I love Akhenaten because he was never his father's favorite and inherited the crown by chance, because he innovated monotheism and very nearly took down the politically all-powerful Amun priesthood, because he married Nefertiti and then dumped her for a young male lover, because he called for a revolution in humanistic art, and because he did all of the above while living with a disfiguring illness.
There's a lot of psychological interest in Akhenaten's behavior. Why insist on humanistic, realistic portraiture when you yourself are disfigured? Why make that part of your legacy? By his actions, he comes through to us as a powerful personality.
The Amarna period in Egyptian history is short, but fascinating. The politics, the personalities, the wild swings from one religious power to another and back again, the unexplained disappearances and murders-- notably that of Akhenaten's son-in-law Tutankhaten (or Tutankhamen as we generally know him). And it all ended with the famous Ramesside period, that of the Exodus. Monotheism strikes again!
Well, I could go on all day. Suffice it to say that Akhenaten is one of the most fascinating people in Egyptian history. :)
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There's a lot of psychological interest in Akhenaten's behavior. Why insist on humanistic, realistic portraiture when you yourself are disfigured? Why make that part of your legacy? By his actions, he comes through to us as a powerful personality.
The Amarna period in Egyptian history is short, but fascinating. The politics, the personalities, the wild swings from one religious power to another and back again, the unexplained disappearances and murders-- notably that of Akhenaten's son-in-law Tutankhaten (or Tutankhamen as we generally know him). And it all ended with the famous Ramesside period, that of the Exodus. Monotheism strikes again!
Well, I could go on all day. Suffice it to say that Akhenaten is one of the most fascinating people in Egyptian history. :)