Akhenaten - A Pharaoh Obsessed - Extra History

[@extrahistory]

What do you all think of Akhenaten? Was his attempt to change Egypt's religious and political structure admirable or foolhardy?

[@Leo-gl4lb]

not even first lol

[@justinthomas7222]

Admirably foolhardy.

[@thun8393]

Can you make a Thai history video.

[@shuzennn]

Admirable, but it turned against him.

[@notevenachannel4038]

Extra Credits 1:04 did some one help you? The throne

[@josephattwell1006]

The story of Akhenaten's attempted erasure makes you wonder how many people were successfully erased from all of history.

[@NadDew]

I think with more advanced science and technology in the future we could find more undiscovered history Just imagine how a new way of rocks analysis or very advanced satellite imagery could found

[@polasamierwahsh421]

Too many that you can't count

[@MisanthropyFerret]

not so many. you must not do anything for person of little matter, and you can not do anything about great ones. Like Herostratis(or what his name in english?) He was supposed to be erased from history for burnong down temple of Artemis and what? We have а common proverb till this days - "Herostratis glory" for someone become famous for destroing something big

[@chaincat33]

if you dig deep enough, you'll likely find plenty of holes where people used to be, but you'll never have enough details to know who they are and what they did to deserve being erased.

[@dimaignatiev6370]

I think it was a local thing of the Egyptians to erase any memory of the previous ruler,other nations didn't do that...

[@peterk.9571]

feeling cute, might purge the priesthood and start a monotheistic sun cult later idk

[@bonefetcherbrimley7740]

Eh, I wouldn't go that far.

[@Freekymoho]

@@bonefetcherbrimley7740 *TOO LATE*

[@zozidedodo780]

it's really facinating who the point of views changes history when I learned about tutankhamen in history at school they painted him in tje light of a revloutionary who knew monothiesm is better than polythiesm but in other places he is depicted as a dictator and an opressor

[@peterk.9571]

@@zozidedodo780 you mean Akenaten?

[@zozidedodo780]

@@peterk.9571 yeah I mixed the names I meant akenaten

[@hlibushok]

It's kind of weird that Akhenaten was preceded by more or less famous Amenhotep III, married with one of the most popular queens of Egypt - Nefertiti, and was succeeded by the very popular Tutankhamun, yet we know almost nothing about him. Those priests, trying to erase him from history, really did a great job.

[@hlibushok]

@samantha smith Well, yes, does that make them any less famous?

[@hlibushok]

@samantha smith What? No one talks about should they be famous or not, they just are. Name me at least a single famous historical figure that isn't known for a sensation.

[@hlibushok]

@samantha smith What's the difference between conquering the Middle East and being very rich? Both are somewhat sensational. If Tutankhamun was discovered recently, that doesn't make him a recent sensation.

[@Dahaka-rd6tw]

Funnily enough, Tutankhamun wasn't that significant or even famous in his life. he died about 19 years young after 8 or 9 year of rule and thanks to his "meaningless statuts" his grave was not robbed as much as graves of other pharaohs( I mean, there were robberies but but significant ones) and thus, his grave was more preserved than that of any other pharaoh.

[@balkanbaroque]

That’s what happens when you make the elites mad.

[@hurtmartman9664]

Praise the Sun too far.

[@finntadie191]

Not nearly far enough!

[@peterk.9571]

Atenism: What if sun, but too much

[@bificommander7472]

Amusingly, there were Dark Souls theories that Solaire himself was the son of Gwyn who was also erased from the records.

[@catmagedsproductions1998]

*THE SUN IS A DEA- THE SUN IS A GODLY MAN*

[@ka1ock]

@@bificommander7472 Found the inspiration.

[@Blackstormeagle]

"Praise the Sun!" "Sir we lost territory in-" "Praise the Sun!" "Sir we are nearly out of money-" "PRAISE THE SUN!" "Sir we need you to focus on matters of state-" "I SAID PRAISE THE GOD DAMN SUN!!!!"

[@cjmatzen3941]

Infernal Bacon praise the aten damn sun *

[@thefrogger6507]

CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL GOD PYLONS

[@andrewblack2596]

In a nutshell.

[@andrewblack2596]

TheFrogger Construct additional Aten Obelisks!

