2. Who is Aten?

Aten is the ancient Egyptian term for a disc or circular body (like the sun or moon), initially conceived as a type of solar deity or considered an aspect of the Egyptian sun deity Re. The earliest mention of Aten is in the Abusir Papyri from the 5th dynasty of Egypt, c. 24th century BCE. The next major mention of Aten is in the Coffin Texts (CT) of 2100 BCE, where the word disc translates to Aten in ancient Egyptian. Particularly, in CT 1, 230 we read: "he has instructed me in the midst of the disc!" and "O Re who is in his egg, who shinest in his disc!". It is noteworthy that Aten, the disc, is associated with the pre-existent material that Re arose out of. The first text which mentions Aten as a deity in His own right is the Story of Sinuhe from c. 1900 BCE. The passage in question reads: "...the god (Amenemhat I) attained his horizon...He flew to heaven and was united with the sun's disk (Aten); the flesh of the god (Amenemhat I) was merged in him (Aten), who made him". This text seems to implicate Aten as the true deity from which humanity and all life emanates. Indeed, this is exactly how we see Him, as we believe that upon death we simply reunite with Aten. Aten is also mentioned early in the 18th dynasty by Ahmose as well as Akhenaten's father and grandfather. 

To us, Aten is the one God and Father of all life, the Eternal One, and we believe that we all will return to Him in spirit/life energy after our existence here expires. Long Live Aten!