Akhenaten: The First Monotheist? | Atenism

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Akhenaten was an Egyptian Pharaoh back in the 1300s BCE who upended the religious landscape of ancient Egypt. Within years of ascending the throne, he turned away from traditional Egyptian polytheism to the worship of a single god: The Aten. Was this an early form of monotheism?
Select footage and images courtesy of Getty

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: go.nebula.tv/religionforbreakfast

[@Magictrend101]

Make a vedio about yuzarsif in egypt

[@muslimresponse103]

how far in time was this monotheist Egyptian king from Joseph who was one of the 12 sons of Jacob also known as Israel? because Joseph as you already probably know from the bible stories was sold in Egypt as a slave and then later went to prison and then became the main adviser to the king of Egypt at the time so his monotheistic belief may have influenced this Egyptian king.

[@pqsk]

@@muslimresponse103​​⁠there's dr Robert Feather's theory that's similar.

[@letsomethingshine]

Amun-Re, the high God of ultimate supernatural rulership, was such a god of fertility and the Sun, that Pharoah Necho told King Josiah that Amun-Re was Yahweh since their ultimate position/function/lineage in heavenly pantheons was the same. And isn't Ptah's name pronounced " 'Tah " the "god that created all gods and placed himself as leader of all gods." What are angels if not just slave-gods or subservant-gods? So what is monotheism then? Just relabeling?

[@pqsk]

@@letsomethingshine possibly. There's a passage in Deuteronomy in the Dead Sea scrolls where it refers to all of the angels as gods. In the Masoretic Text they are of course referred to as angels. It's believed that this was changed here for this exact reason. Another interesting thing is that the different names of the Jewish god in the Torah are the different gods in the Canaanite tablets found in Ras Shamra.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Apparently since Akhenaten's reign is so well defined in terms of artifacts and relatively short, it makes a convenient reference point for dating events in contemporary Egypt and places it interacted with. Which is an interesting legacy to have.

[@Ninja1Ninja2]

it was a crazy revolution

[@m4s73rs]

Akhenaten

[@hihi-nm3uy]

Not to mention the Amarna Letters comprise or some of our best primary sources for the 18th Dynasty. Akhenaten had a very different legacy to what he could’ve imagined.

[@cejann3926]

@@hihi-nm3uyI think he and Nefertiti knew they were very special and breaking new ground that would be influential forever

[@spacetextadventure5619]

@@m4s73rs so true

[@heqaib]

Note: The odd looking gigantic statues were meant to be viewed from several meters/yards below. Showing them face on distorts their theological iconography.

[@codyofathens3397]

That's fascinating! Makes sense!

[@LastBrigadier]

no one cares

[@sweethistortea]

@@LastBrigadierPretty sure people care if they clicked on this video. No need to be negative. :/

[@munkqiking7207]

@@LastBrigadier You cared enough to show how pathetic you are in trying to put someone else down.

[@jemborg]

​@@LastBrigadier no one cares... about you.

[@bugsby4663]

Because the Bible has been so westernised, we tend to forget all the near eastern cultural references and how the religious veliefs of Egypt, the Caanan and Mesopotamia all influenced each other. The Bible makes a lot more sense when its viewed through the lens of the ancient near east.

[@grutsthefoodman3645]

It really does

[@Prophet_Isaiah]

Very true. The language the Egyptians use in this video is super reminiscent of those flowery, deferent Bible passages addressing the Hebrew God

[@carsonianthegreat4672]

Except that the worship of YHWH is categorically different than what the Egyptians were doing

[@zefft.f4010]

@@carsonianthegreat4672 How so?

[@Daniel-dz8uh]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqnKfaSOrrN0oKs

[@MrPainisCupcake]

Fun fact: Akhenaten's heir was (likely his son) Tutankhaten, who ascended the throne at 9 years old and 'reigned' for ten years until he died at 19 years old (it's unlikely that a teenager king did much ruling). Whoever actually ruled during his reign reinstated the worship of Amun and the gods banned by Akhenaten, Tutankhaten renamed himself to Tutankhamun to show his approval of these reforms.

[@SarastistheSerpent]

The person whom you’re referring to would be Ay, who was Tutankhamun’s Grand Vizier and succeeded him as Pharaoh when he died. Tutankhamun was not Akhenaten’s heir however. Akhenaten was succeeded by his co-ruler and chosen successor Smenkhkare, who himself was succeeded by a female Pharaoh named Neferneferuaten, who may have been Nefertiti or possibly her daughter Meritaten. Tutankhamun succeeded Neferneferuaten, not Akhenaten.

[@barbiquearea]

@@SarastistheSerpent Yep. Ay served Akhenaten and was probably Nefertiti's father or uncle. When Tutankhamun ascended to the throne, Ay realized that the cult of Aten's days were numbered and decided the best thing to do was to roll back his religious reforms. Funny enough, Akhenaten was so hated that after Ay passed away, his successor Horemheb under pressure from the Egyptian aristocracy erased all record of Akhenaten, which incidentally also included his son, Tutankhamun. Which may have been the reason why his tomb was undisturbed, while most other royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings were already picked clean by the 20th century.

