Akhenaten (reigned 1352-1336 BC)

Akhenaten from one of his colossi at Karnak ©

Akhenaten was the assumed name of Amenhotep IV, the son of Amenhotep III. In the fifth year of his reign, Akhenaten rejected the traditional religion in favour of worshiping the Aten, or sun disc, after whom he renamed himself. He closed all the temples to the old gods and obliterated their names from monuments. He built a new capital, Akhetaten (Tel el-Amarna), on a previously uninhabited site in Middle Egypt, as well as introducing a completely new artistic style. Akhenaten's principal queen was Nefertiti.

Akhenaten was succeeded by the short-lived Smenkhkare and then by Tutankhamun who restored the traditional religion. The city of Akhetaten was abandoned, after being occupied for only 20 years.