Akhnaton: An Artistic Revolutionary

Paper Summary:

The author discusses Ancient Egyptian art as an expression of religious devotion and belief, arguing that the monotheistic revolution spearheaded by Akhnaton led to an artistic revolution.

From the Paper:

"The civilization of the Ancient Egyptians, encompassing art at its very core, was one borne out of religious and cultural beliefs and values. According to numerous art historians, archeologists and Egyptologists, within the context of Ancient Egyptian culture and religion, art was not a luxury or a pastime but, as Leslie A. White states, part and parcel of Ancient Egypt and its religious framework (91-92). Dietrick E. Thomeson explains this view even further, arguing that the fusion between art and religion was such in Ancient Egypt that it was the first, and one of the very few, if not only, countries in history in which artists and architects were state employees and bureaucrats. In other words, artistic endeavor was in a permanent and ongoing state of activity and the bureaucratic form that it assumed, allowed for the continuation of that activity insofar as it ensures the constant planning of projects and their execution. However, while that bureaucratic form, on the one hand, and the religious nature of art, on the other, kept Ancient Egypt artistically rich, it ensured a static form to art, preventing development, evolution and change."

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