Egypt Detectives (five): THE Egyptian pharaohs were a rum lot by all accounts, but Akhenaten was the most controversial of the lot.

He declared all the other gods redundant and told his people they could only worship the sun god. Then he forcibly relocated a large number of the population to a new city in the desert.

But, as the subtitle Mystery Of The Rebel Pharoah suggests, no-one is too sure why he did what he did. And I'm not sure I'm any the wiser after the investigations of Egypt Detectives, archaeologists Dominic Montserrat and Miriam Cooke.

Their method was to stroll around the sights and talk to a few experts, while Charles Dance's narrator posed question after question. But - and I apologise for yet another question - where were the answers revealing the truth about the most reviled pharaoh in Egyptian history?

The five year reign of Akhenaten changed everything as he banished old gods, closed their temples and then moved the capital and 50,000 of his subjects to the isolated desert site of Armana, a purpose-built city 100 miles away.

The problem for the detectives was that clues are hard to find. Armana is no more. When Akhenaten died, his dream died with him and 25 years after his death, everyone left the city.

Montserrat and Cooke considered what evidence they could find. Akhenaten's beliefs were recorded in carvings on the rock of tomb walls. His idea was that there was one powerful god to whom he alone could provide access. What they couldn't decide was whether this was divine inspiration or Machiavellian cunning. The change was probably for political ends, as it ensured he could keep his people under control more easily.

Our archaeological Poirot and Miss Marple searched for the answers among a demolished temple, as they sifted through an elaborate jigsaw of building blocks to discover whether fervour or fear made Akhenaten push on with his pet project.

It all seemed to come back to job losses. By closing temples, he put people out of work and took the taxes for himself. It was economic suicide for the people of Thebes and they didn't like it one bit. He went off and built his own city to escape his critics - a bit drastic and it didn't work, as his people rebelled.

Montserrat and Cooke agreed to disagree, which is good for free speech but disappointing for any viewer seeking answers.

"I think we have completely opposing views," said Montserrat.

"Will we ever know the real Akhenaten?" asked Cooke.

Probably not, because he became a non-person to the Egyptians. His image was removed from every building, document and painting that could be found. His 15 minutes of fame were over.

Published: 18/11/2004