In the endeavour to obtain a correct perspective view of the kings involved in the Aten heresy, namely, Amen-hetep in, Amen-hetep IV (Akhen-Aten), Smenkh-ka-Re, Tutankh-Aten (Tut-ankh-Amen), and the Divine father King Ay, one is perplexed by many difficulties and perforce by the lack of sufficient data. Of their true histories we have but little which is trustworthy, and considering how numerous are their monuments it is astonishing how disproportionate the data gleaned from them. The few historical documents that we have are of a very miscellaneous character. An occasional weather-beaten inscription upon a cliff face, a scarab, or a piece of linen, a scrap of papyrus, or a potsherd, which chance has preserved and brought to light. Hints from the numerous reliefs and paintings in the temples and tomb chapels of this age are the only other source of our knowledge upon the subject. And they (chiefly in extensive inscriptions) consist, for the most part, of conventional phrases in laudation of the king, either as a mighty ruler, a mighty pillar of the religion, or as the sole earthly representative and mouthpiece of the supreme god. From them it is but in isolated instances that we are able to gather some knowledge of those kings and their households; with the result that numbers of important questions and details remain unanswered, save from our own conjectural resources.