Aten
Aten also Aton, Atonu, or Itn (Ancient Egyptian: jtn, reconstructed [ˈjaːtin]) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system formally established in ancient Egypt by the late Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. Exact dating for the 18th dynasty is contested, though a general date range places the dynasty in the years 1550 to 1292 B.C.E. The worship of Aten and the coinciding rule of Akhenaten are major identifying characteristics of a period within the 18th dynasty referred to as the Amarna Period (c. 1353–1336 B.C.E.).
| Aten | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aten | ||||
| Name in hieroglyphs | ||||
| Affiliation | Atenism | |||
| Major cult center | Akhetaten, archaeological site known as Tell-el Amarna | |||
| Symbol | Sun disk, reaching rays of light | |||
| Temples | Great Temple of the Aten, Small Aten Temple | |||
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Atenism and the worship of the Aten as the sole god of ancient Egypt state worship did not persist beyond Akhenaten's death. Not long after his death, one of Akhenaten's 18th dynasty successors, Tutankhamun, reopened the state temples to other Egyptian gods and re-positioned Amun as the preeminent solar deity. Aten is depicted as a solar disc emitting rays terminating in human hands.