Akhenaton

Study continues in the boring state of Idaho.

    There are many books and movies about Robin Hood and Queen Elizabeth. I felt inspired to write about Nefertiti. There were only two movies that had her in it, but they were not about her. In order to write a story about a historical figure, you must first conduct research. I began my research in high school before we knew what Internet was.

     By the time I was researching Nefertiti, we did have dial up. Even though I was online, the resources were not reliable enough. It was as though I was reading the tabloids full of batboys and women impregnated with alien fetuses. I located articles that were about Nefertiti, but it was a picture of a corpse and the website seemed a little suspicious. So, I turned to the source that I knew best. I was old fashioned and spent plenty of time in the library.

     I was just as disappointed with the library as I was with the Internet. The books were outdated. There was a documentary that some television station made, but the library did not have that. They only got something if they thought it was worth the money. Evidently, current information was not important to them.

     According to the material I read, Nefertiti molded King Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen was the son of the pharaoh Akhenaton. Akhenaton was the great heretic. He was the first king who implemented worshipping one deity.

     Before he did this, Aton and Amon were only taught to royal members of the family. Akhenaton decided that everyone must worship one god and that Aton was superior. He moved the kingdom to what is now known as Tel-el Armana.

     He conducted the ceremonies as well as Queen Nefertiti. In this newly created city, they practiced freedom of expression in art. The artwork of Tel-el Armana has the most unique appearance. The king did not look like any of the god-like leaders before him.

     All proceeds were going to Akhenaton's temple and not to the priests outside of Armana. He declared war on the Amon faith and had the gods destroyed. In addition to this, there were enemies eyeing Egypt like a hawk. Akhenaton believed that Aton would keep his kingdom safe.

     The people of Egypt were getting irritated and fearful. How could one god protect them from thousands of gods? A plague swept through the kingdom and made people more fearful of what the king was doing. They created pottery bearing the names of the king and queen and smashed them. People went out of control and began rioting, kidnapping, and raping. The rioters even kidnapped a prince who was sent on a boat to meet one of the princesses and killed him.

     Akhenaton disregarded the concerns of his people. He mocked the kings from other areas by not giving them gold whenever they requested it. It was said that Egypt was once rich and prosperous and Akhenaton was the one that brought Egypt into poverty.

     From the north, the Hittites began to threaten the kingdom. They were out for revenge for what Akhenaton's family did to the Hyksos. He disregarded the threat.

     Finally, Akhenaton passed away leaving a child to be the king. When King Tutankhamen became king, he used the buildings from his father's empire to rebuild the temples of Amon.  The kingdom went undiscovered until someone found the bust of Nefertiti thousands of years later.

     I read that the Amenhotep dynasty existed during the Stone Age. As far as religious warfare in the Middle East was concerned, it has been going on for a very long time.