[@thealpaca18]

Are we blind?!??!?! Send the love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MrV1604]

2:30 "Amarna" is actually the current Arabic name of the city. Akhenaten called the city "Akhetaton" which actually means the Horizon of Aten.

[@ibnbattuta7031]

little bit on the nose

[@MrV1604]

@@ibnbattuta7031 whose nose? Not the Sphinx's I hope ;)

[@DDlambchop43]

yeah, scholars sometimes use the modern name to avoid mixing up names.

[@pippingtonne]

a small footnote: tutankhamun was born tutan*aten*. he changed his name when he ascended the throne to show everyone that, yeah, he wasn't going to keep that whole mess going at all.

[@bhagadaurovilleevolutionin3533]

He was a child when he ascended the throne, and the general Horemheb was already very powerful and influent. The Child-king couldn't and didn't make his own decisions.

[@ZeroGravityFuneral]

Tutankhamen didn’t outlaw the Aten cult instead he wanted coexistence and the choice of polytheism. Just as Akhenaten was being influenced by a priest of Aten, Ay, from a young age, Tutankhamen was being manipulated by people behind the scenes.

[@khaledaref3458]

Imagine working hard to build a pyramid in the end aliens get all the credit

[@michaelcao]

Imagine uplifting a primitive Terran civilization with advanced architecture only for them to steal the credit later.

[@themaster_baiter2664]

@@michaelcao The feeling is mutual

[@chaosvii]

Imagine doing such a bad job indicating that you did all the heavy lifting for the construction of the easiest imposing monument style on the planet, that the other primitive societies you didn’t help only ever speculate that you did the real work because of a superiority complex rooted in cultural chauvinism rather than anything substantive.

[@NanoLT]

You mean Alexander the Great

[@AmberyTear]

@@chaosvii best comment

[@dbilly121]

I like how nobody seems to have mentioned it but his son, who made Amun the main God again? Yeah, he's *that* Tutankhamun.

[@sion8]

Well I'm pretty sure he's the only Tutankhamun, also he died real young at 19 and didn't really have *that* big of an impact on history, heck he is more famous now than he would have ever been in his time.

[@WowUrFcknHxC]

And Akhenaten's wife and Tutankhamen's mother is Nefertiti. Who actually did most of the work rebuilding what Akhenaten had destroyed.

[@dbilly121]

@@sion8 Probably, and absolutely.

[@sion8]

@@dbilly121 Yeah, I can't be totally sure, but out of all Egyptian pharaohs I've ever heard of he is the only one with that name.

[@fabianhale845]

Nefertiti wasn’t Tutankhamun’s mother. A sister-wife of Akhenaten was.

[@thevoidlookspretty7079]

He was also a really annoying assassin’s creed boss.

[@ojutay8375]

God yes, not as bad as Ramses but yeah

[@thevoidlookspretty7079]

Geoffrey Nah, man, I loved Ramses. Ramses was slow, and I can dodge slow. But the worst was easily Tutankamun. His spear was a damaging as Ramses’ hammer, but it was freaking QUIIIIICK.

[@dalmatiaball7687]

ah yes

[@scribejay]

Yeah, get back to me when he's been your really annoying Secret World boss.

[@pharaohbubbles1547]

Not as annoying as Nefertiti

[@natkatmac]

4:55 I wrote a paper on Akhenaten a few years ago for college. It's a fact that he was born deformed and in constant pain from all the blue blood incest. The elongated chin, paunch, and other features were true to how he really looked, compared to the idealized/unrealistic carvings of pharaohs before him. My theory is that since he was a deformed, weaker second child, his big brother likely got the lion's share of attention growing up. With this lack of love or confidence from others, he had to turn to other sources. Aten was a counter religion with an all-knowing god, a perfect savior for him.

[@GingaGingaGingaGinga]

natkatmac was this the theory of your paper or a personal theory

[@natkatmac]

@@GingaGingaGingaGinga My paper was primarily a biography piece but I did include my theory in it.

[@ScarlettFevers]

@@natkatmac Too much was erased about him for hit to had been accurate. Ding a college paper on him now, and prior to his reign, the kings had realistic art sculpted of them. Akhenaten changed the style. No way to claim its exactly how he looked

[@natkatmac]

@@ScarlettFevers If you're doing a paper on him now, then surely you know that the KV55 mummy, which has multiple slight deformations, is very likely him.

