Word: akhenaten
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...enormous power. Rather than try to wrest it from the priests, the young king simply pulled their religion out from under them. He abolished the polytheistic system and replaced it with a religion based on the worship of Aten, the sun god. The Pharaoh even changed his name to Akhenaten--or "one who serves Aten." This undoubtedly made him a despised figure among the orthodox, a hostility that spilled over to his queen who, if ancient reliefs are to be believed, also wielded enormous power. "She is literally hand in hand with Akhenaten at religious ceremonies and state occasions," says...
Things apparently got dicey for Nefertiti sometime after the 12th year of Akhenaten's 17-year reign. She vanished from the historical record about that time. She may have died or, Egyptologists speculate, may have served as co-regent with her husband and after his death, as Pharaoh herself. If so, she ruled under a different name and only briefly, until Tutankhamen took over...
...more precise," concedes Brothwell. "We're dealing with an ancient population that could have had different rates of maturity, and there are factors of nutrition to consider as well." Still, the ranges they cite are consistent with the possible age of death of Akhenaten's mother, Queen Tiye, and one of his brothers--both of whom could have been interred in the same tomb as Nefertiti...