Expelling the Hyksos, Jahmose established the 18th Dynasty in Thebes, thus beginning the New Kingdom of Egypt (18th to 20th Dynasties).
In Egypt of this era, the king launched a foreign war of unprecedented scale. When Egypt was at its largest, it stretched from Kahmesh in Syria in the north to the Fourth Waterfall of the Nile in the south, forming a powerful military hegemony, and some countries in the Two Rivers Basin and Asia Minor were subservient to Egypt. During frequent foreign expeditions, the Egyptian princes and princes plundered wealth, cattle, slaves and other booty. Even the free shepherds of Egypt owned slaves, and there were rental slaves.
By this time, the centralized system of absolute monarchy had been strengthened, and the pharaoh had become the official head of the king. In order to proclaim themselves sons of God, the pharaohs paid special respect to God, and the temples and tiaosi were also treated favorably. During the New Kingdom, the god Amun was revered as the head of the gods, surpassing the previous sun gods, and the priests of the temple of Amun reaped great benefits. As the influence of the temple grew, the pharaohs gradually felt that their rule was threatened.
Ehnathon (reigned c. 1379 BC – 1362 BC) was the king of the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt, originally known as Amenhotep IV. Before Amenhotep IV became pharaoh, he was dissatisfied with the practice of the monks of the temple of Amun holding each other together, and after hearing that the monks were very wild in the local area, he decided to reduce the power of the monks in the temple of Amun.
After Amenhotep IV ascended the throne, he created a new set of ministers who made them the pillars of his own regime. Amunhotep IV ordered the restoration of the worship of the sun god throughout the country and the closure of the temple of Amun. Not only that, but Amenhotep IV also changed the name "Amun" in his name to "Atun" and renamed it "Echnathon", meaning "a person useful to Atun". In order to expand his momentum, Ekhnachen gathered a large number of literati, composed many poems praising the sun god, and also wrote articles praising ah chun's exploits, which were spread everywhere.
Although there is a main god, the sun god, there are still a variety of local gods throughout Egypt, one place at a time, or even several. For example, a bow and arrow, a certain wooden carving, or a certain stone can become a god. As for the land, rivers, rainwater, springs, thunder and lightning, birds, insects, etc., they were all gods or idols worshipped by the Egyptians, and there was no god everywhere.
While Akhnatun promoted the new gods throughout the country to ban the old gods, he also ordered the sweeping away of the other gods worshipped by the ancient Egyptians for thousands of years. This measure frightened the Egyptians, who were accustomed to the gods of Amun and the local gods, and felt that great trouble was coming. The monks are more like ants on a hot pot, and they are not at peace for a moment.
The abdicated pharaoh Amenhote III, fearing chaos in the country, advised Ehnathon not to go to extremes, lest he anger the gods. Echnathon did not agree, and father and son broke up unhappily. Seeing that Echnath had returned sullenly, Queen Neferti asked him why he was so unhappy, and Ekhnathon told him about the old pharaoh's persuasion. Queen Neferti said to Akhnathon, "If there are so many who oppose it, I advise Your Majesty to suspend it." "The monk's opposition was expected, but it was not expected to be so dissatisfied with my actions," Ekhnathon said. Once the order was withdrawn, they were naturally satisfied, but my authority could be lost before the people of the world. Then these monks may not stop there, they will certainly despise my cowardice. I now have the approval of the monks of the Atun God, and I have an army, and I am not afraid of these people who pretend to be gods and ghosts. Since you have already offended them, it is better to simply offend them. Nefer saw that Echnathon's determination had been made, and he no longer advised.
The next day, Akhnathon issued a further decree announcing the expulsion of the monks of the temple of Amun and the confiscation of their property. The name of Amun on all public buildings and monuments must be completely removed, the confiscated temple land is assigned to the Temple of the Sun God, and the participation of monks in politics is prohibited. The capital moved to Hilmore, 300 km north of Thebes, and the new capital was named "Echtatum", meaning "the boundary of Atun". On the same day, a large number of troops raided the major Amun temples in Thebes and forcibly drove the monks out of the temple gates. Many monks left the temple where they had lived for many years with their luggage rolled up, in pain and cursing Ekhnathon in their hearts.
After the capital was moved, Ekhnatun was immersed in the joy of victory, and reveled all day in religious life and court life, with political affairs under the control of Mayi and military entrustment to Helen Shib. The two men were very hardworking because of their conflict of interest with the monk Amun. However, the Amun monks were not willing to lose their position, and they were always looking for an opportunity to assassinate Ekhnatun.
One day, Ekhnathon and his mother went in the same car to worship the gods. Suddenly the carriage stopped, and it turned out that a man had stopped the convoy and said that there was a complaint of injustice. The man knelt under the wheel of the horse on which Pharaoh was sitting, and Mayi leaned over from his horse to pick up the paper, and the man suddenly jumped up, drew a sharp bronze knife from the paper roll, and stabbed at the pharaoh in the car. Just as the thousand hooks were fired, the guard on the right side of the car turned the bronze spear sideways, and the barrel was obscenely pointed at the back of the assassin. Before the Assassin could stab Pharaoh, he fell down heavily, right on Pharaoh's body, the tip of the knife almost touching Pharaoh's nose.
News of Pharaoh's assassination soon spread, and the monks of the temple of Amun took the opportunity to release the wind, saying that it was a warning from the god Amun to Pharaoh. For a time, the whole country was panicked. The queen Nefert advised Echna to swallow a few words, but Ekhnatun lost her temper and reprimanded the queen. The queen was very sad and took the child back to Pebbes, and when Echna swallowed to death, Queen Philti did not forgive him and did not even attend the funeral.
After Ekhnatun's death, the 9-year-old Tutanhatun took the throne. Under the pressure of the Amun monks, it was announced that the capital would be moved back to Thebes, completely rehabilitating the monks of the Amun Temple and returning the temple property.
Tutanhatun died suddenly at the age of 18, and his former courtier Mayi became a pharaoh. Since there is no exact record, no one knows exactly what happened during this period. Before long, Herenhib seized the throne with an army, and the city of Ekhtatun was declared a "place of evil" and gradually reduced to ruins.