British Egyptologist James Bakie describes the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten as "an
idealist dreamer, who actually believed that men were meant 2 live in truth and speak the truth."
What happened 2 Akhenaten's Aten religion after his death? Did it just disappear under the sands of time, waiting 4 archaeologists 2 rediscover it thousands of years later or did it continue? Was pharaoh really 4gotten by his followers? Could
something that people had been so committed 2 really have vanished from history
completely? Would the priests and scribes have abandoned their beliefs upon the death of their king or could they have fled in2 the desert where they were free 2 maintain their beliefs?
Could Akhenaten's followers have been among the people led out of Egypt by Moses?
Many people have written about the obvious parallels between the
Jewish/Christian/Muslim faiths and that of the Ancient Egyptians. Could it b that a
faithful band that went on 2 form the basis of 3 of the world's main religions also
preserved Akhenaten's beliefs?
The Bible is full of reworked Egyptian texts, take 4 xample Genesis and the story of
the creation. According 2 Egyptian mythology, b4 creation there was nothing but
water everywhere. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. The 1st manifestation of
the High God is in the form of Light. Compare this with the familiar Genesis text, "In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was without form,
and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved on the face of the waters. And God said: 'Let there b light.' And there was light." The creation stories follow in the same order with vegetation being followed by creatures
and birds and lastly man. The Egyptians also believed that the Supreme God could
manifest himself in 3 forms, an early version of r more familiar Holy Trinity. Even
some of the sayings attributed 2 Jesus can b traced back 2 Ancient Egypt. "Nothing is buried which will not b raised up" has been found inscribed on a mummy bandage.
If it is an accepted fact that many aspects of the Egyptian faith have transferred 2 the
Jewish, and from there, the Christian and Muslim religions, is there any evidence of the survival of the more specific cult of the Aten as worshiped by Akhenaten and his
court?
The evidence 4 the survival of Akhenaten's faith has been found within the Essene
community at Qumran. Known by most people as the originators of the famous Dead
Sea Scrolls, the truth about this secretive Jewish sect who were living on the shores of the Dead Sea at the time of Jesus is only now coming 2 light.
In his book The Copper Scroll Decoded, Robert Feather gives startling evidence that
the Qumran Essenes not only practised a very different form of Judaism then their
contemporaries, but that they also appear 2 have had an intimate knowledge of the
Aten faith which was supposed 2 have died out almost 1,100 years previously.
The Qumran Essenes eschewed personal wealth and lead a very simple life, devoting
themselves 2 strict religious observance. Although they believed in the immortality of
the soul, they did not believe in their own physical resurrection. Interestingly, all of the graves xcavated at Qumran have found that the bodies were laid with their heads
carefully turned 2 face 2 the south. The natural way 2 position the bodies would have
been 2 the west, 2ward Jerusalem. Could it b that the bodies were laid facing 2 the
south so that they were in fact facing their own Holy City, the abandoned city of
Akhetaten?
6 of the manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls r known collectively as the New
Jerusalem texts. They r thought by most scholars 2 relate 2 an idealised city linked 2
the visionary writings of Ezekiel 40-48 (and 2 Revelations 21). However, there r, as
Robert Feather points out, serious problems with this identification. Nowhere in the
texts is the word Jerusalem mentioned and the city described is much larger than the
one mentioned by Ezekiel. In fact it is hard 2 relate the details given 2 any plan of
Jerusalem. During the 1980's a team of researchers (Shlomo Margalit, Georg
Klostermann and Ulrich Luz) studied the New Jerusalem texts and compared the city
plans described with actual known cities of the ancient Near East. The best fit they
could find was AKHETATEN! Not only r the measurements given 4 the city a close
match, but so r many of the descriptions; Akhetaten had three main streets running east/west, and also three running north/south, almost xactly as described in the texts; the street were also unusually wide, again closely corresponding 2 the measurements listed in the scrolls.
In another recent and very comprehensive study of the New Jerusalem texts, author
Michael Chyuin also concludes that the city plan of Akhetaten appears 2 have formed
the template for the Qumran-Essenes' idealised vision of their Holy City. Yet we must
not 4get that Akhetaten was abandoned and left desolate very soon after the death of
Akhenaten in 1332 BCE. Y would the Essenes have such an intimate knowledge of
this city forsaken centuries earlier?
Another startling feature of the Essenes characteristics is their rejection of the Temple practice found in Jerusalem at the time. They disapproved of sacrifices. They stressed prayer, cleanliness, study, ennoblement of the spirit and purity.
The Essenes community was headed by "The priest commanding the many" . He was the arbiter of the law, and as the senior priest, he was the "knower of all secrets." His title is referred variously as "Mebaqqer" or "Hamerverkah" or "The Merverkyah." These titles all bear a remarkable resemblance 2 the name of the High Priest of the Great Temple to Aten at Akhetaten. His name was "Mervyre." Although the Qumran-Essenes rejected "magic," they encouraged and required the study of mystic "hidden secrets." Many of these mysticisms can b traced back 2 early Egyptian traditions.
The Qumran-Essenes used a solar-based calendar, made up of 364 days. This was
divided in2 12 months, each of 30 days, with one extra day being added 2 the end of
each 3-month period. Likewise, the ancient Egyptians used a solar a based calendar
made up of 12 months with 30 days in each (the 'extra' days were then used 4
festivals). This is yet another strange link 2 Egypt. The Rabbinic Jewish calendar was, and still is, based on lunar movements not solar, and contained just 354 days in each year.
So could the Qumran-Essenes have been the descendants of the priests of Akhetaten, just as Christianity and Islam r the children of Judaism?
There r other strange facts about Essenes that show strong links with Egypt,
Akhenaten and his Holy city if Akhetaten. Robert Feather points us 2ward the strange xistence of an apparently random use of red ink in various words and passages. This practice was unknown in Israel or any other country, xcept ancient Egypt where Akhenaten's priests used red ink 2 selectively highlight scribal texts. Feather also reports on the finding of some samples of textiles from one of the Qumran caves in 1949. When xamined these textiles proved 2 b unique. There r no known xamples of similar wrappers from Judaea of the period, or prior 2 it. The yarn was made entirely of flax and contained no wool. In Ancient Egypt, there was a strong religious prejudice against the use of wool. In both cases, the cloth was spun with the natural twist of the fibre, and some of the cloth had the same fringing. Barry Kemp, a Cambridge University archaeologist who has xcavated the city of Akhetaten 4 many years, noted during his study of the local textile industry that it was normal 2 weave fringes on2 the bottom hem of flaxen cloths.
In his book The Copper Scroll Decoded, Robert Feather puts 4ward a summary of the
mechanical and technological concordances between Qumran an Akhetaten. Here r just a few:
