Aten
/ˈɑː.tɛn/noun
The ancient Egyptian solar deity represented as the sun disk, especially prominent during Akhenaten’s reign.
Did you know?During Akhenaten’s religious revolution, Aten was elevated above Egypt’s traditional gods, and the king claimed to be the deity’s unique intermediary.
Etymological Timeline
Old Kingdom, c. 24th century BCE
Ancient Egyptian
jtn
“A visible solar disk or sun disk”
Middle Kingdom
Ancient Egyptian
jtn
“The physical sun disk, increasingly treated as a divine manifestation”
18th Dynasty, c. 14th century BCE
Ancient Egyptian
Aten
“The solar disk personified as a deity”
Reign of Akhenaten, c. 1353–1336 BCE
Ancient Egyptian
Jāti / Aten
“The supreme solar power in Akhenaten’s state religion”
19th century CE
Egyptology
Aten
“Conventional scholarly transliteration of the Egyptian solar deity’s name”
Modern English
English
Aten
“The Egyptian sun-disk god or the solar disk associated with Akhenaten”