[@ScarlettFevers]

@@natkatmac I know that Egyptologists believe it's most likely him. I also know that they openly admit that they have no way of being sure.

[@semc1986]

A new Extra Credits video! I'm all Set to Bast in its glory

[@rawjawbone]

Egyptian puns?? Anubis would happen.

[@biohazard724]

I'd be scared to do this in the comments section. I'd need Apep talk.

[@valorix3385]

@@rawjawbone I should really Aten d to these puns.

[@VikingTeddy]

I Thoth these puns were lame.

[@scribejay]

Darn it. Can't think of a pun. Just give me one Sekhmet.

[@mutantmaster1]

"Lemme just instal monotheism as the main religion!" "Sir, we've been polytheistic for thousands of years!"

[@mohamedelkayal8871]

Every prophet in Abrahamic faiths while addressing their people.

[@Razgriz032]

How about S O L I N V I C T V S?

[@db4517]

@@mohamedelkayal8871 jews believed in one God before moses came

[@ExperienceEric]

@@db4517 Funny how no one mentioned that in this context. Or the fact that the exodus was 100 years before Akenaten.

[@db4517]

@@ExperienceEric im saying that the jews believed in one God before the moses came which means every prophet didnt do that

[@natashaphoenix22]

I’m writing an 8 page research paper on the Aten Cult and this helped SO MUCH!!! Thank you!!!

[@danielchand944]

I'd love a series, or at least one video, on Hatshepsut, the young girl who came a successful Egyptian Pharaoh. Her life was fascinating. #1 on my list of coolest Kings.

[@skykid]

When's the part where he invents children's card games?

[@andrewvarney5687]

Well played Sakamoto!!!

[@samuraipanda851]

He didn't invent them. Just the lost deck of cards to be released in the new expansion pack that certainly don't hold the power to erase defeated foes from history.

[@christopherg2347]

Well. They did only learned about him by finding a stash of stone tablets in the desert. Maybe it was actually his deck?

[@jimliashsr7196]

When?

[@katiearbuckle9017]

That was Atem not Aten.

[@dorkfish1275]

I love how the son of the pharoah who egypt wanted to forget is so immensely famous.

[@kelbybrewer2038]

*Egypt, circa 1300ish BCE* "Shut up about the Sun! Shut up about the Sun!

[@yusif97abdin]

That's Gabe lol

[@yeet_the_children]

Lol 😂

[@garabic8688]

Akhenaten to Egyptian Gods: im about to end this mans whole career Egyptian Gods: *pulls out an uno reverse card*

[@TKNinja37]

The first recorded "Impossible Exodia Reverse" event in history.

[@garen1449]

Brain: why would you call a place "thieves" Then the map shows up Brain:oh "Thebes"

[@jorgemartinezsc1956]

I legitimately thought through the video he was the patron of people who liked to steal, and I was wondering how he was so deeply popular.

[@lanaranger9770]

@@jorgemartinezsc1956 lol. I too thought hexes say thieves but then my brain clicked Lol

[@corvus1374]

The book "The Egyptian" by Mika Waltari is a fascinating fictional look at Akhenaten. It was written in 1945, so much of what we have learned since than has made a lot of it wrong, but it's still a good story.

[@michaelbetteridge4131]

This is insane. I became an EH patreon about a month ago, and now they've done a video on one of my favourite historical figures of all time. Keep up the good work!

[@estone1256]

His son was erased from history, too. That's why king tuts tomb hadn't been destroyed, nobody knew about him.

[@parkerthanyou]

Great episode guys, i studied Akhenaten at university! A minor correction: the name of El-Amarna is the modern name, at the time the city was known as Akhetaten (because why it shouldn't be more confusing right) Plus fun fact, in the city were found the letters from all other kingdoms of the middle Bronze age, and most we know about them is from their recover, so the name of this period is known to historyans as "the period of Amarna"

[@bell.with.one.e]

The weird art and some details of his later reforms make me want to write a story about Akhenaten as a time traveler who found himself in ancient Egypt and tried to invent the Papacy.

[@MourningCoffeeMusic]

To be fair, at least the sun is real.

