Egyptian Religion of the New Kingdom

E1: We were inserted into Akhenaten, also known as Amarna, during the reign of Akhenaten (1346 BC). We were to investigate the dominance shift from the traditional religion to Atenism.

We ventured into several non-Atenist temples, to find that there were few worshippers. A lone priest presiding over an idol of Amun-Ra was one of the only people present. We requested to speak with him regarding the Akhenaten. Although we expected him to be reluctant coming forth, he was surprisingly eager to share his opinion.

Relief depicting the Royal Family praising Aten

He told us that Akhenaten had elevated Aten to the chief god of the pantheon. Despite that, no one save for the royal family was allowed to worship Aten directly. People were to worship Akhenaten as a sort of divine ruler - a proxy - as the people normally would. Many of the priests felt that this was a power grab on Akhenaten’s part. Belief in the other gods was heavily discouraged, and so the priests had lost whatever economic and philosophical authority they once had. The priest was confident that the new religion would not outlast 2 generations.

We thanked him for his time and left the temple. We returned to normal reality at approximately 1400 hours.

E2: We were inserted into Amarna, during King Tutankhamun’s rule.

We entered a resident’s house in exchange for a silver piece. The house appeared to adorned with household idols of Bast and Osiris, objects banned during the reign of Akhenaten. The resident explained that the priestly class had allowed a sense of personal piety to develop amongst the common people, rather than squander it on themselves. This allowed the Egyptians to retain personal relationships with the gods, instead of relying on the priests as a conduit through which the gods communicated and acted.

We entered a series of temples. The once desecrated figures of Amun-Ra and the other gods were restored to their former state, and the temple was filled with worshippers. No sign of any Atenist icons were to be found. It would seem that they were disposed of by the current religious authority. The cult of Amun-Ra appeared to have benefited greatly from this boon.

We exited and returned to normal reality at approximately 0900 hours.

Fresco depicting a seated Amun-Re