The Great Hymn to the Aten and the Expression of the Amarnian Theology

Abstract

 The hymns of praise to the god Aten, written by the pharaoh Akhenaten during the Amarna age, usually are exalted for its remarkable beauty and eloquence concerning the Aten’s precepts. Both compositions are absolutely explicit regarding the amarnian theology and represent the expression of the new worldview introduced by Akhenaten in 1353 B.C. Based on an analyze of the Great Hymn to the Aten, this paper aims to present the most emblematic elements of the this new worldview, in which the universe was naturally ordained, without the presence of the chaos, devoid of any mythical investment and denials the existence of a “netherworld” of Osiris.