Atenism and its Antecedents

Introduction

The-Aten, and its doctrine Atenism, existed within a brief span-of-time of Egypt’s long history. To understand the motivations for this ‘revolution’ we must also reach into the-thinking and the-environment of the-Aten’s prophet Akhenaten.

Akhenaten broke with religious tradition and replaced the established pantheon with the-Aten, a single monotheistic god who was the tangible manifestation of the sun. His aversion to Amun (who had been the primary state god since the Middle-Kingdom) and exclusive worship of the-Aten resulted in fundamental changes in religion, society, writing, art, architecture, and the concepts of kingship.

The motivation for these dramatic changes have challenged scholars to speculate whether Akhenaten was an evangelist of monotheism (he was certainly the first to introduce the belief in a single god) or whether Akhenaten was a politically astute monarch acting to curtail the extensive influence of the priesthood of Amun while preserving his kingly authority.

 

Religious landscape during the majority of the 18^th Dynasty

Solar-Hymns had a cosmic focus and described the sun-god in relationship to the divine forces of nature and, as Allen (2001b,-p.148) writes, are “inherently polytheistic in character” - although hymns dedicated to individuals can be interpreted as a more “monotheistic view of divinity”. Allen explains that a thematic tendency of Solar-Hymns is demonstrated from the Middle-Kingdom and ultimately culminated in the Great-Hymn-to-the-Aten. Raver (2001,-p.168) adds that the didactic Instructions-of-Merikare (ruled during the 1^st-Intermediate-Period) refers to “The God” and Lichtheim (19975,-p.106) translate part of the text as “He Shines in the sky”. Any interpretation of an association from the text within the Instructions-of-Merikare into the-Aten is tenuous, however the increasing solarization of the established cults is evident and Aldred (1971,-p.40) summarizes this as “monotheistic syncretism” of the gods and Re.

For the first 200 years of the 18^th Dynasty (Shaw,-2002,-p.481) Amun-Re was the primary god of Egypt. Amun-Re combined the arcane person of Amun, local god of the religious capital at Thebes, with the ontogenetic sun-god Re of Heliopolis (Moorey,-2000,-p.24). This ancient philosophy existed in the Old-Kingdom and was based on the Heliopolitan Ennead (Allen,-2001a,-p.88). Re coalesced with other solar-gods through syncretism while retaining its predominance (for-example the Book-of-the-Dead records the phylogeneticcomposition of Re-Horakhty-Atum-Horus-Khepri (Wilkinson,-2000,-p.206)). Amun-Re provided two complimentary, yet opposite, realities of divinity – the-hidden and the-revealed – and was supported by the monarchy as the main-stay of royal-power (Tobin,-2001,-p.82-4) and which slowly transformed Egypt into a theocracy who’s influence directly competed with the king’s authority-to-rule.

 

The-Aten before Akhenaten’s reign

Speculation and hyperbole has traditionally surrounded scholastic works on the-Aten; Rawlinson (1886,-p.223) asked if the-Aten and the religion that Apepi (the last “Sheppard King”) brought to Egypt were associated, Weigall (1912,-p.37) proposed that Tiye had adopted the solar-deity the-Aten in thanks for allowing her to conceive a male-child, and Aldred (1971,-p.41) views the-Aten as Akhenaten’s new and revolution religion. Modern knowledge continues to make significant advances and is more subjective and less speculative; I agree with David (2002,-p.215) and Schlögl(2001,-p.156) that the-Aten existed as an unimportant god within the Egyptian pantheon and was attested in the Middle Kingdom - although it isn’t clear when the-Aten first received a separate cult. Lichtheim (1975,-p.223) explains that within the Tale-of-Sinuhe there are references to the sun-disk in relationship to the 12^th-Dynasty rulers Amenemhat-I and Senusret-I; Watterson(2002,-p.62) adds that hieroglyphs used “for ‘sun’ is Aten rather than the more usual Re” and that we can textually-date the-Aten to the 12^th-Dynasty.