[@Binidj]

A little known fact (that you missed out on mentioning) is that Tutankhamun was originally called Tutankhaten, and since he died while still very young it's not by any means certain that the changes wrought in his name were his own doing or that of the resurgent priesthood of Amun. Also, the Hymn to Aten is a beautiful piece of poetry. The Phillip Glass opera "Akhnaten" translates it beautifully ... highly recommend giving it a listen.

[@sannelohuis2958]

1:03 That lion looks awfully familiar... *HMMMMMM*

[@darth_pepperoni27]

Bleeeeeeeehhhhh

[@darth_pepperoni27]

SIMBA

[@black-op345gaming5]

Cas was here I guess

[@Randombikerboi]

S I M B A

[@h3egypt]

Tut ankh amun s throne you can see in the grand Egyptian museum

[@DragonFae16]

Through DNA testing, it's been proven that for four generations going back to Akhenaten's grandparents, each pharaoh married his full or half blood sister. So the strange depiction of him may actually have been what he really looked like.

[@shiruki8974]

Not to mention Akhenaten said he wanted to be depicted as realistic compared to the fake images of previous pharaohs. Many of them weren't skinny thanks to less activity and fancy palace foods

[@milosummers2779]

from studying pharaonic egypt in university i was taught that this was unlikely as egyptian art never really represented what pharaohs actually looked like. they were an idealised portrayal

[@beckyanderson988]

​@@milosummers2779I assume that this is because they believed that any images made of you in life would dictate what you would look like in death they wanted to be this grand amazing person in picture so that they looked grand and amazing in death

[@kreolado5880]

Akhenaten was not inbred. The only inbred connection he had was that his parents were cousins

[@moatazfouad2317]

You never fail to amaze me.I wish you could do more Egyptian History.Greetings from Egypt.

[@sesshowmarumonoke]

Akhenaten was in a dispute over power with the priests of Amun, who held equal influence. Hence, the move of making Aten the supreme god.

[@isaiahsangilan8889]

Amenhotep IV/ Akhenaten: Introduce monotheism Priests: No can do sir.

[@hereisyoursign6750]

Israelites living in Egypt at the time: Challenge Accepted

[@Kumimono]

One can always recommend "Sinuhe The Egyptian" for a fictitious account of the times of Akhenaten.

[@MrHanderson91]

What's the best place for a good translation?

[@Kumimono]

@@MrHanderson91 As it is, the English translation was done from not original Finnish, and loses some elements. Still, Audible has an audio book available, probably the easiest to acquire.

[@BigHenFor]

It was made into a film with Victor Mature, Michael Wilding and Edmond Purdom called "The Egyptian". It's on KZbin, and is worth a watch.

[@dondrbeto]

I have read a ton of comments looking for the first reference to Sinuhe. Great book. I feel the book was a lot more kind to Akhenaten than EC.

[@artofthepossible7329]

@@dondrbeto Fiction isn't known for trudging real life characters through mud if they are protagonists and the like. Major reason I consider the Bible to be non-fiction, there is way too much negative for it to be fiction.

[@ZeroGravityFuneral]

I think it’s important to remember, the priesthood of Amun had a good degree of power and with that power came a lot of corrupt. They were starting to overshadow the pharaoh and it appears that he had a good deal of support initially. I’m also not sure where people got the idea where only he could worship Aten? There were over 20 temples to Aten that were built across Egypt and Nubia. There was a lot of politics that played a role into this. The name easer was a tactic to give the new people in power authenticity. That’s all that was. Had Akhenaten approached this a little more level headed but I also think there was some sensational archaeology at play here. We have proof of Osiris worship in his capital city. Domestic gods like Bes were still worshiped. The Ptah and Thoth cults seem untouched. It’s actually really complicated.

[@7kS3]

This is actually the chronologically 1st episode of extra history. I’m gonna watch all of them starting with this one. Wish me luck!

[@ettinakitten5047]

I think the origin of writing starts earlier.

[@k2d10tode11]

to me Akhenaten history is the most intriguing and interesting part of egyptian history. and i believe ( or rather some writers do) that he is the first monotheist person ever ( that is both as a leader and as an individual)

[@bueno4872]

No the kenenites were monotheists before him

[@ExperienceEric]

According the the information in the Bible and modern Egyptology Moses and the Exodus was a full century before Akenaten. And oh yeah, the Hebrews already believed in monotheism centuries before Moses. Yet I hear people ignoring that all the time and claiming akenaten was the first.

