© 2018 Derek Samaras
© 2018 The Urantia Book Fellowship
Akhenaten (Ikhnaton)
Never in all history did any king so methodically proceed to swing a whole nation from polytheism to monotheism as did this extraordinary Ikhnaton. [UB 95:5.4]
Akhenaten, the son of AmenhotepIII was the young king of Egypt who ruled from around 1353 B.C. until 1336 B.C. and might be considered a revolutionary by today’s standards. During his short reign he successfully changed his name, relocated the capitol of Egypt from Thebes to a newly built Amarna, and united his people under monotheism. His writings were prolific as some are now immortalized in the Old Testament under Hebrew authorship. Akhenaten’s only problem was that his new religion based on morality and righteousness under one God was too much for most people to grasp at the time. When his short reign was over, there was an immediate reversion back to the old ways of worshiping Isis and Osiris. All of Akhenaten’s writings were subsequently destroyed, and his name has ever since been the subject of many speculations and wild tales by professional Egyptologists, Theologians, and Alien theorists.
Ikhnaton was wise enough to maintain the outward worship of Aton, the sun-god, while he led his associates in the disguised worship of the One God, creator of Aton and supreme Father of all. This young teacher-king was a prolific writer, being author of the exposition entitled “The One God,” a book of thirty-one chapters, which the priests, when returned to power, utterly destroyed. Ikhnaton also wrote one hundred and thirty-seven hymns, twelve of which are now preserved in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, credited to Hebrew authorship. [UB 95:5.7]
Akhenaten is most popular for his installment of the worship of Aten(Aton) the “Solar Disk” or Sun god. The worship of one deity marks a great social and religious evolution for a family, nation, or race. Monotheism is a powerful unifier for a society. There was however 2 sides to the worship of Aten.
Very wisely Ikhnaton sought to establish monotheism under the guise of the sun-god. This decision to approach the worship of the Universal Father by absorbing all gods into the worship of the sun was due to the counsel of the *Salemite physician. Ikhnaton took the generalized doctrines of the then existent Aton faith regarding the fatherhood and motherhood of Deity and created a religion which recognized an intimate worshipful relation between man and God. [UB 95:5.6]
¶ Salemite Physician Who Taught Akhenaten Monotheism?
In a recent article published by National Geographic, Ray Johnson, who directs the Chicago House, the University of Chicago’s research center in Luxor mentions a peculiar detail that might possibly be a reference to the “salemite physician.”
Johnson has recently pieced together broken wall reliefs and statuary from collections scattered all around the world. Digitization makes work like this faster. Johnson showed me a virtual “join” in which he had matched a photograph of one fragment located in Copenhagen with another in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “They’re 4,000 miles apart, but I realized that they join,” he said. The connection reveals a surprising scene: Akhenaten performs a ritual not with Nefertiti, but with Kiya, another wife, who didn’t have the status of queen. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/05/
Certainly its speculation to assume that Kiya is the missing salemite physician who taught Akhenaten monotheism but it is interesting how The Urantia Book tells us that this salemite physician was also a woman and none other than the mother of Akhenaton.
The teachings of Amenemope were slowly losing their hold on the Egyptian mind when, through the influence of an Egyptian Salemite physician, a woman of the royal family espoused the Melchizedek teachings. This woman prevailed upon her son, Ikhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt, to accept these doctrines of One God. [UB 95:5.1]
This passage in The Urantia Book doesn’t tell us the name of the salemite physician but it does show that this woman would be considered very important to Akhenaten. Egyptologists have come to show that Tiye was the mother of Akhenaten, and while there is no mention of her being a physician, there is record of her having great influence as an advisor to Akhenaton during his rule at Amarna. Wikipedia tells us that she most likely was of foreign descent which could contribute to her having salem influences.
[Egyptologists have suggested that Tiye’s father, Yuya, was of foreign origin due to the features of his mummy and the many different spellings of his name, which might imply it was a non-Egyptian name in origin.[^4] Some suggest that the queen’s strong political and unconventional religious views might have been due not just to a strong character, but to foreign descent.]
It turned out that Akhenaton needed all the advising he could get from his mother because his ambition was not equaled by his sagaciousness. His new religion deemed too much, too quickly for the majority of citizens. It was difficult for them to leave the old ways that were so steeped in ritual, superstition, and nature worship.
The weakness of Ikhnaton’s doctrine lay in the fact that he proposed such an advanced religion that only the educated Egyptians could fully comprehend his teachings. The rank and file of the agricultural laborers never really grasped his gospel and were, therefore, ready to return with the priests to the old- time worship of Isis and her consort Osiris, who was supposed to have been miraculously resurrected from a cruel death at the hands of Set, the god of darkness and evil. [UB 95:5.12]
Even though the ideal of monotheism experienced a decline with the passing of Akhenaten’s reign, the idea of one God persisted in the thinking of many people. Akhenaten’s son in law, Tutankhamen decided to join the priests of the old religious ways. In ironic fashion he took a page from his father’s book and changed his name and moved the capital back to Thebes. Unfortunately much of the art and literature at Amarna was destroyed and all associations with Akhenaten were severed.
