FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 'Education is not a cure for ignorance. Even educated can be ignorant.'
YOU ARE IN DARKNESS.
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YOU ARE IN DARKNESS. |
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THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF MONOTHEISM
At the end of the 18th dynasty Egypt becomes a world power. The developments in religious thinking of the administrators and intellectual top class reflects this new imperialism. The monotheism in Egypt is the by-product of this imperialism. God is a reflection of the pharaoh who is the absolute ruler of a great world empire. With the influence of the priests of the sun-god in On (Heliopolis) who may have become more powerful with the impulses coming from Asia, the idea of a universal god appears. The name of this god is Aton/Aten, and he is not limited to a single country or people. Then a young pharaoh comes to power in Egypt in 1379 BC. Like his father he is called Amenhotep/Amenophis (IV) (Amenhotep = 'Amon is satisfied') in the beginning. Later on he changes his name to
Akh-en-aton. He tries to introduce a new belief system to his Egyptian subjects, which is in contrast with the traditions and habits of thousands of years. This new belief system is an orthodox monotheism, the first example of its kind in history. Amenhotep's rule lasted 17 years (1379-1362 BC.). Following his death this new belief system ended, and anything and everything that belonged to this 'heretic' ruler is banned.
Each new development must have premises. From this viewpoint the roots of monotheism in Egypt could be found in earlier times. For a signigicant period there have been attempts among the priests of the Sun Temple at On (Heliopolis) to develop the thought and emphasize the moral aspect of an universal god. During the reign of Amenhotep III (The father of Akh-en-Aton) worship of the sun-god seems to have achieved some degree of popularity (This may have been a reaction to the strenghtening of
Amun of Thebes). A very ancient name of the sun-god, Aten, Aton or Atum, regained importance. And the young king Amenhotep IV found a ready movement based on Aten/Aton belief system. Although he was not the first to have initiated this belief system, he became a loyal follower. While all this was going on, Egypt became a world power, and the resultant imperialism found its reflection in religion as universalism and monotheism. This god had to go beyond the boundaries and spread its sovereignty to the occupied lands. Amenhotep IV never denied his loyalty to the sun cult. Amenhotep IV worshipped the sun not as an object but as a symbol of a divine being whose energy is manifested as rays of light, and he described himself as 'first prophet of Re-Horakhte, rejoicing in the Horizon, in his name 'Sunlight which is in Aton.' ' The high priest of Aton was called 'greatest of seers' Instead of the word 'god' ATON is used and god is differentiated clearly from the sun as a body, and the pharaoh has sanctified the sun's power to influence the world. The new cult/belief system emphasized the personal nature of the relationship between the god and the pharaoh; no longer anthropomorphic the sun was depicted as a golden orb shedding rays of light on the king and his queen Nefertiti, each ray ending in a little hand proffering the sign of life, the ankh, to the royal pair. Amenhotep's influence was an energetic intervention. He introduced for the first time the 'exclusion factor' which transformed the doctrine of a universal god into monotheism. In one of the hymns he says: 'O, sole god, there's no other god beside you!' (An identical impression could be found in Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Islam). As a result of the reaction among the priests of Amun towards this new religion Amenhotep's belief system gradually became clear, coherent, unyielding and intolerant. This opposition has risen to such a level in the sixth year of Amenhotep's reign that he changed his name - a part of which was the name of god 'Amun/Amen' - (Think about this word 'amen' in Judaism and Christianity and it's version in Islam 'amin.' These two words are identical apart from their pronounciation. Could they be a leftover from those days of the god Amun/Amen where the people at communal prayers in the temples were repeating the name of the god Amen/Amun in between the prayers and chanting. 