[@geoffreyherrick298]

​@Bueno48 as we're the Zoroastrians.

[@Argacyan]

This video gives me flashbacks to an old saying by armchair historians in the depths of Total War forums and the Steam workshop: "If it existed we would know about it already!"

[@Azzarrel]

Well, I certainly expected some shuriman-like sun-disks in his new temples^^

[@dotwaregames]

Goodness gracious. I'm making the game Akhenaten: Rule as Pharaoh, and Extra Credits is how I got started in Game Dev (their game dev tutorials.) My worlds have collided at last.

[@dotwaregames]

@Emperor AlHasan Working now on a demo to go out for free Steam before that

[@gaithasura]

Please do tht

[@ovoj]

How's the game going?

[@fish-d6488]

hot take but art from this time period is some of the most beautiful of all of egypt -- its so delicate and fluid and expressive. i have to wonder if akhenaten just had a great aesthetic sense, or if that artistic change was more from the artisans themselves

[@Vanic00]

Finally, been wondering when you folks were going to do a video on ancient Egypt. Love all your video's, your history ones are my favorite and I truly love your guy's style of art and storytelling. Please keep up the great work, with TV channels such as Discovery and even the actual History channel not doing real history anymore, youtubers have become the go to source for such information. You are doing noble work by keep history alive, and I commend you for it. Well done.

[@thelittleagustus.2292]

Fun fact. Tutankhamen was originally Tutankhaten. The image of Aten. His historical name Tutankhamen meant the image of Amun

[@kovaxim]

Can you imagine digging around, trying to find something important for you only to find a giant box filled with tablets with weird scribbles, and then it turns out that that was among the biggest discoveries from Ancient Egypt? That's almost bizarre. Also cool.

[@geigertec5921]

Those cuneiform tablets were actually ancient Yugioh cards which the pharoah played while waiting for his city to be built.

[@alicehellman8445]

Pause at 1:04 “SIM-BA.”

[@NAATHAAN]

*S I M B A*

[@LuinTathren]

I've always loved this story. Thanks for your hard work!

[@MisanthropyFerret]

as far as i know in russian he changed his name to Ekhnaton (Aton is the name of god) and the capital city is Akhetaton, not the bloody Amarna. Amarna is an arabic name of modern settlement

[@MisanthropyFerret]

oh, by the way, Tutenkhamen was Tutenkhaton first, before his father died

[@violetrose415]

I know that El-Amarina is a place close to Alexandria

[@AhmedMahmoud-tv9vw]

@@violetrose415 You mean El Alamein? If so, it's kinda closer to Marsa Matrouh. Greetings from an Alexandrian.

[@MrSpy-jo4je]

You forgot to mention Ay. The Grand Vizier of both Akhenaten and Tutankhamen; who became pharaoh after Tut’s death and erased his last two bosses from history, but was erased as well. Best piece of evidence showing this gap of 3 rulers is the List of Kings in the tomb of someone who I can’t remember. But anyway, just thought that I give Ay a mention

[@geoffreyherrick298]

Ay must have had influence over Tutankhamen. King Tut died before he was 20.

[@gabrielsanchez8501]

The theory behind his change of Egyptian art is that it was influenced by the art of Greece. Back then, wealthy Greeks were travelling to Egypt

[@timsullivan4566]

It is said that Akhenaten shared with Nefertiti a fondness for playing tunes on reed instruments equivalent to the modern day flutes. The royal couples mutual passion for music suggests that despite indications their marriage was sorely tested by differing views re state religion, they at least shared a "Toot" in common.

[@rokusho6667]

Oh thank god I thought I was gonna have to sit through a full episode of legal eagle with nothing to watch.

[@unipeace6198]

When you pronounce the name in Tamil language (ahanathan - (அகம் + ஆதன் = அகநாதன்) ), gives the following meaning. “One that has the Sun (possess the power of Sun) within himself”. The second part of the name “Aten” is pronounced “Aadhan” in Tamil language. You can find this name is common and widely used in Tamil culture even today. We need to question what made him to pick one God out of many worshipped by then Egyptians. Could there have been inter religious clashes (like Catholic vs Protestant / Sunni vs Shia / Shaivam vs Vaishnavam)? We also have to keep in mind that the King moved his capital / throne away from where his dynasty ruled from. Was there a scientific reason behind his choice of God (The Sun)? Could be, the Sun is the source of life on planet Earth and he might have wanted the people of his kingdom to understand that without the Sun, the world cannot sustain life and therefore worship the Sun and unite under one God.

