Misplaced Pages

#203796

151-536: The ancient festival might, perhaps, have been instituted to replace a ritual of murdering a pharaoh who was unable to continue to rule effectively because of age or condition. Eventually, Sed festivals were jubilees celebrated after a ruler had held the throne for thirty years and then every three to four years after that. The festival, primarily, served to reassert pharaonic authority and state ideology. Sed festivals implied elaborate temple rituals and included processions, offerings, and such acts of religious devotion as

302-621: A homeostatic mechanism to regulate and stabilize social institutions by adjusting social interactions , maintaining a group ethos , and restoring harmony after disputes. Although the functionalist model was soon superseded, later "neofunctional" theorists adopted its approach by examining the ways that ritual regulated larger ecological systems. Roy Rappaport , for example, examined the way gift exchanges of pigs between tribal groups in Papua New Guinea maintained environmental balance between humans, available food (with pigs sharing

453-416: A British Functionalist, extended Turner's theory of ritual structure and anti-structure with her own contrasting set of terms "grid" and "group" in the book Natural Symbols . Drawing on Levi-Strauss' Structuralist approach, she saw ritual as symbolic communication that constrained social behaviour. Grid is a scale referring to the degree to which a symbolic system is a shared frame of reference. Group refers to

604-505: A Meritaten-tasherit ("junior") and an Ankhesenpaaten-tasherit. According to some, this indicates that Akhenaten fathered his own grandchildren. Others hold that, since these grandchildren are not attested to elsewhere, they are fictions invented to fill the space originally portraying Kiya's child. Egyptologists know very little about Akhenaten's life as prince Amenhotep. Donald B. Redford dates his birth before his father Amenhotep III's 25th regnal year, c.  1363–1361 BC , based on

755-430: A Sed festival when he was likely still in his early twenties. Some historians see it as evidence for Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV's coregency, and believed that Amenhotep IV's Sed festival coincided with one of his father's celebrations. Others speculate that Amenhotep IV chose to hold his festival three years after his father's death, aiming to proclaim his rule a continuation of his father's reign. Yet others believe that

906-536: A brief independent reign after Akhenaten is unclear. If Smenkhkare outlived Akhenaten, and became sole pharaoh, he likely ruled Egypt for less than a year. The next successor was Nefertiti or Meritaten ruling as Neferneferuaten , reigning in Egypt for about two years. She was, in turn, probably succeeded by Tutankhaten, with the country being administered by the vizier and future pharaoh Ay . While Akhenaten—along with Smenkhkare—was most likely reburied in tomb KV55,

1057-547: A co-ruler rather than as his Great Royal Wife , the duties of which were assigned to their royal daughter. Upon her husband's death, the only eligible male in the royal family was a stepson and nephew of hers who was a child. He was made a consort and, shortly thereafter, she was crowned pharaoh. Some Egyptologists , such as Jürgen von Beckerath in his book Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs , speculate that Hatshepsut may have celebrated her first Sed jubilee to mark

1208-537: A cultural order on nature. Mircea Eliade states that the calendrical rituals of many religious traditions recall and commemorate the basic beliefs of a community, and their yearly celebration establishes a link between past and present, as if the original events are happening over again: "Thus the gods did; thus men do." This genre of ritual encompasses forms of sacrifice and offering meant to praise, please or placate divine powers. According to early anthropologist Edward Tylor, such sacrifices are gifts given in hope of

1359-419: A diverse range of rituals such as pilgrimages and Yom Kippur . Beginning with Max Gluckman's concept of "rituals of rebellion", Victor Turner argued that many types of ritual also served as "social dramas" through which structural social tensions could be expressed, and temporarily resolved. Drawing on Van Gennep's model of initiation rites, Turner viewed these social dramas as a dynamic process through which

1510-530: A dozen elderly militarists could have done," while James Henry Breasted said Akhenaten "was not fit to cope with a situation demanding an aggressive man of affairs and a skilled military leader." Others noted that the Amarna letters counter the conventional view that Akhenaten neglected Egypt's foreign territories in favour of his internal reforms. For instance, Norman de Garis Davies praised Akhenaten's emphasis on diplomacy over war, while James Baikie said that

1661-427: A fixed period since an important event. Calendrical rituals give social meaning to the passage of time, creating repetitive weekly, monthly or yearly cycles. Some rites are oriented towards a culturally defined moment of change in the climatic cycle, such as solar terms or the changing of seasons, or they may mark the inauguration of an activity such as planting, harvesting, or moving from winter to summer pasture during

SECTION 10

#1732765354204

1812-452: A four-volume analysis of myth) but was influential to later scholars of ritual such as Mary Douglas and Edmund Leach . Victor Turner combined Arnold van Gennep 's model of the structure of initiation rites, and Gluckman's functionalist emphasis on the ritualization of social conflict to maintain social equilibrium, with a more structural model of symbols in ritual. Running counter to this emphasis on structured symbolic oppositions within

1963-419: A hiatus in his knowledge or in his powers of practical control, and yet has to continue in his pursuit.". Radcliffe-Brown in contrast, saw ritual as an expression of common interest symbolically representing a community, and that anxiety was felt only if the ritual was not performed. George C. Homans sought to resolve these opposing theories by differentiating between "primary anxieties" felt by people who lack

2114-445: A human response. National flags, for example, may be considered more than signs representing a country. The flag stands for larger symbols such as freedom, democracy, free enterprise or national superiority. Anthropologist Sherry Ortner writes that the flag does not encourage reflection on the logical relations among these ideas, nor on the logical consequences of them as they are played out in social actuality, over time and history. On

2265-412: A legitimate communal authority that can constrain the possible outcomes. Historically, war in most societies has been bound by highly ritualized constraints that limit the legitimate means by which war was waged. Activities appealing to supernatural beings are easily considered rituals, although the appeal may be quite indirect, expressing only a generalized belief in the existence of the sacred demanding

2416-646: A limited and rigidly organized set of expressions which anthropologists call a "restricted code" (in opposition to a more open "elaborated code"). Maurice Bloch argues that ritual obliges participants to use this formal oratorical style, which is limited in intonation, syntax, vocabulary, loudness, and fixity of order. In adopting this style, ritual leaders' speech becomes more style than content. Because this formal speech limits what can be said, it induces "acceptance, compliance, or at least forbearance with regard to any overt challenge". Bloch argues that this form of ritual communication makes rebellion impossible and revolution

2567-584: A male heir. While this is debated, some historical parallels exist: Akhenaten's father Amenhotep III married his daughter Sitamun, while Ramesses II married two or more of his daughters, even though their marriages might simply have been ceremonial. In Akhenaten's case, his oldest daughter Meritaten is recorded as Great Royal Wife to Smenkhkare but is also listed on a box from Tutankhamun's tomb alongside pharaohs Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten as Great Royal Wife. Additionally, letters written to Akhenaten from foreign rulers make reference to Meritaten as "mistress of

2718-412: A means of resolving social passion, arguing instead that it simply displayed them. Whereas Victor Turner saw in ritual the potential to release people from the binding structures of their lives into a liberating anti-structure or communitas, Maurice Bloch argued that ritual produced conformity. Maurice Bloch argued that ritual communication is unusual in that it uses a special, restricted vocabulary,

2869-564: A military expedition to quell a rebellion and raids on settlements on the Nile by Nubian nomadic tribes. The victory was commemorated on two stelae, one discovered at Amada and another at Buhen . Egyptologists differ on the size of the campaign: Wolfgang Helck considered it a small-scale police operation, while Alan Schulman considered it a "war of major proportions". Other Egyptologists suggested that Akhenaten could have waged war in Syria or

