Q: What is “Atenism?”
A: Atenism, also known as the Amarna heresy, was an anti-polytheistic theology focused around the god Aten and founded by pharaoh Amenhotep IV, in the 14th century BC.
In Egyptian mythology, Aten was first mentioned in the Middle Kingdom as the sun disk, a part of god Re. Later on, under the reign of Tuthmosis IV (14th century BC), Aten became a solar god. Pharaoh Amenhotep III (ca. 1386-1349 BC) established a separate cult for Aten. Amenhotep IV, later known as Akhenaten, turned the cult of the Aten unto a form of monotheism based on the worship of the sun, Aten. Atenism was Egypt’s official state religion for nearly twenty years, falling immediately after Amenhotep IV’s death.
Modern scholars believe that many of the beliefs promoted by Amenhotep IV were already present in earlier cults, particularly that of Amen-Re. Nevertheless, Akhenaten IV introduced one entirely new concept that was alien to traditional Egyptian religion, monotheism.