[@jonahleemia1378]

Y’all should do a series on Alexander the Great!!

[@zm1639]

How about Alexander Hamilton?

[@takshashila2995]

Greatness is relative

[@davescott7680]

That monthestic god, would have made for an interesting Star Gate SG1 character.

[@TheVillon77]

Yes, the possibilities would have been intriguing. Pity they got to the other direction abandoning egyptian lore for the whole Ori saga.

[@fireninja9072]

Nice Reference to Cas Van De Pol and his lion king animation at 1:05

[@alexandreboutaudvalarini5638]

I seem to recall watching a video (TED Talk?) on this guy stating he probably had a phisical deformity (based on the elongated head) that lead to exclusion from public/political life, witch would partially support his desire to switch from the deities of those he felt excluded him into a new cult built arround him.

[@falconJB]

There have been a lot of documentaries that speculate about that. They have even done a scan of Tutankhamun(his son) and found that he suffered from a lot of physical deformities that are likely genetic.

[@zozidedodo780]

keeping the royal blood "PURE" for more than a thousand year does that to you

[@artofthepossible7329]

@@skatingcommentator3184 The Pharoah might as well be God for all the people cared (a god but still) so calling it a cult would not be inaccurate. More accurate then a religion or a mythology anyway.

[@alexanderrodriguezygibson7418]

You know, I wonder what would have happened if ancient Egypt had embraced Akhenaten and Atenism, would other Pharos have been wiped from the list of kings? Would his attempts to build a new capital still gotten him labeled a tyrant? What do you think?

[@malcomalexander9437]

Hard to say really. It definitely would have changed things, but how much and for how long is an eternal mystery.

[@shuzennn]

I think it's also interesting that Akhenaten was married to his mom Tiy as well! He exiled Nefertiti(or she self-exiled after being downgraded from wife). This is huge cause incest with your mother was highly frowned upon. They even had a baby girl. This guy lived out of all the boundaries of that time.

[@corabranch266]

Could you do a video on Hatshepsut? She was a fairly good king of Egypt, and based off of what I know, (this could be controversial or not true) she actually trained her nephew to take on the throne when she died, unlike some other successful rulers.

[@mrsqueaker751]

Instead of ok boomer how about: “Get forgotten Akhenaten”

[@raquelfabro7995]

nein

[@Alusnovalotus]

Ugh.

[@LARKXHIN]

Well, I laughed.

[@ostensiblyaverage5576]

Similarly to how Akenaten had changed his own name to be in line with Aten, his son, originally named Tutankhaten changed his name for the exact opposite reason.

[@ghostfromanotherworld]

I think the most logical reason for change in the art style during Akhenaten's reign is that he preferred to be portrayed more realistically as opposed to the usual god like physique. I highly doubt that most pharoahs had a perfect and muscular body. It's been proven through study of Tutankhamuns mummy, that he had a very feminine physique complete with large hips and breasts. This is most likely due to inbreeding among the royals. It's highly likely that Akhenaten, being his father, had a similar physique.

[@patrickshea5955]

"Akhenaten the first individual in history" I liked that!!

[@michaelconnell1010]

Now I can’t help but wonder how Akhenaten would be as a Servant in Fate/GO from personality, play style and how he’d interact with Ozymandias, Nitocris and Cleopatra

[@muhammadradwan1863]

I was waiting for a series about Egypt! Thank you!

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

Well it’s just a video not a series but it’s nice.

[@justaplayer3600]

Well well well, I'm actually early. Glad to see a new post!

[@EpicZombie92]

Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, actually began the rise of Aten as a royal deity in Egypt. Though he didn't take it as far as his son, Aten was likely promoted from its stance as a small deity as a way for the royal family to wrestle power back from the priesthood of Amun. After all, what better way to make the dominant priests worthless than by rejecting their entire purpose? Also, one of our best sources for Aten's worship is "The Great Hymn to Aten" (or "The Great Hymn to the Orb") which was carved into the wall of Ay, an advisor to Akhenaten who would ultimately succeed him as pharaoh. Ironically, while the hymn praises Aten, Ay spent his short reign trying to reverse Egypt's religion back to Amun worship before being succeeded by Tutankhamen. Its a good lesson on how complicated Aten's worship is to understand and how forcefully Akhenaten promoted his faith. Really enjoyed the video. I hope you guys do more on Egyptian rulers!

