Akhenaten or Giotto?
The stories of the pharaoh and painter provide a model when probing whether Donald Trump’s legacy is likely to be perennial or a forgotten blip.
From 1353-36 before the common era, Akhenaten altered Egyptian culture and religion about as radically as a ruler has ever done in such a short span. Egyptians worshipped many hundreds of gods previously, but this ruler—since eclipsed by wife Nefertiti—directed them to serve a single sun-associated god, Aton. Akhenaten’s “heresy” also extended to the ar…