Ray Johnson from the University of Chicago’s research center in Luxor comments on the remarkable art and craftsmanship present in the objects found at Amarna, but also explains the intentional destruction and separation of all associations with Akhenaten. Even by his family.
“This is beautifully made,” he said, holding up the piece of carved stone statuary, on which only the king’s lower legs were visible. “This is not accidentally damaged.” Amarna archaeology has a forensic quality because so many artifacts were deliberately destroyed after the sudden death of the king around 1336 B.C. His only son and heir was Tutankhaten, no more than 10 years old, who soon replaced the “Aten” in his name with the title of the god that his father had hated: Tutankhamun. He abandoned Amarna and returned to the old traditions.” http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/05/akhenaten-revolutionary-egypt-king/
Most scholars currently don’t describe Akhenaten as a monotheist due to their concern of too many modern characteristics being ascribed to Akhenaten. Equally, the secular world of academia tends to tread lightly when the word Religion is introduced, due to its precarious associations with many traditions.
Love him or hate him, Akhenaten has contributed to the moral, social, and spiritual foundation of the entire judeo-christian perspective with his interpretation of the One God of all. It remains a mystery to professionals as to why his works were so vehemently destroyed immediately after his death.
Ikhnaton was wise enough to maintain the outward worship of Aton, the sun-god, while he led his associates in the disguised worship of the One God, creator of Aton and supreme Father of all. This young teacher-king was a prolific writer, being author of the exposition entitled “The One God,” a book of thirty-one chapters, which the priests, when returned to power, utterly destroyed. Ikhnaton also wrote one hundred and thirty-seven hymns, twelve of which are now preserved in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, credited to Hebrew authorship. [UB 95:5.7]
Finding support for Akhenaten’s writings within the Bible are difficult for multiple reasons. The first being, the priests immediately destroyed his works following his death, and has influenced the academic professionals on the marjority to interpret Aknenaten as more of a villain character. This is due to his “breaking old traditions.” This paints an unfortunate representation of the gifted, spiritually revolutionary king. Second, It’s important to point out that Akhenaten was teaching from the wisdom and writings of Amenemope, who scholars are now quietly attributing some verses of the old testament to. There is still great effort in keeping a strictly traditional Hebrew ownership and accredidation for the authorship of the Old testament, as well as the creation of monotheism. This becomes a challenge when trying to discern and share historical truths for archeologists and historians. There is an old book by James Breasted called “The Dawn of Conscience” 1933, in it he points out the exact passages where the teachings of Amenemope appear in the old testament.
“The Dawn of Conscience”
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.76190
Amenemope’s wise teachings are located at the British museum.
I’ve selected a few of my favorite passages from the book of Proverbs and a bit of the 1Psalm, which contains the teachings originally written by (Amen)emope and was the heart of Akhenaten’s teachings:
Proverbs 15:8 KJV
[8] The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord : but the prayer of the upright is his delight.Proverbs 15:17 KJV
[17] Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.Proverbs 15:21 KJV
[21] Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.Proverbs 17:6 KJV
[6] Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.Proverbs 17:10 KJV
[10] A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.Proverbs 17:12 KJV
[12] Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.Proverbs 17:22 KJV
[22] A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.Proverbs 17:28 KJV
[28] Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.Proverbs 20:7 KJV
[7] The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.Proverbs 20:15 KJV
[15] There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.Proverbs 20:22 KJV
[22] Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.Proverbs 20:27 KJV
[27] The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.Proverbs 22:24-25 KJV
[24] Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
[25] Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.Proverbs 24:10 KJV
[10] If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.Proverbs 24:19-20 KJV
[19] Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
[20] For there shall be no reward to the evil man ; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.Psalm 1:1-3 KJV
[1] Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
[2] But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
[3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper
Derek Samaras is a second generation UB reader from Chicago, Il, and is currently the Assistant Director at The Urantia Book Fellowship. Derek was introduced to fellowship outreach during his 2x2 outreach trip in Croatia with the Alaska Northern Lights Society. Derek is a film maker and regularly creates video content for the revelation. He has also been doing interesting research in the field of history and giving provocative presentations about the Sumerian depictions of ancient epochal revelation. You can catch Derek hosting the Cosmic Citizen radio show Saturday mornings on blogtalkradio/cosmiccitizen.
¶ External links
- Fact checking the Bible: http://forward.com/news/371033/fact-checking-the-bible-in-chicagos-oriental-institute/
- Amarna: https://amarnaanniversary.wordpress.com/blog/
- National Geographic Article: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/05/akhenaten-revolutionary-egypt-king/
- Amenemope: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amenemope_(author)
- Instruction of Amenemope: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction_of_Amenemope
¶ References
- Article obtained from The Fellowship site