3020-454: A new capital city be built: Akhetaten (Ancient Egyptian: ꜣḫt-jtn , meaning "Horizon of the Aten"), better known today as Amarna. The events Egyptologists know the most about during Akhenaten's life are connected with founding Akhetaten, as several so-called boundary stelae were found around the city to mark its boundary. The pharaoh chose a site about halfway between Thebes , the capital at

3171-399: A return. Catherine Bell , however, points out that sacrifice covers a range of practices from those that are manipulative and "magical" to those of pure devotion. Hindu puja , for example, appear to have no other purpose than to please the deity. According to Marcel Mauss , sacrifice is distinguished from other forms of offering by being consecrated, and hence sanctified. As a consequence,

SECTION 20

#1732765354204

3322-421: A ritual was his exploration of the liminal phase of rites of passage, a phase in which "anti-structure" appears. In this phase, opposed states such as birth and death may be encompassed by a single act, object or phrase. The dynamic nature of symbols experienced in ritual provides a compelling personal experience; ritual is a "mechanism that periodically converts the obligatory into the desirable". Mary Douglas ,

3473-585: A royal couple just a year before Akhenaten's death. The inscription is dated to Year 16, month 3 of Akhet , day 15 of the reign of Akhenaten. Before the 2012 discovery of the Deir el-Bersha inscription, the last known fixed-date event in Akhenaten's reign was a royal reception in regnal year twelve, in which the pharaoh and the royal family received tributes and offerings from allied countries and vassal states at Akhetaten. Inscriptions show tributes from Nubia ,

3624-470: A shared "poetics"). These rituals may fall along the spectrum of formality, with some less, others more formal and restrictive. Csordas argues that innovations may be introduced in less formalized rituals. As these innovations become more accepted and standardized, they are slowly adopted in more formal rituals. In this way, even the most formal of rituals are potential avenues for creative expression. In his historical analysis of articles on ritual and rite in

3775-399: A small number of permissible illustrations, and a restrictive grammar. As a result, ritual utterances become very predictable, and the speaker is made anonymous in that they have little choice in what to say. The restrictive syntax reduces the ability of the speaker to make propositional arguments, and they are left, instead, with utterances that cannot be contradicted such as "I do thee wed" in

3926-595: A spectrum: "Actions fall into place on a continuous scale. At one extreme we have actions which are entirely profane, entirely functional, technique pure and simple; at the other we have actions which are entirely sacred, strictly aesthetic, technically non-functional. Between these two extremes we have the great majority of social actions which partake partly of the one sphere and partly of the other. From this point of view technique and ritual, profane and sacred, do not denote types of action but aspects of almost any kind of action." The functionalist model viewed ritual as

4077-583: A symbolic activity, it is no longer confined to religion, but is distinguished from technical action. The shift in definitions from script to behavior, which is likened to a text, is matched by a semantic distinction between ritual as an outward sign (i.e., public symbol) and inward meaning . Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced / ˌ æ k ə ˈ n ɑː t ən / listen ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( Ancient Egyptian : ꜣḫ-n-jtn ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy , pronounced [ˈʔuːχəʔ nə ˈjaːtəj] , meaning 'Effective for

4228-458: A technical sense for a repetitive behavior systematically used by a person to neutralize or prevent anxiety; it can be a symptom of obsessive–compulsive disorder but obsessive-compulsive ritualistic behaviors are generally isolated activities. The English word ritual derives from the Latin ritualis, "that which pertains to rite ( ritus )". In Roman juridical and religious usage, ritus

4379-598: A time when the balance of power between Egypt's neighbors and rivals was shifting, and the Hittites, a confrontational state, overtook the Mitanni in influence. Early in his reign, Akhenaten was evidently concerned about the expanding power of the Hittite Empire under Šuppiluliuma I . A successful Hittite attack on Mitanni and its ruler Tushratta would have disrupted the entire international balance of power in

4530-565: A village of those working on Valley of the Kings tombs was relocated to the workers' village at Akhetaten. However, construction work continued in the rest of the country, as larger cult centers, such as Heliopolis and Memphis, also had temples built for Aten. The Amarna letters have provided important evidence about Akhenaten's reign and foreign policy. The letters are a cache of 382 diplomatic texts and literary and educational materials discovered between 1887 and 1979, and named after Amarna,

4681-458: A wedding. These kinds of utterances, known as performatives , prevent speakers from making political arguments through logical argument, and are typical of what Weber called traditional authority instead. Bloch's model of ritual language denies the possibility of creativity. Thomas Csordas, in contrast, analyzes how ritual language can be used to innovate. Csordas looks at groups of rituals that share performative elements ("genres" of ritual with

Sed festival - Misplaced Pages Continue

4832-476: A year or two later. Nefertiti might not have assumed the role of coregent until after year sixteen, when a stela still mentions her as Akhenaten's Great Royal Wife . While Nefertiti's familial relationship with Akhenaten is known, whether Akhenaten and Smenkhkare were related by blood is unclear. Smenkhkare could have been Akhenaten's son or brother, as the son of Amenhotep III with Tiye or Sitamun . Archaeological evidence makes it clear, however, that Smenkhkare

4983-437: A younger son of pharaoh Amenhotep III and his principal wife Tiye . Akhenaten had an elder brother, crown prince Thutmose , who was recognized as Amenhotep III's heir. Akhenaten also had four or five sisters: Sitamun , Henuttaneb , Iset , Nebetah , and possibly Beketaten . Thutmose's early death, perhaps around Amenhotep III's thirtieth regnal year, meant that Akhenaten was next in line for Egypt's throne. Akhenaten

5134-400: Is a sequence of activities involving gestures , words, actions, or revered objects. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community , including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, but not defined, by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all known human societies. They include not only

5285-519: Is because the woman has come too closely in touch with the 'man's side' in her marriage that her dead matrikin have impaired her fertility." To correct the balance of matrilinial descent and marriage, the Isoma ritual dramatically placates the deceased spirits by requiring the woman to reside with her mother's kin. Shamanic and other ritual may effect a psychotherapeutic cure, leading anthropologists such as Jane Atkinson to theorize how. Atkinson argues that

5436-433: Is bodily discipline, as in monastic prayer and meditation meant to mold dispositions and moods. This bodily discipline is frequently performed in unison, by groups. Rituals tend to be governed by rules, a feature somewhat like formalism. Rules impose norms on the chaos of behavior, either defining the outer limits of what is acceptable or choreographing each move. Individuals are held to communally approved customs that evoke

5587-753: Is clear evidence for early pharaohs celebrating the Heb Sed, such as the First Dynasty pharaoh Den and the Third Dynasty pharaoh Djoser . In the Pyramid of Djoser , there are two boundary stones in his Heb Sed court , which is within his pyramid complex. He also is shown performing the Heb Sed in a false doorway inside his pyramid. The two boundary stones would have functioned as symbolic reminders of Djoser's dominion over Upper and Lower Egypt, and their placement within his mortuary complex would allow

5738-467: Is known for Meketaten, the assumption had been that Akhenaten was the father. Aidan Dodson believes this to be unlikely, as no Egyptian tomb has been found that mentions or alludes to the cause of death of the tomb owner. Further, Jacobus van Dijk proposes that the child is a portrayal of Meketaten's soul . Finally, various monuments, originally for Kiya, were reinscribed for Akhenaten's daughters Meritaten and Ankhesenpaaten. The revised inscriptions list

