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Akhenaten: An Early Egyptian Monotheist
M E R I D I A N M A G A Z I N E ^ | By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Posted on 04/05/2004 8:52:20 PM PDT by restornu

Although monotheism is usually associated with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there have, in fact, been a number of other monotheistic religions in world history. Iran, in particular, was a center for monotheistic thought, being home to both Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism.

At first glance, ancient Egypt, with its hundreds of exotic gods, would seem the last place for a monotheistic revelation. Yet one of the earliest monotheists known to history was Akhenaten, pharaoh of Egypt from 1352-1336 BC, who perhaps lived in the generation before Moses. Akhenaten was born of royal parents, raised and trained in the religious traditions of Egypt that focused on the worship of the high-god Amun at his great temple of Karnak in the capital city, Thebes (modern-day Luxor).

However, Akhenaten appears to have been personally devoted to the worship of Aten, the supreme Creator manifest as the sun-disk in the heavens. In the fifth year of his reign (1348 BC), Akhenaten made a formal break with the ancient traditional religion of Egypt, changing his name from his former throne-name, Amenhotep IV, to his new religious title Akhen-aten, “the glory of the [sun] disk.” He also decreased the resources devoted to the worship of Amun, and moved the capital of Egypt from Thebes to his newly established city Akhet-aten (“horizon of the [sun] disk”), which is better known by the modern name Amarna. His attempts to establish the supremacy of Aten included the suppression of the worship of other gods, and the excising of the name Amun from the walls of the great temples.

The twelve years of Akhenaten’s reign at his new capital are often called the Amarna period, due to their revolutionary transformation of Egypt. Although still recognizably Egyptian, the art of the Amarna period is characterized by experimental freedom and less stylized portraiture. The most famous work of art of the period is the realistic, life-like bust of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s beautiful wife. On another famous bas-relief, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and two of their daughters offer flowers and fruits to the sun-disk Aten, whose rays, stretching down, end in hands bearing the ankh—the Egyptian symbol of eternal life. The Great Temple of Aten at Amarna was surrounded by a vast open-air courtyard, measuring approximately 800x300 yards, which contained 365 altars for sacrifices to the glorious sun-disk.

Akhenaten’s personal religious and mystical feelings are remarkably preserved in his famous "Hymn to Aten," with its extraordinary parallels to biblical Psalm 104. "How manifold are thy works!" writes Akhenaten. "They are hidden from the sight of men, O Sole God, like unto whom there is no other!"

Akhenaten’s obsession with religion caused him to neglect foreign affairs, undermining Egyptian domination of Canaan, which his ancestors had conquered at great cost. The military decay of the empire abroad is remarkably documented in the Amarna Tablets, a collection of royal correspondence from the vassal kings of Canaan to Akhenaten. Among these Egyptian vassals was Abdi-Khiba, king of Jerusalem, who wrote a letter to Akhenaten somewhat dubiously proclaiming his loyalty to the pharaoh.

Upon his death, Akhenaten was succeeded briefly by his brother Smenkhare, and then by the famous Tutankhamun. (It is uncertain if Tutankhamun was Akhenaten’s son, grandson, or closest male relative.) Shortly after ascending the throne, Tutankhamun abandoned Amarna, returning to the former capital at Thebes and to the traditional worship of Amun. The revenge of the priests of Amun for Akhenaten’s blasphemy was swift. His name was excised from the king-lists and his tomb was left unused. Perhaps the priests, seeking to deny him eternal life, refused to carry out the proper burial rituals. Thus, Akhenaten’s attempted religious revolution was quickly overturned by the renewed triumph of Amun. His very name was forgotten until the excavations of Amarna in the nineteenth century. The ultimate success of monotheism in Egypt would have to wait fourteen hundred years, until the coming of Christianity.

Further Reading: C. Aldred, Akhenaten: King of Egypt (Thames and Hudson, 1988).


TOPICS: General Discusssion; History; Islam; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: 18thdynasty; akhenaten; amarna; archaeology; catastrophism; egypt; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; kingtut; nefertiti; tutankhamen; tutankhamun
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Daniel C. Peterson teaches in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and is co-director of research for BYU's Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts.


