14 Facts About Aten

1.

The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of Ra, the sun god in traditional ancient Egyptian religion.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,458
2.

The worship of Aten was initially dismantled by Tutankhamun and later eradicated by Tutankhamun's former military general Horemheb.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,459
3.

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.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,460
4.

Solar Aten was extensively worshipped as a god in the reign of Amenhotep III when it was depicted as a falcon-headed man much like Ra.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,461
5.

Principles of Aten's religion were recorded on the rock tomb walls of Akhetaten.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,462
6.

Aten cares for every creature, and created a Nile river in the sky for the Syrians.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,463
7.

Akhenaten represented himself not as a god, but as a son of Aten, shifting the previous methods of pharaohs claiming to be the embodiment of Horus.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,464
8.

Aten is an evolution of the idea of a sun-god in Egyptian mythology, deriving a lot of his concepts of power and representation from the earlier god Ra but building on top of the power Ra represents.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,465
9.

Aten carried absolute power in the universe, representing the life-giving force of light to the world as well as merging with the concept and goddess Ma'at to develop further responsibilities for Aten beyond the power of light itself.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,466
10.

Cult-centre of Aten was at the new city Akhetaten; some other cult cities include Thebes and Heliopolis.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,467
11.

The principles of Aten's cult were recorded on the rock walls of tombs of Amarna.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,468
12.

Temples to the Aten were open-air structures with little-to-no roofing to maximize the amount of sunlight on the interior making them unique compared to other Egyptian temples of the time.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,469
13.

Akhenaten was considered the 'high priest' or even a prophet of Aten, being the main propagator of the religion in Egypt during his reign.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,470
14.

The cult of the Aten was still in Egypt for another ten years or so as it faded and there was no purge of the cult after Akhenaten's death.

FactSnippet No. 1,304,471