Changing religious role and contribution of New Kingdom Queens.
In Ancient Egypt the belief was that of a large number of Gods and Goddesses who all held different power and status amongst themselves. While individuals may have found themselves having a deeper connection with one individual God they still did not question the existence of all the other Gods.
Akhenaten changed this belief; he went against tradition and tried to convert Egypt to worshipers of Aten, the Sun Disc. Nefertiti became a great supporter of this movement and was Akhenaten’s full partner in the process of spreading the new religion. This conclusion of their only being one God and that he was a universal God for everyone in the world made Akhenaten known for being the Pharaoh who made the most radical changes to the structure of New Kingdom Egypt.
Nefertiti worshiped Aten alongside her husband and played a big part in this religious reformation, she is believed to have never been given the title of Gods wife of Amun but she still would have performed the same functionassociated with this position. One of the most surprising parts of the religious contribution of Nefertiti is that she was pictured killing enemies a scene normally only used to represent pharaohs. She is also pictured awarding gold to royal favourites.
Akhenaten changed this belief; he went against tradition and tried to convert Egypt to worshipers of Aten, the Sun Disc. Nefertiti became a great supporter of this movement and was Akhenaten’s full partner in the process of spreading the new religion. This conclusion of their only being one God and that he was a universal God for everyone in the world made Akhenaten known for being the Pharaoh who made the most radical changes to the structure of New Kingdom Egypt.
Nefertiti worshiped Aten alongside her husband and played a big part in this religious reformation, she is believed to have never been given the title of Gods wife of Amun but she still would have performed the same functionassociated with this position. One of the most surprising parts of the religious contribution of Nefertiti is that she was pictured killing enemies a scene normally only used to represent pharaohs. She is also pictured awarding gold to royal favourites.
During the new kingdom the religious role of the queens became more important however for Nefertiti her role and contribution due to the
radical changes made by her husband was substantially larger. In order to support her husband queen Nefertiti fully embraced the new religion she helped to gain support for her husband by actively worshiping Aten as well as changing her name in order to be more closely linked to the God.
(Images- Nefertiti, Akhenaten and their daughters all worshiping the God Aten together)
radical changes made by her husband was substantially larger. In order to support her husband queen Nefertiti fully embraced the new religion she helped to gain support for her husband by actively worshiping Aten as well as changing her name in order to be more closely linked to the God.
(Images- Nefertiti, Akhenaten and their daughters all worshiping the God Aten together)