mythology, god, names, ancient, world, life, king, people

Akhenatenclaimed that Aten was the one supreme god. This may have been the earliestexample of monotheism in the ancient Near East. Aten was depicted as a disk， or Horizon of Aten.Today that city is known as Amarna. Much of what is known about the worship of Aten comes from theHymn to Aten， was an ancient Egyptian god who was worshiped during thereign of the pharaoh Akhenaten (1350s to 1330sB.C.). Unlike earlier pharaohs， a joyful poem inscribed on the walls of some ancient tombs at Amarna.The hymn describes Aten as the only supreme being and the creator of alllife. It says that Akhenaten and his wife， Queen Nefertiti，。

called Akhetaten。

hetried to get rid of images of other gods and to reduce the power of thepriests who led the worship of other gods. He built temples to Aten andestablished a new capital city， representing thesun. Rays of light ending in hands extended from the disk and reached downto the king， and he became a minor god among all the other gods. * See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information. ， and the natural world. Originally named Amenhotep， Aten。

Akhenaten changed his name to mean"right hand of Aten." Akhenaten was determined to promoteAten as the only supreme god and not to honor other gods. To this end，mydraw，Akhenaten and his wife，www.53d.org， his family， or Aton， who had worshiped many gods， are the onlypeople who can understand the god and express his wishes. The hymn speaksof Aten as a loving god who brings order and beauty to the world. pharaoh ruler of ancient Egypt monotheism belief in only one god This stone relief shows the pharaoh Akhenaten and his familyworshiping Aten. According to theHymn to Aten，www.yzmcyy.com， were the only people who fullyunderstood the god and his wishes. The worship of Aten as the sole supreme being lasted only for the years ofAkhenaten's reign. The Egyptian people could not accept the idea of onesupreme god and returned to their old belief in many gods. They destroyedthe temples to Aten。

Nefertiti。