From Thutmose-IV’s reign (Amenhotep-IV’s grandfather) we find re-occurring inscriptions referring to the-Aten and this continued through Amenhotep-III’s (Amenhotep-IV’s father) reign - during this period the-Aten was identified as a distinct solar-god and differentiated from Re. Thutmose-IV explored the solar aspects of kingship, especially those related to the sun-god (Bryan,-2001,-p.403) and Berman (2004,-p.3) agrees adding that Thutmose-IV increasingly identified himself with the solar-gods. Thutmose-IV associated with the sun-god at iwnw (meaning pillar or - as the Greeks named it - Heliopolis or the City of the Sun (Allen,-2001a,-p.88)), rather than to Amun-Re. Shorter (1931,-p.23-25) demonstrated the-Aten’s use within Thutmose’s reign using a scarab inscribed “he (Thutmose-IV) arouses him self to fight with Aten before him” and “bringing subjects to the rule of the-Aten forever”.

Amenhotep-III dedicated significant numbers of statues, especially to celebrate his three sed-jubilees (Bryan,-2001,-p.72), and Freed (2001,-p.134) postulates whether this could have been related to his increasing devoting to the-Aten. Later in his reign a more honest artistic depiction of the aging-king was employed - possibly concomitant with the eccentric or baroque representations of Amenhotep-IV which Schäfer (2002,-p.20) describes as “expressionist”.

Textual references to the-Aten are frequent during Amenhotep-III’s reign; Berman (2004,-p.14) wrote that “dazzling Sun-Disk” became Amenhotep-III’s favourite epithet and Bryan (2001,-p.73) described it as Amenhotep’s sobriquet. An example is the scarab recording the construction of a lake at Birket-Habu (Lansing,-1936,-p.12-14) – the inscription records that “his majesty was rowed on the lake in the royal-barge ‘Aten Gleams’” (Lansing (1936,-p.14) explains that scarabs were intended as “news-letters”). Quirke (2001,-p.151) also adds that a colossal scarab at Karnak is inscribed that “the-Aten illuminates” and Hayes (1951,-p.158) recorded mud-seals saying "Wine of the Western River of the House of 'Neb-Maat Re (is) the Splendour of Aten”. Some royal-seals used a rebus formed by the prenomen of Amenhotep-III enclosed within the itn-disk (Johnson (1996,-p.67) added that a shorter version was used later within his reign). The stela of brothers Hor-and-Suty (EA-826, described by Lichtheim (1976,-p.86)), demonstrates the coexistence of the solar-gods by inscribing two-prayers; one-prayer to an all-embracing sun-god who had “absorbed Amun and Horus, and he was Atum, Harakhti, and Khepri” and one-prayer to the-Aten as a visible manifestation of the sun-god – prayers to the gods clearly establishes the-Aten as a deity, rather than simply a royal-epithet.

The-Aten’s prominence heightened during Amenophis-III’s reign, which is demonstrable within the widespread associations to the-Aten; ranging from day-to-day objects, to significant structures, to international exchanges, and to naming a daughter Baketaten (Johnson,-1996,-p.78). The-Aten was given a universal context, possibly attempting to restore the king’s total authorityand with the potential to threaten Amun-Re's omnipotence as 'King-of-Gods' (David,-2002,-p.215), yet Amenhotep-III retained the polytheistic pantheon and stressed the multiplicity of deities (Horung,-1999,-p.20). His placing hundreds of Sekhmet statues in the temple-of-Mut at Karnak and King Tušratta of the Mittani loaning a statue of Šauška to Amenhotep-III (Moran,-1992,-p.63) assist in demonstrating a juxtapositionor pluralism of the gods and the reinforcement of polytheism.

It is clear that the role of the sun-god, as the sun-disk (the-Aten), gradually gained in importance during Thutmose-IV’s reign and assumed a significant role during Amenhotep-III’s reign, eventually providing the basis for Amenhotep-IV’s so-called ‘revolution’.

 

Akhenaten, Coregent and King

Amenhotep-IV was the second son of Amenhotep-III and Queen-Tiye (Dodson-&-Hilton,-2004,-p.114). His father reigned until at least his 38th regnal year (O’Connor-&-Cline,-2004,-p.22) and was buried in WV22 in the Western Valley of the Valley of the King at Thebes (Wilkinson-&-Reeves,-1996,-p.110).

