# Atenism · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

Source: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/atlas/library/cults/002-atenism/ · The Congregation of Tomorrow · the Atlas · language: en
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The Cult Dossier · No. 002 · Ancient Mystery Cult
Atenism
The Amarna Heresy
c.1353 – c.1332 BCE · Egypt (Akhetaten / Tell el-Amarna)
I. ANTIQUITY — THE MYSTERY CULTS
Fully religious — imposed state monolatry
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- c.1353 BCE Amenhotep IV accedes; begins building Aten temples at Karnak.
- Year 5, c.1348 BCE Changes name to Akhenaten; founds a new capital, Akhetaten, on virgin ground.
- Year 9 Aten's name reformulated; systematic erasure of Amun and of the plural word gods begins.
- c.1336–1334 BCE Akhenaten dies; brief reigns of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten.
- c.1332 BCE Tutankhaten renames himself Tutankhamun; the Restoration Stela reverses the reform.
- c.1319–1292 BCE Horemheb demolishes Akhetaten, reuses the stone, strikes Akhenaten from the king lists as the enemy.
### Its people
### Akhenaten
Amenhotep IV; the Enemy of Akhetaten
Pharaoh; founder of Atenism · c.1380 – c.1334 BCE · active c.1353–1336 BCE
Before the law. None — absolute monarch. Posthumously subjected to damnatio memoriae.
Where things stand. Deceased c.1334 BCE. A body from tomb KV55, genetically identified as Tutankhamun's father, is widely but not universally accepted as his.
- c.1353 BCE Accedes as Amenhotep IV.
- Year 5 Renames himself Akhenaten; founds Akhetaten.
- Year 9 Orders systematic erasure of Amun and of the plural word 'gods'.
- c.1336 BCE Dies; the reform begins to unravel immediately.
- c.1319 BCE Horemheb demolishes his city and strikes him from the king lists.
Checked
### Nefertiti
Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti
Great Royal Wife; co-officiant of the Aten cult · c.1370 – c.1330 BCE · active c.1353–1336 BCE
Before the law. None.
Where things stand. Deceased; her tomb has never been securely identified.
- c.1353 BCE Becomes Great Royal Wife.
- Years 5–12 Depicted in priestly and royal roles far beyond the normal queenly range.
- c.1341 BCE Vanishes from the record.
- c.1336–1334 BCE Possibly reigns as Neferneferuaten.
Checked
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