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Akhenaten and the Religion of Light
 
 
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Akhenaten and the Religion of Light [Illustrated] (Hardcover)

by Erik Hornung (Author), David Lorton (Translator) "During his first and only trip to Egypt, Jean-François Champollion at first planned on a very brief stay in Middle Egypt, the region between the..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 146 pages
  • Publisher: Cornell University Press; illustrated edition edition (14 Oct 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0801436583
  • ISBN-13: 978-0801436581
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,800,925 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Synopsis

Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, was king of Egypt from 1375 to 1358 BC. The cult he founded broke with traditional polytheism, focusing its worship on a single deity - the sun god Aten. This work offers a concise account of Akhenaten and his religion of light. Hornung begins with a discussion of the 19th-century scholars who laid the foundation for our knowledge of Akhenaten's period and extends to the most recent archaeological finds. He emphasizes that Akhenaten's monotheistic theology represented the first attempt in history to explain the entire natural and human world on the basis of a single principle. Hornung also addresses such topics as the origins of the new religion; profound chages in beliefs regarding the afterlife; and the new Egyptian capital at Akhetaten which was devoted to the service of Aten, his prophet Akhenaten, and the latter's family.
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During his first and only trip to Egypt, Jean-François Champollion at first planned on a very brief stay in Middle Egypt, the region between the two great ancient centers of Memphis and Thebes. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but missing something, 1 Oct 2007
By Gordon Eldridge (Southport, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
As the previous reviewer has said, the work serves as a very useful overview of the historical progression and the basic tenets of Akhenaten's religion of light. The author punctiliously lists the sources on which his statements are based, which provides a useful reference for the reader who wants to check the ancient sources for themselves. Some of these references, however, assume that the reader will already have some familiarity with the events being narrated and though this is not a major problem, the reader with little knowledge of Akhenaten is sometimes left wishing for a little more background information. The main reason I have given the book only 3 stars ( though its information value certainly warrants at least 4), is that Horning scrupulously avoids making any kind of inference as to the reasons behind Akhenaten's abrupt break with Egypt's traditions until the very last page of the book. In a way, this avoidance is praiseworthy, since Egyptologists often infer too much from too little. On the other hand, I believe that this is precisely the point that most readers are interested in exploring. The avoidance becomes problematic on the final page. Here, Horning suggests that Akhenaten was perhaps the world's first fundamentalist, trying to explain the entire human world based on a single principle. He claims that such a fundamentalist viewpoint will always be doomed to failure and thus we have much to learn from Akhenaten's example. I would have found the book much more interesting and enjoyable if this hypothesis had been introduced from the start and then developed throughout the book. As it is, it is tacked on as a kind of coda, and the reader is left to decide whether any of the evidence given in the book actually supports such an inference or not.
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9 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The compact primer that balance is good., 9 Feb 2003
By Misty Red (OSAKA Japan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Akhenaten and the Religion of Light (Paperback)
I recommend this book as a good primer of Akhenaten and amarna period.
A good perspective that I understood the problem.
This compact book is english translation of written in German in 1995.
Chapter 1 surveys excavation after amarna discovery and history of theory by a report of a symposium.
After Chapter 2 are times setting of the 18th dynasty, an appearance of Amenhotep4, the reign of Akhenaten, a chronicle to revival by Horemheb.
Balance is good and introduces various opinions.
As is expected, as for the interpretation of Aten-religion, there is persuasive power.
References of the end of a volume are guided on the topics that it was not able to mention in the text adequately.
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