Photo of William J. Hamblin atop the ruins of the huge eighth century Buddhist stupa at Balgas, near Karakorum, Mongolia.


1 posted on 04/05/2004 8:52:20 PM PDT by restornu
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To: All
Rank Location Receipts Donors/Avg Freepers/Avg Monthlies
Iowa




35.00
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Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

2 posted on 04/05/2004 8:55:42 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (Don't be a nuancy boy)
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To: betty boop; Alamo-Girl; unspun; Religion Moderator
Insight to others around us!

Islamic Belief in the Afterlife
Islamic folklore features legends, doctrines, and suppositions regarding the greatest of human mysteries - life after death.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/040308afterlife.html

Teotihuacán: City of the Birth of the Gods
Twenty-five miles northeast of Mexico City lay one of the greatest archaeological sites of the New World, the fabled Teotihuacán.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/040301city.html

The Sibylline Oracles of Ancient Rome
There was a legend in ancient Rome about a set of nine books which contained a predestined history of the Roman people; the Sibylline Oracles are some of these prophecies.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/040209rome.html

Ziggurats: Temple Platforms of Ancient Mesopotamia
Could the Tower of Bable have been a ziggurat? Symbolically the ziggurat represents the cosmic mountain on which the gods dwell.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/040112zuggurats.html

3 posted on 04/05/2004 9:03:33 PM PDT by restornu (Discerning eyes can read it in the ether!:)
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To: restornu
Thanks for the links!
4 posted on 04/05/2004 9:09:34 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl (Glad to be a monthly contributor to Free Republic!)
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To: restornu
Thanks, r. Interesting stuff. The reader may be interested in the Scriptural understanding of what may be known of God (and what responsibility we have to Him) whether or not a person has been taught from the Scriptures and about the eternal Word made Flesh.

(Romans 1 & 2 recommended)

5 posted on 04/05/2004 9:35:18 PM PDT by unspun (The uncontextualized life is not worth living. | I'm not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate.)
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To: restornu
I remember from Ancient History class, way back in my freshman year at good ol' Judson College, that Akhenaten was indeed a very different pharaoh. In carvings done of him, he had a long sloped forehead and nose and a very pear shaped body for a man. He must have been seen as a real oddball --or maybe "divine."

http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?cat=web&cat=pics&cmd=process_search&language=english&query=Akhenaten (click "search" if images don't appear)
6 posted on 04/05/2004 10:10:57 PM PDT by unspun (The uncontextualized life is not worth living. | I'm not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate.)
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To: restornu; betty boop; Alamo-Girl; Ronzo
" In the fifth year of his reign (1348 BC), Akhenaten made a formal break with the ancient traditional religion of Egypt, changing his name from his former throne-name, Amenhotep IV, to his new religious title Akhen-aten, 'the glory of the [sun] disk.'"

BTW, once again... no presumed scientific conclusions, but the historical coincidence of an apparent contact with believing Children of Israel and an outbreak of 'monotheism...'

1754 BC - 1504 BC  Joseph in Egypt
1504 BC - 1254 BC  Exodus

from:   http://agards-bible-timeline.com/timeline_online.html

7 posted on 04/05/2004 10:27:16 PM PDT by unspun (The uncontextualized life is not worth living. | I'm not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate.)
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To: unspun
Thanks for the information!
8 posted on 04/05/2004 10:34:08 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl (Glad to be a monthly contributor to Free Republic!)
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To: restornu
Read a book a few years ago by Bob Brier. He is a paleopathologist. His book 'The Murder of Tutankhamen' goes quite a bit into Akenaten.

Its quite possible that Akenaten, who was physically deformed, may have rejected the traditional Egyptian pantheon of gods because of his malformity. Heand his family suffered from Marfan syndrome. Anyway, he may decided to leave Thebes and go to Amarna and start up his own religion with his own god, having felt betrayed by the pantheon of multiple gods of Egypt at the time.