5889-569: Is not their central feature. For example, having water to drink during or after ritual is common, but does not make thar ritual a water ritual unless the drinking of water is a central activity such as in the Church of All Worlds waterkin rite. According to anthropologist Clifford Geertz , political rituals actually construct power; that is, in his analysis of the Balinese state , he argued that rituals are not an ornament of political power, but that

6040-546: Is offered the following description of the creation of man: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul". As a result at the moment of death each of the two elements needs to be returned to its source, the body returns to earth, while the soul to the heavenly creator, by means of the funerary ritual. Calendrical and commemorative rites are ritual events marking particular times of year, or

6191-450: Is satisfied", "Effective spirit of the Aten", or "Serviceable to the Aten", respectively. Gertie Englund and Florence Friedman arrive at the translation "Effective for the Aten" by analyzing contemporary texts and inscriptions, in which Akhenaten often described himself as being "effective for" the sun disc. Englund and Friedman conclude that the frequency with which Akhenaten used this term likely means that his own name meant "Effective for

Sed festival - Misplaced Pages Continue

6342-399: Is seeing believing, doing is believing." The theatricality of ritual may overlap with performance art . For simplicity's sake, the range of diverse rituals can be divided into categories with common characteristics, generally falling into one three major categories: However, rituals can fall in more than one category or genre, and may be grouped in a variety of other ways. For example,

6493-412: Is somehow generated." Symbolic anthropologists like Geertz analyzed rituals as language-like codes to be interpreted independently as cultural systems. Geertz rejected Functionalist arguments that ritual describes social order, arguing instead that ritual actively shapes that social order and imposes meaning on disordered experience. He also differed from Gluckman and Turner's emphasis on ritual action as

6644-501: Is the case with the Bosnian syncretic holidays and festivals that transgress religious boundaries. Nineteenth century " armchair anthropologists " were concerned with the basic question of how religion originated in human history. In the twentieth century their conjectural histories were replaced with new concerns around the question of what these beliefs and practices did for societies, regardless of their origin. In this view, religion

6795-628: Is viewed in the same light. He observed, for example, how the first-fruits festival ( incwala ) of the South African Bantu kingdom of Swaziland symbolically inverted the normal social order, so that the king was publicly insulted, women asserted their domination over men, and the established authority of elders over the young was turned upside down. Claude Lévi-Strauss , the French anthropologist, regarded all social and cultural organization as symbolic systems of communication shaped by

6946-495: The Encyclopædia Britannica , Talal Asad notes that from 1771 to 1852, the brief articles on ritual define it as a "book directing the order and manner to be observed in performing divine service" (i.e., as a script). There are no articles on the subject thereafter until 1910, when a new, lengthy article appeared that redefines ritual as "...a type of routine behaviour that symbolizes or expresses something". As

7097-582: The antam sanskar in Sikhism. These rituals often reflect deep spiritual beliefs and provide a structured way for communities to grieve and honor the deceased. In Tibetan Buddhism, for example, the rituals described in the Bardo Thodol guide the soul through the stages of death, aiming for spiritual liberation or enlightenment. In Islam, the Janazah prayer is an essential communal act that underscores

7248-506: The Aten and distancing himself from other gods. Egyptologist Donald B. Redford believes this implied that Amenhotep IV's eventual religious policies were not conceived of before his reign, and he did not follow a pre-established plan or program. Redford points to three pieces of evidence to support this. First, surviving inscriptions show Amenhotep IV worshipping several different gods, including Atum , Osiris , Anubis , Nekhbet , Hathor , and

7399-598: The Aten '), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c.  1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty . Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV (Ancient Egyptian: jmn-ḥtp , meaning " Amun is satisfied", Hellenized as Amenophis IV ). As a pharaoh, Akhenaten is noted for abandoning traditional ancient Egyptian religion of polytheism and introducing Atenism , or worship centered around Aten . The views of Egyptologists differ as to whether

7550-737: The Double Plumes " "Beloved of Aten" "Great of Kingship in Karnak" "Great of Kingship in Akhet-Aten" "Crowned in Heliopolis of the South" (Thebes) "Exalter of the Name of Aten" "Amun is Satisfied, Divine Lord of Thebes" "Effective for the Aten" Around the same time he changed his royal titulary, on the thirteenth day of the growing season 's fourth month , Akhenaten decreed that

7701-712: The Eastern Mediterranean that Akhenaten inherited from his predecessors. In the 200 years preceding Akhenaten's reign, following the expulsion of the Hyksos from Lower Egypt at the end of the Second Intermediate Period , the kingdom's influence and military might increased greatly. Egypt's power reached new heights under Thutmose III , who ruled approximately 100 years before Akhenaten and led several successful military campaigns into Nubia and Syria. Egypt's expansion led to confrontation with

SECTION 50

#1732765354204

7852-477: The Eye of Ra , and texts from this era refer to "the gods" and "every god and every goddess". The High Priest of Amun was also still active in the fourth year of Amenhotep IV's reign. Second, even though he later moved his capital from Thebes to Akhetaten , his initial royal titulary honored Thebes—his nomen was "Amenhotep, god-ruler of Thebes"—and recognizing its importance, he called the city "Southern Heliopolis,

8003-581: The Festival Hall of Thutmose II and Amenhotep III's Third Pylon at Karnak . Notably, Amenemhat II , despite appearing to have ruled for approximately 35 years, did not appear to have any kind of Heb-Sed. The most lavish of the Sed Festivals, judging by surviving inscriptions, were those of Amenhotep III (c. 1360 BCE) and Ramesses II (who had his first of over a dozen in approximately 1249 BCE). Several pharaohs seem to have deviated from

8154-626: The Land of Punt , Syria , the Kingdom of Hattusa , the islands in the Mediterranean Sea , and Libya . Egyptologists, such as Aidan Dodson , consider this year twelve celebration to be the zenith of Akhenaten's reign. Thanks to reliefs in the tomb of courtier Meryre II , historians know that the royal family, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and their six daughters, were present at the royal reception in full. However, historians are uncertain about

8305-481: The Levant , possibly against the Hittites. Cyril Aldred, based on Amarna letters describing Egyptian troop movements, proposed that Akhenaten launched an unsuccessful war around the city of Gezer , while Marc Gabolde argued for an unsuccessful campaign around Kadesh . Either of these could be the campaign referred to on Tutankhamun's Restoration Stela: "if an army was sent to Djahy [southern Canaan and Syria] to broaden

8456-665: The Muslim ritual ablution or Wudu before prayer; baptism in Christianity , a custom and sacrament that represents both purification and initiation into the religious community (the Christian Church ); and Amrit Sanskar in Sikhism , a rite of passage ( sanskar ) that similarly represents purification and initiation into the religious community (the khalsa ). Rites that use water are not considered water rites if it

8607-463: The agricultural cycle . They may be fixed by the solar or lunar calendar ; those fixed by the solar calendar fall on the same day (of the Gregorian, Solar calendar) each year (such as New Year's Day on the first of January) while those calculated by the lunar calendar fall on different dates (of the Gregorian, Solar calendar) each year (such as Chinese lunar New Year ). Calendrical rites impose

