HISTART 2001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ankh, Polytheism, Akhenaten

• School: Ohio State University
• Department: History of Art
• Course: HISTART 2001
• Professor: Karl Whittington

Document Summary

Describe the religious changes that the pharaoh akhenaten instituted during his reign. He changed the religion from polytheistic (many gods) to monotheistic (one god) Before, the sun god was amun (amun-re) and people worshipped many other. After, the sun god (and the only god) was aten. It is possible that akhenaten"s rejection of amun-re and these priests was a political move these priests were a threat to his power. Before the change: his name was pharaoh amenhotep iv & the main power base was thebes. After: pharaoh akhenaten and the main power base was akhenaten (amarna) He placed emphasis on his own living body instead of creating numerous statues to replace his own physical body. He actively suppressed the worship of other gods. After he died, people went back to the polytheistic religion. This was the first recorded monotheistic religion. Describe the strange figural style of the art produced in the amarna period under.