Akhenaten Religion

What Would Akhenaten’s Religion Be in Today’s Society?

One fifth of the world’s population is Muslim, as well as the majority of Egypt’s population. If Akhenaten, an ancient pharaoh of Egypt, was alive today, he would be Muslim for these reasons: Islam Promotes peace, love and honesty. The word Islam its self means “surrender ( to the will of god)” (Esposito).

During Akhenaten’s reign he only wanted to keep peace in the empire. The pharaoh refused to engage himself in war or war like activities. “I do not wish to learn the fundamentals of murder” (Mahfouz 32) When it came time for the pharaoh to learn how to fight with the other nobles children he refused to participate. Instead Akhenaten urged for peace and worship to Aten. Just like the beliefs of Muslims they try to avoid all acts of violence and keep the peace around them.

The pharaoh had the same values for love, Akhenaten was known as a lover not a fighter.

Some say the major reason for the decline of the empire was because of Akhenaten’s love and beliefs. He was aware of the war and the issues arising among the empire and instead of addressing it and fighting the war, he chose to hold the military and pray to his god. The heretic was aware of the people against him and of the decline

“Realism became more common during Akhenaten’s rule. In visual arts there was more use of curved lines and roundness”( Ed.). The heretic was sculpted realistically unlike most pharaohs. He chose to have all his flaws show and how he actually looked with the long fingers and wide hips and feminine features. In Islam lying and deceiving people is known to be a sin. The way the pharaoh portrayed himself he came across as a strong believer in one god and in his people he used the three characteristic’s to prove it. Although many would say that those three follow the other four main religions Akhenaten would not have been a good candidate for those