Why did Tutankhaten change his name to Tutankhamun?
Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun around his third regnal year as part of a broader effort to abandon the religious reforms of his predecessor, Akhenaten.12
During the reign of Akhenaten, traditional Egyptian religion and the cult of the god Amon had been set aside in favor of the Aten. Upon taking the throne as a child, the young kingâguided by influential officials such as the vizier Ay and the general Horemhebâmoved the capital to Memphis and issued a decree to restore the temples, images, and privileges of the traditional gods.321
By changing his name to Tutankhamun and his queenâs name to Ankhesenamen, the king signaled a formal return to the old religious order and the restoration of Amon as a central deity of the empire.142