[@m.m6552]

Damn thank you all for your interesting info!🙌🏼

[@cejann3926]

@@barbiqueareathere's a very good possibility, and probably very likely that Nefertiti took over the throne after Akhntn especially since Tut wasn't her son and they hadn't returned to Thebes. Many don't realize how closely they were involved in Atenism and her role as Queen and equal. What forced them out of Armana was the plague and both Nefertiti's and Akhntn's death. But the people who believed continued their faith and became what is now believed to be Jews/ monotheists

[@njmwape1]

It's a fun fact, but it also changes the way we look at Egyptian history wholesale :o

[@lizb7271]

I had heard the Marfan's syndrome idea and assumed it to be correct, someone like you putting accurate information out on the Internet for free is really appreciated.

[@SarastistheSerpent]

It is actually possible that members of the late Thutmosid dynasty did have some kind of condition that gave the men a feminine appearance. We know this from King Tut’s mummy, which showed that he did actually have gynaecomastia and a feminine figure. It’s possible that Amarna art took a more realistic approach to depicting human figures, but it is also possible that it was merely a stylistic choice.

[@CIA871]

@@SarastistheSerpent This is a genuine question. How would they be able to figure out that King Tut had gynaecomastia? It seems to me that shouldn't details like that be gone from the mummy?

[@cejann3926]

They have Akhntn's mummy and he's fine😂 it's just a rumor because he was so far out there with his art

[@SarastistheSerpent]

@@CIA871 they’re not. King Tut’s mummy is very well preserved. We know quite a lot about his physiology. He had scoliosis, a clubbed foot, malaria and the very classic Thutmosid overbite which many of his ancestors had.

[@richardsorensen4163]

It’s pretty hilarious that bible thumpers in the west have no idea there’s actual cultural context around the stories in the Bible that contradict their interpretations almost entirely.

[@fuschiawarrior2159]

Tutankhamun was Akhenaten's son (he changed his name from Tutankhaten [I know you know this, it just wasn't the focus of your video but I had to mention]) so he was problably heavily indoctrinated in Atenism and even then he was unwilling or unable to continue his father's religious movement. Truly fascinating.

[@darrylviljoen6227]

I believe the going theory is that it was under pressure from the priestly cast who held considerable political power.

[@Evilgood1]

I wish more people knew that King Tut, Nefertiti, and Akhenaten were all close relatives.

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

Not necessarily. By your Logic Akhenaten was heavily indoctrinated into the worship of Amun, but he conducted an entire reformation

[@fuschiawarrior2159]

@@Red1Green2Blue3 Exactly, but I would say that Amenhotep III breaking tradition by declaring himself a living god could have heavily influenced Akhenaten's Atenism or maybe not, we can't really know. Anyway truly fascinating history. Such relatively quick changes caused by like three people.

[@barbiquearea]

@@darrylviljoen6227 That and after Akhenaten died, his regent Ay realized that without charismatic figurehead as Aten's high priest (which was Akhenaten's role), Atenism days were numbered.

[@hollister2320]

I’ll be honest with you man, Idk shyt about Egypt or how I even got here, but I’m loving this content lol

[@matthewgellar1442]

Impressive that you saw this 3 minutes after posting then

[@JesseJames83]

AI is getting you to date... slowly

[@sicilianknicca_mickygreeneyes]

He is a treasure for sure as he is an academic religious historian whatever his actual beliefs are.

[@Vermilion.to.1]

You’re in egypt and you don’t know how you got there??? XD

[@Magplar]

@@sicilianknicca_mickygreeneyesReally love how unbiased he is. One of my favorite channels!

[@zelenisok]

Tbh, ever since I found out about Apepi I found him to be more intriguing than Akhenaten. His monotheistic /henotheistic worship of Set predates Atenism, and if one were to speculate about the Hebrew connection, Apepi might be a better candidate, being that he was a part of the Hyksos - a Canaanite dynasty ruling Egypt, and that he chose to worship Set, a storm god - same as early Yahweh.

[@Ninja1Ninja2]

is a set worshipping foreign dynasty the inspiration of the osiris myth?

[@zelenisok]

@@Ninja1Ninja2 Nah, that myth predates the Hyksos by many centuries..

[@EternalEmperorofZakuul]

I guess the difference is that apepi didn't force the rest of the populace to abandon their faith, right

[@ElliottMoose91]

Thanks for this rabbit hole

[@jamienelson3470]

The stylized representations of Akhenaten and his family are so beautiful. It reminds me a little bit of art nouveau.

[@Mikelaxo]

Some people think that he was actually a good guy because of that art, but that's how propaganda works

[@afd4017]

“Stylistic” lol these are just black ppl depicting themselves in a civilisation you have been made to believe they are alien too….

