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The pharaoh Akhenaten was a divisive figure, even in his own lifetime (1300s BCE). He moved Egypt's capital, commanded temples that were already ancient even then to be destroyed or defaced, and built all new monuments and temples to himself and his patron god, Aten.

Before his reign, it was said that in Egypt, gold was "plentiful as dust" and there was peace in much of the region. Between overzealous construction projects and mismanaged military and foreign policy, Egypt's power and reputation dwindled. As did their treasury.

After his death, Akhenaten's monuments were pulled down or destroyed, and his new city dismantled for its raw material. Tutankhamun, his son and successor, changed his name to distance himself from Akhenaten - a name that was excluded from later official lists of pharaohs.