The new god doubtless strongly resembled the divinity which had already assumed this function for over half a millennium, and which it was visibly trying to supplant: Amon-Rê, ‘the king of the gods.’ But, differently to the former, Aton had no relationship with the other divinities. And, above all, it is a completely mute god, muzzled, with whom only the monarch can really communicate. By the mirror effect which, in Egyptian thought, had since for all time united the king with his divine progenitor, Amenhotep IV became the ‘effective image’ of god on earth, the source of all life and everything which was beneficial. Thus did he also change his name, abandoning the patronymic which placed him still under the protection of Amon (Amenhotep), to now have himself called Akhenaton, ‘he who is of use to Aton.’ Aton thus appeared as an alternative to Amon-Rê.  But, above all, he offered to the king the advantage of being easily controllable, as his sole interlocutor and unique interpreter is now the pharaoh himself! The political danger which Amon-Rê presented in calling into question the legitimacy of a sovereign who was already in place was thus totally overcome.

Monotheism, the word which raises hackles

It was for a long time believed that he had wanted to extinguish any reference to the divinities which preceded the Egyptian pantheon, but we today know that his prosecution was specifically targeted at the divine individual Amon-Rê. At the beginning at least the other divinities of the traditional pantheon remained tolerated. Thus has been raised the question which has so intrigued – and sometimes violently set against each other – modern commentators on Akhenaton, be they Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims or atheists: is Atonism really a monotheism, that is an ideological system which only envisages the existence of but a single god? There are reasons to doubt it, as he didn't really abolish polytheism as it stood, contenting himself with neglecting or even ignoring it, to the benefit of supreme divinity. But, over the course of time, Atonism would finish in an almost visceral rejection of all the other deities, which justifies our being able to consider it as a genuine monotheism.  Akhenaton's principle innovation nevertheless resides in his initiative in monopolizing this supreme god as his personal divinity, thus locking in place a really theocratic power. Reform is not imposed without provoking opposition, and that is no doubt one of the elements which convinced the sovereign to abandon Karnak, the fiefdom of the ancient god (close to Luxor; the ancient Thebes), and to move his court to a new capital, created on a site free from any occupation in Central Egypt: Amarna (2) , quite close to being half way between Thebes (in the South) and Memphis (in the North). From the colossal building site which opened up there in the fifth year of his reign would spring Akhet-Aton, the new 'Horizon of Aton,' a city entirely dedicated to the new theocracy and its guardian god, on the Nile's right bank.

Plague and defeats: the gods avenge themselves!

It is there that the reign experienced its apogee, then its decline. Nefertiti gave birth to a boy who would be called Tutankhamen.  'the living image of Aton.' But a gloom was cast over this happy news by a series of deaths, probably due to the plague, which decimated the royal family. And, on a geopolitical level, Egypt underwent several diplomatic and military reverses which threatened its protective 'glacis' in the Near East. The region was also coveted by the expansionism of the Hittites, who were no longer satisfied with Anatolia and now threatened the Syro-Palistinian territories, up until then under pharaonic rule. It was thus that Akhenaton died, shortly after Nefertiti, at the end of 17 years of reign, around 1335 B.C. He left Egypt in a particularly delicate situation.

(2) Better known under the name of  Tel el-Amarna.