Aten

Aten
Aten
	Aten as it was depicted in the Amarna Period
Name in hieroglyphs	(See other names written a double cartouche)
	; ;
Venerated in	Atenism
Major cult center	Akhetaten, archaeological site known as Tell-el Amarna
Symbol	Sun disk, reaching rays of light
Temples	Great Temple of the Aten, Small Aten Temple

Aten, also Aton, Atonu, or Itn (Ancient Egyptian: jtn, reconstructed [ˈjaːtin]) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system formally established in ancient Egypt by the late Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. Exact dating for the Eighteenth Dynasty is contested, though a general date range places the dynasty in the years 1550 to 1292 BCE.^[1] The worship of Aten and the coinciding rule of Akhenaten are major identifying characteristics of a period within the Eighteenth Dynasty referred to as the Amarna Period (c. 1353 – 1336 BCE).^[1]

Atenism and the worship of the Aten as the sole god of ancient Egypt state worship did not persist beyond Akhenaten's death. Not long after his death, one of Akhenaten's Eighteenth Dynasty successors, Tutankhamun, reopened the state temples to other Egyptian gods and re-positioned Amun as the pre-eminent solar deity. Aten is depicted as a solar disc emitting rays terminating in human hands.^[2]

^ ^a ^b Van de Mieroop, Marc (2011). "The Amarna Revolution and the Late 18th Dynasty (ca. 1390–1295)". A history of ancient Egypt. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-405-16070-4.
^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:5-1] Van de Mieroop, Marc (2011). "The Amarna Revolution and the Late 18th Dynasty (ca. 1390–1295)". A history of ancient Egypt. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-405-16070-4.

[:4-2] Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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