Whether coregency existed with his father remains uncertain - which makes opinions on the actual length of his reign differ. Scholars divide into three main ‘schools’; those supporting little or no coregency with a reign of approximately 17-years (Eaton-Krauss,-2001,-p.48), those supporting a co-regency of 10-12-years and a reign of approximately 5-7-years (Aldred,-1959,-p.32), and those such as David (2002,-p.214) who are undecided because of a lack of evidence. Aldred’s later writing reflected a changing opinion and became careful to accept that coregency was possible (Aldred,-2001,-p.169). Should Eaton-Krauss’ belief that the coregency is anachronistic be proven it will alter the chronology of international-relations (including the Hittites overthrowing the Mitanni), the possible parentage of Tutankhamun/Smenkhkare (Bryan,-2001,-p.74), and significantly re-assign the responsibility for policies moving from henotheism towards monotheism from Akhenaten to Amenhotep-III (Murnane,-1995,-p.5).

David (2002,-p.232) and Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner (2006,-p.29) concur that Amenhotep-IV’s actions may have been the culmination of Amenhotep-III’s identification with the-Aten and even with his deification – which removed the necessity for Amenhotep-IV to be associated with Amun-Re as the Son-of-Re; his biological father providing his-son’s divinity and being reflected in Amenhotep-IV’s use of “as my father lives” (Murnane,-1995,-p.76) as a prefix to the-Aten’s name. David (2002,-p.232) and Johnson (1996,-p.80) agree that there is evidence to place Amenhotep-III at Akhetaten towards the end of his life - which supports a coregency and the-Aten being a continuation of his theological concepts – although Baines (2004,-p.292) simply explains this as being part of Amenhotep-III’s mortuary-cult. Uphill (1963,-p.124) discussed Heb-Sed festivals, celebrating royal-jubilees, as an example of Akhenaten’s uniqueness, or even diminishing state of health - Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner (2006,-p.30) are more convincing in proposing that Heb-Sed festivals continued from Amenhotep-III’s reign into Amenhotep-IV’s reign (initially during Amenhotep-III’s 3^rd-regnal year) without the traditional ‘qualifying period’ of thirty-years as a celebration for the deceased/deified Amenhotep-III.

On-balance, because of the paucity and ambiguity of supporting evidence for a coregency, I concur with the opinion that Amenhotep-IV succeeded on his father’s death and agree with Baines (2004,-p.271) who wrote “there was no chronologically or historically significant phase of coregency”.

 

Was the-Aten expedient..?

Amenhotep-IV remained at Thebes during the early years of his reign (David,-2002,-p.217) and quickly took the first-steps towards religious change – these were evident from the numerous talatat blocks used to construct temples dedicated to the-Aten (Gem-Pa-Aten, Hut-Benben, Rud-Menu and Teni-Menu (Wilkinson,-2000,-p.164)). Blocks from Gem-Pa-Aten were inscribed with "expressionistic" scenes that broke-away from the established artistic tradition and Schlogl (2001,-p.156) explained that the artistic change was concomitant with religious change.

The-Aten’s iconographic representation was initially in falcon-headed human form with a sun-disk on his head (Wilkinson,-2000,-p.240). This representation (Schlogl,-2001,-p.156) was abandoned in favor of the solar-disk as an orb (with a classic uraeus) emitting anthropomorphized rays that ended in human hands giving "life" exclusively to Akhenaten and Nefertiti (the great royal wife) and we might view this group as a replacement for the Theban triad (Amun, Mut, and Khonsu). The-Aten was the light radiating from the sun and Schlogl’s (2001,-p.156) opinion is that it should be more correctly pronounced Yati - (Hornung (1999,-p.50) adds that Akhenaten’s actual name was probably Akhanyati and Griffiths (2001,-p.479) attempt to rationalize the iconography as a “compassionate ethic” where the sun-rays are “helping hands”.

Amenhotep-IV (‘Amun is satisfied’) changed his name to Akhenaten (‘beneficial to the-Aten’) (Eaton-Krauss,-2001,-p.49) by his 5^th-regnal year and the-Aten was given a royal titulary and its name was written within cartouches like a royal titulary. About the same time a new resi­dence for the-Aten and the court, untainted by any previous association with the traditional gods, was established (midway be­tween Thebes and Memphis) with the name Akhe­taten (‘Horizon of the-Aten’ (David,-2002,-p.218)). The belief was that the sun emerged from Akhet from the darkness of the night (the-Duat) and was reborn each day; we can deduce that the-Aten in the horizon symbolically represented the daily recreation, or rebirth, of the cosmos. In more practical terms the move may have been an attempt to isolate Thebes’ influence and to create a distinct and controlled power-base for Akhenaten.