'Amen' could have passed to Judaism when Moses brought his people out of Egypt and from Judaism, Islam adopted it naturally because the code book of Islam - Qoran - is the follow-up to the Old Testament, and the New Testament - which basically is a collection of the writings by the disciples of Jesus, since Jesus had no 'code book') to 'Akh-en-Aton (Akh-en-aton = 'Aton is pleased' or 'It pleases Aton'). Akh-en-Aton removed the name of god, Amun/Amen, not only from his name but also erased it from all the inscriptions. After changing his name he left the city of Thebes, established a new royal capital lower down the river and named it 'Akhetaten' (Akhetaton/Akhetaten = 'The horizon of Aten/Aton') the ruins of which is Tell el-Amarna in our day. He closed all temples of Amun, worshipping in those temples were banned, all the assets of the temples were confiscated. According to Akh-en-aton what is said about the other gods were all lies, and deception. He totally rejected the illusion of life after death which was very important to Egyptians. Aton/Aten belief system banned everything connected to myths, magic , and witchcraft. 'All the formulas, and gadgets related to magic were burned. Jinns, satans, monsters, spirits, demi-gods, demons, even Osiris was burned to ashes.' Akh-en-aton accepted the energy of the sunlight as the source of life on earth, and worshipped this energy as a symbol of his god's power. He boasted his happiness caused by the 'creation', and his Ma'at (honest and just) life. Despite all the richness and extravagance that could be seen in the art of the Amarna period there was no other representation or a personal image of the Sun-God Aten/Aton. Because Akh-en-aton did not allow the making of the idols or images of the Sun-God. The king said that the real god has no form, and kept his position until the end of his life. And a last point: There was an absolute silence about Osiris and the kingdom of the dead.
Despite the fact that, Akh-en-aton banned all the other gods and insisted his sun-god as the sole god to be worshipped, (in other words he was really a monotheist), he was accused first with anti-theism then with atheism. Egyptian pharaoh Akh-en-aton is the first registered atheist in the history of mankind. Although Akh-en-aton worshipped the sole god, the sun-god Aten/Aton, he was accused by his son in law Tutankhaton- who replaced him - with atheism, because he had rejected the official gods. Tutankhaton's name was changed to Tutankhamen as the belief system of Aton was abandoned following the death of Akh-en-aton. Here is a hymn which expresses the basics of the Aton/Aten cult:
'..How manifold it is, what you have made!...
O sole god, like whom there is no other!
You created the world according to your desire,
While you were alone;
All men, cattle and wild beasts,
Whatever is on earth, going on its feet,
And whatever is on high flying with its wings
The countries of Syria and Nubia, the land of Egypt,
You settled every man in his place,
You supplied their necessities,
Everyone has his food, and his time of life is reckoned.
Their tongues are separate in speech,
And their natures as well;
Their Skins are distinguished,
As you distinguished the foreign peoples...
...there is none other that knows you,
Save your son Nefer-kheperu-Re Wa-en-Re,
For you have made him well versed in your plans and in your strength.'
(Believers of the Judaism and Islam may find the exact attributes of their god in this hymn). But, Aten belief system did not enjoy popularity, and most probably was limited to the close circle around the pharaoh. A period of anarchy followed until the year 1350 BC. when general
Haremhab/Horemheb reestablished the order. In this interim period the old belief systems were reintroduced, and Aten belief system was abandoned. Akh-en-aton's capital city was demolished and looted and Akh-en-aton was treated like an ordinary criminal, omitted from the king lists, and became 'that criminal of Akh-en-aton.'Since Akh-en-aton all those who rejected or opposed the official gods in Egypt, Greece or Rome were accused of atheism. Socrates, Anaxagoras, Diagoras, Protagoras and others thinking like them were among those accused of atheism. The idea of monotheism which had risen with Akh-en-aton had to stay in darkness for a long time. There are those scholars who find the origin of the sole god, the father-god of the code books of Judaism, Christianity and Islam here, in Egypt, in the Aton belief system. There are those western historians who maintain that Moses had got the idea of 'sole god' from Akh-en-aton. Furthermore they believe that Moses was a historical person who lived in Egypt at the time of the religious reform attempt by Akh-en-aton and was influenced by this monotheism. We do not know much about the Aton/Aten belief system, but if Moses was an Egyptian, then the belief system he imposed on the Hebrews must have been nothing but the Aton/Aten religion.
