I thought Akhenaten was really Akhenahmen, but changed his name to - aten because of the one god thing. And then when Tutankahmen came to power, he actually changed his name from Tutankaten.

There were definitely name changes. I can't remember exactly what they were, so I'm willing to believe that you are correct. The Tutankahmen one makes sense, certainly. I have a nagging sense that Akhenaten's name change was more substantial, but that might be what I thought should have happenned, and not what actually did.

Tommyrot:

Years ago i bought a recording of the Philip Glass opera Akhnaten. I had never heard of Akhnaten before and what I read just fascinated me. Akhnaten (aka Amenhotep IV) was a Pharaoh who instituted the first monotheistic religion.

I don't know if you can find them, but Allen Drury (who wrote Advise and Consent) wrote a couple of political thrillers set in Akhenaten's Egypt. The first book is called "God Against the Gods" and the other is "Return to Thebes". As a kid, they got me over the bridge from wanting to be an Egyptologist to wanting to work in politics. Darn it, I'm still there. Oh well.

When I was a kid, reading the Bible was considered a big part of a devout Christian's life. I wonder if that's less true today....

And then when Tutankahmen came to power, he actually changed his name from Tutankaten.

That's correct. I can't remember what Akhenaten's original name was, but I know it was a "III" or "IV" name. They did do a good job of chiseling his name out of all the monuments in places other than Amarna, where they let the place get buried by the sand when everyone moved back to Thebes after he died.

I know most devout church-goers also go to Bible Study (traditionally on Wednesdays, it seems), but that's a relatively new thing for Catholics and is still not a usual part of parish life.

Allen Drury (who wrote Advise and Consent) wrote a couple of political thrillers set in Akhenaten's Egypt. The first book is called "God Against the Gods" and the other is "Return to Thebes".

Both available at my library! Sweet.

When I was a kid, reading the Bible was considered a big part of a devout Christian's life. I wonder if that's less true today....

Not sure if this was a response to my post, but the majority of my current students seem to be non-religious. The ones who are tend to be Jewish or casual Christians. The Jewish students sometimes know bits of the Torah, but most of the time the classes are clueless or have only heard the stories in passing.

Akhenaten was originally Amenhotep but changed his name. Tutankhamon was Tutankhaten but changed his name when he became king and the priests got their hands on him and pointed out which way the political winds were blowing. Tut's wife was originally Ankhsenaten, I think (sp?), but she changed her named to Ankhessenamon (again sp?). Yes, very similare to Imhotep's unreliable love in The Mummy II.

Kathy, stop following around my brain!

Not sure if this was a response to my post,

Naw, it was more a response to the "Christians don't know their Bible stories" from earlier today....

My English teacher in high school used to teach Bible as Literature, but he got scared away by creepy parents put out by his not representing it as The Word(and not in the Colbert sense)