boy sits on the throne, Akhenaten's second son from his younger wife, the world's most famous pharaoh Tutankhaton (from Aton). For a while, he lives the way of life established by his father. But powerful priests yearn for the return of their power and privileges. Under their influence, the young Pharaoh moved to Thebes and took the name Tutankhamun (from Amon). The restoration of the old religion and the destruction of any mention of the hated Pharaoh begins throughout the country.
The magnificent Akhetaton, which existed for about thirty years, was ravaged and destroyed. The fragile brick structures were easily leveled to the ground. What survived was used in the construction of new temples.
More recently, archaeologists have discovered the location of this huge city near the village of Tel el Amarna. This tiny piece of centuries-old Egyptian history is now called the Amarna period.
Pharaoh cancels all gods, except for the one and only one who always warmed him. This is the solar disk Aton, symbolizing light and energy.
During excavations in the former workshop of the artisan Thutmose, archaeologists came across an amazing find. Before the stunned people appeared, like a living, beautiful face of Nefertiti. Thutmose buried a magnificently executed bust right into the earthen floor of the workshop, possibly saving his masterpiece from pogroms.
For a long time no one remembered the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten. And today, knowing the history of the life of this unusual person, one involuntarily asks the question: who was he, this strange Akhenaten? Crazy? Fanatic? A cruel avenger? Or is it, perhaps, the first prophet, much ahead of his time, who tried to explain to people that God is one?
Natalia Biryukova