Amana Letters
One of the unfortunate results of Akhenaten’s religious reforms was a neglect of foreign policy. From documents and letters of the time it is known that other nations, formerly allies, wrote numerous times asking Egypt for help. However, they were not answered unless Akhenaten had a interest in the issues presented. A source of information of Egypt's diplomatic and foreign relations are the Amarna letters which displays the diplomatic relationship between Egypt and other nations. They are a set of 382 clay tablets which were found in 1887 near Akhenaten's capital city. They are written in cuniform, the diplomatic language of the middle east and record the correspondence between the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and the kings and vassal states of the near east during the reigns of Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV).
Akhenaten's reign saw a crumbling of the Egyptian empire. When Akhenaten staged the religious revolution of converting Egypt's worship to one God Aten, he ceased all diplomatic relations with foreign nations and moved to the new capital city which he had established. This however resulted in local chieftains claiming land which Egypt had formerly won, undoing the effort of the former Pharaohs, and stealing land from the Egyptian empire.
Historian T. Save Soderberg writes :‘Akhenaten’s final years must have been filled with infinite bitterness. All had failed. The great empire, Egypt’s pride lay shattered and enemies threatened Egypt’s borders. His religious reforms had never been understood and his monotheism came in the wrong place at the wrong time in world history’.
Kate Stange writes: Akhenaten apparently neglected foreign policy, allowing Egypt's captured territories to be taken back, though it seems likely that this image can be partially explained by the iconography of the time, which downplayed his role as warrior.
One of the unfortunate results of Akhenaten’s religious reforms was a neglect of foreign policy. From documents and letters of the time it is known that other nations, formerly allies, wrote numerous times asking Egypt for help. However, they were not answered unless Akhenaten had a interest in the issues presented. A source of information of Egypt's diplomatic and foreign relations are the Amarna letters which displays the diplomatic relationship between Egypt and other nations. They are a set of 382 clay tablets which were found in 1887 near Akhenaten's capital city. They are written in cuniform, the diplomatic language of the middle east and record the correspondence between the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and the kings and vassal states of the near east during the reigns of Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV).
Akhenaten's reign saw a crumbling of the Egyptian empire. When Akhenaten staged the religious revolution of converting Egypt's worship to one God Aten, he ceased all diplomatic relations with foreign nations and moved to the new capital city which he had established. This however resulted in local chieftains claiming land which Egypt had formerly won, undoing the effort of the former Pharaohs, and stealing land from the Egyptian empire.
Historian T. Save Soderberg writes :‘Akhenaten’s final years must have been filled with infinite bitterness. All had failed. The great empire, Egypt’s pride lay shattered and enemies threatened Egypt’s borders. His religious reforms had never been understood and his monotheism came in the wrong place at the wrong time in world history’.
Kate Stange writes: Akhenaten apparently neglected foreign policy, allowing Egypt's captured territories to be taken back, though it seems likely that this image can be partially explained by the iconography of the time, which downplayed his role as warrior.