Akhenaten was a rather unusual looking individual if stone depictions of him are accurate. At least one Egyptologist that I know of believes that Akhenaten may have suffered from Marfan Syndrome. Dr. Bob Brier also theorized that because of Akhenaten's deformities he may have been shunned by his family. His abandoning the traditional gods of Egypt when he became Pharaoh, may have been more about asserting himself above them then any religious epiphany. Choosing the Aten as his own personal god and a system of worship that only through Akhenaten were others allowed to know this new god could show a bit of pain tinged with just a touch of revenge.
It is interesting to note that much of the art from his period shows his courtiers attempting to please Akhenaten by having their own images mirroring his in shape and form. It is as if Akennaten is setting the standard for beauty at least during his era. Aging likenesses of Nefertiti show her as a a very human middle aged woman. Her body is slightly overweight and sagging in a very natural and normal way. They let it all hang out with no glorification for either of them.
I will be interested in what new research and perspectives they come up with. As long as they are doing this I wish they would reexamine Richard III's life and times. I just don't buy that he was the villain that Shakespeare needed him to be. From everything that I have read of Richard he was a just and honorable man prior to becoming King. He could not have changed so drastically.
At least one Egyptologist that I know of believes that Akhenaten may have suffered from Marfan Syndrome.
Yes, that's not exactly a consensus view, but I'm pretty sure it's widely believed.
Dr. Bob Brier also theorized that because of Akhenaten's deformities he may have been shunned by his family. His abandoning the traditional gods of Egypt when he became Pharaoh, may have been more about asserting himself above them then any religious epiphany. Choosing the Aten as his own personal god and a system of worship that only through Akhenaten were others allowed to know this new god could show a bit of pain tinged with just a touch of revenge.
Bob's "Murder of Tut" idea was given the heave-ho by the most recent x-ray study of the dead boy king, and while I like Brier's creepy vibe, I'd advise taking what he says with a grain of natron.
It's not generally discussed that Akhenaten's grandfather was first to revive Aten worship, but that is true. As Akhenaten's father neglected Egypt's affairs, his son did also, both pharaohs preferring diplomacy to warfare. When Akhenaten built his new capital, he erected steles (still exist) which state that he would reside there forever (IOW, the rest of his days).
My somewhat wild guess is that the money started to dry up, and playtime was over; meanwhile the pharaoh had steadily lost control (through ennui, being a dissolute son of a dissolute but long-lived father) to a powerful priesthood. Killing two birds with one stone, he closed the temples of the cults he didn't control, greatly expanded the one he did control, and redirected the cash flow into his own coffers.
His eventual successor, Tut, recanted; the great columnade at Karnak was his major monument, although it was for a long while (since the hieroglyphs began to be read) attributed to Rameses II ("the Great") because that pharaoh had Tut's name carved over with his own. Only near the top are the original cartouches intact, and had Rameses II built it, Tut would have to have altered it from beyond the grave. So he's the one responsible.
This isn't surprising -- the 19th dynasty had no solid connection with the 18th, and the 18th ended with a short series of short, weak rulers who were little remarked on or remembered, and the 19th dynasty had to establish its bona fides. Rameses II did little during his reign other than build self-aggrandizing monuments the length and breadth, and (practically at the very beginning of a long reign) get his ass handed to him at the Battle of Kadesh.