Akhenaten, his-father, and his-grandfather each rejecting the traditional royal mar­riage and David (2002,-p.214] suggests that this was calculated to curb the power of the of Amun-Re administration – which was led by First-Prophet-of-Amun May (Redford,-1963,-p.1) - who’s support was traditionally required in the selection of an heir. The-Aten cult’s development undoubtedly led to tension with the priesthood of Amun-Re; in Akhenaten’s 5th-regnal year he declared that the-Aten would no longer tolerate the existence of any other gods (David,-2002,-p.218) and the priesthoods of other gods were disbanded and temple-incomes were diverted to the-Aten. A fragment of text from Karnak’s Gem-Pa-Aten temple records a taxation decree (described by Murnane (1995,-p.30/31) dating to Akhenaten’s early years) records the taxation required from temples and towns to support the-Aten’s cult. Stelae-X and M (Murnane,-1995,-p.77) from Akhetaten, 5^th-regnal year, are significantly more direct and claim revenue of the entire-land belongs to the-Aten. Quirke (2001,-p.12/16) explains that massive impact that temples had on the socioeconomic fabric of Egypt – as well as on “its client ... the royal court” - and by taking total-control of resources in a cash-less society Akhenaten had effectively ceased exclusive-control by coup-de-maître on the fabric of Amun-Re. Tutankhaten/Tutankhamun’s restoration Stela (described by Murnane (1995,-p.211-214) reports that temples had fallen into decay and ruin.

Between the 9^th and 12^th-regnal years the-Aten received its final didactic name which eliminated all traces of the old polytheism - ‘Life to Re, ruler of the two hori­zons, who rejoices in the horizon in his name Re, the father who is come as the-Aten’ (Schlogl,-2001,-p.156). Watterson (2002,-p.64/8) extends a plausible suggestion that the-Aten and Akhetaten (and family) are better described, in totality, as henotheistic because it was Akhetaten who was worshiped by the people as a living-god and he conversed exclusively with the-Aten - I suggest that this may be interpreted as being so isolationist and the-Aten remote and paradoxical from traditional beliefs that religious pluralism was inevitable – which resulted in the-Aten’s alienation and rejection.

We cannot fully determine the true-motivation of Akhenaten - or his-father or his-grandfather - in promoting the-Aten to such a favoured status within the pantheon. Was their intention to ‘promote’ a favoured god who had offered some benefit – which in turn became Akhenaten’s passion – or was the motive more of a cynical attempt to control Amun-Re’s priesthood? I judge that the wide-ranging migration to monotheism by Akhenaten must indicate a more religious and intellectual intention along with expedient political manoeuvring against an overly-powerful priesthood. Akhenaten introduced significant and shocking changes to an old-established order, already initiated by his predecessors, and I propose that his actions were not rash, impulsive, or un-planned reactions but a slow and careful series of ‘battles’ within a ‘war’ against the establishment of Amun-Re by the prophet of a jealous god who understood that politics and religion were indivisible parts of kingship.

 

The doctrine of Aten

“Eat, Drink, and be Merry” is how Reeve (2005,-p.141) described the new religion, adding that it is superficial. I agree that the doctrine was evolving and was work-in-progress but I view such a light-hearted analysis to be significantly underestimating the doctrine’s depth.

Hornung (1999,-p.52) wrote that “Akhenaten left no holy scripture” of the-Aten’s doctrine, adding that texts explain that Akhenaten had placed instructions “in the hearts of his subjects”. However I disagree that Akhenaten didn’t have a scripture because texts do partially define Akhenaten’s teleologicaldoctrine of the-Aten is a personal reflection of the world through his eyes, which is reflected within two important texts – the Boundary Stela-‘M’ at Akhetaten (unfortunately this Stela, which had deeper insights into his motivation, deteriorated badly in antiquity (Murnane,-1995,-p.73)) and most importantly the Great-Hymn-to-the-Aten inscribed within Ay’s tomb (Baines,-2004,-p.287) - there are many similar Stelae and Hymns which echo these texts; I date Ay’s tomb between the 5^th-9^th-regnal years (using the-Aten cartouches from de-Garis-Davies (2004c,-plate.XXVII) and Aldred (2001,-p.19)).

