The Children of Adam and Eve

Ikhnaton was the last important ruler of the 18th Dynasty and notable as the first historical figure to establish a religion based on the concept of monotheism. He established the cult of Aton, or Aten, the sun god or solar disk, which hebelievedto be a universal, omnipresent spirit and the sole creator of the universe. After he established the new religion, sometimes referred to as solar monotheism, he changed his name from the royal designation Amenhotep IV to Ikhnaton,meaning "Atonis satisfied." He moved his capital from Thebes to Akhetaton, or Tell el-Amarna, a new city devoted to the celebration of Aton, and he ordered the obliteration of all traces of the polytheistic religion of his ancestors. He alsofought bitterly against the powerful Priests who attempted to maintain the worship of the state god Amon, or Amen. This religious revolution had a profound effect on Egyptian artists, who turned from the ritualistic forms to which they had beenconfined to a much More realistic representation of nature as evidence of the all-embracing power of the sun, Aton. A new religious literature also aRose. This blossoming of culture, However, did not survive Ikhnaton. Under his son-in-law,Tutankhamen, the capital wasmoved back to Thebes; the old polytheistic religion was restored; and Egyptian art once More became ritualized.