8758-420: The intricate calendar of Hindu Balinese rituals served to regulate the vast irrigation systems of Bali, ensuring the optimum distribution of water over the system while limiting disputes. While most Functionalists sought to link ritual to the maintenance of social order, South African functionalist anthropologist Max Gluckman coined the phrase "rituals of rebellion" to describe a type of ritual in which

8909-541: The slaughter of pigs in New Guinea; Carnival festivities; or penitential processions in Catholicism. Victor Turner described this "cultural performance" of basic values a "social drama". Such dramas allow the social stresses that are inherent in a particular culture to be expressed and worked out symbolically in a ritual catharsis; as the social tensions continue to persist outside the ritual, pressure mounts for

9060-428: The worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults , but also rites of passage , atonement and purification rites , oaths of allegiance , dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations , marriages, funerals and more. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying " hello " may be termed as rituals . The field of ritual studies has seen a number of conflicting definitions of

9211-700: The 1600s to mean "the prescribed order of performing religious services" or more particularly a book of these prescriptions. There are hardly any limits to the kind of actions that may be incorporated into a ritual. The rites of past and present societies have typically involved special gestures and words, recitation of fixed texts, performance of special music , songs or dances , processions, manipulation of certain objects, use of special dresses, consumption of special food , drink , or drugs , and much more. Catherine Bell argues that rituals can be characterized by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism and performance. Ritual uses

SECTION 60

#1732765354204

9362-635: The 20th century, it is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo as of 2019. Despite leaving the sarcophagus behind, Akhenaten's mummy was removed from the royal tombs after Tutankhamun abandoned Akhetaten and returned to Thebes. It was most likely moved to tomb KV55 in Valley of the Kings near Thebes. This tomb was later desecrated, likely during the Ramesside period . Whether Smenkhkare also enjoyed

9513-488: The 30-year tradition, notably two pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty , Hatshepsut and Akhenaten , rulers in a dynasty that was recovering from occupation by foreigners, reestablishing itself, and redefining many traditions. Hatshepsut celebrated her Sed jubilee at Thebes , but she did this by counting the time she was the consort to her husband, and some recent research indicates that she did exercise authority usually reserved for pharaohs during his reign, thereby acting as

9664-562: The Amarna family's continued rule when Egypt was confronted with an epidemic. Dodson suggested that the two were chosen to rule as Tutankhaten's coregent in case Akhenaten died and Tutankhaten took the throne at a young age, or rule in Tutankhaten's stead if the prince also died in the epidemic. Akhenaten died after seventeen years of rule and was initially buried in a tomb in the Royal Wadi east of Akhetaten. The order to construct

9815-470: The Ancient Middle East at a time when Egypt had made peace with Mitanni; this would cause some of Egypt's vassals to switch their allegiances to the Hittites, as time would prove. A group of Egypt's allies who attempted to rebel against the Hittites were captured, and wrote letters begging Akhenaten for troops, but he did not respond to most of their pleas. Evidence suggests that the troubles on

9966-485: The Aten". Some historians, such as William F. Albright , Edel Elmar , and Gerhard Fecht , propose that Akhenaten's name is misspelled and mispronounced. These historians believe "Aten" should rather be "Jāti", thus rendering the pharaoh's name Akhenjāti or Aḫanjāti (pronounced / ˌ æ k ə ˈ n j ɑː t ɪ / ), as it could have been pronounced in Ancient Egypt. Kanakht-qai-Shuti "Strong Bull of

10117-472: The Eighteenth Dynasty founded a new dynasty , they discredited Akhenaten and his immediate successors and referred to Akhenaten as "the enemy" or "that criminal" in archival records. Akhenaten was all but lost to history until the late-19th-century discovery of Amarna , or Akhetaten, the new capital city he built for the worship of Aten. Furthermore, in 1907, a mummy that could be Akhenaten's

10268-433: The Hittites; ordered by Akhenaten to come to Egypt, Aziru was released after promising to stay loyal to the pharaoh, nonetheless turning to the Hittites soon after his release. Egyptologists know little about the last five years of Akhenaten's reign, beginning in c.  1341 or 1339 BC. These years are poorly attested and only a few pieces of contemporary evidence survive; the lack of clarity makes reconstructing

10419-459: The Mitanni, but this rivalry ended with the two nations becoming allies. Slowly, however, Egypt's power started to wane. Amenhotep III aimed to maintain the balance of power through marriages—such as his marriage to Tadukhipa , daughter of the Mitanni king Tushratta —and vassal states. Under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, Egypt was unable or unwilling to oppose the rise of the Hittites around Syria. The pharaohs seemed to eschew military confrontation at

10570-664: The Rud-Menu ("Enduring of monuments for Aten forever"), the Teni-Menu ("Exalted are the monuments of the Aten forever"), and the Sekhen Aten ("booth of Aten"). Around regnal year two or three, Amenhotep IV organized a Sed festival . Sed festivals were ritual rejuvenations of an aging pharaoh, which usually took place for the first time around the thirtieth year of a pharaoh's reign and every three or so years thereafter. Egyptologists only speculate as to why Amenhotep IV organized

10721-531: The South Pacific. In such religio-political movements, Islanders would use ritual imitations of western practices (such as the building of landing strips) as a means of summoning cargo (manufactured goods) from the ancestors. Leaders of these groups characterized the present state (often imposed by colonial capitalist regimes) as a dismantling of the old social order, which they sought to restore. Rituals may also attain political significance after conflict, as

10872-463: The accepted social order was symbolically turned on its head. Gluckman argued that the ritual was an expression of underlying social tensions (an idea taken up by Victor Turner ), and that it functioned as an institutional pressure valve, relieving those tensions through these cyclical performances. The rites ultimately functioned to reinforce social order, insofar as they allowed those tensions to be expressed without leading to actual rebellion. Carnival

11023-653: The afterlife. Despite the antiquity of the Sed festival and the hundreds of references to it throughout the history of ancient Egypt, the most detailed records of the ceremonies—apart from the reign of Amenhotep III —come mostly from "relief cycles of the Fifth Dynasty king Neuserra ... in his sun temple at Abu Ghurab , of Akhenaten at East Karnak , and the relief cycles of the Twenty-second Dynasty king Osorkon II ... at Bubastis ." There

11174-494: The anthropologist Victor Turner writes: Rituals may be seasonal, ... or they may be contingent, held in response to an individual or collective crisis. ... Other classes of rituals include divinatory rituals; ceremonies performed by political authorities to ensure the health and fertility of human beings, animals, and crops in their territories; initiation into priesthoods devoted to certain deities, into religious associations, or into secret societies; and those accompanying

11325-501: The arrival of the Egyptian military on their lands, and provide evidence that these troops were dispatched and arrived at their destination. Dozens of letters detail that Akhenaten—and Amenhotep III—sent Egyptian and Nubian troops, armies, archers, chariots, horses, and ships. Only one military campaign is known for certain under Akhenaten's reign. In his second or twelfth year, Akhenaten ordered his Viceroy of Kush Tuthmose to lead

11476-538: The birth of Akhenaten's first daughter, who was likely born fairly early in his own reign. The only mention of his name, as "the King's Son Amenhotep", was found on a wine docket at Amenhotep III's Malkata palace, where some historians suggested Akhenaten was born. Others contend that he was born at Memphis , where growing up he was influenced by the worship of the sun god Ra practiced at nearby Heliopolis . Redford and James K. Hoffmeier state, however, that Ra's cult