Assmann (1995,-p.158) described the doctrine or theology as being firstly an embryonic treatise (as an evolution of Heliopolitan creation-myths) and secondly a statement of the world’s harmony – Assmann paraphrases it as “Naturehre” or a “natural philosophy”. This view is something I wholly agree with.

Akhenaten’s art depicts a strong acceptance of emotion, scenes are often reflect their importance to the message rather than the status of the subjects or their religious importance (Hornung,-1999,-p.47); however I do not deduce a socialization of art, primarily because Akhetaten’s androgynousform continues to dominate and dictate artistic representations, and I choose to isolate art when rationalizing the-doctrine.

Akhenaten believed that god and the universe were contained within the light emanating from the disk of the sun (Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner,-2006,-p.37) and the disk was the iconic representation of the cosmic creator, represented radiating light, balance, and beauty. This naturalistic focus is acknowledged by all authors and it positively extols a warm and beneficent deity. The Great-Hymn-to-the-Aten from the West Thickness of Ay’s unused tomb, is described by Murnane (1995,-p.107/120) and de-Garis-Davies (2004c,-p.16/24-&-p.29/35) using copies made by Bouriant in 1883 and 1884 (after which significant parts of it were destroyed). de-Garis-Davies accurately describes the Hymn as being poetic, dogmatic, and with a strong “teaching” message - I would classify all of the Hymns as having the same canonical form within the didactic elements of their text. The-Hymn is a celebration of the beauty and might of the-Aten and is demonstrated by its life-giving rays and flows with phrases such as “push back the darkness … splendid, great, radiant … fill every land with your beauty”.

Re-birth, rewarding virtue, is a fundamental element of religion; Akhenaten didn’t have a comprehensive solution for the after-life, darkness/night and what happened to the-Aten during this time were unresolved (Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner,-2006,-p.37) – we can deduce a naive fear of the night/unknown during the-Aten’s absence (Schlögl,-2001,-p.158) and the absence of an apotropaicbalance to the confident nature of daytime. There was significant emphasis on recreation and re-birth with the visible emergence of the sun each day in the eastern horizon being an obvious demonstration of the-Aten’s daily re-generation. Atenism was a cosmic doctrine and as such encompassed the “visible and perceived world” – Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner stress that the doctrine concentrated on positive (not pessimistic) and animate elements (not inanimate), and day (not night). Death was not a transition into the after-life but was more of a “sleep” (Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner,-2006,-p.39) and the new-day brought recreation (Aldred,-1971,-p.41) – the transition into the after-life (where a person confirmed their worthiness) was absent and not replaced. The comforting spells to confound the dangers of the underworld, shabti to perform menial labour, and extensive funerary text were all lost – something that must have made adoption of the-Aten difficult outside of Akhetaten’s closed-circle of courtiers. Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner (2006,-p.41) say that the people’s awareness of Akhetaten’s human weakness became clear when one of his daughter’s (possibly Meketaten) died – this is a somewhat bold statement and I feel that Akhetaten’s isolation from all but a relatively small number of intimates would have prevented most of the nation’s population from being aware of the ‘news’ from the religious capital or to speculate on the King’s frailties.

The traditional universe, or cosmos, was articulated by metaphysical creation-myths (Tobin,-2001,-p.362) and different aspects of the creation-myths evolved (such as the Heliopolitan-cosmology); there was a widespread understanding of the creation (Wilkinson,-2000,-p.76). Because the-Aten was ‘the one and only god’ there was a diminished requirement for complex mythical concepts (Schlögl,-2001,-p.157) – Assmann (1995,-p.158) put it well saying “primeval origins are of no importance in Amarna religion”. Tobin(2001,-p.469) explains that Atum emerged from the primeval waters, like the rising-sun, who took the form of the creator sun-god Re-Atum. Pyramid text 1248 describes Atum masturbating to create the twins Shu and Tefnut - although Spell-76 of the Coffin Text replaced masturbation with spitting. The-Aten’s early didactic name included ‘Shu who is the–Aten’ (Shu was replaced by Re from Akhenaten’s 9^th-year (Watterson,-2002,-p.63), which I perceive as an example of the evolution of Akhenaten’s doctrine during his reign) and Akhenaten and Nefertiti are depicted as the twin deities – and therefore as the children of the-Aten.

