1. Who is Akhenaten?

Pharaoh Akhenaten was born as Amenhotep IV to the previous pharaoh, Amenhotep III and his Great Royal Wife Tiye, around 1363-1361 BCE, during the period of the Egyptian 18th Dynasty. Akhenaten was not initially the intended successor of Amenhotep III, but his older brother Thutmose died young, leaving Akhenaten as the new crowned prince. Akhenaten began his reign around 1353-1351 BCE, and initially followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, worshipping the plethora of deities in the Egyptian pantheon. Shortly after year 5 of his reign and name change, he began asserting Aten as the primary deity over the other gods and began building a new capital for Aten called Akhetaten. Akhetaten was founded and built on land which had never before been associated with any other deities, nor had it been a capital or any other type of residence. Akhetaten was truly virgin land before Akhenaten's founding, although in modern times it is now called Amarna. Akhenaten changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten (meaning: "Living Spirit of Aten") in his 5th year as pharaoh. The impetus for his name change seems to be due to his early devotion to Aten. By year 9 of Akhenaten's reign, he had removed all mention of other gods of Egypt, and declared Aten the sole God, effectively instituting the monotheism we are seeking to revive today. He also represented Aten as a symbol in the form of a sun disc with rays emanating towards Akhenaten and his family.

Akhenaten left this world and reunited with Aten around 1336-1334 BCE. After his death, Akhetaten, the other Atenist temple centers, and the memory of Akehnaten himself as well as his descendants, were all persecuted and destroyed. The erasing of Akhenaten's memory was so effective that he was not remembered by many subsequent generations and was left out of many king's lists. In the late 19th century, the city of Amarna (formerly, Akhetaten) was excavated, as well as the tombs of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun (formerly, Tutankhaten), bearing witness to the forgotten pharaoh. Today we, Atenway, present him so that his name, the name of his family and most importantly the name of Aten may never be forgotten!