AKHENATEN

AKHENATEN'S "PERESTROIKA" continued

It cannot be said how widespread approval of the new reorganization was, but
it probably was not crucial for the reformer's further course.

His next step brought a new royal titulary, from which were removed not only
the name of the hated Amun, but also references to his locales of Thebes and
Karnak; in his new NEBTY name, Karnak was replaced by the newly founded Re-
sidence of Akhetaten.

INSIDE OF ONE OF THE TOMBS AT AMARNA

Akhenaten could keep his former throne name NEFERKHEPRURE, just as he remained
"the sole one of Re" (WAENRE), but he changed his personal name Amenophis into
the name by which the world today knows him, and which in Egyptian sounded some-
thing like AKHANYATI - "He who is useful to Aten," or perhaps "Radiance of Aten";
the rendering "Soul of Aten" is less suitable because AKH actually denotes only the
soul of a deceased person, while Akhenaten's formulation "I am your son who is use-
ful to you and elevates your name" speaks in favour of the meaning "to be useful".

The exact nuance of the name escapes us, and in this volume we employ the con-
ventional form Akhenaten, rather than the more accurate Akhanyati - the precise
vocalization of ancient Egyptian is problematic, since the hieroglyphic writing system
did not indicate the vowels.