Amenhotep IV was twenty-one when he created the Aton temple at Thebes. He was still attempting to form a synthesis of old and new elements in his religious faith, for the old god Re-Harakhti of Heliopolis is identified with Aton. The Silsila stele depicts Amenhotep IV worshiping Amon, yet it also shows Aton (the sun) with rays of light which hold the Egyptian sign of life (ankh). Amon, Re-Harakhti, and Aton all figure in the Silsila stele.
Akhenaton and Nofretete. A limestone plaque from Akhetaton depicts the Pharaoh and his beautiful wife.
The Break with Amon
Amenhotep IV, however, was unable to stop with half-way measures. In his devotion to Aton he felt that his god alone was worthy of worship. The Theban temple area was renamed, “The Brightness of the Great Aton,” and the city itself became, “The City of the Brightness of Aton.” In an obvious break with the past, Amenhotep IV determined to change his own name, which meant “Amon is satisfied” to Akhenaton, meaning, “he who is serviceable to Aton.”
From this time on, Akhenaton’s zeal knew no bounds. He banished the mention of Re-Harakhti from the descriptive title of Aton, and had the very names of Amon and the Egyptian pantheon chiseled out of the monuments at Thebes. The Amon temples were closed, and Atonism became the only sanctioned religion of Egypt. The reform, however, did not have a popular base, and it probably did not penetrate far beyond the royal family and retainers. Akhenaton, like the earlier Pharaohs, believed in his own divinity, esteeming himself the son of Aton. As such he would be worshiped by his faithful subjects.
Seated Figure of Akhenaton. The young king is depicted in a conventional pose at Thebes before he moved his capital to Akhetaton.
Seated Figure of Akhenaton—detail. The young Akhenaton is presented with a crook and flail in his hand, symbolizing authority, and the uraeus, symbol of royalty, at his head. The uraeus is a stylized representation of an enraged female cobra, poised as though prepared to strike an enemy.