Aton

The first mention of the god Aton dates back to the times of the XII dynasty in the ancient Egyptian story “The Legend of Sinuha ” ^[4] . In this story, the deceased king is described as a god rising to heaven, then he unites with the solar disk and his divine body merges with its creator ^[5] . Similarly, the term "silver of Aton" is sometimes used to refer to the moon ^[6] . The solar god Aton was worshiped during the reign of Amenhotep III , when he was depicted as a man with the head of a falcon, like Ra. During the reign of Amenhotep IV (successor to Amenhotep III), Aton became the main god of the state religion of the Egyptians. After that, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten to show his close relationship with the new supreme deity ^[4] .

Unlike other gods, Aton was not anthropomorphic (humanoid) ^[7] . He was depicted in the form of a solar disk with rays extending from it, which ended with the hands ^[8] , sometimes stretching the symbol of life ankh ^[7] .

One of the most famous images of this god is on the back of the golden throne of Tutankhamun .

The center of veneration of Aton was Thebes and later Ahetaton ^{[2] [9]} .

Atonism

The cult of Aton was introduced by Amenhotep IV in the fifth year of his reign (1348–1346 BC), and the status of Aton rose to the level of a higher deity, however, after this, worship of traditional gods still continued ^[10] . Attention to other deities was paid much less, which changed the economic situation in the country, especially in the cult center of Amon - Thebes. Here, the name of Amon was confused with frescoes, which infuriated the once powerful priests of Amon ^[7] .

In the 5th year of his reign, the pharaoh changed his name Amenhotep (“Amon is satisfied”) to Akhenaten (“Useful for Aton”) ^[11] and began construction of a new capital - Ahetaton (“Horizon of Aton”), which also became the cult center of Aton. Here, Aton was dedicated to temples called by archaeologists the Big Temple of Aton (Pere-Aton "House of Aton") ^[12] , and the Small Temple of Aton (Hut-Aton "Palace of Aton") for personal use of the pharaoh ^{[13] [14]} . A distinctive feature of Amarna architecture was the Gem-Pa-Aten ("Found Aton") - the rejection of the roof supported by numerous columns to make communication with the solar deity more open and direct. At the same time, the Great Temple of Aton with the sanctuaries was never completely completed ^[13] .

Aton combines the features of a male and female deity at the same time. Everything created was believed to have come from God and at the same time exists within him. His name was recorded inside the cartouche , just as they wrote the name of the pharaoh, which was not observed in the case of other gods. In the “ Anthem to Aton ” Ra-Khorakht , Shu and Aton are united into a single creator god ^[5] .

After Akhenaten's death, a ban was imposed on his cult, and Amon again became the supreme deity of worship. However, it is likely that the cult of Aton did not disappear immediately - Akhenaten's ideas were supported by a number of people for another generation ^[3] .

The Monotheism Question

Among researchers there is an opinion about the identity of Akhenaten's religious reform to the appearance of the first monotheism ^{[4] [15]} .

Sigmund Freud in his work “ Moses and Monotheism ” expressed the opinion that the cult of Aton left a serious imprint on the formation and development of Jewish monotheism and preceded its appearance, since the Old Testament prophet Moses , who lived in the territory of Ancient Egypt supposedly during the reign of Akhenaten, could take many ideas of the local religious cult ( Adonai ) ^[16] .

Others believe that Akhenaten practiced a single cult ( genotheism or monolatry ) of Aton, not because he did not believe in the existence of other gods, but because he refrained from worshiping any gods except Aton ^[17] . Reform of Akhenaten was not only religious, but also cultural, all-embracing, created by the initiative of Akhenaten himself ^[7] .

In the period of Amarna, the name Aton was a royal title (since he was considered the king of all) and was recorded in a cartouche. There were two forms of this title: in the first there were names of other gods, and in the second form there were more “features” inherent in Aton himself. The early form was the name Ra-Khorakhti, that is, "the one who enjoys the horizon," the name of Shu was also related to Aton. The late form was the name Ra , who controlled two horizons, and the one who rejoiced at the horizon, the light in his name was Aton.

Translation Options

• The high and low reliefs, which depicts Aton, showed him with a curved surface, so later the scientist Hugh Nibley suggested that the correct translation might not be a disk, but a ball or sphere, that is, a "solar ball" instead solar disk.
• It is possible that the three-dimensional spherical form of Aton depicted the eye of Horus or Ra. In another monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism , the sun was called the eye of Ahur Mazda .

These two theories are compatible with each other, since the eye has a spherical shape.

• Ahetaton : “Aton Horizon”, the capital city built by Akhenaten. Located in the region known as Amarna .
• Akhenaten : "Pleasant to Aton."
  • Meritaton : Beloved Aton.
  • Mockaton : “Looking at Aton” or “Protected by Aton”.
  • Ankhesenpaaton : "She lives for Amon."
  • Nefernefruaton-tasherit "Aton's Perfect Perfection" is the youngest.
• Bucketton : "Servant of Aton."
• Nefernefruaton : "The perfect perfection of Aton."
• Paatonemheb : "Aton Celebration."
• Tutankhaton : "Living resemblance to Aton."

• List of Egyptian Gods
• High Priest of Aton
• Atonism
• Merira
• Amarn art

• Aton // Big Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.

In German

• Dieter Arnold: Die Tempel Ägyptens. Götterwohnungen, Baudenkmäler, Kultstätten . Bechtermütz, Zürich 1992, ISBN 3-86047-215-1 .
• Jan Assmann : Ägypten. Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen Hochkultur . 2. Auflage, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Berlin / Köln 1991, 3-17-011768-8.
• Jan Assmann: Theologie und Weisheit im alten Ägypten . Fink, München 2005, ISBN 3-7705-4069-7 .
• Hans Bonnet: Lexikon der Ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte . 3. unveränderte Auflage, Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 .
• Emma Brunner-Traut: Die Stifter großer Weltreligionen . Herder, Freiburg iB 2007, ISBN 3-451-05937-1 .
• Sir Alan Gardiner : Geschichte des Alten Ägypten. Eine Einführung . Weltbild, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89350-723-X .
• Wolfgang Helck: Politische Gegensätze im alten Ägypten. Ein Versuch. In: Hildesheimer ägyptologische Beiträge . (HÄB) Bd. 23, Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1986.
• Erik Hornung: Monotheismus im pharaonischen Ägypten . In: O. Keel (Hrsg.): Monotheismus im Alten Israel und seiner Umwelt (= Biblische Beiträge. Bd. 14). Friborg (Schweiz) 1980.
• Erik Hornung: Echnaton. Die Religion des Lichts . 2. Auflage, Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zürich 2001, ISBN 3-7608-1223-6 .
• Manfred Lurker: Lexikon der Götter und Symbole der alten Ägypter . Scherz, Frankfurt aM, ISBN 3-502-19420-3 .
• Dominic Montserrat: Akhenaten. History, Fantasy and ancient Egypt . Routledge, London 2000, ISBN 0-415-18549-1 .
• Nicholas Reeves : Echnaton. Ägyptens falscher Prophet ( Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt. Bd. 91 ). von Zabern, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2828-1 .
• Hermann A. Schlögl: Echnaton . Beck, Frankfurt aM 2008, ISBN 3-406-56241-8 .