11627-649: The boundaries of Egypt, no success of their cause came to pass." John Coleman Darnell and Colleen Manassa also argued that Akhenaten fought with the Hittites for control of Kadesh, but was unsuccessful; the city was not recaptured until 60–70 years later, under Seti I . Overall, archeological evidence suggests that Akhenaten paid close attention to the affairs of Egyptian vassals in Canaan and Syria, though primarily not through letters such as those found at Amarna but through reports from government officials and agents. Akhenaten managed to preserve Egypt's control over

11778-559: The cause, and make the restoration of social relationships the cure. Turner uses the example of the Isoma ritual among the Ndembu of northwestern Zambia to illustrate. The Isoma rite of affliction is used to cure a childless woman of infertility. Infertility is the result of a "structural tension between matrilineal descent and virilocal marriage" (i.e., the tension a woman feels between her mother's family, to whom she owes allegiance, and her husband's family among whom she must live). "It

11929-418: The ceremonial raising of a djed , the base or sacrum of a bovine spine, a phallic symbol representing the strength, "potency and duration of the pharaoh's rule". The festival also involved symbolic reaffirmation of the pharaoh's rulership over Upper and Lower Egypt. Pharaohs who followed the typical tradition, but did not reign so long as 30 years had to be content with promises of "millions of jubilees" in

12080-565: The chronology presented by the monument, the 29th regnal year of Amenemhat I would have been the 10th regnal year of his son. Therefore, Amenemhat I would have been ineligible for a sed festival, at least per tradition. During his independent reign, Senusret I is notable both for his erection of the White Chapel , a pavilion meant to commemorate his Heb Sed, and for his Sed festival celebration taking place in his 31st year, as opposed to his 30th. The chapel would subsequently be incorporated into

12231-601: The community renewed itself through the ritual creation of communitas during the "liminal phase". Turner analyzed the ritual events in 4 stages: breach in relations, crisis, redressive actions, and acts of reintegration. Like Gluckman, he argued these rituals maintain social order while facilitating disordered inversions, thereby moving people to a new status, just as in an initiation rite. Arguments, melodies, formulas, maps and pictures are not idealities to be stared at but texts to be read; so are rituals, palaces, technologies, and social formations. Clifford Geertz also expanded on

12382-676: The construction of a large temple complex dedicated to the Aten at Karnak in Thebes, northeast of the parts of the Karnak complex dedicated to Amun. The Aten temple complex , collectively known as the Per Aten ("House of the Aten"), consisted of several temples whose names survive: the Gempaaten ("The Aten is found in the estate of the Aten"), the Hwt Benben ("House or Temple of the Benben "),

12533-400: The contrary, the flag encourages a sort of all-or-nothing allegiance to the whole package, best summed [by] 'Our flag, love it or leave.' Particular objects become sacral symbols through a process of consecration which effectively creates the sacred by setting it apart from the profane . Boy Scouts and the armed forces in any country teach the official ways of folding, saluting and raising

12684-561: The core of its Near Eastern Empire (which consisted of present-day Israel as well as the Phoenician coast) while avoiding conflict with the increasingly powerful and aggressive Hittite Empire of Šuppiluliuma I , which overtook the Mitanni as the dominant power in the northern part of the region. Only the Egyptian border province of Amurru in Syria around the Orontes River was lost to the Hittites when its ruler Aziru defected to

12835-1086: The daily offering of food and libations to deities or ancestral spirits or both. A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's transition from one status to another, including adoption , baptism , coming of age , graduation , inauguration , engagement , and marriage . Rites of passage may also include initiation into groups not tied to a formal stage of life such as a fraternity . Arnold van Gennep stated that rites of passage are marked by three stages: Anthropologist Victor Turner defines rites of affliction actions that seek to mitigate spirits or supernatural forces that inflict humans with bad luck, illness, gynecological troubles, physical injuries, and other such misfortunes. These rites may include forms of spirit divination (consulting oracles ) to establish causes—and rituals that heal, purify, exorcise, and protect. The misfortune experienced may include individual health, but also broader climate-related issues such as drought or plagues of insects. Healing rites performed by shamans frequently identify social disorder as

12986-423: The death of his father Amenhotep III or whether there was a coregency , lasting perhaps as long as 12 years. Eric Cline , Nicholas Reeves , Peter Dorman , and other scholars argue strongly against the establishment of a long coregency between the two rulers and in favor of either no coregency or one lasting at most two years. Donald B. Redford , William J. Murnane , Alan Gardiner , and Lawrence Berman contest

13137-457: The degree people are tied into a tightly knit community. When graphed on two intersecting axes, four quadrants are possible: strong group/strong grid, strong group/weak grid, weak group/weak grid, weak group/strong grid. Douglas argued that societies with strong group or strong grid were marked by more ritual activity than those weak in either group or grid. (see also, section below ) In his analysis of rites of passage , Victor Turner argued that

13288-586: The effectiveness of a shamanic ritual for an individual may depend upon a wider audiences acknowledging the shaman's power, which may lead to the shaman placing greater emphasis on engaging the audience than in the healing of the patient. Many cultures have rites associated with death and mourning, such as the last rites and wake in Christianity, shemira in Judaism, the antyesti in Hinduism, and

13439-491: The epidemic might account for several deaths in the royal family that occurred in the last five years of Akhenaten's reign, including those of his daughters Meketaten , Neferneferure , and Setepenre . Akhenaten could have ruled together with Smenkhkare and Nefertiti for several years before his death. Based on depictions and artifacts from the tombs of Meryre II and Tutankhamun, Smenkhkare could have been Akhenaten's coregent by regnal year thirteen or fourteen, but died

13590-468: The fact "that there is no evidence of revolt within the borders of Egypt itself during the whole reign is surely ample proof that there was no such abandonment of his royal duties on the part of Akhenaten as has been assumed." Indeed, several letters from Egyptian vassals notified the pharaoh that they have followed his instructions, implying that the pharaoh sent such instructions. The Amarna letters also show that vassal states were told repeatedly to expect

13741-414: The festival was held to honor the Aten on whose behalf the pharaoh ruled Egypt, or, as Amenhotep III was considered to have become one with the Aten following his death, the Sed festival honored both the pharaoh and the god at the same time. It is also possible that the purpose of the ceremony was to figuratively fill Amenhotep IV with strength before his great enterprise: the introduction of the Aten cult and

13892-567: The festival. A water rite is a rite or ceremonial custom that uses water as its central feature. Typically, a person is immersed or bathed as a symbol of religious indoctrination or ritual purification . Examples include the Mikveh in Judaism , a custom of purification; misogi in Shinto , a custom of spiritual and bodily purification involving bathing in a sacred waterfall, river, or lake;

14043-400: The first few years after he took the throne, such as those of Kheruef , Ramose , and Parennefer , show the pharaoh in the traditional artistic style. In Ramose's tomb, Amenhotep IV appears on the west wall, seated on a throne, with Ramose appearing before the pharaoh. On the other side of the doorway, Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti are shown in the window of appearances, with the Aten depicted as

14194-588: The first great (seat) of Re (or) the Disc". Third, Amenhotep IV did not yet destroy temples to the other gods and he even continued his father's construction projects at Karnak 's Precinct of Amun-Re . He decorated the walls of the precinct's Third Pylon with images of himself worshipping Ra-Horakhty , portrayed in the god's traditional form of a falcon-headed man. Artistic depictions continued unchanged early in Amenhotep IV's reign. Tombs built or completed in

