The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen shifted from the old capital of Thebes (Waset) to Akhetaten (literally "Horizon of the Aten") in what is now modern Amarna. This move occurred during the reign of Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten (1353–1336 BC) in order to reflect the dramatic change of Egypt's polytheistic religion into one where the sun disc Aten was worshipped over all other gods. Toward the end of Akhenaten's reign, he had a mysterious co-regent, Smenkhkare, about which very little is known; similarly, Neferneferuaten, a female ruler (perhaps the wife of Smenkhkare, or even Nefertiti herself?) also exercised influence.

Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, and Neferneferuaten were succeeded by Akhenaten's son Tutankhamun, only around nine years old. The Egyptian pantheon was swiftly restored under his reign. Due to his youth, his viziers and advisors appear to have done most of the job of governance. Much of the government moved to Memphis, Egypt during Tutankhamun's reign, reducing Akhetaten's importance. Both of Tutankhamun's daughters predeceased him, and he died without an heir; he was succeeded as Pharoh by Ay. Ay's short reign of three years was followed by Horemheb, who ordered the city of Akhetaten torn down. Horemheb excised as much of the Amarna Period as he could from official histories and monuments, considering it an aberration. According to Horemheb's revised monuments, he directly succeeded Amenhotep III, essentially erasing 30 years of history.

Akhenaten instigated the earliest verified expression of a form of monotheism, although the origins of a pure monotheism are the subject of continuing debate within the academic community. Some state that Akhenaten restored monotheism while others point out that he merely suppressed a dominant solar cult by the assertion of another, while never completely abandoning several other traditional deities. Scholars believe that Akhenaten's devotion to his deity, Aten, offended many in power below him, which contributed to the end of this dynasty; he later suffered damnatio memoriae. Although modern students of Egyptology consider the monotheism of Akhenaten the most important event of this period, the later Egyptians considered the so-called Amarna period an unfortunate aberration.

The period saw many innovations in the name and service of religion. Egyptians of the time viewed religion and science as one and the same. Previously, the presence of many gods explained the natural phenomena, but during the Amarna period there was a rise in monotheism. With people beginning to think of the origins of the universe, Amun-Re was seen as the sole creator and Sun-god. The view of this god is seen through the poem entitled "Hymn to the Aten":

When your movements disappear and you go to rest in the Akhet, the land is in darkness, in the manner of death... darkness a blanket, the land in stillness, with the one who makes them at rest in his Akhet. The land grows bright once you have appeared in the Akhet, shining in the sun disk by day. When you dispel darkness and give your rays, the Two Lands are in a festival of light.

From the poem, one can see that the nature of the god's daily activity revolves around recreating the earth on a daily basis. It also focuses on the present life rather than on eternity.

After the Amarna reign, these religious beliefs fell out of favor. It has been argued that this was in part because only the king and his family were allowed to worship Amun-Re directly, while others were permitted only to worship the king and his family.

The royal women of Amarna have more surviving text about them than any other women from ancient Egypt. It is clear that they played a large role in royal and religious functions. These women were frequently portrayed as powerful in their own right.