Akhenaten Turned from worshipping deities to belief in ONE god - after looking at the sun and believing there had to be one creator. Soon after becoming pharaoh of Egypt, Akhenaten discarded his royal name and loyalty to Amon. He turned away from old priests and began the cult of the sun disk -- the Aten. Akhenaten acknowledged that Aten was the single god except Re, the sun god. He banned the worship of Amon and closed down sacred temples.