Aten at Tell el Amarna
Egyptian Gods and Their Cult Centers

Enrich your trip to Egypt, learn more about the Ancient Gods whose monuments and temples you will s e on your Egypt Tour. Take day tours around Cairo to Memphis and Saqqara for sites of Gods of Lower Egypt. Travel by prearranged speciality excursions for the Gods of Middle Egypt. Many monuments and temples for the God of Upper Egypt are located in and around Luxor. Tours of Abydos and Dendera can be made by special arrangement. Visit other sites in Upper Egypt by Nile Cruise, Elephantine Island, home of Khnum the creator god is located in Aswan.

Aten

The sun disc Aten was deified by Akhenaten and became the sole god of his reign. Aten was the giver of all life. Aten only spoke through the Pharaoh. The principle cult site of Aten was at Akhetaten (Tell el Amarna), although there was a temple built at Karnak and in some other cities. Akhetaten was purpose-built on a new site for the capital of Akhenaten.

It is unknown whether Akhenaten was trying to revive the cult of Re or he was using the change of religion to counter the influence of the cults of Amun. However, he seemed to personally devote himself to the religion, writing several hymns to the Aten that are still beautiful when read today.

As the temples of Amun and the other gods of Egypt were economic centers of exchange and tax collection, the change to a single god with only one head priest, Akhenaten, who sequestered himself at a new and distant city, was destined to fail for economic reasons alone.

The naturalistic art of the Aten reinvigorated Egyptian Art and the portrayal of the "truth" of daily life in the tomb scenes have left a legacy of knowledge, even though the cult was rigorously suppressed after the death of Akhenaten, and much was destroyed.

Illustrations courtesy of Pixel Paradox Screensavers:
Egypt Tomb Scenes - Papyrus Art

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