14345-415: The flag, thus emphasizing that the flag should never be treated as just a piece of cloth. The performance of ritual creates a theatrical -like frame around the activities, symbols and events that shape participant's experience and cognitive ordering of the world, simplifying the chaos of life and imposing a more or less coherent system of categories of meaning onto it. As Barbara Myerhoff put it, "not only

14496-425: The form of uncodified or codified conventions practiced by political officials that cement respect for the arrangements of an institution or role against the individual temporarily assuming it, as can be seen in the many rituals still observed within the procedure of parliamentary bodies. Ritual can be used as a form of resistance, as for example, in the various Cargo Cults that developed against colonial powers in

14647-433: The founding of the new capital Akhetaten. Regardless of the celebration's aim, Egyptologists believe that during the festivities Amenhotep IV only made offerings to the Aten rather than the many gods and goddesses, as was customary. Among the last documents that refer to Akhenaten as Amenhotep IV are two copies of a letter to the pharaoh from Ipy , the high steward of Memphis . These letters, found at Gurob , informing

14798-413: The function (purpose) of the institution or custom in preserving or maintaining society as a whole. They thus disagreed about the relationship of anxiety to ritual. Malinowski argued that ritual was a non-technical means of addressing anxiety about activities where dangerous elements were beyond technical control: "magic is to be expected and generally to be found whenever man comes to an unbridgeable gap,

14949-536: The historical trend. An example is the American Thanksgiving dinner, which may not be formal, yet is ostensibly based on an event from the early Puritan settlement of America. Historians Eric Hobsbawm and Terrence Ranger have argued that many of these are invented traditions , such as the rituals of the British monarchy, which invoke "thousand year-old tradition" but whose actual form originate in

15100-418: The house". Egyptologists in the early 20th century also believed that Akhenaten could have fathered a child with his second oldest daughter Meketaten. Meketaten's death, at perhaps age ten to twelve, is recorded in the royal tombs at Akhetaten from around regnal years thirteen or fourteen. Early Egyptologists attribute her death to childbirth, because of the depiction of an infant in her tomb. Because no husband

15251-468: The identification of the mummy found in that tomb as Akhenaten remains controversial to this day. The mummy has repeatedly been examined since its discovery in 1907. Most recently, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass led a team of researchers to examine the mummy using medical and DNA analysis , with the results published in 2010. In releasing their test results, Hawass's team identified the mummy as the father of Tutankhamun and thus "most probably" Akhenaten. However,

15402-464: The inherent structure of the human brain. He therefore argued that the symbol systems are not reflections of social structure as the Functionalists believed, but are imposed on social relations to organize them. Lévi-Strauss thus viewed myth and ritual as complementary symbol systems, one verbal, one non-verbal. Lévi-Strauss was not concerned to develop a theory of ritual (although he did produce

15553-658: The inscription only means that construction on Amenhotep-Huy's tomb started during Amenhotep III's reign and ended under Akhenaten's, and Amenhotep-Huy thus simply wanted to pay his respects to both rulers. Akhenaten took Egypt's throne as Amenhotep IV, most likely in 1353 or 1351 BC. It is unknown how old Amenhotep IV was when he did this; estimates range from 10 to 23. He was most likely crowned in Thebes , or less likely at Memphis or Armant . The beginning of Amenhotep IV's reign followed established pharaonic traditions. He did not immediately start redirecting worship toward

15704-484: The king of Sidon, where Rib-Hadda was almost certainly executed. In a view discounted by the 21st century, several Egyptologists in the late 19th and 20th centuries interpreted the Amarna letters to mean that Akhenaten was a pacifist who neglected foreign policy and Egypt's foreign territories in favor of his internal reforms. For example, Henry Hall believed Akhenaten "succeeded by his obstinate doctrinaire love of peace in causing far more misery in his world than half

15855-619: The king to continue carrying out the Heb-Sed in perpetuity after his death. One of the earlier Sed festivals for which there is substantial evidence is that of the Sixth Dynasty pharaoh Pepi I Meryre in the South Saqqara Stone Annal document, as the document corroborates a reign of at least 40 years, despite its damage. In addition, there are alabaster containers commemorating Pepi I's first Sed festival. Given

16006-414: The late nineteenth century, to some extent reviving earlier forms, in this case medieval, that had been discontinued in the meantime. Thus, the appeal to history is important rather than accurate historical transmission. Catherine Bell states that ritual is also invariant, implying careful choreography. This is less an appeal to traditionalism than a striving for timeless repetition. The key to invariance

16157-472: The latter part of the pharaoh's reign "a daunting task" and a controversial and contested topic of discussion among Egyptologists. Among the newest pieces of evidence is an inscription discovered in 2012 at a limestone quarry in Deir el-Bersha , just north of Akhetaten, from the pharaoh's sixteenth regnal year. The text refers to a building project in Amarna and establishes that Akhenaten and Nefertiti were still

16308-613: The liminal phase - that period 'betwixt and between' - was marked by "two models of human interrelatedness, juxtaposed and alternating": structure and anti-structure (or communitas ). While the ritual clearly articulated the cultural ideals of a society through ritual symbolism, the unrestrained festivities of the liminal period served to break down social barriers and to join the group into an undifferentiated unity with "no status, property, insignia, secular clothing, rank, kinship position, nothing to demarcate themselves from their fellows". These periods of symbolic inversion have been studied in

16459-482: The modern name for Akhenaten's capital Akhetaten. The diplomatic correspondence comprises clay tablet messages between Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun, various subjects through Egyptian military outposts, rulers of vassal states , and the foreign rulers of Babylonia , Assyria , Syria , Canaan , Alashiya , Arzawa , Mitanni , and the Hittites . The Amarna letters portray the international situation in

16610-772: The mother of Tutankhamun . William Murnane proposes that Kiya is the colloquial name of the Mitanni princess Tadukhipa , daughter of the Mitanni king Tushratta who had married Amenhotep III before becoming the wife of Akhenaten. Akhenaten's other attested consorts are the daughter of the Enišasi ruler Šatiya and another daughter of the Babylonian king Burna-Buriash II . Akhenaten could have had seven or eight children based on inscriptions. Egyptologists are fairly certain about his six daughters, who are well attested in contemporary depictions. Among his six daughters, Meritaten

16761-548: The northern frontier led to difficulties in Canaan , particularly in a struggle for power between Labaya of Shechem and Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem , which required the pharaoh to intervene in the area by dispatching Medjay troops northwards. Akhenaten pointedly refused to save his vassal Rib-Hadda of Byblos —whose kingdom was being besieged by the expanding state of Amurru under Abdi-Ashirta and later Aziru , son of Abdi-Ashirta—despite Rib-Hadda's numerous pleas for help from

16912-433: The offering is usually destroyed in the ritual to transfer it to the deities. Rites of feasting and fasting are those through which a community publicly expresses an adherence to basic, shared religious values, rather than to the overt presence of deities as is found in rites of affliction where feasting or fasting may also take place. It encompasses a range of performances such as communal fasting during Ramadan by Muslims;

17063-430: The only feasible alternative. Ritual tends to support traditional forms of social hierarchy and authority, and maintains the assumptions on which the authority is based from challenge. Rituals appeal to tradition and are generally continued to repeat historical precedent, religious rite, mores , or ceremony accurately. Traditionalism varies from formalism in that the ritual may not be formal yet still makes an appeal to

