naten, because the life of Tutankhamen is only intelligible when it is considered within the context of the actions of Akhenaten. When Akhenaten first came into power, the national religion was a polytheistic pantheon of gods, the most powerful of whom was Amon. The cult of Amon had a vast hierarchical power structure of priests and temples, the main center of which was the Temple of Karnak in Thebes. The priests had long been guilty of corruption, nepotism, and abuses of power, but Akhenaten was the only person in Egypt's 3,000-year history who tried to put a stop to their excesses.
In the sixth year of his reign, Akhenaten forbade the worship of the old gods (especially Amon) and made the cult of Aten, the sun, the national religion. He moved his capitol from Thebes, the cult of Amon's power base, to a site some 300 miles north, which is known today as Tell el Amarna. Here, he ordered the construction of a city dedicated to Aten, to be named Akhetaten or "the Horizon of Aten." In this way, Akhenaten became what many people consider the founder of the world's first monotheistic religion.
It was also around this time that Akhenaten decreed that the name of Amon should be obliterated wherever it was written; it was in the interests of this cause that he changed his own name from his birth name, Amenhotep IV or "Amon is satisfied", to Akhenaten or "Aten is well pleased." Thi
...