Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt | Akhenaten: Heretic Pharaoh (Lecture 4)

Lecture 4: In this lecture, we meet the most enigmatic and controversial pharaoh in Egypt’s long history, Akhenaten. This pharaoh was a mystic who built a new religious capital in Egypt at Tell el Amarna, from which he based his worship of the single god Aten. Until Akhenaten’s time, Egypt had been a rigid, conservative society that valued tradition over change; indeed, the Egyptians had worshiped the same gods for more than 3,000 years. Akhenaten’s declaration of belief in a single god was a significant blow to the temples and the larger society. With the reign of Akhenaten, we see what happens when the three pillars of Egyptian society—religion, the military, and the pharaoh—are altered. We also discuss the claim that Akhenaten was the first monotheist and the “first individual in history.”

Essential Reading:
Cyril Aldred, Akhenaten, King of Egypt.

Supplementary Reading:
D. B. Redford, Akhenaten, the Heretic King.

Lecture 5: https://rumble.com/v6ywyba-great-pharaohs-of-ancient-egypt-tutankhamen-the-lost-pharaoh-lecture-5.html