Interviews with Pharaoh Akhenaten and King Tutankhamun
Who were the key individuals, and how did they mold how the society thought/acted?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of power?
On our trip to Egypt, we were able to interview two famous people: the pharaoh Akhenaten and his son, Tutankhamun. We really learned a lot from our interviews. We wrote down the interviews and this is how they went.
Interview with Pharaoh Aknenaten
Me: Hello, Pharaoh Akhenaten. Thank you for taking your time to come here and speak with me. I’d just like to ask you some questions about yourself, if that’s all right.
Akhenaten: Hello. I’ll be happy to answer some questions.
Me: Great! My first question is why do you think that you are so well known?
Akhenaten: Well, I think that I’m most famous for two things. For one, I created a new style of art called the Armana style. This style shows the subject in relaxed and natural positions, and it shows imperfections that the subject has. The other thing that I’m well known for is the new religion I introduced during my reign. I was intimidated by the priests’ power, so I introduced a new religion so they would have less authority. My religion worshipped only one god, Aten, the sun god. My original name was Amenhotep, but I changed it to Akhenaten, which means, “he who is of service to Aten,” because of my religion. I loved my religion and I stuck with it. I made sure that everyone followed what I did, and took many steps to do this. I even destroyed my father’s cartouche because it had the name of another god, Amon, on it. When priests opposed to my religion, I removed them from their posts, took their lands and closed the temples.
Me: I see. Are there any mysteries about you?
Akhenaten: Yes. No one knows exactly how I died. This mystery may stay a mystery for a long time.
Me: What impact did you have on your empire?
Akhenaten: Most people were discontented with my rule, and continued to worship many gods, and also priests of the old religion resisted their loss of power. The discontent of my rule spread to army leaders. Everyone believed that I was completely devoted to my religion, and that I had abandoned my position of pharaoh. When this happened, we lost most of our land in western Asia to invaders.
Me: Well, let’s get some positive answers. What is one of your achievements?
Akhenaten: I think that again, my achievement is creating the Amarna style of art.
Me: Okay. What can you tell us about your personal life?
Akhenaten: Well, I married Nefertiti, and my son is Tutankaten. My father was Amenhotep III, and my mother Tiye. I had several brothers and sisters.
Me: I just have one more question. Did you make any important decisions during your reign?
Akhenaten: Yes. I think that my most important decision was to worship Aten. This decision was really not a good one, since it lost my land to outside invaders, but the decision I made greatly influenced my community. If I had not made this important decision, there are lots of things that could have happened. I might not have been as well known if I hadn't made this decision, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your opinion.
Me: I agree with you. Those are all the questions I had to ask. Thanks so much for answering all those long questions I had for you.
Akhenaten: No problem. It was great to let people know more about me.
Akhenaten: Hello. I’ll be happy to answer some questions.
Me: Great! My first question is why do you think that you are so well known?
Akhenaten: Well, I think that I’m most famous for two things. For one, I created a new style of art called the Armana style. This style shows the subject in relaxed and natural positions, and it shows imperfections that the subject has. The other thing that I’m well known for is the new religion I introduced during my reign. I was intimidated by the priests’ power, so I introduced a new religion so they would have less authority. My religion worshipped only one god, Aten, the sun god. My original name was Amenhotep, but I changed it to Akhenaten, which means, “he who is of service to Aten,” because of my religion. I loved my religion and I stuck with it. I made sure that everyone followed what I did, and took many steps to do this. I even destroyed my father’s cartouche because it had the name of another god, Amon, on it. When priests opposed to my religion, I removed them from their posts, took their lands and closed the temples.
Me: I see. Are there any mysteries about you?
Akhenaten: Yes. No one knows exactly how I died. This mystery may stay a mystery for a long time.
Me: What impact did you have on your empire?
Akhenaten: Most people were discontented with my rule, and continued to worship many gods, and also priests of the old religion resisted their loss of power. The discontent of my rule spread to army leaders. Everyone believed that I was completely devoted to my religion, and that I had abandoned my position of pharaoh. When this happened, we lost most of our land in western Asia to invaders.
Me: Well, let’s get some positive answers. What is one of your achievements?
Akhenaten: I think that again, my achievement is creating the Amarna style of art.
Me: Okay. What can you tell us about your personal life?
Akhenaten: Well, I married Nefertiti, and my son is Tutankaten. My father was Amenhotep III, and my mother Tiye. I had several brothers and sisters.
Me: I just have one more question. Did you make any important decisions during your reign?
Akhenaten: Yes. I think that my most important decision was to worship Aten. This decision was really not a good one, since it lost my land to outside invaders, but the decision I made greatly influenced my community. If I had not made this important decision, there are lots of things that could have happened. I might not have been as well known if I hadn't made this decision, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your opinion.
