Early Egyptian Religious Beliefs and Akhenaten?s Reforms Essay

Early Egyptian Religious Beliefs and Akhenatens Reforms     During the pertly Kingdom of Egypt (from 1552 through 1069 B.C.), there came a sweeping change in the spiritual structure of the ancient Egyptian civilization. "The sing to the Aten" was created by Amenhotep IV, who ruled from 1369 to 1353 B.C., and began a move toward a monotheist stopping point instead of the polytheist religion which Egypt had experienced for the many hundreds of years prior to the introduction of this new idea. in that respect was much that was different from the old views in "The Hymn to the Aten", and it offered a new outlook on the Egyptian ways of life by providing a complete break with the traditions which Egypt held to with great respect. Yet at the same time, there were many commonalties between these new ideas and the old views of the Egyptian world. Although through the duration of his reign, Amenhotep IV introduced a great many changes to the Egyptian religion along with "The Hymn", none of these reforms outlived their creator, mostly due to the massive forces placed on his successor, Tutankhamen, to renounce these new reforms. However, the significance of Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten as he later changed his name to, is fix in "The Hymn". "The Hymn" itself can be looked at as a contradiction of ideas it must be looked at in relation to both(prenominal) the Old Kingdoms belief of steadfast and static values, as well as in regards to the changes of the Middle Kingdom, which saw unprecedented expansionistic and individualistic oriented reforms. In this make-up I plan to discuss the evolvement of Egyptian Religious Beliefs throughout the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms and analyze why Amenhotep IV may have brought about such religious reforms.                         The Old Kingdom of Egypt (from 2700 to 2200 B .C.), saw the commencement of many of the rigid, formal beliefs of the Egyptian civilization, both in regards to their religious and political beliefs, as they were very closely intertwined. "... There was a determined attempt to impose order on the multitude of gods and religious beliefs that had existed since predynastic times... and the sun-god Re became the supreme royal god, with the ki... ...oyal couple changed their names to Tutankhamen, demonstrating their regenerate allegiance to Amen-Re. The king restored the old temples of the many gods, and reinstated the priesthoods" (David 158). The reforms, which Akhenaten brought to return the power once held by the Pharaoh in the Old Kingdom, were unable to be understood. The people who Akhenaten had to ensure erudition of his reasoning did not, for they no longer were connected to the old order which he was trying to reestablish.BibliographyAldred, Cyril. Akhenaten - King of Egypt. capital of the United Kingdom Thames and Hudson, 1998.Casson, Lionel. Ancient Egypt. New York Time Inc, 1965.David, Rosalie. Discovering Ancient Egypt. New York Facts on File, 1993.Hawkes, Jacquetta. Pharaohs of Egypt. New York American Heritage Publishing, 1965.Matthews, Roy T., and F. Dewitt Platt. Readings in the Western Humanities. Third Edition. Mountain View Mayfield Publishing, 1992 Montet, Pierre. Lives of the Pharaohs. Cleveland World Publishing Company, 1968.Redford, Donald. Akhenaten - The Heretic King. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1984.Strouhal, Eugen. Life of the Ancient Egyptians. London Opus Publishing, 1992.