[@thefisherking78]

That's so awesome that you got to live in Cairo. I know a couple who went there on a DOD contract and fell in love with it. He retired and they never left. I hope to see it someday.

[@alethearia]

In art history we were taught that the change in art style was characterized by a shifting away from the uniform, strict, masculine cannon to one of dualism. Characteristics of both sexes were depicted equally in one figure. My teacher's hypothesis was that this was a visual commentary on the Ahten having both masculine and feminine characteristics.

[@ems4884]

That's one of the most influential art historical arguments for period. It's a very interesting one, if you ask me.

[@g-rexsaurus794]

What nonsense

[@festina_lente7655]

Cannon?😂😂😂

[@johnsmith-ir1ne]

The previous style was masculine? How? Lol no wonder arts courses are filled with pseudoscience

[@kr-666]

Monotheistic history has always been fascinating to me.

[@sandris5997]

kr-sPutnik v...

[@suwakomoriya5145]

Same

[@Psychol-Snooper]

You failed your save!

[@carlosalbuquerque22]

More interesting it's when it's outside the Mediterranean/Middel Eastern world. For example the Andamanese have a single god, Puluga, whom they do not worship

[@warfaali]

⁠@@carlosalbuquerque22You know Majority of ancient African religions was monotheistic like am from Somalia and my ancestors adhered to a complex belief System, with a set of deities superseded by a single all-powerful figure called Eebbe/Waaq according to Somali Legend Eebbe lived in the Heavens and whenever the nomads successfully prayed for rain, they would seek his indulgence. Words like Barwaaqo (living happily. The Ayaanle/angels in Ancient Somalia were known as the good spirits and acted as mediators between God and humans. They were said to be bringers of luck and blessings. Huur was the messenger of Death and had the form of a large bird. The deity was akin to Horus of ancient Egypt and played a similar role in Somali society. Nidar was the righter of wrong. He was considered the champion of those that were exploited by their fellow humans. The deity has survived in modern Somalia as a popular saying; Nidar Ba Ku Heli ("Nidar will find and punish the ones who are naughty").

[@madnessbydesign1415]

Knocked another one out of the park! Akhenaton was always one of my favorite historical figures. May the Mad Pharaoh bless you... :)

[@arturocevallossoto5203]

Praise Aten!

[@alvinjohn9317]

He is also Moses

[@madnessbydesign1415]

@@alvinjohn9317 That was a theory that made no sense. The timeline didn't add up, and the Aten was definitely not the Judaeo/Christian God. There is no evidence of a Hebrew exodus from Egypt during Akhenaton's lifetime, and Akhenaton didn't leave Egypt to lead the Hebrews - those events would definitely have been recorded.

[@ItsPennyLanee]

Love learning more about ancient Egyptian religion.

[@john-or9cf]

Waaay back in the mid-60’s, I had a prof who was trying to get me interested in his specialty-Egyptology-I was tempted but decided against it. Hugely interesting topic!

[@Nmnx0r]

Funny enough, right now I'm translating an academic paper on Freud's "Moses and Monotheism" - the author begins his analysis with description of Akhenaten and Atenism. What a coincidence... As always, great video!

[@Mortismors]

I've come to believe that Akhenaten and Moses were the same person.

[@Nmnx0r]

@@Mortismors There are certainly some similarities between those two, but it's highly unlikely.

[@Mortismors]

@@Nmnx0r 1: they lived in the same century 2: during Akhenaten's reign there was another Pharaoh, his wife Nefernefeuraten and only time in Egyptian history of two Pharaohs at the same time 3: Pharaoh's heart is hardened against Moses leaving, he does marry a Hebrew woman and if the Pharaoh is his Egyptian wife that makes sense why 4: Akhenaten leaves for 6 years into the wilderness leaving his Egyptian wife to rule in his stead. 5: Akhenaten's body is returned from a distance possibly the land of Canaan where Moses went after leaving Egypt 6: Exodus 14:10 refers to Moses as Pharaoh 7: Moses is credited with compiling Genesis which makes sense being privy to Egyptian religious secrets. It also makes sense why Genesis 1 starts with the Egyptian creation story and then the Sumerian creation story. The Hebrew creation story doesn't even start until Genesis 2:4 8: Akhenaten's one prayer the Hymn to the Aten is found currently in the Bible as Psalm 104 9: Moses's body was never found, but was transported away after his death, sounding suspiciously like the missing information of where Akhenaten's body came from 10: Akhenaten's son dies young just like Pharaoh's, he is recorded as ruling after his Father but records are very few and provide little insight to the political workings of the time. Also the timeline doesn't add up he would have had to have died before he ruled thus bringing up the possibility that the priests ruled in his stead (as is already thought) but after his death not during it which is the general thought.

