Raha
Registered Senior Member
I suppose most of you already know something about Akhenaton and his religion. So I’ll just post here some of my theories and questions regarding this interesting phenomena.
1.There is absolutely no historical evidence for some kind of „Exodus“. But I believe that there was some connection between ancient Jews and Egypt – just because usually every myth has some rational background. So I think “somebody” really left Egypt for Canaan. But who? Could it be some Aton worshipers forced to leave after Akhenaton’s cult was overthrown and Horemhab started to persecute Atonists?
2.It seems quite obvious from Old Testament that early Judaism was actually a “joint venture” of two quite different religions. The first was Sumerian/Akkadian cult of El (Enlil) and other gods (so it was polytheistic religion), which where together called Elohim. The other one was that of YHWH – monotheistic and really strange one. Could it be that YHWH was actually Aton (well, not exactly, but “something” what developed from Akhenaton’s cult?
3.It is still quite mystery how Jewish nation was formed. They have the same or very similar cultural background as all other Semitic tribes living in the area. I am for the theory that it was their unusual religion which singled them out.
4.Is it possible that such a strange idea like the concept of just one, universal god, can spring out of nothing? Among primitive nomadic tribes with no central government? I do not believe that. In my opinion it is almost certain that monotheism was “import”. On the other hand, the conditions in Akhenaton’s Egypt were almost perfect for creation of such concept – absolute power of Pharaoh, disagreement with Amon’s priests, Akhenaton’s most probable illness, which might have influenced his mental state as well, highly developed „philosophical“ system of Egyptian religion etc…
5.Circumcision – this is very strange habit and was as such regarded by all Jewish neighbors. As far as I know, the only continent, were we are able to find similar habits, is Africa. Can this be another clue?
And what about story like this:
Once upon a time, in the sacred land of Egypt, there was a king whose mind was not that of ordinary man and not even that of ordinary king. The name of this pharaoh was Akhenamon and one day, he had a vision. While walking in one of his palace garden, the sun shined through his scull and young king suddenly realized that the sun is god. And this god spoke to him:
„I am Aton, the supreme universal god. There are no other gods but me. I nourish all living creatures. I am life and eternal love. Be my deputy on Earth, and I’ll give you absolute power over this land. There was never king so powerful like you can be with my help.”
And the head of young king was filled with sun and his love, and so was his heart. Akhenamon listened to this god and learned from him that all other gods are dead, so they were not to be worshiped any more. So he changed his name to Akhenaton and built new city for his new god. He moved there with his beautiful wife and all his court. And he declared that it was evil to worship old gods, because they were all dead. And anybody who disobeyed his orders was punished severely. Many were tortured and killed. So it happened that Aton, the god of eternal love, was the one most feared and hated. It was very bad time for Egypt. Province after province broke free and people were unhappy and miserable.
So one day, the highest priest Ay and pharaoh’s general Horemheb held a secret meeting.
“Something must be done, general” said Ay.
“Yes. This new god is destroying Egypt and his people.”
„How is your army? “
„My men listen to my orders only. They worship Amon. They hate this new god.”
“It would be no problem than.”
“No problem at all.”
They discussed the details and went after their business. After few days Akhenaton became seriously ill. Believing that Aton will cure him, he insisted that he would lie in the open sun. He died quickly. Ay announced that pharaoh’s last will was to be burned, so his spirit would be freed. The pyre was made in the desert and Akhenaton’s body was turned to ashes and sent to the wind.
Young Tutankhaten was made a king. But it was Ay, with the help of Horemheb and his army, who ruled the kingdom. Ay persuaded Tutankhaten to change its name to Tutankhamon. The cult of Amon-Re was restored. But strangely enough, there were still some people worshiping Aton. Priests, members of king family – quite influential group. They tried to convince Tutankhamon that he had made a mistake. That Aton was the only god. Tutankhamon listened. He wanted to be a king. The real one. He hated being just Ay’s and Horemheb’s puppet. But what he could do? He had no real power. No friend to rely on. But he tried – and he died. Hi was buried hurriedly, in very modest tomb.
Now Ay felt strong enough. So he pronounced himself a king. And as before, Horemheb backed him with his soldiers. But there was some disagreement between Ay and Horemheb – the Aton’s cult was still alive.
„We must get rid of all of them!“ insisted general. “They are real threat! They are seeking power!”
But Ay objected. He had a good reason for that – some of his friends and even members of his family were Atonists.
“Who is holding Ay on the throne?” told Horemheb to himself. “I am! What real power does he have? None! Who has the power? I have! If I give an order….“ And so he did. Ay was murdered and Horemheb made himself a pharaoh. He was obsessed with the idea that there is no place for “lepros” (how he called Atonists) in his empire. He ordered them arrested. But he was too afraid to kill them. They were members of the most privileged families. Some of them with royal blood in their veins. And some of them were priests. “No more priest killing”, he thought. He had enough bad dreaming because of Ay. “What can I know? What if gods do not tolerate murder of priest?” He decided to “cure them” – by hard work in a quarry. But really strange thing happened – the harder the work, the more miserable their conditions, the stronger their belief. Well, some of them converted. Some of them died by disease, exhaustion or accident but there were still more then enough of them to spread the plague. Some of them tried to convert their guards. Successfully. “I need a more permanent solution to my problem,” thought Horemheb. “Let’s send them away.“ He sent for leaders of Atonists.
“I’ll let you go.“
„Will you?“ asked one of the priests. There was neither fear nor reverence in his voice. He never considered Horemheb a king. To him, he was just a traitor, murderer and usurper.
“Yes, I will,” ignored Horemheb priest’s disrespect. „You will be led to desert by my soldiers. From there you can go wherever you want. Only if you ever try return to Egypt, you will be killed. Understand?”
“To desert?” asked priest, and there was sarcastic laugh in his voice. “How generous are you! Why not to kill us all right away? You know perfectly well that we have no chance in wilderness.”
“You must trust your god,” said Horemheb mockingly. “If you trust him, I am sure he will lead you to safety.”
And so the small group of Atonists were led to desert a left in the middle of nowhere. Most of them were quite reconciled with the idea that they were just going to die on the spot. They had absolutely no idea were to go. But the highest priest was thinking about Horemheb’s words. „Why not?“ asked himself. “Shall we wait here for our own death? Or shall we try to find the way out?” He stepped out and addressed the crowd. He talked about god, how good is he and how much he cares about his people. That he never let them to die. He talked about new covenant and promised land. He poured courage into the hearts of his people. So they set forth. After several days they came to the land of Canaan. They found it in the state of chaos and disorder. Plague was killing inhabitants in big cities by hundreds and people were fleeing to mountains. They were leaderless, scared, confused. Also it seemed that gods of those people remained in the cities, locked and forgotten in their ziggurats. Was it because these people were angry at their old gods?....
…the rest is obvious…
1.There is absolutely no historical evidence for some kind of „Exodus“. But I believe that there was some connection between ancient Jews and Egypt – just because usually every myth has some rational background. So I think “somebody” really left Egypt for Canaan. But who? Could it be some Aton worshipers forced to leave after Akhenaton’s cult was overthrown and Horemhab started to persecute Atonists?
2.It seems quite obvious from Old Testament that early Judaism was actually a “joint venture” of two quite different religions. The first was Sumerian/Akkadian cult of El (Enlil) and other gods (so it was polytheistic religion), which where together called Elohim. The other one was that of YHWH – monotheistic and really strange one. Could it be that YHWH was actually Aton (well, not exactly, but “something” what developed from Akhenaton’s cult?
3.It is still quite mystery how Jewish nation was formed. They have the same or very similar cultural background as all other Semitic tribes living in the area. I am for the theory that it was their unusual religion which singled them out.
4.Is it possible that such a strange idea like the concept of just one, universal god, can spring out of nothing? Among primitive nomadic tribes with no central government? I do not believe that. In my opinion it is almost certain that monotheism was “import”. On the other hand, the conditions in Akhenaton’s Egypt were almost perfect for creation of such concept – absolute power of Pharaoh, disagreement with Amon’s priests, Akhenaton’s most probable illness, which might have influenced his mental state as well, highly developed „philosophical“ system of Egyptian religion etc…
5.Circumcision – this is very strange habit and was as such regarded by all Jewish neighbors. As far as I know, the only continent, were we are able to find similar habits, is Africa. Can this be another clue?
And what about story like this:
Once upon a time, in the sacred land of Egypt, there was a king whose mind was not that of ordinary man and not even that of ordinary king. The name of this pharaoh was Akhenamon and one day, he had a vision. While walking in one of his palace garden, the sun shined through his scull and young king suddenly realized that the sun is god. And this god spoke to him:
„I am Aton, the supreme universal god. There are no other gods but me. I nourish all living creatures. I am life and eternal love. Be my deputy on Earth, and I’ll give you absolute power over this land. There was never king so powerful like you can be with my help.”
And the head of young king was filled with sun and his love, and so was his heart. Akhenamon listened to this god and learned from him that all other gods are dead, so they were not to be worshiped any more. So he changed his name to Akhenaton and built new city for his new god. He moved there with his beautiful wife and all his court. And he declared that it was evil to worship old gods, because they were all dead. And anybody who disobeyed his orders was punished severely. Many were tortured and killed. So it happened that Aton, the god of eternal love, was the one most feared and hated. It was very bad time for Egypt. Province after province broke free and people were unhappy and miserable.
So one day, the highest priest Ay and pharaoh’s general Horemheb held a secret meeting.
“Something must be done, general” said Ay.
“Yes. This new god is destroying Egypt and his people.”
„How is your army? “
„My men listen to my orders only. They worship Amon. They hate this new god.”
“It would be no problem than.”
“No problem at all.”
They discussed the details and went after their business. After few days Akhenaton became seriously ill. Believing that Aton will cure him, he insisted that he would lie in the open sun. He died quickly. Ay announced that pharaoh’s last will was to be burned, so his spirit would be freed. The pyre was made in the desert and Akhenaton’s body was turned to ashes and sent to the wind.
Young Tutankhaten was made a king. But it was Ay, with the help of Horemheb and his army, who ruled the kingdom. Ay persuaded Tutankhaten to change its name to Tutankhamon. The cult of Amon-Re was restored. But strangely enough, there were still some people worshiping Aton. Priests, members of king family – quite influential group. They tried to convince Tutankhamon that he had made a mistake. That Aton was the only god. Tutankhamon listened. He wanted to be a king. The real one. He hated being just Ay’s and Horemheb’s puppet. But what he could do? He had no real power. No friend to rely on. But he tried – and he died. Hi was buried hurriedly, in very modest tomb.
Now Ay felt strong enough. So he pronounced himself a king. And as before, Horemheb backed him with his soldiers. But there was some disagreement between Ay and Horemheb – the Aton’s cult was still alive.
„We must get rid of all of them!“ insisted general. “They are real threat! They are seeking power!”
But Ay objected. He had a good reason for that – some of his friends and even members of his family were Atonists.
“Who is holding Ay on the throne?” told Horemheb to himself. “I am! What real power does he have? None! Who has the power? I have! If I give an order….“ And so he did. Ay was murdered and Horemheb made himself a pharaoh. He was obsessed with the idea that there is no place for “lepros” (how he called Atonists) in his empire. He ordered them arrested. But he was too afraid to kill them. They were members of the most privileged families. Some of them with royal blood in their veins. And some of them were priests. “No more priest killing”, he thought. He had enough bad dreaming because of Ay. “What can I know? What if gods do not tolerate murder of priest?” He decided to “cure them” – by hard work in a quarry. But really strange thing happened – the harder the work, the more miserable their conditions, the stronger their belief. Well, some of them converted. Some of them died by disease, exhaustion or accident but there were still more then enough of them to spread the plague. Some of them tried to convert their guards. Successfully. “I need a more permanent solution to my problem,” thought Horemheb. “Let’s send them away.“ He sent for leaders of Atonists.
“I’ll let you go.“
„Will you?“ asked one of the priests. There was neither fear nor reverence in his voice. He never considered Horemheb a king. To him, he was just a traitor, murderer and usurper.
“Yes, I will,” ignored Horemheb priest’s disrespect. „You will be led to desert by my soldiers. From there you can go wherever you want. Only if you ever try return to Egypt, you will be killed. Understand?”
“To desert?” asked priest, and there was sarcastic laugh in his voice. “How generous are you! Why not to kill us all right away? You know perfectly well that we have no chance in wilderness.”
“You must trust your god,” said Horemheb mockingly. “If you trust him, I am sure he will lead you to safety.”
And so the small group of Atonists were led to desert a left in the middle of nowhere. Most of them were quite reconciled with the idea that they were just going to die on the spot. They had absolutely no idea were to go. But the highest priest was thinking about Horemheb’s words. „Why not?“ asked himself. “Shall we wait here for our own death? Or shall we try to find the way out?” He stepped out and addressed the crowd. He talked about god, how good is he and how much he cares about his people. That he never let them to die. He talked about new covenant and promised land. He poured courage into the hearts of his people. So they set forth. After several days they came to the land of Canaan. They found it in the state of chaos and disorder. Plague was killing inhabitants in big cities by hundreds and people were fleeing to mountains. They were leaderless, scared, confused. Also it seemed that gods of those people remained in the cities, locked and forgotten in their ziggurats. Was it because these people were angry at their old gods?....
…the rest is obvious…