Egyptian mythology originated in 6-4millennium BC. During the 40-50 centuries, residents of the Nile delta and other areas of the state of the pharaohs invented stories about the gods and goddesses, whom they worshiped as their patrons. One of these mythological creatures is Aton, the cult of which is devoted to this article.
This is one of the oldest works of the worldfiction, which has survived to the present day. It mentions the god Aton, which gave scientists the opportunity to date the appearance of his cult a period before the 12th dynasty.
According to the "Tale of Sinuhe," the deceased king is a god,rising to the sky. There he is one with the solar disk, and his body merges with the one who created it. At the same time, the daylight was identified with the god Aton.
The full name of the god Aton is Ra-Gore.The hieroglyph, which it was designated, was used to record the title of "The Light of the Sun". It was often cut, so on many steles and frescoes, God is simply called Aton. He combined the features of the female and male divine principle. It was believed that everything that exists is from God and yet exists within it. Unlike other deities, Aton, as a rule, was not considered anthropomorphic and was depicted as a solar disk. However, his rays ended with hands, like human.
During the Middle Kingdom, Aton, the god of Egypt,was considered one of the incarnations of the supreme god Ra. Under Pharaoh Amenhotep the Third one was no longer portrayed in the form of a sparkling solar disk. During this period the priests began to emphasize the similarity of the Egyptian god Aton with Ra, therefore, on the ancient frescos created in the 14th century BC. He looks like a man with a falcon's head. Amenhotep III himself gave this deity much more importance than his predecessors. In particular, it is known that he wished to name his barque for the journey to the afterlife by the "Soul of Aton".
This pharaoh entered the Egyptian throne in 1419year BC, after his father and namesake, since his older brother died at an early age. At that time, the chief regal rebel and revolutionary of the Ancient World was still a young man, but he had a high level of intelligence.
The mother of Amenhotep the Fourth was the queen Tia,which historians consider one of the most outstanding women in the history of Ancient Egypt. The fact is that she was not a purebred Egyptian and did not belong to the royal family, so the marriage between her and Pharaoh was considered a violation of all existing customs. Meanwhile, Tia was elevated by her royal royalty beyond all measure and influenced his decision-making regarding virtually all spheres of the country's life.
Becoming a widow, Tia began to direct the actions of her son, who from childhood inspired the idea of the superiority of Aton - the sun god - over the more famous and influential gods of Ancient Egypt.
Following the example of his predecessor Amenhotep the Fourth, the young Pharaoh began to worship the disk of the sun and decided to begin religious reform unprecedented in the history of Ancient Egypt.
Amenhotep Fourth remained in the history of the AncientEgypt, as a pharaoh who tried to eradicate the centuries-old religious tradition founded with the primacy of the cult of Amun. According to his decree it was considered that the supreme god of Ancient Egypt was Aton, and it was prescribed to worship the disc of the sun. The name of the god was ordered to be written inside the cartouche, like the name of a pharaoh, something that had never been done before. In addition, during the reign of Akhenaten, named Amarna, the god Aton (photo below) was seen as the creator, the result of the merger of all the gods together.
In honor of his all-powerful patron AmenhotepThe fourth built the new city of Ahetaton, where he moved himself and moved his capital, and also changed his name. If earlier it was translated as "Amon is pleased", now the king was called Akhenaten, that is, "useful to Aton".
On all these grandiose transformations, which have corrected the very foundations of the Egyptian state, the young reformer took only 6 years.
In the 12th year of his reign, Pharaoh went stillfarther. He forbade the use of the words "god" and "gods", because he believed that in the minds of the Egyptians they are associated with former cults. They were replaced by the name Aton, which became a household name. Even the word "mother" fell into disgrace, which in its sound in ancient Greek reminded the name of the goddess Moon from the ancient Egyptian pantheon.
Its decision to accept monotheism Akhenatenexplained by the fact that over the world only the Sun is powerful, which appears before the eyes of people in the form of a sparkling disk, and on the ground on his behalf is governed by Bishop Akhenaten.
In order that no one would think of worshiping other gods, Pharaoh ordered the destruction of many temples and erect new ones dedicated to Aton in their place.