[@jackskelington7377]

The Epic of Gilgamesh most likely inspired the story of Moses. I doubt he truly existed.

[@Nmnx0r]

Sure, it's a matter of faith, there's little evidence for the story of Exodus

[@uros.u.novakovic]

I finished reading The Egyptian by Mika Waltari just a few weeks ago. So watching this after that book was so satisfying. Thanks for the upload!

[@Squirrelmind66]

It’s been said that the lavish treasures placed in Tutankhamen’s tomb (surprising for a ruler with such a short reign) came from the gratitude the people felt for his restoration of their religious practices and beliefs.

[@barbiquearea]

True, the priesthood of Atum were grateful that he rolled back his father's religious reforms and allowed their temples to reopen.

[@cejann3926]

Tut's tomb is supposed to be full of others belongings. It was quickly thrown together after his death. So quickly the paint hadn't dried. He actually had less than most other Kings and Queens. His wasn't robbed (some think thieves may have been there), but it would not have compared to Ramese, Seti's or other great Pharoahs, which is why it's both sad and amazing that we found it in tact

[@justmy-profilename]

Most likely the priesthood was happy to roll back Echnaton religious reforms/revolution; but the rollback of Atenism started right after Tutankhamun ascended to the throne, and it sounds very suspicious that the nine year old pharaoh was himself determined to rollback his father's reforms. It seems more likely that the priesthood could simply exert enough influence on the young pharao to let him "reign" in their interest. The wealth in his tomb is a sign of appreciation, but such luxury gifts were unlikely to be "crowdfunded" by [ordinary] people but rather an appreciation of the elitist class. And the preceding Atenist (*) rulers' legacy was targeted to be diminished, making it rather easy to "find" enough gifts for Tutankhamun's tomb. In fairness to Tutankhamun, I want to add, that his reign seemed to have brought back some political stability to Egypt, and I don't want to discount displayed appreciation for him as a mere opposition to Atenism. (*) Akhenaten, Smenkhkare (Nefertiti?), Neferneferuaten (also Nefertiti? or Meritaten?).

[@foxoflight7257]

this videos release is just perfectly timed. I am doing bits of New Kindom period research since a couple of weeks and this monotheism interested me so much and now one of my favorite ytbers is doing a video in it... thanks a lot for that, lol

[@StuffandThings_]

Could you consider covering the Qemant religion? It has some interesting connections to ancient hebraic religion, and I really wonder if that combined with ancient Egyptian monotheism eventually gave rise to Judaism.

[@werebitch1313]

Never heard of it! Good suggestion!

[@patrickkilroy6512]

This is the best piece of media I've seen on the subject of Akhenaten and Atenism. Very informative. Thank you

[@JJFrostMusic]

would love a video on fusion gods like amun-re. would make a good video imo. to how many polytheistic cultures did this. Great video. keep them coming!

[@connectingthedots100]

I have been fascinated by this story from age 8. Thanks, for letting me revisit in incredible detail. Would you be interested to do something about Polynesian religious beliefs?

[@ems4884]

He's slowly moving beyond his specialist area in the Abrahamic religions / Ancient Near East.

[@eurech]

You said that there is evidence that despite Akhenaten's reform, other gods were still being worshipped and that somehow that may make the monotheist hypothesis less likely. But honestly to me that doesn't seem like evidence against monotheism. Even in the Israelite history, we see that most of Israelites were polytheists while a few notable groups (mainly those responsible for the Biblical books) were showing favor towards Yahwism. What the population believed and what certain figures (perhaps high figures) believed, I think, should be separated into two categories. Perhaps the general population of Egypt and the specific followers Atenism (note that traditional Egyptian religion still seems to have been dominant among the majority of the people despite of Akhenaten's personal cult) should be treated this way; as two religious communities. Also I think that to theorize that Atenism was the result of a political scheme against the prieshtood (in particular the priests of Amun) has strong basis in the fact that Amun and his cult worship in particular were constantly attacked and demonized. Reminder that during the time, the priests of Amun were incredibly powerful, and this priesthood continued to be a threat to the monarchy as shown later on in the conflict between Shoshenq I and the Amun priesthood in which the former formally banned sons of the priests succeeding their fathers and instead declared that only Pharaohs could choose the next priests. In the kingdom of Kush for example, one of the rulers there (Ergamenes) would slaughter all the priests of Amun for power struggle.

[@HeisenbergFam]

29:00 no wonder you fell in love with the city, it looks majestic

[@orktv4673]

Everywhere I go I see his face

[@sarahwatts7152]

I loved all the footage! It's great to see shots that were made with this channel in mind, as stock footage often isn't nearly as good

[@thebesthomiegever]

love your longer videos !!!!! so happy to see this pop up in my feed 🥰🥰🥰

[@ryefogle3191]

Perfectly relevant content for this time of year. Thank you.

