Akhenaten

(c. 1363 BC - 1336 BC)

Akhenaten, the son of Amenhotep III and Tiy and the husband of Nefertiti, was given his father’s name at birth. After he became pharaoh, he initially maintained his father’s policies and religious customs, but within a few years he began introducing reforms and promoting the cult of Aten. He changed his name, moved the capital from Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten, and instituted what many scholars consider to be the first monotheistic religion. He denounced the old gods of Egypt and ordered the closure of their temples, which his followers destroyed.