Akhetaten is the name of the city built by the king Akhenaten when he abandoned the capital city of Waset in a theological and political dispute with the leaders of the Great Temple of Amen. Akhenaten, who had been named Amenhotep IV after his father Amenhotep III, began practicing a religion that elevated the deity, Aten, to the highest position in the Egyptian pantheon. This action created deep divisions within the spiritual leadership in the main worship center of Amen, Waset. Because the entire history of the 18th dynasty until the time of Amenhotep IV had been based on the great power and energy bestowed on the people by their devotion to Amen, the action by the young king was unforgivable and challenged the authority of his lineage, as well as his support among the masses who believed in the triad of Amen, Mut, and Khonsu.

The Akan are one of the best-known cultural groups in Africa. Currently 4 million strong, they are the largest cultural grouping of Ghana, representing approximately half of the country’s population. The Akan Abusua (family), or clans, includes the Akuapem, Akyem (Abuakwa, Bosome, Kotoku), Asante, Brong-Ahafo, Fante, Kwahu, and Nzema. The Asante and Fante are the two largest of these subgroups. Although the political, social, religious, and customary practices of the Akan are similar, each clan shares a common cultural heritage and language, which, added to their historical tradition of group identity and political autonomy, contributed to the formation of individual nation states during the precolonial period. This entry briefly describes their culture and then examines their ideas of spirituality in more detail.

Akhenaten (1353–1336 BC), whose name means “he who praises Aten,” was an 18th dynasty king and philosopher who changed his name from Amenhotep, meaning “Amen is satisfied.” Although he was not the first African philosopher, no other thinker of the ancient period was as significant as Akhenaten in establishing a persona that has reverberated through the ages. None of the earlier philosophers such as Imhotep, Merikare, Duauf, or Amenemhat left the enduring reputation for creativity as did Akhenaten. Yet this popularity has been questioned by numerous African scholars and can best be viewed by examining an array of facts surrounding the life and times of Akhenaten. This entry outlines the religious and political contexts in which Akhenaten arose, discusses his reign, and looks at what happened to his work after his death.

Akwamu Early AKAN state that flourished from 1600 to 1730 in the AKYEM Abuakwa region along the GOLD COAST, in West Africa. Founded in the late 16th century by the Akan people of Twifo Heman, Akwamu quickly became a wealthy GOLD trading state. Gold from the Birim River district enabled the people of Akwamu to establish political authority to the south and southeast. Between 1677 and 1681 the king of Akwamu, ANSA SASRAKU (d. c. 1689), conquered GA-DANGME and FANTE coastal settlements, as well as Ladoku to the east.