[@austinng1137]

One of my favorite works of historical fiction is Allen Drury’s “A God Against the Gods”. While the timeline is a bit off due to discoveries since the 70s, it strikes me as a very well written interpretation of Akhenaten’s belief system and personality. The author goes with Frolich’s syndrome to explain his appearance in art, which I feel doesn’t hold up today.

[@PamSesheta]

Another fantastic video, and on ancient Kemet! What a treat

[@A7k7o7s]

Wow! First time some in depth info on the details of The first monotheism! Keep up this great work!

[@paulkoza8652]

Well done Andrew. One of my favorite areas of ancient Egyptian history. Having been to Egypt and seen all of the temples and burial sites that were built over the centuries was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

[@joshjames582]

You're one of the few KZbinrs I never skip the ads part on.

[@kathyjohnson2043]

There's some weird comments on this page today; I hope saying thsnks for your excellent scholarship and presentation every week.

[@johnsmith-ir1ne]

Like what?

[@liamredmill9134]

Amazing context/family background info,great telling

[@JeantheSecond]

That transition to advertising was so smooth I watched through to the end in appreciation.

[@christophecrist2171]

What is the book on Sufism often found in the background of some of your videos? I want to pick up a copy

[@haileybalmer9722]

Thank you for that bit about the pathologizing of Egyptian figures. I've seen so many people say Tutakhamun had to be built like that, and it must have been an inbreeding thing like the Hapsburg jaw. We don't really have any reason to think that, other than the art that was popular in that time. You know what else was popular at that time in Egypt? Androgyny. Plump bodies. Things represented stylistically in the art people are pointing to as proof of some kind of family deformity. There's this western chauvinist idea that what we find attractive right this second is what people all around the world have always found attractive, which is pretty ridiculous if you can remember what things were like just 15 years ago. Remember when really, really flat butts were popular? Paris Hilton remembers it like it was yesterday.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Exactly. Like all the depictions of early christian events with people dressed like in the late middle ages. That doesn't mean people ran around like that, it was just the style at the time when the art was made.

[@Ofallthings089]

We have more than artwork to know about what plagued Tutankhamun: His mummy and DNA. He had a club foot from birth and would’ve needed a cane to walk around. His spine was curved (he had a family history of scoliosis) and he had a recessed chin that caused an overbite. He also had an untreated cleft palate and contracted malaria. He was sick for much of his short life. The man could barely walk and probably had a hard time speaking. The deformities are certainly from inbreeding. His mother was likely Akhenaten’s full sister. Yeah. The Habsburgs have nothing on Egyptian royalty!

[@HumanBeanbag]

Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift have entered the chat... but you make a good point 😊

[@davidbrown7883]

They have his mummy. It has been x-rayed. They can see the deformation.

[@apollion888]

videos like these are why I watch you, thank you

[@paulus.tarsensus]

This was a really great presentation.

[@pac2718]

Very interesting video. I was wondering if Atenism could have been part of a larger trend/movement in the middle east towards henotheist religions. That would explain the temporality of Atenism and Mazdeism. The existence of few powerful empires and the Bronze Age collapse would have made finding traces of other similar religions difficult. They could have then re-emerged during the Iron Age as the religions that would later become Zoroastrianism and Judaism. As for the similarities between the hymn to Aten and Psalm 104, aside from being a pure coincidence, it could be that the hymn itself influenced other hymns to other gods and by proxy influenced the psalm. Another explanation could be that the hymn is written in a typical form and style found throughout the middle east, as would be Psalm 104. Similarities would come from using a similar template rather than a direct influence of one onto the other.

[@gabiedubin]

this is an absolutely fascinating video, I would very much like to see videos like these on other ancient pantheons of gods like the canaanite pantheon of gods.

[@bob_btw6751]

Fascinating lecture. Thank you.

[@mawadamutwakil9476]

Yessss a video about akhenaten my morning couldn’t get better

[@theowl6548]

There is an Iranian peoduced show called prophet Joseph, they tie this monotheism to the presence of Joseph in egypt where he became the 2nd man after the king Akhenaten in his time and he managed with the king to convert them into monotheism, with aten being one of the countless names given to God,there is an english version of the show on youtube ,it is a huge production with good quality watched it like 9 times XD.

[@NeroPiroman]

From a religious stantpoint it makes perfekt sence for this pharsoh to be the one from josephs story

[@epeeypen]

thats way off becuz this would have been during the exodus times. long after joseph arrived

[@nicky5683]

There's a theory that Moses was a relative and priest of Akhenaten, and that Exodus is based on the flight of Aten-ites from Egypt

[@pakilla4578]

​@@epeeypenExodus happened under Ramses II. The Bible gets a lot of dates mixed up, so it's not possible to pinpoint the time period from just the biblical timeline.

