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Aten also Aton, Atonu, or Itn (jtn, reconstructed ˈjaːtin) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system formally established in ancient Egypt by the late Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. Exact dating for the 18th dynasty is contested, though a general date range places the dynasty in the years 1550 to 1292 B.C.E. The worship of Aten and the coinciding rule of Akhenaten are major identifying characteristics of a period within the 18th dynasty referred to as the Amarna Period (c. 1353–1336 B.C.E.). Atenism and the worship of the Aten as the sole god of ancient Egypt state worship did not persist beyond Akhenaten's death. Not long after his death, one of Akhenaten's 18th dynasty successors, Tutankhamun, reopened the state temples to other Egyptian gods and re-positioned Amun as the preeminent solar deity. He is depicted as a solar disk emitting rays terminating human hands. The word Aten appears in the Old Kingdom as a noun meaning "disc" which referred to anything flat and circular; the sun was called the "disc of the day" where Ra was thought to reside. By analogy, the term "silver aten" was sometimes used to refer to the moon. High relief and low relief illustrations of the Aten show it with a curved surface, therefore, the late scholar Hugh Nibley insisted that a more correct translation would be globe, orb or sphere, rather than disk. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of Ra, the sun god in traditional ancient Egyptian religion. While the Aten was worshiped under the reign of Amenhotep III, it was made the sole deity to receive state and official cult worship under his successor Akhenaten, though archaeological evidence suggests the closing of the state temples of other Egyptian gods likely did not stop household worship of the traditional pantheon. Inscriptions, such as the Great Hymn to the Aten, found in temples and tombs during Akhenaten's reign showcase the Aten as the creator, giver of life, and nurturing spirit of the world. Aten does not have a creation myth or family but is mentioned in the Book of the Dead.

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Related concepts (19)

Akhenaten

Akhenaten (pronounced ˌækəˈnɑːtən), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton (ꜣḫ-n-jtn ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy, ˈʔuːχəʔ nə ˈjaːtəj, meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV (jmn-ḥtp, meaning "Amun is satisfied", Hellenized as Amenophis IV). As a pharaoh, Akhenaten is noted for abandoning Egypt's traditional polytheism and introducing Atenism, or worship centered around Aten.

Amarna

Amarna (əˈmɑːrnə; al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and abandoned shortly after his death in 1332 BC. The name that the ancient Egyptians used for the city is transliterated as Akhetaten or Akhetaton, meaning "the horizon of the Aten". The site is on the east bank of the Nile River, in what today is the Egyptian province of Minya.

Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty spanned the period from 1550/1549 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty for the four pharaohs named Thutmose. Several of Egypt's most famous pharaohs were from the Eighteenth Dynasty, including Tutankhamun, whose tomb was found by Howard Carter in 1922.