Me: I agree with you. Those are all the questions I had to ask. Thanks so much for answering all those long questions I had for you.
Akhenaten: No problem. It was great to let people know more about me.
That was our amazing interview with Pharaoh Akhenaten. It was really interesting to hear him talk about himself, and we learned lots of things. Here is our next interview, with Akhenaten's son, Tutankaten, better known as King Tutankhamun.
Interview with King Tutankhamun
Me: Hello, King Tutankhamun. Thank you for coming here.
King Tutankhamun: Of course! It is a pleasure to be here.
Me: I just want to ask you a few questions. My first is, in your opinion, what is your greatest achievement?
King Tutankhamun: I think that my greatest achievement is ending the Amarna Revolution. The Amarna Revolution is when my father, Akhenaten IV, decided that only one god would be worshipped, Aten. After his rule was over after his death, I let everyone return to Egypt’s original religion, which most were happy about.
Me: I’m sure I would have been too. What do you think that makes you so well known to the world?
King Tutankhamun: The thing that makes me so well-known is actually my tomb. When archaeologists discovered my tomb in the Valley of the Kings, they found inside many artifacts to my journey to the afterlife such as oils, perfumes, toys from childhood, jewelry, and other items for the afterlife.
Me: I see. Is there anything about you that is a mystery to people today?
King Tutankhamun: Yes. People know very little about me; they don’t know how l died, or how any of my family died either. People have many different theories about how l died, some reasonable, and some too ridiculous to be true. Many also believe that I died of illness, because there were many medicines and cures in my tomb with me. Some that are reasonable enough is that l was run over by a chariot, and also many people think that l was murdered. The murder suspects are: the king’s deputy, also known as Horemheb, or another important official named Ay. They both are suspected because of greed, because they knew if l died, they would gain more power.
Me: I’m very sorry about that. I just have a few more questions for you, if you don’t mind.
Me: Is there anything about your personal life that you would like to share?
King Tutankhamun: Of course. I will share some of my family members. My father is Akhenaton, my mother Nefertiti, and I married Ankhesenpaaten, who is my half-sister.
Me: Did you make any important decisions during your reign?
King Tutankhamun: I am actually one of the less important pharaohs in Egypt, and I only ruled for around nine years, so I made little important decisions. However, one decision I made was to discontinue my father’s religion, and start my own. My original name was Tutankaten, but I changed it to Tutankhamun. My father, Akhenaten IV, worshipped only one god, Aten the sun god, but I worship only Amun, who is known as the king of all the gods. This decision changed many things, because everyone was required to worship him.
Me: That’s very interesting! I just have one more question for you. What impact did you have on your empire?
King Tutankhamun: Well, as I said before, I ruled for a very short time, so I did not make much of an impact on my empire. I did have a small impact on my empire, but that is what I mentioned before, discontinuing my father’s religion of Amarna. Not everyone was happy with this change, but everyone worshipped Amun.
Me: Thank you! That interview really helped me understand more about you. Thank you for taking your time to talk to me.
King Tutankhamun: Of course! It is a pleasure to be here.
Me: I just want to ask you a few questions. My first is, in your opinion, what is your greatest achievement?
King Tutankhamun: I think that my greatest achievement is ending the Amarna Revolution. The Amarna Revolution is when my father, Akhenaten IV, decided that only one god would be worshipped, Aten. After his rule was over after his death, I let everyone return to Egypt’s original religion, which most were happy about.
Me: I’m sure I would have been too. What do you think that makes you so well known to the world?
King Tutankhamun: The thing that makes me so well-known is actually my tomb. When archaeologists discovered my tomb in the Valley of the Kings, they found inside many artifacts to my journey to the afterlife such as oils, perfumes, toys from childhood, jewelry, and other items for the afterlife.
Me: I see. Is there anything about you that is a mystery to people today?
King Tutankhamun: Yes. People know very little about me; they don’t know how l died, or how any of my family died either. People have many different theories about how l died, some reasonable, and some too ridiculous to be true. Many also believe that I died of illness, because there were many medicines and cures in my tomb with me. Some that are reasonable enough is that l was run over by a chariot, and also many people think that l was murdered. The murder suspects are: the king’s deputy, also known as Horemheb, or another important official named Ay. They both are suspected because of greed, because they knew if l died, they would gain more power.
Me: I’m very sorry about that. I just have a few more questions for you, if you don’t mind.
Me: Is there anything about your personal life that you would like to share?
King Tutankhamun: Of course. I will share some of my family members. My father is Akhenaton, my mother Nefertiti, and I married Ankhesenpaaten, who is my half-sister.
Me: Did you make any important decisions during your reign?
King Tutankhamun: I am actually one of the less important pharaohs in Egypt, and I only ruled for around nine years, so I made little important decisions. However, one decision I made was to discontinue my father’s religion, and start my own. My original name was Tutankaten, but I changed it to Tutankhamun. My father, Akhenaten IV, worshipped only one god, Aten the sun god, but I worship only Amun, who is known as the king of all the gods. This decision changed many things, because everyone was required to worship him.