[@epeeypen]

thats just flat out wrong. @@pakilla4578

[@lukelcs8934]

A really important thing to note in regards to the comparison of Psalms and Atens Great Hym is that they're importantly different. 25:22 The thing they both have in common is the description of night coming and the predators coming out, specifically, lions from their dens. They're both describing nighttime in their region, and how it relates to their god. However, the key difference is how the existence of nighttime relates to their god. Psalms describes it as "you send darkness and it is night..." "lions roar for prey and seek their food from the LORD..." Seemingly implying that this nighttime activity is a natural part of the world that also comes FROM God. It is an ordered part of his creation. Meanwhile, Atens Hym is described differently : "when you set... the earth is in darkness as if in death..." Now, I notice the three dots in a few places, indicating there is more to the quote, however, from what I can read here, this seems to be describing a more negative and unnatural view of the night, which makes sense if your god is literally the sun, rather than it's creator. When Aten leaves (literally "sets" as the sun does) darkness and death comes. When Aten (the sun) returns, life does as well I would assume. Previously you mentioned the idea of Aten remaking and giving life to the world each new day, which would certainly fit. To re-iterate, the Hebrew God seems to be the origin of the night (as well as day), as a good part of his creation; while Aten, who is literally the sun in one way or another, creates the day full of life, and the night, rather than being something he created, appears in his absence. Nighttime being the absence of Aten, and goodness. Note how they mention that's when the snakes bite? I'm guessing that's not such a good thing. These gods each seem to have opposite roles to play in regards to the night, from the info I can see in the video. The only thing they have in common in this example, is that they both talk about the night in the same region since they both come from there.

[@jonathandewberry289]

Right, these things seem too 'coincidental' to modern ears and even more related when heard through 'evolutionary' beliefs that all must come from something else. The thing is, in their time and place, there are only so many things poets and audiences alike would relate with. Donkeys, palms, fish and to describe something fearful they would relate to lions at night (and i suppose crocodiles?) and oil in lamps and oxen and chariots and so there are just so many combinations of things they'd know in their world. Too many people get overexcited when some here matches something over there. Then you add this part: To a modern listener in Kansas City, roaring lions in a midnight sandy plain is exotic, rare, an unusual thing. To their minds "WhaTs the ChanCes this OtheR thing ALSO mentions roAring LionS at NiGht!?'. But to the audience at the time it's their version of a lyric "..drivin' down the highway on a starry midnigh in my ole 67 Ford..". It's a thing they'd reference and kinow in The Levant and regions in their days where there wasn't a tremendous amount of other things they'd know to choose from.

[@jess_n_atx]

Three little dots are called an ellipsis

[@lukelcs8934]

@@jess_n_atx Thankyou, I didn't know that lol *the more you know 🎵

[@lukelcs8934]

@@jonathandewberry289 I love the comparison with driving down the highway in a pickup lol

[@letsomethingshine]

Funnily enough , Ahura Mazda created the Day AND the Night. The good (directly) and the calamity (by proxy of Angra Mayu). And Ahura Mazda's Persia saved the Jews from Babylonian captivity and then deported them back to Israel/Judea when Persia didn't want them to remain within old/conservative Persian borders. "How expansive is what you have made! Many more details are hidden beneath the surface. Oh single god (monotheos), like you there is no other." ~ The Great Aten Hymn lines 76-82

[@HumanBeanbag]

Thank you for the education, Mr. Breakfast.

[@neferneferuaten2243]

Absolutely the best vid I've watched on this subject. Thank you, brother. So much incredible information in just a half an hour! Edit: grammar.

[@dw9679]

One of my favorite KZbinrs giving a speech on perhaps the most interesting pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. I'm so psyched!! Thank you!

[@atum]

Informative vid Thanks

[@iamthad1546]

this was a great watch. dont know anything about the history of egypt but man this was still a wild ride

[@capricciocrypto]

One of my favorite takes on the Akhenaten story is Philip Glass' 1983 opera Akhnaten (famed for its opening funeral procession scene kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHmYnoV_f6uIhLM), which focuses on the pagentry of his actions and legacy in both Ancient Egypt and the present. The opera is sung with only brief text summaries of each scene provided to the audience instead of direct supertitles or other translation of what the singers are saying. This helps to create the feeling that one is getting a fuzzy obfuscated look at the distant past. The one exception to this rule occurs at the end of the second act in a riveting scene portraying worship of the Aten at the height of the Pharoah's rule where Akhnaten sings The Great Aten Hymn (Hymn to the Sun) in the audience's vernacular after which an offstage chorus sings Psalm 104 in the original Hebrew (kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHiWZJqVerGXm68).

[@Nuts-Bolts]

Wonder if you enjoyed that at the Colosseum (home of the ENO) in London. In that production Christopher Robson (counter tenor) was Akhnaten with Sally Burgess as Nefertiti. It was indeed spell binding. Came out a little dazed and had the tune going round and round in my head for days afterwards.

[@capricciocrypto]

@@Nuts-Bolts It was the Met's version in 2019...

