With the advent of Monarchy, people now had just one person to rule over a whole empire. Those of a mystical inclination must have then wondered if there was not a deity that was the chief power among the gods as well. It was not (in hindsight) a great leap to realize that it might be that there was actually only one god. This innovation seems to have first been made by the Egyptian Pharaoh Akenaten, ( ___B.C.E. to ___ B.C.E.) who believed that the sun was the sole god. Of course, as head priest of this new religion, he also consolidated the power of both the state and the church within himself! Monotheism, although slow to start, was the dominant form of religion in Europe and the Middle East from about 300 C.E. on, and actually became the most popular belief in the world from the 14th century to the mid 22nd. The most important monotheistic religions were Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, although most cultures at least flirted with the concept at one time or another.