[@villehammar7858]

Heh, I remember this guy from the historical novel The Egyptian they had us read at high school. I wonder if the book has made him disproportionately famous in Finland, as it is considered a classic in here.

[@MrCubFan415]

Azumanga Daioh?

[@villehammar7858]

@@MrCubFan415 Yes for my avatar, no for the classic book, maybe if the question was about something else :P

[@MrCubFan415]

@@villehammar7858 I meant your profile pic, so the answer is yes. :)

[@jeyoungryou3585]

Tutankhamun's original name was Tutankhaten (Tutankh- Aten) , but was changed to Tutankhamun (Tutankh- Amun) at the urging of Amun priests. What the 'Tutankh' bit means seems disputed, but is something along the lines of 'the living image of'.

[@shawnhall3849]

Jeyoung Ryou It’s Tut-ankh-amun, Tutankhamun means “the living image of Amun”. The guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Aten the sun disk is not a new god but an obscure aspect of the sun god, suppose to be the manifestation of Amun, the Hidden God or hidden one

[@rafief9266]

1:06 are those the simba heads from cas can de pol on the throne?

[@diegodelcastillo86]

They are

[@tobyLikesTrains06]

Raphael Ettinger-Finley yes

[@catmagedsproductions1998]

OH OH I remember it

[@ObliviouzRomantic]

Love the little details of the lions on the chair changing from little cubs to derp cubs!

[@megaagentj2248]

“The first individual in history” Grog joke to you?

[@harrisonmundschutz2654]

Imagine how much hate you must have for someone to deny them their afterlife, to demand they suffer that final and total death of being forgotten

[@emperorelagabalus6333]

This was my insparation... As a priest of Sol Ivinctus, when I became emperor, I forced people to worship him :)

[@yaboimosh]

This was so much better with the other guy. His voice was made for listening to about history..

[@liontamer2810]

So 20 seconds in and they have already failed to erase him from history by the fact we are watching this

[@vrixphillips]

What people skip, though, is that King Tut was not the /next/ Pharaoh after Akhenaten's death. There were two others, at least one of which is supposedly what Nefertiri called herself when she assumed control until Tutakhaten/amun became of age to rule on his own. Which means that at one point Nefertiri was a Pharaoh at one point, just like Hatshepsut, which is really cool. In fact, one of those correspondences is between her and the Hittites about marrying a Hittite Prince [actually there's some debate if that queen is Nefertiti or Tut's widow] because she is "recently widowed and has no heir" but the prince died on the way to Egypt and it caused a war between Egypt and the Hittites. There's also Freud's theory that Moses was an Atenist priest.

[@cuteswan]

_Gee, I can't imagine that anyone in modern times would be this desperate to completely erase a terrible leader from history..._

[@vassily-labroslabrakos2263]

Or whitewash his deeds i'm looking at you ataturk and mao

[@Alusnovalotus]

Rich Wilson hmmm. Didn’t work with Hitler, Stalin, pol pot, Mao, or Putin &trump. I hope they will all be immortalized as examples on how low power hungry monsters can go.

[@Punaparta]

The history of Volkswagen begins in 1945. Don't ask if the car company existed before that. Don't look up its founder.

[@albrown5557]

I pray that Akhenaten returns to our current timeline and bring lasting changes. King of Peace. 🌄

[@blackshadow9627]

"you mean constructing a new capital wasn't cheap?!" 🤔 what's Egypt doing nowadays again?

[@fionafiona1146]

There was something in Brazilia and Versaills, mainly burocracy

[@micahh9351]

1:03 cas van de pol lion king recap reference

[@harrisonlee9585]

Shorter Ahkenaten: Here comes the Sun!

[@corfuresorts3064]

I missed this kind of videos

[@SappieLive]

I just want 2 things 1: more of the extra history podcast 2: and give us a series about the british empire darnit

[@bulgna]

Just to make clear the gravity of the erasing. Names represent, to the Egyptians, a part of the soul (Ren) so erasing someone's name is a direct and personal attack

[@honkersbonkers434]

Egypt:were gonna erase him from Egyptian history Modern times:*E*

[@MyOwnNameWasTaken]

"3000 years from now, Akhenaten will speak true..."