[@stevenzapiler5806]

Glass is a genius. And he worked rigorously to learn the scholarship about Akhenaten and his time. There is a great book about Glass and the making of that opera. One day, I am going to produce the Glass opera in Egypt at Amarna.

[@Nuts-Bolts]

@@stevenzapiler5806 Amarna would be very fitting a place indeed. As I understand it, latest findings suggest that the climate suddenly went through a dry period around Akhenaten’s time, causing the Nile floods to fail. This one would think, necessitated the royal family to be seen to be doing ‘something, anything’ against this existential threat and bring the World back to order. Unfortunately, modern ruler are no longer competent to rule. Knowing only how to make things better for themselves by making everything worse for everyone else.

[@odd-man-outSPORTS]

Learned a lot here. Always thought Akenaten came up with this idea on his own. Seems his father may have been trying to shift the power of the sun disk away from Ammun, in order to deify himself. Plays into why Akenaten did same or similar. Also explains how Tutankhamen mightve been careful not to meet the same fate as his father, although he was also likely to have been counciled by elders. Ive always wondered about the connections regarding the rise of popularity in the idea of Monotheism, and if this might have influenced Zoroastrianism, and the shift from many gods to One in Judaism.

[@spacelinx]

No. The religious beliefs of Egypt and Zoroastrianism emerged and developed independently of each other. Zoroastrianism is though to have risen out of ancient Indo-Iranian beliefs. It may have had some influence upon later Judaism, but it wasn’t the sole cause for the emergence of Judaism either. All three religious ideas are generally separate emergences, but all interacted together in much later history, especially with the campaigns of the Assyrian and Persian Empires.

[@odd-man-outSPORTS]

@@spacelinx bro. This is a chat GPT answer. R u serious? It's word for word. Type this in - "Make an argument supporting the stance that Akenaten was a pioneer for Monotheism, and established roots which can be found in Zoroastrianism and Judaism." See what chat GPT says then.

[@pakilla4578]

​@@odd-man-outSPORTSmajor world religious lores were born spontaneously. There's no need to assume that since one came after the other, it has to be influenced or copied on some way.

[@mitchevans4597]

Thank you for your survey of the Amarna period.

[@Traumatose]

Loved this. Good job 👏

[@aanchaallllllll]

0:27: 🌞 Akhenaten, an Egyptian king, introduced radical changes in religion and art, worshiping a single sun god. 3:59: 🌞 The Aten, a separate entity from the sun god Rey, became prominent in Egyptian religion during the 18th Dynasty. 7:35: 🏛 Akhenaten changed traditional religion and architecture by building temples dedicated to Aten instead of Amun-Ra. 10:37: 👑 Akhenaten's artistic changes and personal transformations, including the founding of a new capital, are speculated to be unrelated to Marfan syndrome. 13:59: 🔍 The foundation of the new capital at Amarna led to the rise of the religion of Aten, also known as autonism. 17:39: 🔨 There was a widespread campaign to erase the name and image of Amun, possibly with the help of the army, during the reign of Akhenaten. 20:58: 🔍 During Akhenaten's reign, there were temples dedicated to Rey and other gods, suggesting a polytheistic belief system despite the erasure of the Amun cult. 24:33: 🔍 There are similarities between the hymn of Akhenaten and Psalm 104 in the Hebrew Bible. 28:42: 🔑 Akhenaten's attempt to impose religious reforms in Egypt failed and his successors returned to traditional beliefs. Recap by Tammy AI

[@arthurpinheiro236]

thanks!

[@justmy-profilename]

Technically Henotheism might be the best fitting term for Atenism, but practically Monotheism is also used for e.g. Christianity, which till today has the concept of a lesser yet very powerful antagonistic deity (satan/devil). Although I used Christianity as an example, all Abrahamic religions need a broadly encompassing definition for Monotheism to be classified as such. So practically I'd say Atenism was the first monotheistic religion (although short lived and not spreading beyond Egypt). I'd be interested in a follow up video: What would qualify as the first monotheistic religion in the strict sense of the word? Without any kind of Modalism and without any lesser deities / without sub-god yet superhuman beings (devil, demon, archangels, prophets, magical saints, worldly rulers with exclusive god-link, ...).

[@cejann3926]

Atenism is the first and possibly the only monotheistic religion to exist Akhntn and Nefertiti were monotheist, no doubt. You don't destroy temples and carve out names because you're ok with other Gods The Aten represented God. It was the Sun of God. They knew it represented life and if it left and never returned there would be death Although there may be some proof of some religious tolerance, he and his Queen were monotheists in every sense of the word

[@charles2521]

Atenism may have been more influential, but Shangdi of the Shang dynasty was the first.