Me: That’s very interesting! I just have one more question for you. What impact did you have on your empire?
King Tutankhamun: Well, as I said before, I ruled for a very short time, so I did not make much of an impact on my empire. I did have a small impact on my empire, but that is what I mentioned before, discontinuing my father’s religion of Amarna. Not everyone was happy with this change, but everyone worshipped Amun.
Me: Thank you! That interview really helped me understand more about you. Thank you for taking your time to talk to me.
Those were the amazing interviews that we had with Akhenaten and Tutankhamen. Here is some additional information in case you did not understand something in our interviews.
Ancient Egypt became unified when King Menes gained total power and assumed the position of pharaoh. King Menes created the world’s first organized society. Leadership affected the uniting of ancient Egypt because the Egyptians followed their king’s lead, which then lead them to the uniting of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt had one ruler called the pharaoh. The Egyptians were fiercely loyal to the pharaoh because they believed that a strong ruler unified their kingdom. The pharaoh held total power. He issued commands that were required to be obeyed. The pharaohs appointed government officials called bureaucrats to carry out his orders.
Egypt’s religion and politics were connected because their religion was accountable for their politics. Part of the ancient Egyptians religion was that the gods were responsible for all of the events that happened in Egypt. For example, the sun god Re and the river god Hapi were responsible for rich soil and the growth of their crops. The Egyptians depended on their crops, because they sometimes traded crops in exchange for items such gold, ivory, or ebony wood with other cities.
Some rulers, such as Hatshepsut, supported trade and business with other cities. However, some other pharaohs did not support trade and business, and instead decided that in order to gain supplies and respect from other cities, they would conquer them. This would obviously cause conflict between the two locations, and this strategy might not be very effective on getting supplies. This would all be the ruler’s choice.
Elizabeth I was the long-ruling queen of England for 44 years. Hatshepsut ruled for about fourteen or fifteen years. Both rulers brought peace to their land, not war. Hatshepsut and Elizabeth I ruled by themselves. Most of their community was content with their rule because Queen Elizabeth managed to prevent England from going to war with France and Spain, which was a great accomplishment, and Hatshepsut managed to keep peace with other regions also.
The advantages and disadvantages of power are that when someone has complete power, everyone under your rule will do your exact bidding. Since ancient Egypt believed that their pharaoh's wise leadership would help their kingdom survive disasters, they would most likely obey their commands very quickly most of the time. However, a disadvantage is if there is a time where Egypt did not like the way a pharaoh ruled, they would have very little respect for the pharaoh. An example of this would be of the pharaoh Akhenaten, who cared only of his religion and neglected his duties of pharaoh. The ancient Egyptians at that time had little respect for Akhenaten, the way he ruled, and also his religion.
Ancient Egypt had one ruler called the pharaoh. The Egyptians were fiercely loyal to the pharaoh because they believed that a strong ruler unified their kingdom. The pharaoh held total power. He issued commands that were required to be obeyed. The pharaohs appointed government officials called bureaucrats to carry out his orders.
Egypt’s religion and politics were connected because their religion was accountable for their politics. Part of the ancient Egyptians religion was that the gods were responsible for all of the events that happened in Egypt. For example, the sun god Re and the river god Hapi were responsible for rich soil and the growth of their crops. The Egyptians depended on their crops, because they sometimes traded crops in exchange for items such gold, ivory, or ebony wood with other cities.
Some rulers, such as Hatshepsut, supported trade and business with other cities. However, some other pharaohs did not support trade and business, and instead decided that in order to gain supplies and respect from other cities, they would conquer them. This would obviously cause conflict between the two locations, and this strategy might not be very effective on getting supplies. This would all be the ruler’s choice.
Elizabeth I was the long-ruling queen of England for 44 years. Hatshepsut ruled for about fourteen or fifteen years. Both rulers brought peace to their land, not war. Hatshepsut and Elizabeth I ruled by themselves. Most of their community was content with their rule because Queen Elizabeth managed to prevent England from going to war with France and Spain, which was a great accomplishment, and Hatshepsut managed to keep peace with other regions also.
The advantages and disadvantages of power are that when someone has complete power, everyone under your rule will do your exact bidding. Since ancient Egypt believed that their pharaoh's wise leadership would help their kingdom survive disasters, they would most likely obey their commands very quickly most of the time. However, a disadvantage is if there is a time where Egypt did not like the way a pharaoh ruled, they would have very little respect for the pharaoh. An example of this would be of the pharaoh Akhenaten, who cared only of his religion and neglected his duties of pharaoh. The ancient Egyptians at that time had little respect for Akhenaten, the way he ruled, and also his religion.