Editing Aten (section)

== Worship ==
[[Image:La salle dAkhenaton (1356-1340 av J.C.) (Musée du Caire) (2076972086).jpg|thumb|left|Inscription from the Royal Tomb of Amarna depicting [[Akhenaten]], [[Nefertiti]], and two of their daughters (obscured) worshipping, or 'adoring', the Aten. New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty. Amarna, Egypt. [[Egyptian Museum|The Egyptian Museum]], Cairo.  ]]
The cult-center of the Aten was at the capital city Akhenaten founded, [[Akhetaten]],<ref name=":5" /> though other cult sites have been found in [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] and [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]. The use of Amarna as a capital city and religious center was relatively short lived compared to the 18th Dynasty or New Kingdom as a whole as it was shortly abandoned after the death of Akhenaten.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Excavating Amarna– Archaeology Magazine Archive |url=https://archive.archaeology.org/online/interviews/kemp.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |website=archive.archaeology.org}}</ref> Inscriptions found on boundary [[stela]] accredited to Akhenaten discuss his desire to make the city a place of worship to Aten, dedicating the city to the god and emphasizing the royal residences' efforts in worship.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lichtheim |first=Miriam |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/778435126 |title=Ancient Egyptian literature: a book of readings. Volume II, The New Kingdom |date=2006 |publisher=University of California Press |author2=Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert |isbn=978-0-520-93306-4|location=Berkeley |pages=61–63 |chapter=The Later Boundary Stelae of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten |oclc=778435126}}</ref> Major principles of the Aten's cult worship were recorded via inscriptions on temples and tombs from the period. Straying significantly from the tradition of ancient Egyptian temples being hidden and more enclosed the further one went into the site, temples of Aten were open and did not have roofs in order to allow the rays of the sun inside.<ref name=":6" /> No statues of Aten were allowed as they were seen as idolatry.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Aten, God of Egypt |url=https://www.landofpyramids.org/aten.htm |access-date=February 24, 2023}}</ref> However, these were typically replaced by functionally equivalent representations of Akhenaten and his family venerating the Aten and receiving the ankh, the breath of life, from him. Compared to periods before and after the Amarna Period, Priests had less to do since offerings, such as fruits, flowers, and cakes were limited, and [[oracles]] were not needed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alchin |first=Linda |date= |title=Aten |url=https://www.landofpyramids.org/aten.htm |access-date=February 24, 2023}}</ref>[[File:Akhenaten Sacrificing a Duck MET DT545.jpg|thumb|Akhenaten sacrificing a duck. New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|The Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City.]]

In the worship of the Aten, the daily service of purification, anointment, and clothing of the divine image that is traditionally found in ancient Egyptian worship was not performed. Instead, incense and food-stuff offerings such as meats, wines, and fruits were placed onto open-air altars.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steves |first=Anna |title=Akhenaten, Nefertiti & Aten: From Many Gods to One |url=https://arce.org/resource/akhenaten-nefertiti-aten-many-gods-one/ |access-date=March 2, 2023 |website=arce.org |language=en}}</ref> A common scene in carved depictions of Akhenaten giving offering to Aten has him consecrating the sacrificed goods with a royal scepter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=David |first=Arlette |date=2016 |title=Akhenaten as the Early Morning Light: Revisiting the 'Consecration' Ritual in Amarna |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.52.2016.a005 |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=91–99 |doi=10.5913/jarce.52.2016.a005 |doi-broken-date=2024-11-16 |issn=0065-9991}}</ref> Instead of barque-processions, the royal family rode in a chariot on festival days.<ref name=":6" /> Elite women were known to worship the Aten in sun-shade temples in Akhetaten.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pasquali |first=Stéphane |date=2011 |title=A sun-shade temple of Princess Ankhesenpaaten in Memphis? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030751331109700118 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |language= |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=216–222 |doi=10.1177/030751331109700118 |s2cid=194880030 |issn=0307-5133}}</ref>