17214-402: The passing of 30 years from the death of her father, Thutmose I , from whom she derived all of her legitimacy to rule Egypt. He had appointed his daughter to the highest administrative office in his government, giving her a co-regent's experience at ruling many aspects of his bureaucracy. This reflects an oracular assertion supported by the priests of Amun-Re that her father named her as heir to

17365-474: The pharaoh that the royal estates in Memphis are "in good order" and the temple of Ptah is "prosperous and flourishing", are dated to regnal year five, day nineteen of the growing season's third month . About a month later, day thirteen of the growing season's fourth month , one of the boundary stela at Akhetaten already had the name Akhenaten carved on it, implying that the pharaoh changed his name between

17516-405: The pharaoh's divine powers and religious leadership. At the same time, Akhenaten also moved the capital of Egypt to Tell-el Amarna . Akhenaten established Tell-el Amarna for the sole worship of Aten, an unprecedented action by a pharaoh, which could explain as to why he would want to consolidate religious and political power. This is in contrast to Akhenaten's father Amenhotep III, who had emphasized

17667-461: The pharaoh. Rib-Hadda wrote a total of 60 letters to Akhenaten pleading for aid from the pharaoh. Akhenaten wearied of Rib-Hadda's constant correspondences and once told Rib-Hadda: "You are the one that writes to me more than all the (other) mayors" or Egyptian vassals in EA 124. What Rib-Hadda did not comprehend was that the Egyptian king would not organize and dispatch an entire army north just to preserve

17818-410: The political status quo of several minor city states on the fringes of Egypt's Asiatic Empire. Rib-Hadda would pay the ultimate price; his exile from Byblos due to a coup led by his brother Ilirabih is mentioned in one letter. When Rib-Hadda appealed in vain for aid from Akhenaten and then turned to Aziru, his sworn enemy, to place him back on the throne of his city, Aziru promptly had him dispatched to

17969-415: The polytheistic status quo at his own Sed Festival. Sed festivals still were celebrated by the later Libyan-era kings such as Shoshenq III , Shoshenq V , Osorkon I , who had his second Heb Sed in his 33rd year, and Osorkon II , who constructed a massive temple at Bubastis complete with a red granite gateway decorated with scenes of this jubilee to commemorate his own Heb-Sed Ritual A ritual

18120-432: The power of political actors depends upon their ability to create rituals and the cosmic framework within which the social hierarchy headed by the king is perceived as natural and sacred. As a "dramaturgy of power" comprehensive ritual systems may create a cosmological order that sets a ruler apart as a divine being , as in "the divine right" of European kings, or the divine Japanese Emperor. Political rituals also emerge in

18271-400: The priests there achieved significant power earlier in the Eighteenth Dynasty , especially under Hatshepsut and Thutmose III , thanks to pharaohs offering large amounts of Egypt's growing wealth to the cult of Amun; historians, such as Donald B. Redford , therefore posited that by moving to a new capital, Akhenaten may have been trying to break with Amun's priests and the god. Akhetaten

18422-411: The prince was Parennefer , whose tomb mentions this fact. Egyptologist Cyril Aldred suggests that prince Amenhotep might have been a High Priest of Ptah in Memphis, although no evidence supporting this had been found. It is known that Amenhotep's brother, crown prince Thutmose , served in this role before he died. If Amenhotep inherited all his brother's roles in preparation for his accession to

18573-414: The property of a ruler, nor being the property of a female ruler, nor being the property of any people able to lay claim to it." Historians do not know for certain why Akhenaten established a new capital and left Thebes, the old capital. The boundary stelae detailing Akhetaten's founding is damaged where it likely explained the pharaoh's motives for the move. Surviving parts claim what happened to Akhenaten

18724-556: The reasons for the reception. Possibilities include the celebration of the marriage of future pharaoh Ay to Tey , celebration of Akhenaten's twelve years on the throne, the summons of king Aziru of Amurru to Egypt, a military victory at Sumur in the Levant , a successful military campaign in Nubia, Nefertiti's ascendancy to the throne as coregent, or the completion of the new capital city Akhetaten. Following year twelve, Donald B. Redford and other Egyptologists proposed that Egypt

18875-596: The religious policy was absolutely monotheistic , or whether it was monolatristic , syncretistic , or henotheistic . This culture shift away from traditional religion was reversed after his death. Akhenaten's monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from lists of rulers compiled by later pharaohs. Traditional religious practice was gradually restored, notably under his close successor Tutankhamun , who changed his name from Tutankhaten early in his reign. When some dozen years later, rulers without clear rights of succession from

19026-413: The ritual's cyclical performance. In Carnival, for example, the practice of masking allows people to be what they are not, and acts as a general social leveller, erasing otherwise tense social hierarchies in a festival that emphasizes play outside the bounds of normal social limits. Yet outside carnival, social tensions of race, class and gender persist, hence requiring the repeated periodic release found in

19177-479: The same foodstuffs as humans) and resource base. Rappaport concluded that ritual, "...helps to maintain an undegraded environment, limits fighting to frequencies which do not endanger the existence of regional population, adjusts man-land ratios, facilitates trade, distributes local surpluses of pig throughout the regional population in the form of pork, and assures people of high quality protein when they are most in need of it". Similarly, J. Stephen Lansing traced how

19328-490: The smaller weight and standardized size, using them during constructions was more efficient than using heavy building blocks of varying sizes. By regnal year eight, Akhetaten reached a state where it could be occupied by the royal family. Only his most loyal subjects followed Akhenaten and his family to the new city. While the city continued to be built, in years five through eight, construction work began to stop in Thebes. The Theban Aten temples that had begun were abandoned, and

19479-707: The subsequent First Intermediate Period , there is a lack of extant monuments and other manifestations of centralized state activity, creating a void of any evidence of a Sed festival after the Sixth Dynasty. During the Middle Kingdom, the power of the pharaoh became consolidated once again and monuments began to be built as they had previously in the Old Kingdom. Amenemhat I , based on evidence provided by foundation blocks in his pyramid, appears to have ruled coregent with his son Senusret I . Based upon

19630-489: The sun disc. In Parennefer's tomb, Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti are seated on a throne with the sun disc depicted over the pharaoh and his queen. While continuing the worship of other gods, Amenhotep IV's initial building program sought to build new places of worship to the Aten. He ordered the construction of temples or shrines to the Aten in several cities across the country, such as Bubastis , Tell el-Borg , Heliopolis , Memphis, Nekhen , Kawa , and Kerma . He also ordered

19781-520: The symbolic approach to ritual that began with Victor Turner. Geertz argued that religious symbol systems provided both a "model of" reality (showing how to interpret the world as is) as well as a "model for" reality (clarifying its ideal state). The role of ritual, according to Geertz, is to bring these two aspects – the "model of" and the "model for" – together: "it is in ritual – that is consecrated behaviour – that this conviction that religious conceptions are veridical and that religious directives are sound

19932-609: The techniques to secure results, and "secondary (or displaced) anxiety" felt by those who have not performed the rites meant to allay primary anxiety correctly. Homans argued that purification rituals may then be conducted to dispel secondary anxiety. A.R. Radcliffe-Brown argued that ritual should be distinguished from technical action, viewing it as a structured event: "ritual acts differ from technical acts in having in all instances some expressive or symbolic element in them." Edmund Leach , in contrast, saw ritual and technical action less as separate structural types of activity and more as