The concept of Ma’at (the harmony, balance, and equilibrium of the entire cosmos which was traditionally embodied within the Goddess Ma’at including Truth, Justice and Morality (Hart,-2001,-p.116)) was preserved by the King, who was formally the high-priest of all Temples (Oaks,-2003,-p.154), an his delegates. The-King was the guarantor of the universe’s balance (Sauneron,-2000,-p.29) and Egypt’s position within the divinely-created universe; he became a god after death and was the intermediary between humankind and the gods during his physical-life (Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner,-2006,-p.25). The-Aten was breaking with established religious beliefs and would potentially bring chaos and be inimicalto Ma’at - Akhenaten was careful to stress that he was living within the principles of Ma’at, commonly using an epithet “who lives on Ma’at” although he does not denote that Ma’at is a divinity (Murnane,-1995,-p.82).

We can summarize the doctrine of the-Aten, as defined by Akhenaten, as a solar monotheism where the sun-disk - as a representation of the-Aten - was worshiped as the sole non-corporealdeity. The doctrine, which was known exclusively to Akhenaten, evolved around light and Akhenaten (Schlögl,-2001,-p.158) – Nefertiti played a secondary, but not subordinate, role within the triad of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and the-Aten. So Akhenaten’s role was hugely significant and, as Baines (2004,-p.281) wrote, he bore the sole responsibility for all elements of life and beyond.

 

After Akhenaten’s reign

The end of Akhenaten’s reign is as controversial as its beginning. Allen (2007,-p.5) suggests that Akhenaten’s fourth daughter Neferneferuaten was coregent for several years before being briefly succeeded by Smenkhkare. However, the evidence is thinly circumstantial and I concur with Dodson’s (2002,-p.279) that ephemeral Smenkhkare succeeded Akhenaten and one of his epithets was Neferneferuaten. Tutankhaten (‘Perfect is the Life of the-Aten’ (Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner,-2006,-p.7)) succeeded Smenkhkare – although Tutankhaten’s parentage is hotly debated there is consensus that he was married to Ankhesenpaaten (Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s third daughter) and because of his young age effective power lay in the hands of his eventual successor Ay. In the early years of Tutankhaten’s reign; the royal-court returned to Thebes, his nomen was changed to Tutankhamun and the cult of Amun was restored (and inscribed onto the Restoration Stela at Karnak (Blyth,-2006,-p.127)). Horemheb, who succeeded Ay as King, began the anathematization of Akhenaten and the systematic execration of the-Aten’s cult (Moorey,-2000,-p.27). Even catastrophic period of the-Aten (Assmann,-1995,-p.67) solar religion continued to flourish within Egypt’s religious beliefs.

 

Conclusion

The term ‘revolution’ has been used widely to describe this period although I feel ‘evolution’ is a significantly better description. This ‘evolution’ is contained within an interlude of less than 30-years (Silverman,-Wegner-&-Wegner,-2006,-p.1) and is one of the most enigmatic periods of Egyptian history; it came to an end after shinning brightly at Akhetaten only to be concealed from view for millennia. Despite significant archaeological dis­coveries in the last 100-years and extensive scholastic research the knowledge of Amenhotep-IV’s reign and his monotheistic belief in the-Aten is still limited; commonly agreed facts of its origins, course, aftermath, and much of its rational remains highly controversial and speculative.

Many theories have been proposed on Akhenaten’s physical characteristics; in my opinion the most compelling offered (Reeve,-2005,-p.150/152) is that Akhenaten suffered from Marfan’s Syndrome and was probably blind or very visually impaired. Although this may explain his focus on the heat of the-Aten it is irrelevant in determining Akhenaten’s doctrine or motivations.

Overall, I concur with Murnane (Allen,-2007,-p.1) that fact should be valued over theory and a perfusion of highly theoretical solutions to this enigmatic span-of-time we must strive to preserve an open mind and to use evidence over conjecture to grasp its complexities.