The Egyptian religious belief system was traditionally polytheistic, with many different gods acting out their various roles. Amun-Ra was traditionally seen as the creator of the world, he was the divine god that produced all the other gods. In early new kingdom the pharaoh was seen as the son of god, which made him equal with all the other gods. The pharaoh gained his right to rule through being chosen by Amun, or through scenes of the state god attending their birth, calling themselves in the "image of Amun-Ra". Amun was seen as the greatest god and enormous respect was paid to him, humble prayers of piety and faith found on the worshipper shrines demonstrate this:
             "Amun the upright judge of the wretched...beloved god who hearkens to the humble...who stretches out his hand to the poor man and who saves the wearied"
             In theory, the king stood between gods and humanity, however during the 18th dynasty there was a clear development towards a more personal relationship between the gods and their worshippers.
             This, however, was stopped suddenly with the reign of Amenhotep IV (later known as Akhenaten), Akhenaten proclaimed a god who could only be worshipped by the king and thus all personal devotion had to be diverted to the king himself. By doing this he claimed all devotion and loyalty for himself and the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the inhabitants depended on him alone. This new sole god was Aten, king of heaven and earth. He was seen as "ever-living" and the creator of time. He was not a people's god, only the royal family worshipped him, this further highlights the emphasis put on the importance of the pharaoh- Akhenaten. Evidence from the Amarna period frequently shows Akhenaten and his family worshipping the Aten, these close ties are stressed through art and text, as shown below.
             In the 5th year of his reign, Akhenaten banned all gods other than Aten and abolished the ...