20083-411: The term. One given by Kyriakidis is that a ritual is an outsider's or " etic " category for a set activity (or set of actions) that, to the outsider, seems irrational, non-contiguous, or illogical. The term can be used also by the insider or " emic " performer as an acknowledgement that this activity can be seen as such by the uninitiated onlooker. In psychology , the term ritual is sometimes used in

20234-513: The throne, he might have become a high priest in Thutmose's stead. Aldred proposes that Akhenaten's unusual artistic inclinations might have been formed during his time serving Ptah , the patron god of craftsmen, whose high priests were sometimes referred to as "The Greatest of the Directors of Craftsmanship". There is much controversy around whether Amenhotep IV ascended to Egypt's throne on

20385-412: The throne. Akhenaten made many changes to religious practices in order to lessen the influence of the priests of Amun - Re , whom he saw as corrupt. His religious reformation may have begun with his decision to celebrate his first Sed festival in his third regnal year. His purpose may have been to gain an advantage against the powerful temple, since a Sed-festival was a royal jubilee intended to reinforce

20536-455: The time, and Memphis , on the east bank of the Nile , where a wadi and a natural dip in the surrounding cliffs form a silhouette similar to the " horizon " hieroglyph . Additionally, the site had previously been uninhabited. According to inscriptions on one boundary stela, the site was appropriate for Aten's city for "not being the property of a god, nor being the property of a goddess, nor being

20687-475: The tomb and to bury the pharaoh there was commemorated on one of the boundary stela delineating the capital's borders: "Let a tomb be made for me in the eastern mountain [of Akhetaten]. Let my burial be made in it, in the millions of jubilees which the Aten, my father, decreed for me." In the years following the burial, Akhenaten's sarcophagus was destroyed and left in the Akhetaten necropolis; reconstructed in

20838-527: The two inscriptions. Amenhotep IV changed his royal titulary to show his devotion to the Aten. No longer would he be known as Amenhotep IV and be associated with the god Amun , but rather he would completely shift his focus to the Aten. Egyptologists debate the exact meaning of Akhenaten, his new personal name . The word "akh" ( Ancient Egyptian : ꜣḫ ) could have different translations, such as "satisfied", "effective spirit", or "serviceable to", and thus Akhenaten's name could be translated to mean "Aten

20989-526: The unity of the Muslim community in life and death. Indigenous cultures may have unique practices, such as the Australian Aboriginal smoking ceremony, intended to cleanse the spirit of the departed and ensure a safe journey to the afterlife . In many traditions can be found the belief that when man was first made the creator bestowed soul upon him, while the earth provided the body. In Genesis

21140-540: The view of any coregency whatsoever between Akhenaten and his father. Most recently, in 2014, archaeologists found both pharaohs' names inscribed on the wall of the Luxor tomb of vizier Amenhotep-Huy . The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities called this "conclusive evidence" that Akhenaten shared power with his father for at least eight years, based on the dating of the tomb. However, this conclusion has since been called into question by other Egyptologists, according to whom

21291-399: The world", and "the first individual in history", but also as a "heretic", "fanatic", "possibly insane", and "mad". Public and scholarly fascination with Akhenaten comes from his connection with Tutankhamun, the unique style and high quality of the pictorial arts he patronized , and the religion he attempted to establish, foreshadowing monotheism. The future Akhenaten was born Amenhotep,

21442-458: Was "worse than those that I heard" previously in his reign and worse than those "heard by any kings who assumed the White Crown ", and alludes to "offensive" speech against the Aten. Egyptologists believe that Akhenaten could be referring to conflict with the priesthood and followers of Amun, the patron god of Thebes. The great temples of Amun, such as Karnak , were all located in Thebes and

21593-671: Was a planned city with the Great Temple of the Aten , Small Aten Temple , royal residences, records office , and government buildings in the city center. Some of these buildings, such as the Aten temples, were ordered to be built by Akhenaten on the boundary stela decreeing the city's founding. The city was built quickly, thanks to a new construction method that used substantially smaller building blocks than under previous pharaohs. These blocks, called talatats , measured 1 ⁄ 2 by 1 ⁄ 2 by 1 ancient Egyptian cubits ( c.  27 by 27 by 54 cm ), and because of

21744-402: Was a universal, and while its content might vary enormously, it served certain basic functions such as the provision of prescribed solutions to basic human psychological and social problems, as well as expressing the central values of a society. Bronislaw Malinowski used the concept of function to address questions of individual psychological needs; A.R. Radcliffe-Brown , in contrast, looked for

21895-771: Was born in regnal year one or five; Meketaten in year four or six; Ankhesenpaaten , later queen of Tutankhamun, before year five or eight; Neferneferuaten Tasherit in year eight or nine; Neferneferure in year nine or ten; and Setepenre in year ten or eleven. Tutankhamun, born Tutankhaten, was most likely Akhenaten's son, with Nefertiti or another wife. There is less certainty around Akhenaten's relationship with Smenkhkare , Akhenaten's coregent or successor and husband to his daughter Meritaten; he could have been Akhenaten's eldest son with an unknown wife or Akhenaten's younger brother. Some historians, such as Edward Wente and James Allen , have proposed that Akhenaten took some of his daughters as wives or sexual consorts to father

22046-405: Was married to Meritaten , Akhenaten's eldest daughter. For another, the so-called Coregency Stela , found in a tomb at Akhetaten, might show queen Nefertiti as Akhenaten's coregent, but this is uncertain as the stela was recarved to show the names of Ankhesenpaaten and Neferneferuaten . Egyptologist Aidan Dodson proposed that both Smenkhkare and Neferiti were Akhenaten's coregents to ensure

22197-493: Was married to Nefertiti , his Great Royal Wife . The exact timing of their marriage is unknown, but inscriptions from the pharaoh's building projects suggest that they married either shortly before or after Akhenaten took the throne. For example, Egyptologist Dimitri Laboury suggests that the marriage took place in Akhenaten's fourth regnal year. A secondary wife of Akhenaten named Kiya is also known from inscriptions. Some Egyptologists theorize that she gained her importance as

22348-399: Was so widespread and established throughout Egypt that Akhenaten could have been influenced by solar worship even if he did not grow up around Heliopolis. Some historians have tried to determine who was Akhenaten's tutor during his youth, and have proposed scribes Heqareshu or Meryre II , the royal tutor Amenemotep, or the vizier Aperel . The only person who we know for certain served

22499-579: Was struck by an epidemic , most likely a plague . Contemporary evidence suggests that a plague ravaged through the Middle East around this time, and ambassadors and delegations arriving to Akhenaten's year twelve reception might have brought the disease to Egypt. Alternatively, letters from the Hattians might suggest that the epidemic originated in Egypt and was carried throughout the Middle East by Egyptian prisoners of war. Regardless of its origin,

22650-575: Was the proven way ( mos ) of doing something, or "correct performance, custom". The original concept of ritus may be related to the Sanskrit ṛtá ("visible order)" in Vedic religion , "the lawful and regular order of the normal, and therefore proper, natural and true structure of cosmic, worldly, human and ritual events". The word "ritual" is first recorded in English in 1570, and came into use in

22801-538: Was unearthed from the tomb KV55 in the Valley of the Kings by Edward R. Ayrton . Genetic testing has determined that the man buried in KV55 was Tutankhamun's father, but its identification as Akhenaten has since been questioned. Akhenaten's rediscovery and Flinders Petrie 's early excavations at Amarna sparked great public interest in the pharaoh and his queen Nefertiti . He has been described as "enigmatic", "mysterious", "revolutionary", "the greatest idealist of

#203796