Akhenaten birth name Amenophis IV .; Egyptian Amenhotep IV; later Achenaton was an ancient Egyptian king Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty New Kingdom and son of Amenophis III. and Queen Teje. He raised the god Aton in the form of the sun disk to God above all the gods of Egypt and dedicated his new capital Achet-Aton to him. This ruler pursued a strictly inward-looking policy and reformed art.
His father Amenophis III. had worshiped the sun god Aton more strongly, especially since there were internal contacts with the Kingdom of Mitanni and the Hittite Empire, where the sun was also the main deity. However, his son and successor went one step further: in his 6th year in government, he built a new city as the main cult center of the Aton, which he also made his seat of government. In the same year in government Akhenaten also built an Aton sanctuary in the area of the Karnak temple east of the Amun district.
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