GODS AND GODDESSES
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Neferchichi's Tomb GODS AND GODDESSES |
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ATEN |
Role: The sun itself
Appearance: Sun disk whose rays end with hands, each of which is holding an ankh to symbolize that the sun gives life.
Center of worship: Akhetaten
During the time that Akhenaten was the pharaoh, the priests of Amun had a lot of power and influence over the people of Egypt. Feeling threatened by this challenge to his authority as king, Akhenaten knocked the preisthood down a few pegs by declaring that that all the other gods of Egypt no longer existed, and that there was only one god, the Aten, and it was the sun itself. All the temples to the other gods were ordered closed and the priests were suddenly unemployed and powerless. To further isolate himself from the "old" religion, Akhenaten moved the capital from Thebes (the center of worship of Amun) to a brand new city called Akhetaten ("the Horizon of the Aten").
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