WI No Akhenaten

So I was rereading NikoZnate's timeline about an Atenist Egypt, and I wondered: what happens if the opposite occurs? One possible POD could be Amenhotep III's oldest son, Thutmose, not dying and living to become king instead of his younger brother. Or, Amenhotep IV could, for whatever reason, decide to not shake up the Egyptian religion, and not change his name to Akhenaten. Whether Thutmose V or Amenhotep IV, how will Egypt's history be changed if this Pharaoh continues the traditional religious practices, and does not come into conflict with the priests of Amun? Perhaps the king could still promote the cult of the Aten, as the royal family was already worshipping it before Akhenaten, but not at the exclusion of all of the other gods.
 
So, I'd imagine the cult of Aten could continue more "slow and steady" rise, and perhaps eventually take its place as a general respected part of the Egyptian Pantheon. Meanwhile, the alternate Pharaoh probably would not allow the Hittites to storm through the Levant like they did, taking a more interventionist role. I think it fairly likely that without these internal struggles, with stronger leadership, and with the changes leading to a different person who wouldn't be like Tutankhamun, dying young without an heir, taking the throne, the Eighteenth Dynasty could last much longer.
 
I think that without Akhenaten, Aten will become one of the many Egyptian deities that only deserve a footnote to the tune of 'oh, and minor deities existed, among them x'.

But indeed, the Eighteenth Dynasty could last longer - however, it was already the longest-lasting dynasty in the whole of Ancient Egyptian history.
 
Wasn't the dynasty genetically on bad shape due inbreeding? It might last two generations longer but hardly more.
 
Wasn't the dynasty genetically on bad shape due inbreeding? It might last two generations longer but hardly more.
The 18th dynasty had many marriages outside of the family, if Thutmose/Amenhotep marries outside, and then his son does as well, would that give them enough diversity to last longer?
 
So, I'd imagine the cult of Aten could continue more "slow and steady" rise, and perhaps eventually take its place as a general respected part of the Egyptian Pantheon. Meanwhile, the alternate Pharaoh probably would not allow the Hittites to storm through the Levant like they did, taking a more interventionist role. I think it fairly likely that without these internal struggles, with stronger leadership, and with the changes leading to a different person who wouldn't be like Tutankhamun, dying young without an heir, taking the throne, the Eighteenth Dynasty could last much longer.

Let's say that we get Thutmose V instead of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten... The Aten was already becoming associated with the royal office/house during the reign of Amenhotep III, and that could very well continue, but perhaps it becomes more of a totemic deity for the office rather than the centre of a project to completely re-engineer Egyptian religion (and thus society) around the persons of the royal family. Perhaps "the Shining Aten" becomes another royal synecdoche, much like the term "Pharaoh", and the diversity of Egyptian religion/the priesthood is not disrupted.

Now, without the local distractions of re-imagining the country, moving the capital etc. I can definitely see Thutmose V being more proactive in response to Suppiluliuma's expansionism... Whether or not that goes well for Egypt is another matter.

The 18th Dynasty could certainly last longer if it broadens its gene pool... Others have mentioned that they did marry outside the line, but it bears noting that both Tiye and Nefertiti probably came from the same noble family - functionally a cadet branch of the dynasty with prominent land holdings near Ipu (Khent-Min/Akhmim) and throughout Middle Egypt. Thutmose V would probably take yet another wife from this line, but if you want to switch things up he could also marry into a prominent military family - possibly a Ramesside lady, though there's no guarantee that the Ramesside family would ever rise to prominence in an Akhenaten-less TL.
 
Now, without the local distractions of re-imagining the country, moving the capital etc. I can definitely see Thutmose V being more proactive in response to Suppiluliuma's expansionism... Whether or not that goes well for Egypt is another matter.
Unless Thutmose V is killed in battle against the Hittites, I'd assume that doing something would leave the Egyptian Empire better off than doing nothing like Akhenaten.
 
Unless Thutmose V is killed in battle against the Hittites, I'd assume that doing something would leave the Egyptian Empire better off than doing nothing like Akhenaten.

Akhenaten didn't exactly do nothing - he was quite active diplomatically, but he never backed anything with military force and he tended to take Egyptian prestige/preeminence in the Levant for granted. We'll assume that Thutmose V doesn't do that, but that still doesn't mean he can go toe-to-toe with Suppiluliuma and win. More violence in the Levant could accelerate the pace of militarization within New Kingdom Egypt's government, which could lead to earlier destabilization down the line as the Residence, the Army, and the Cult of Amun all start jockeying for power.
 
Akhenaten didn't exactly do nothing - he was quite active diplomatically, but he never backed anything with military force and he tended to take Egyptian prestige/preeminence in the Levant for granted. We'll assume that Thutmose V doesn't do that, but that still doesn't mean he can go toe-to-toe with Suppiluliuma and win. More violence in the Levant could accelerate the pace of militarization within New Kingdom Egypt's government, which could lead to earlier destabilization down the line as the Residence, the Army, and the Cult of Amun all start jockeying for power.
Would the Cult of Amun also be more powerful in this scenario, without Akhenaten opposing them, or would they be more loyal because they haven't had to break with a pharaoh? If the former, this scenario looks like it could lead to an earlier breakdown of Egypt if both the military and the priests are more powerful.
 
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