Have there been any more thoughts on why Akhnaten looked that way other than 1) he had a rare endocrine disease 2) it was just symbolism, to show that he was All. Thus the ram face meant he was Animal, the big hips and thighs and breasts meant he was Woman, and the rest of the features meant he was Man (eg., the requisite pharaonic beard on his statues that Queen Hatshepsut adopted because it was the symbol of the male pharaoh).
I like theory 2 better because it skips over our current bias to medicalize everything. It also explains why there are depictions of Akhnaten as normal both before and after the period when he was depicted as “not normal.”
In his normal depictions he resembles Tuthankamen, his own daughters, Queen Tiy, and Nefertiti and a few others, all of whom were known to be related one way or another. For instance most of them had long drawn out heads in the back. Thus if there were any genetic deformity it wasn’t an endocrine disease.
Anybody know any more than this?
I don’t know any more than you do, I suppose. But I have read a lot of books about old Amenhotep IV = Akhenaton, and I have come to the conclusion that anyone can argue for any viewpoint they want. I’ve read books that claim that he was incredibly original, that he was simply the culmination of an ongoing religious process, that he suffered from a disease, that the artistic depictions took liberties, that they were strikingly honest, that he neglected the rule of his realm (I think he gets a bum rap for this, myself), and that he was a good ruler, but hated by the displaced priests of the traditional gods. NOTHING is accepted by all parties, and everyone seems to have an axe to grind.