Akhenaten: The Heretic Pharaoh Egypt Tried to Erase From Existence

Akhenaten abolished the entire Egyptian pantheon, declared that only one god existed — the Aten, the solar disc — and moved the capital to a brand-new city in the desert. It was the most radical religious revolution in ancient history, and Egypt hated it so much that after his death, his successors destroyed his city, dismantled his temples, and chiseled his name from every monument they could find. He became "the enemy" — a pharaoh so heretical that even naming him was forbidden.This episode traces Akhenaten from his mysterious origins through the religious revolution, the construction and abandonment of Amarna, and the systematic campaign of erasure that nearly succeeded in removing him from history.Akhenaten's enigmatic early life and the physical abnormalities depicted in his portraitsThe revolutionary declaration of Aten as the sole god and the abolition of traditional Egyptian religionThe construction of Amarna — a new capital built from nothing in the desertThe destruction of Amarna after his death and the campaign to erase his name from every monument