I feel, from the research that I have read, and done, that although
Amenhotep III kept his own 'personal' god, [one of his palaces found
had his own shrine dedicated to Aten], the real origins of this period
were politics and power. The king knew that the Amun
priesthood/temples were richer and more powerful than any other in AE
history. He also had a keen sense of what was going on politically
behind those temple walls, thus he began his overt dedication to Aten
rather than the covert, [or moderate/quiet], worship of his personal
deity which he had brought with him to the throne from Akmim.
Both his father in law as well as his mother in law held honored
positions in his court. Yuya was the Superintendent of both the Harem
of Min in Akmim as well as the same position in the Harem of Amun in
Wst [Greek 'Thebes'].Thuya was the literal head of his horses,[which
were very valuable and an honored position], as horses had only been
introduced in the late 2nd Intermediate Period when the Hyksos
attempted to conquer all of Egypt, along with the chariot, as a battle
weapon. This position was not symbolic, but a working position. As far
as calling them, and his daughter, Tiye 'commoners'...it's a matter of
old traditional Egyptology semantics... They were 'royal' and related
quite closely to the King or they wouldn't have held the positions
they did.
Aye was the Sem priest due to the tradition of the uncle of the Queen
traditionally being given that position. This was also connected to
that of matrilineal descent. Tiye would have been very close to the
throne in some way, as only marrying the closest female relative to
the dead king would legitimize the next kings' ascent to the throne.
Unfortunately his son, who had been a co-regent for some time, became
a zealot and unwisely challenged the Amun priesthood after his
fathers' death.
isis1037
owner/mod. 'Egypt and Beyond'
Author: "Tombs,Temples and Thrones"





--- In horizonaten@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Mccarthy" <sokar@...> wrote:
>
> I agree that a major theme of Ikhenaton was to attempt to build
royal power.
> From what I have read, the aten cult was at least partially, the
cult of the
> deified Amenhotep III who was identified with the Aten. Amenhotep
III was
> the first King to have himself portrayed as a God. Naturally he
could only
> be approached through his son the new king.
>
>
> I wish we knew more about the by-play of this period. Amenhotep III's
> father-in-law(Yuya) was a senior general; Ikhenaton's
father-in-law(Aye) was
> a senior general. The real struggle may have been the Army against
the Amun
> priesthood.
> Mike McCarthy
>