You have to remember that at these times the Pharaoh's were depicted in perfect health with no blemishes.

Any way it was a good book and the author being an Egyptologist has done several shows for the Discovery channel. I believe that he determined that Smenkare was Tutankhamen's brother, not Akenathen's.

9 posted on 04/05/2004 11:21:55 PM PDT by ET(end tyranny) (Isaiah 47:4 - Our Redeemer, YHWH of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.)
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To: restornu
Why are you interested in monotheism? Exploring alternatives to your current religion?
10 posted on 04/05/2004 11:51:54 PM PDT by A.J.Armitage (http://calvinist-libertarians.blogspot.com/)
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To: restornu
Akhenaten’s personal religious and mystical feelings are remarkably preserved in his famous "Hymn to Aten," with its extraordinary parallels to biblical Psalm 104. "How manifold are thy works!" writes Akhenaten. "They are hidden from the sight of men, O Sole God, like unto whom there is no other!"

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

11 posted on 04/06/2004 12:31:45 AM PDT by BlackVeil
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To: ET(end tyranny)
Anyway, he may decided to leave Thebes and go to Amarna and start up his own religion with his own god, having felt betrayed by the pantheon of multiple gods of Egypt at the time.

Amenhotep III's wife, Queen Tiye, daughter of the vizier Yuya and his wife Tuya (non royals buried in the Valley of the Kings), adhered to the Aten religion prior to Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV). Many are coming to suspect, thanks to the work of Ahmed Osman, that Yuya was very likely Joseph. Notice the congruity of the names, and the inclusion of the divine name with it Yu-"Yah". Joseph - phonetically: Yu-Seph, is an abbreviated form of his Hebrew and Egpytian names joined together.

See Osman's "The Hebrew Pharoah's of Egypt".

12 posted on 04/06/2004 8:51:00 AM PDT by Hermann the Cherusker
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To: unspun
That timeline you link to has little basis in actual facts, and no way of accounting for the Egpytian Empire in Cannan being coeval with the supposed "Judges period" of Israel. It is much more likely that the Israelites were in Egypt from ~1415 to ~1200, with the Exodus around that point.
13 posted on 04/06/2004 8:54:54 AM PDT by Hermann the Cherusker
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To: malakhi; Mo1
some secular history of Mid-Eastern events!
14 posted on 04/06/2004 9:47:47 AM PDT by restornu (Discerning eyes can read it in the ether!:)
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To: restornu
Hi restornu, thanks for the ping! :o)
15 posted on 04/06/2004 10:32:58 AM PDT by malakhi (L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim!)
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To: malakhi; Alamo-Girl; unspun; All
I really feel many can find some insight in others history that might fill in the gaps and enable a better of understanding!
16 posted on 04/06/2004 10:58:05 AM PDT by restornu (Discerning eyes can read it in the ether!:)
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To: restornu
Indeed, history helps us to understand.
17 posted on 04/06/2004 11:50:23 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl (Glad to be a monthly contributor to Free Republic!)
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To: Hermann the Cherusker
....Israelites were in Egypt from ~1415 to ~1200, with the Exodus around that point.

Thanks, that's what I've seen elsewhere; circa. 1300, give or take a century.   ;-`

18 posted on 04/06/2004 12:35:29 PM PDT by unspun (The uncontextualized life is not worth living. | I'm not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate.)
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To: Alamo-Girl; malakhi
However, Akhenaten appears to have been personally devoted to the worship of Aten, the supreme Creator manifest as the sun-disk in the heavens. In the fifth year of his reign (1348 BC), Akhenaten made a formal break with the ancient traditional religion of Egypt, changing his name from his former throne-name, Amenhotep IV, to his new religious title Akhen-aten, "the glory of the [sun] disk." He also decreased the resources devoted to the worship of Amun, and moved the capital of Egypt from Thebes to his newly established city Akhet-aten (“horizon of the [sun] disk”), which is better known by the modern name Amarna. His attempts to establish the supremacy of Aten included the suppression of the worship of other gods, and the excising of the name Amun from the walls of the great temples.

