Akhenaten

Akhenaton, also known as Amenhotep IV, was Pharaoh of Egypt, shortly before Tutankhamun. He reigned from 1367 BC to 1350 BC during the Eighteenth Dynasty. His chief wife was Nefertiti, who has been made famous by her beautiful statue in the Berlin museum. He succeded his father Amenhotep III, and his mother was Chief Queen Tiy.

A religious revolutionary, he eschewed (but did not abandon) the traditional pantheon of deities, and worshipped the god Aten. In honour of this god, he changed his name from Amenhotep to Akhenaton. He also founded his own capital city at Amarna. The idea of Akhenaton as the pioneer of monotheistic religion was promoted by Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis) in his book Moses and Monotheism and thereby entered popular conciousness.

Styles of art that flourished during this short period are markedly different from other Egyptian art, bearing a variety of affectations, from elongated heads to protruding stomachs, exaggerated ugliness and the beauty of Nefertiti.

Akhenaton had six known daughters by Nefertiti, named Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. The third daughter, Ankhesenpaaten, went on to become Tutankhamun's queen.

Other names found(and that are the same person) include:

Ikhnaton,

Akhnaton,

Akhnaten,

Akhenaton,

Akhenaten,

Amenhotep IV,

Akhenaton in the Arts

In 1983, the composer Philip Glass wrote an opera, Akhnaten, based on Akhenaton's life. See that article for further details.