Historians still can not come to a singleopinion on what caused Pharaoh to depart from the cult of Amun. Among the most probable causes is the desire of the young king to create a single religion for the expanded Egyptian state, which has become multinational, as well as the need to weaken the influence of nobles and priests on society. In addition, it is believed that Akhenaten was an exclusively selfish and narcissistic person, striving to exalt his person in every possible way. His craving for absolute power over others surpassed all facets of the rational and forced him to do things his predecessors could not even imagine.
In addition to politico-class explanations why the cultAton in such a short time was able to displace the gods, considered more powerful, some researchers put forward and unconventional versions. In particular, some historians associate the fall of the cult of Amun with the disappointment of the broad masses of Egyptians, connected with the insolvency of this god to protect his adherents from the consequences of the climatic catastrophe. It is known for certain that in 1380 BC. e. there was an eruption of the Santorini volcano. Researchers believe that under the Bible-known "Darkness of Egypt" contemporaries meant a lack of sunlight, which arose from the huge release of ash into the atmosphere. As a result, a significant part of the Mediterranean has experienced a number of disasters, including climate change, lean years and so on. God Amon could not protect the Egyptians from these troubles, despite all their sacrifices and prayers. Then part of the inhabitants of the Ancient Egyptian kingdom ceased to believe in his omnipotence and began to seek other protectors.
The ancient Egyptian god Aton was the only onethe object of worship is only about 15 years. In 1336 (1334) years BC. e. Pharaoh-rebel Akhenaten died. And the circumstances of his death are unknown. In addition, the last years of the reign of Akhenaten were covered with gloom. This is due to the fact that in the following centuries the priests did everything to erase from the memory of people the story of the king who trampled on the gods, who before that were considered omnipotent.
The death of the pharaoh reformer did not yet meanthe completion of the era of monotheism. His successor Smenkhkar, who at the time of his accession to the throne was about 15 years old, decided to continue his work. He honored his father-in-law (and possibly his father) so highly that he even added to his title the nickname, according to which he was the favorite of the deceased sovereign. However, in the third year of his rule, Smenkhkar unexpectedly changed his religious policy and allowed his subjects to worship not only Aton but also Amon. In addition, the young Pharaoh removed from his name the mention of his father-in-law and the only god-person who was worshiped by him. Once again, the words "god" and "mother" came into use. At the same time he kept in his palace numerous images of Aten.
After Semnekhkar's death on the throne, he ascendedchild - Pharaoh Tutankhaton. In the fourth year of his reign, the king's name changed to Tutankhamun, and he himself left the capital, founded by his father Ahetatonom, to settle in Memphis.
After the end of his reign, which lastedabout 14 years, the old courtier Akhenaten - Eie, who reigned for about five years, ascended the throne. He continued the tradition of the two-faith, which was introduced by his young predecessors.
The successor to Pharaoh Aye was Horemheb, who did notwas related to the representatives of the 18th dynasty. He owed his rise to the priests of Amun, who were badly affected by Akhenaten's reforms. With this pharaoh began the ubiquitous restoration of old temples. He issued decrees, according to which he declared all heretics his predecessors who worshiped Aton. Their names were crossed out on all papyri, on which the lists of "legitimate" pharaohs were recorded, so Horemheb was indicated as the next legitimate ruler after Amenhotep III. In addition, in the "Book of the Dead" Aton itself began to be called the deceased god.
Over the next 10-20 years, some of the mosteducated Egyptians continued to secretly worship Aton. The Egyptian god (the photo of the bas-reliefs with his images see above) was betrayed to oblivion only after the death of those who remembered the heyday of the cult of sun worship.
According to some historians, it is the cult of Atonmost influenced the formation of Jewish monotheism. This assumption is due to the fact that the prophet Moses lived in ancient Egypt, presumably during the reign of Akhenaten. If we consider this fact to be the case, then he could not get acquainted with the ideas of the new religion, the main one being the belief in the existence of a single omnipotent Creator.
Whatever it was, the new religion was crushed, and the descendants learned of its existence only in the XIX century.
