Akhenaten

Quartigod son of Amenhotep III by Tiye. The "heretic pharaoh" who initiated the canonical Egyptian religious revolution from the Theban-Amun state-cult to the solar-disk Aten cult. Founded the new capital Akhetaten (Amarna). Father of Tutankhamun by the secondary wife Kiya (or Nefertiti). Subjected to the most-systematic damnatio memoriae in Egyptian history after his death; his name excluded from all post-restoration king-lists. The KV55 mummy DNA-paternity analysis (Hawass et al. 2010, JAMA 303.7) confirmed his biological paternity of Tutankhamun. The Great Hymn to the Aten in the Tomb of Ay (Amarna TA25) is one of the foundational monotheistic-tendency religious texts of the ancient world.

Parentage

• Amenhotep III
• Tiye

Children

• Ankhesenamun
• Meketaten
• Meritaten
• Tutankhamun

Powers

• Reigns living on Maat (truth/cosmic order)
• Acts as the sole knower of and intermediary to the Aten

Relations

• father: Amenhotep III
• mother: Tiye
• spouse: Nefertiti
• sibling: Sitamun

Sources

• Karnak Aten temple talatat blocks (in situ archaeological); Amarna Boundary Stelae A, B, F, J, K, M, N, P, Q, R, S, U, V, X (year 5-8 inscriptions); the Great Hymn to the Aten (Tomb of Ay, Amarna TA25); KV55 royal-cache burial; Hawass et al. 2010, JAMA 303.7 (the DNA-paternity confirmation)
• Amarna Boundary Stela K; Soleb temple reliefs