It makes me think of Moses when he talked to the burning bush!

Maybe somewhere in in there history they too talked to God and used the Sun as symbol to described the encounter?

Ex. 3: 2
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

Ex. 3: 3
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

Moses 1: 17
17 And he also gave me commandments when he called unto me out of the burning bush, saying: Call upon God in the name of mine Only Begotten, and worship me.

GS Moses
Was saved by Pharaoh’s daughter, Ex. 2: 1-10. Fled to Midian, Ex. 2: 11-22. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush, Ex. 3: 1-15. Announced plagues to come upon the Egyptians, Ex. 7-11. The Lord instituted the Passover, Ex. 12: 1-30. Led the children of Israel across the Red Sea, Ex. 14: 5-31. The Lord sent manna in the desert, Ex. 16. Struck rock at Horeb and water gushed forth, Ex. 17: 1-7. Aaron and Hur held up his hands so that Joshua prevailed over Amulek, Ex. 17: 8-16. Jethro counseled him, Ex. 18: 13-26. Prepared the people for the Lord’s appearance on mount Sinai, Ex. 19. The Lord revealed the Ten Commandments to him, Ex. 20: 1-17. He and seventy elders saw God, Ex. 24: 9-11. Broke the tables of testimony and destroyed the golden calf, Ex. 32: 19-20. Spoke with God face to face, Ex. 33: 9-11. Appeared when Jesus was transfigured, Matt. 17: 1-13 (Mark 9: 2-13; Luke 9: 28-36). Let us be strong like unto Moses, 1 Ne. 4: 2. Christ is the prophet like unto Moses that the Lord would raise up, 1 Ne. 22: 20-21 (3 Ne. 20: 23; Deut. 18: 15). Led Israel by revelation, D&C 8: 3. Was seen among the noble spirits, D&C 138: 41. Saw God face to face, Moses 1: 2, 31. Was in the similitude of the Only Begotten, Moses 1: 6, 13. Was to write the things revealed to him concerning the Creation, Moses 2: 1.

BD Burning Bush
A bush in which the Lord appeared to Moses when he gave him his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 3: 2-4). Although the bush burned, it was not consumed, and this circumstance caught Moses’ attention. The event was referred to by Jesus in speaking to the Sadducees (Mark 12: 26; Luke 20: 37). Stephen also makes mention of it (Acts 7: 30). In latter-day revelation the experience is verified in Moses 1: 17.

Map: The World of the Old Testament
14. Mount Sinai (Horeb) The Lord spoke to Moses from a burning bush (Ex. 3:1-2). Moses was given the Law and the Ten Commandments (Ex. 19-20). The Lord spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice (1 Kgs. 19:8-12).

19 posted on 04/06/2004 12:42:02 PM PDT by restornu (Discerning eyes can read it in the ether!:)
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To: Hermann the Cherusker; malakhi; unspun; Alamo-Girl; BlackVeil
Islamic Belief in the Afterlife (72 Virgins?)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1112487/posts

The lord of the trumpet, the archangel Israfil (whose name probably derives from the Hebrew “seraphim”), is one of four archangels in Islamic lists, with Jibril (Gabriel), Mikha’il (Michael), and Izra’il. He is of vast size. His feet are said to be under the “seventh earth,” while his head reaches to the pillars of the divine throne. He has four wings—one in the east, one in the west, one with which he covers his body, and a fourth with which he protects himself against the fearsome glory of God. Israfil always holds the trumpet near his mouth, so as to be ready, when God gives the order, to sound the blast that will arouse humankind from the grave. Three times each day and three times every night he looks down into hell and is convulsed by grief. His tears of sadness for the future fate of the damned nearly flood the earth. Some traditions say, on the other hand, that he himself will be roused from slumber at the resurrection, the first to rise on that day. He will stand on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and give the signal that will resurrect the dead.

20 posted on 04/06/2004 12:48:46 PM PDT by restornu (Discerning eyes can read it in the ether!:)
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