Stela of the Akhenaten and His family

The world came into being by your hand,

According as you have made them.
When you have risen they
live,
When you set, they die 1

Sun, as a symbol of divinity, was not a new concept at all; the sun temple in Heliopolis

is just

one example of peoples respect for the life giving power of the sun. However, before the reign of
Akhenaten, the Egyptian society was polytheistic. Akhenaten introduced a shift from polytheistic society
to monotheistic by establishing the cult of the sun god Aten as the sole, supreme and the most important
god, represented by the physical disk of the sun with radiating beams of light.
Akhenaten didnt start this transition unexpectedly; it was already his father Amenhotep III who
started to identify Aten as a particular cult of the king. 3 He called himself the dazzling disk of the sun 4,
therefore when his son Akhenaten ascended to the throne, he was accurate when he considered himself
the son of the sun god Re, for he essentially was the son of the sun disk. Akhenaten (Effective spirit of
Aten) changed his name from Amenophis IV (Amun is satisfied). 5

He introduced the shift from

polytheistic worshipping with Amun being the most important god to monotheistic worshipping of Aten.
The stela depicts the Royal family; the King Akhenaten, his wife, the Queen Nefertiti and their
three daughters. Nefertiti is patting head of her daughter, while the other one is standing on her lap; this
mundane representation of the royal family is against the norms of the early Egyptian art. This
representation is related to the cult of Aten, where the importance was put on the life right now rather then
after life. In my opinion, its trying to impart a more profound message: heaven is here, thanks to the
1 William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, The Essential World History. Seventh
Edition ( Harrisburg: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014), 18
2 Pat Remler, Egyptian Mythology A to Z (New York, N.Y.: Facts on File, 2000), 52
3 Angela P Thomas, Akhenaten's Egypt (Princes Risborough: Shire, 1988), 17
44 David P Silverman and Josef W. Wegner, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun: Revolution
and Restoration (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology
and Anthropology, 2006), 29
5 Delia Pemberton, The Civilization of Ancient Egypt (New York: Rosen Pub., 2013), 95

blessing of the Aten, the absolute god. In earlier Egyptian art, gods used to be represented
anthropomorphically and beside the pharaohs, whose importance was consequently greatly diminished.
However, in this stela, (and the Amarna period in general) , the Aten is elevated, which gives him even
more power as a god, yet at the same time, the figure of the pharaoh becomes the largest one, and thus the
most important. The Aten is represented as a sun disk with rays shining downright to the royal family. The
rays are terminated with hands. In addition, the hands near the royal family hold ankhs, the symbol of
immortality and prosperity. It looks as if the Aten was giving life and blessing to the royal family. The
disk representing the Aten is carved more deeply to emphasize its importance. In the original Egyptian
art, the royal cobra was worn solely by the kings, yet in this stela its the Aten who is depicted with it. Its
purpose is to convey the message that Aten is the king of the gods; the right and only one. The pharaohs
were believed to be the connection between the two realms. Kings used to function as high priests for
each of the gods, but for practical reasons, they had actual priests taking pharaohs place throughout the
empire.6 With eradication of the other gods, Akhenaten became the only high priest of Aten and thus the
priesthood of the other gods ceased to exist. This revolution brought money directly to Akhenaten, which
allowed him to move the capital from the Thebes to a new city free of any polytheistic symbols, Amarna.
Since Aten had no gender, the representation of Akhenaten had a hybrid character as well; he is depicted
with wide hips (sign of fertility), bulging abdomen and breasts. Akhenatens hybrid nature that made him
different from the other mortals, which supports his exertion to be perceived as the incarnation of the
Aten.
Akhenaten was so revolutionary that many people opposed him and thus tried to obliterate much
of his work after his death. He provided his people with a god to whom he was the only connection and

whose divinity and power were palpable and perceived everyday; people could appreciate and enjoy the
power of the sun disk and its rays with their own eyes and feelings.
Roman Sekej

6 David P Silverman and Josef W. Wegner, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun: Revolution and
Restoration (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology, 2006), 29

Figure 1. Stela of Akhenaten and His family. Limestone, The stela shows the King Akhenaten and his
holy family, 14th century BC.
Bibliography:
1. Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. The Essential World History. Seventh Edition,
International ed. Harrisburg: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014.

2. Pemberton, Delia. The Civilization of Ancient Egypt. New York: Rosen Pub., 2013.
3. Remler, Pat. Egyptian Mythology A to Z: A Young Reader's Companion. New York, N.Y.:
Facts on File, 2000.
4. Silverman, David P., and Josef W. Wegner. Akhenaten and Tutankhamun: Revolution and
Restoration. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology, 2006.
5. Thomas, Angela P. Akhenaten's Egypt. Princes Risborough: Shire, 1988.
6. "The Global Egyptian Museum The Global Egyptian Museum | JE 44865. Accessed
October 3, 2015. http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=15416.