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Amun depicted with a tall feather crown
Now, at this same time, it is believed that the total absence of any further mention of Nefertiti could well have indicated her death. If for any reason, she was no longer a part of the life of Akhenaten, this was doubtless very emotionally traumatic. To add to the emotion, his mother died. One of his young daughters dies as did a minor wife for whom he may have had a very positive relationship. Was the illness in the land a reason? It doesn’t matter, the historical facts were that all of these deaths occurred during the twelfth year of his reign. Did the actions of the pharaoh indicate that he was a hard callous person and could shrug off these tragic events? I don’t think so. I believe that he was a sensitive person who would have been profoundly affected. Perhaps even so much so that this brought about a profound change in his personality yielding behavior that set in motion much of what followed.
Man needs to blame, to justify any behavior which would seek revenge and demand retribution. Could this be a reason for what followed in his life? The strong efforts to totally eradicate anything that pertained to Amun Re was the result of a person manifesting very strong and even inappropriate behavior. What he did in this regard could, in modern terms, be considered an over kill? He stopped at nothing in his orders to eradicate the name of Amun even if it meant to deface that which pertained to his own father.
Psychologists would say that he had a major change in his total being resulting in this mass destruction of anything pertaining to Amun Re. The total Amun establishing would have increased their efforts to destroy Akhenaten causing him to become more and more dedicated to his course of action. One can visualize a type of psychological warfare the likes of which were never seen before or since.
The priests had Thebes as their home base and set out to re-convince the general population of the value of maintaining their faith in Amun Re. They had to prepare for the time when the pharaoh would die or be overthrow. One can visualize a massive effort in this regard.
It is possible that Akhenaton became more seriously disturbed and irrational behavior could have been observed in all areas of his life. Today, one of the first things that the behavioral science community would do is to attempt to evaluate behavior from a medical point of view as well as a psychological endeavor. We do know more about his physiological condition today after much speculation over the years. This could have been a factor, but the psychological stresses which he could have suffered can not be ignored.
If any records of the time had been discovered pertaining to either the forces of the people in Amarna or the opposing faction in Thebes, they would have been filled with so much self serving propaganda that very little could be considered to have any value.
This war went on until the time of the death of Akhenaton. It is possible that his remains were placed in the tomb prepared for him and he remained there until such time as both Horemheb and later Rameses II had a need to level Amarna to the ground. It may have been that they had in their own mind reason to believe that remnants of the new religion continued to exist. It may have been at this time that the remains of Akhenaten and his tomb were met with destruction.
Dr. Richard Wilkinson of the University of Arizona once told me that the evidence of massive fires in the tomb indicated the efforts to destroy it and all of its contents.
In 2007, Dr. Zahi Hawass utilizing modern scientific methods found evidence to suggest that the mysterious occupant of the Valley of The Kings No. KV 55 was Akhenaten as well as that of Nefertiti and Queen Tiye. Dr. Hawass remains cautious, but believes that there is sufficient evidence to support his belief.
The cartouche on the coffin had been thoroughly and skillfully carved out as was the face. This was the same treatment pertaining to Akhenaten which was observed throughout Egypt. For a long time, there were those who thought the remains were those of Smenkhkare, but this doesn’t make any sense. Why would anyone want to obliterate any knowledge of this not well known person who perhaps had little or nothing to do with the new religion or the persecution of Amun? This fact alone would give support to the belief that KV 55 was the final resting place of Akhenaten.
In the final analysis, the battle was won by the forces of Amun. The lands, the property and their gold was returned, but more importantly, their control.
Conflicts between church and state remain to this day. Are the cast of characters similar to or even identical to those who also took up arms against the established order? Was this what happened during the final years of the New Kingdom? Perhaps not. Psychology takes the position that as far as Akhenaten was concerned, there were factors which might be considered to be unique. The modern Christian religion may be able to forgive him in the knowledge that he introduced a belief in a single, all powerful and all loving god.
Charles Breasted called him the most unique man in ancient history. He referred to him as the first individual in history. Perhaps he was a victim of his strong beliefs, of his intense motivation to sell the belief in the sun disk and as a reason to hate the forces of Amun. He was not an ordinary man of his time by virtue of his birth, but could have been propelled by those forces and circumstances which occurred during the twelfth year of his reign.
Fortunately, psychologists are not called upon to sit in judgment, but to understand cause and effect. All people are motivated to do those things which satisfy our needs. I don’t think that he set out to do the things which he did particularly during the latter days of his reign, but to react to those forces which he saw as acting against him. Perhaps he was not “mad” in the present day clinical sense, but like so many others in history who followed, had the power to do what he could to change the world as he knew it. Many in history have greed as their motive. It is very possible that Akhenaten really did have a need to serve his people.
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