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  "description": "In my latest video I profile the strange and controversial ruler who tried to change Egypt's religion.",
  "path": "/behind-the-scenes-akhenaten-egypts-strangest-king/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-30T20:15:48.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gardenofmemory.net",
  "tags": [
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "Yesterday, May 29, 2026—which was, apropos of nothing, also the 573rd anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks—was release day for the latest deep dive video on my YouTube channel. It’s called “Akhenaten: Egypt’s Strangest King,” and as usual with these follow-up pieces, it is embedded below. This is my first foray into ancient history on my channel in a very long time, so it’s a bit of a departure for me. Part of what I’m going to talk about in this companion piece is why that is. But, if you want to see the video, it’s below, or watch it on YouTube from the link. It’s just a bit over two hours, slightly shorter than some of my recent videos.\n\nAkhenaten, previously known as Amenhotep IV, is a definite outlier in ancient Egyptian history. He came to the thrones (plural) of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty, about the year 1350 BCE, and promptly sought to change thousands of years of Egyptian theological tradition by orienting the state toward the worship of a god called the Aten, represented by the disk of the sun. Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten (“He Who Is Useful to the Aten”) and instituted a form of monotheism, eventually denying the existence of all other gods. This went against the long tradition of polytheism in Egypt, which had a pantheon consisting of literally hundreds of deities. After building a custom-designed capital in which to worship the Aten, called Akhetaten—now mostly known as Amarna or Tell-el-Amarna, the modern Arabic names of the place—Akhenaten and his wife and co-ruler, Nefertiti, were unable to keep their new theological and political system from falling into decline. After their deaths, which remain mysterious, Egypt reverted to its old religion in a counter-reformation ostensibly under the rule of Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son. For much of the last 3500 years, people have been debating whether or not Akhenaten’s “heresy” represented true monotheism, and, if so, whether that portended the first glimmers of modernity in the long history of religion.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Behind the Scenes: Akhenaten, Egypt’s Strangest King.",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-30T20:15:47.775Z"
}