Ikhnaton (English spelling)

Date of birth and death unknown. The tenth king of the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt (reigned 1379-1362 BC). Born as the son of Amenhotep III, he was named Amenhotep IV. As his name, which means "Amen is satisfied," suggests, he was raised as a child of the Amun faith. Amun was a local god of Thebes since the 12th Dynasty, and is thought to have originally been a god of the air, but in the 18th Dynasty he was worshiped as a god of war and became a god of the royal family and therefore the state. The royal family of the 18th Dynasty believed that they were able to repel the foreign enemy, the Hyksos, thanks to the protection of Amun. Naturally, the priesthood of Amun gained more influence in religion, politics, and finances. Amenhotep IV, born into such an era, had a strong tendency to think from an early age, and questioned the god Amun, who is depicted as a ram's head, and the many other animal-shaped gods that topped him. At the age of 16, he married his younger cousin Nefertiti. That year also marked the 30th year of his father Amenhotep III's reign, and Amenhotep III declared himself co-ruler with Amenhotep IV. From this time on, Amenhotep IV began to lean more strongly towards the new religion of Aten worship, and built eight temples for the god Aten in Thebes. However, due to strong obstruction and oppression from the priesthood of Amun, in the fifth year of his reign he moved the capital to Tell el-Amarna, declared that Aten was the only god and that all other gods were false, and changed his own name to Akhenaten. The new king's name meant "he who pleases Aten." This marked the beginning of the "Amarna Period."

The Amarna period gave birth to artistic realism. The private lives of the royal family became motifs in paintings and sculptures, and the king's ungainly physique was modeled exactly as it was. At the same time, the king himself wrote many religious texts in the form of poetry. The "Hymn to Aton" is particularly famous, and its projection onto Psalm 104 in the Old Testament has long been known. However, during this period, the king's territories in Asia were lost one after another. Letters requesting aid from his territories and other diplomatic documents (the Amarna Letters) were discovered at the end of the 19th century.

[Denroku Sakai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。古代エジプト第18王朝10代目の王（在位前1379～前1362）。アメンヘテプ3世の子として生まれた彼は、アメンヘテプ4世と命名された。「アメンは満足す」を意味するその名が示すように、彼はアメン信仰の子として育てられた。アメン神は第12王朝以来のテーベの地域神で、もともとは大気の神であったと考えられるが、第18王朝では戦争の神として崇(あが)められ、王家の神、したがって国家の神となった。外敵ヒクソスを撃退できたのはアメン神の加護によると第18王朝の王家は信じたのである。当然、アメン祭司団は宗教、政治、財政に発言権を増大していった。そういう時代の子として生まれたアメンヘテプ4世は、幼時から思索的傾向が強く、ヒツジの頭で表現されるアメン神と、これを頂点とする動物姿の他の多くの神々に疑問を抱いた。16歳のころ年下の従妹ネフェルティティと結婚した。その年は、父アメンヘテプ3世の治世30年でもあり、この年をもって3世は4世との共同統治を宣した。4世はこのころから新宗教、アトン信仰への傾斜を強め、テーベにアトン神のために八つの神殿を建てた。しかしアメン祭司団の妨害と圧迫が強いので、即位5年目にテル・エル・アマルナに都を移し、アトン神のみが神であり、他の神々は偽りであると宣し、自らの名をイクナートンと改めた。新王名は「アトンを歓(よろこ)ばせる者」の意である。ここに「アマルナ時代」が始まった。

　アマルナ時代は芸術上の写実主義を生み出した。王家の私生活が絵画彫刻のモチーフになり、ぶかっこうな王の体形もそのまま造形化された。一方、王は自ら信仰のための経文を詩の形で数多く書いた。「アトン賛歌」はとくに有名であり、『旧約聖書』詩篇(しへん)104への投影は古くから知られている。しかしアジアの支配地はこの時代に次々と失われた。支配地からの救援要請の手紙をはじめ、外交文書（アマルナ文書(もんじょ)）が19世紀末に発見された。

［酒井傳六］

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