New Kingdom Part 2 (Episode 90-138)

Akhenaten (Part 10): Queen Tiye's Retirement By 1351 BCE, regnal year 12, Akhenaten's mother Tiye had been a royal lady for fifty years. Now in semi-retirement, living away from the political…

Akhenaten (Part 9): A Royal Son. Every pharaoh of ancient Egypt desired an heir, to continue the lineage of Horus and perpetuate the rule of their family bloodline. Akhenaten, we presume,…

Supporting Aten's Temples To keep their government and economy running, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt relied on allies, servants and friends. Akhenaten (Nefer-kheperu-Re) was no exception. In this episode, we…

The Temples of Aten Akhenaten changed many features of ancient Egyptian religion. But although his god was distant and universal, the Aten still needed a home. Today, we explore how…

Interlude: An Interview with Akhnaten In 1983, Philip Glass debuted his opera Akhnaten, a bold musical exploration of the pharaoh, his reign and his legacy in ancient Egypt. Now, Akhnaten…

Akhenaten (Part 8): Precursors to Atenism Prior to Akhenaten's reign, the worship of Ra had been developing in fascinating ways. From Thebes, a variety of tomb texts show us hints of…

Akhenaten (Part 7): The Great Hymn to Aten By 1356 BCE, Akhenaten was well-ensconced in his new royal residence of Akhet-Aten (Amarna). As regnal year 7 began, the King was…

The Story So Far... We've covered a lot since Amunhotep IV / Akhenaten appeared on the throne of Egypt. Today, we take a breather to sort it all out and…