[@coleriver6717]

this was a song my grandfather made spaghetti and meatballs to and he was Italian and had alot of pride of our heritage and he could never whistle and sadly 3 years ago he died in the line of duty as a firefighter being struck by a motor veichel in Maryland and now everytime i make meatballs i sing with this song and cry a little. so thank you Julius La Rosa for being apart of this wonderful family tradition.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

its also interesting that we probably would still forget about this guy if we hadn't found Tut's tomb and later connected him back

[@lastofrwby8395]

Could you guys do serious on various pagan religions of Europe like Hellenism, Germanic, Celtic and others

[@seancampbell6292]

We dont really know much about celtic religions. pagan Druids didnt believe in written word.

[@lastofrwby8395]

Mankrik 'The Thorntusk Butcher' I know but they tell some things that they know

[@scottsbarbarossalogic3665]

That seems like something they would do in their Extra Mythology series

[@franciscodetonne4797]

They are not pagan. Please don't use that word...

[@scottsbarbarossalogic3665]

@@franciscodetonne4797 I am curious what you think the word 'pagan' means?

[@MasterOfTheBrood]

"he'd have depictions of him and his wife with his six daughters *no son mentioned*" *Later* "his son tutunkhamen reestablished the worship of Aman" Ahhh there he is.

[@Maatkara1000]

Ah yes!!! Because obviously anything written is way more trustworthy than an ole dna test

[@MasterOfTheBrood]

@@Maatkara1000 as if DNA tests existed back then. XD

[@CloudColumncat]

One of the more interesting things I learned about Akhenaten is the art. Ancient Egyptian art had absolute rules called the Kanon. It is a rule that artists must follow when sculpting pharaohs or gods, which determines the proportions, angles, and postures when sculpting. This has remained unchanged for over 8,000 years. This is because they believed that only if their soul, Ka, was perfect could they live forever in the afterlife. When Akhenaton carried out his religious reforms, he instructed artists to ignore this canon, and scattered tombstones with his face in relief like leaflets throughout the region. As it was a new religion, he attempted to establish a new type of artistic movement that advocated realism. This is called Amarna art in art history circles. This is why the works of art and statues produced at this time had a “perspective” shape that was not found in other ancient Egyptian artifacts. But just as his dynasty quickly disappeared after his death, so too did Amarna art. This is because he imposed his religion so excessively that he incurred the resentment of priests representing other faiths (one of the characteristics of Egyptian mythology is that it is a polytheistic faith that merges local faiths).

[@thevioletskull8158]

This was interning,honestly I'm note sure how to feel about Akhenaten

[@argore9709]

i love the Cas van de Pol lion king recap on the chair at 1:03

[@trashlag]

Everyone: Big Family of gods Akhenaten: No Tutenkhamen: No Life expectancy: Double no

[@zkrmehsen5452]

-his own subjects tried to erase him from history. Well, they clearly failed xD

[@nefariouscrimecommiter6372]

1:06 See the lions on the chair? That was from Cas Van De Pol the animator in his Lion King animation

[@flameBMW245]

Yes, i saw that

[@jonasinsinga4309]

Love what you did there with the lions on the throne. Little homage to Cas von de Pol at 1:03. "Simba..."😂

[@AnimeAngel88]

He tried critical mode without testing basic mode first. That's why he failed.

[@Gillemear]

There is an interesting theory regarding Akenaten and his Aten revolution- a volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Thera (today's Santorini) which some place at the end of the reign of Akenaten's dad may have caused devastation throughout Egypt thanks to fallout, to all regions except for Thanis, a large westerly city with a huge immigrant population from the Levant (modern day Israel and Lebanon). Akenaten, seeing these people spared, may have adopted an Egyptian version of their ways- monotheism. Reading the Armana texts show striking parallels between their style and the oldest psalms of the old testement Bible. Whatever the case, Akenaten messed up badly by underestimating the power of the old religions and crucially by not accounting for the badness in the world, as the Bible does with the use of fallen angels/ devils. If you and your religion is the only show in town, you can get blamed for everything.