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- Cult Center:
At
Tell el-Amarna in the city of Akhetaten (the horizon of Aten)
- Attributes:
The
Aten gained its prominence during the reign of Akhenaten. The heretic
king made an effort it seems, to unite all the peoples of Egypt under
one god. He abolished the traditional cults of Egypt and replaced them
with the Aten. Unfortunately for Akhenaten, the Egyptians did not wish
to be united in this fashion. The king considered the Aten to be the
creative force in the universe and the only god worthy of his worship.
- Representation:
Inscriptions state that the god had no physical image, but it was
represented as a solar disk projecting many downward rays that ended as
human hands. Sometimes holding ankhs, the symbol of
eternal life.
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