[@cejann3926]

@@charles2521 Thanks didn't know about Shangdi. He/ it seems to be both a ruling God over other Gods and Heaven "Shangdi seems to have ruled a hierarchy of other gods controlling nature, as well as the spirits of the deceased.[8] [8] Zhao, Yanxia. Chinese Religion: A Contextual Approach. 2010. p. 154

[@Mortismors]

The modern Devil is a multi fusion of several deified legends. Samyaza/Shemihaza (Watcher and also a Cherub meaning child) is fused with his son Iblis/Utu the Adversary (Satan) of the book of Job (Lord of the World). They have been confused with and fused with Tectauus (the horned lord of the earth) who was fused with his father Perses (The Bull of Heaven). This weird mix of two fathers and sons has then been conflated with Sammael the Archangel (Spirit of the World) who has since lost his place among the Archangels in people's minds and hearts. In the first book of Enoch he was an Archangel and Sahriel was only a Watcher. In all later books Sahriel takes Sammael's place as Archangel.

[@CJ_102]

Love your content, thank you.

[@baronesselsavonfreytag-lor1134]

Always interesting to hear about Akhenaten ❤️

[@CartoonHero1986]

Wait Akhenaten erased the name of his father from his own tomb? Wasn't that one of the highest acts of heresy and desecration a person could carry out on another in Ancient Egypt? I thought their idea of the afterlife required the preservation of your name in the living world, and to remove someone's name from a tomb and other sites intended to record their name essentially erases them from Aaru as well. I know typically if a person wanted to get revenge on someone after they died this was often how they carried it out destroy their name and remove it from all of the spells and incantations engraved on their tomb/burial site, though as with all Egyptian practices it was double edged; since the three statements that must be made and be true in the Duat to get to Aaru are "I have not lied, I have not stolen, I have not killed" if the judges find any of these are not true you get to spend the afterlife with Ammit in the Duat. Desecrating a tomb could be seen as a violation of all three statements; lying cause you lied about the other statements, stealing because you've taken their property (even if you didn't take it for yourself you're taking the resting place of the Earthly Body away from them), and you also killed since you're destroying a part of the person that is supposed to be eternal. Though I also know Egyptian Afterlife seemed like the ultimate day in court and many of the inscriptions in tombs include provisos to the process of the Duat and judgement of the soul. I know in one tomb they have found evidence of one family member stealing the tomb from another (had the other family member removed, took their name of the tomb, and made it their own tomb) and to avoid paying for their in the Duat they added a line to the inscription of the list of what are essentially the jurors in the afterlife judgement he included himself (literally wrote 'and myself' into the inscription) as his Wild Card to protect himself from eternal consequences he might face for stealing the tomb.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Which means that a rather inconsequential and minor pharaoh has become the most powerful in the afterlife by now, simply because we got so much of him.

[@Mortismors]

Doubtful he was practicing ancestor worship if he defaced his father's tomb.

[@CartoonHero1986]

@@Mortismors Fair point

[@dirremoire]

Remember earlier when he said a king had five names? Akhenaten only erased one of them .

[@CartoonHero1986]

@@dirremoire That is a really good point.

[@maxjohn6012]

Totally fascinating! It could be the basis for an excellent, if necessarily imaginative, historical film. I wonder if you've ever considered doing guided vacation / tour type events. While watching this, I was thinking about how interesting it would be to visit these places, but it occurred to me first that the quality of the experience would be dependent on the quality of the guide, and secondly that you'd be absolutely excellent as a guide. I then remembered that Mike Duncan, who did the History of Rome and then the Revolutions podcasts, organised and hosted vacation / tour type events for his audience, visiting locations critical to things he was discussing on his podcast. It'd be a huge load of work, but might be incredibly rewarding for you (and make you some money), while also being invaluable and very popular among your audience!

[@alihoseinpour5836]

There is a series on this

[@jimlarsen9908]

Worth a watch just for all the beautiful pictures

[@insulaarachnid]

Interesting video, thank you.

[@techwiz81]

A video about how religious belief worked in the ancient world would be interesting, specifically how seriously people believed it. The idea of the pharaoh just saying “we’re worshipping this other god now” and people being really into it seems strange. If the pope announced “we’re not worshipping Jesus anymore, our main god is Joe now” people would lose it. Modern Christians generally believe they have a personal relationship with god/Jesus, believe god I’d 100% real and they can speak to him directly. It seems like Egyptians must not have had the same understanding of their gods based on how readily they switched who they worshipped.

[@rahimi4762]

They had war and lost their lives. Always happens. Jesus was name of a slave ship. Not if the real god. Babylon religion is meant to enslave

[@rahimi4762]

Think about black Americans. It was beaten into us. It had to be a war of some kind. Some did fight for old traditions

[@alyseleem2692]

My answer would be, no. Three reasons: 1. The Apis cult was alive and well during Akhenaten's reign, likely due it's association with the Sun and royalty. A status symbol, essentially. 2. More importantly, Akhenaten forbade direct prayer to the Aten, instead demanding that his followers pray to him( and his family) so that he may carry their prayers to his " father", the Aten. This was also why he destroyed the priesthood; he was to be the only intermediary between man and the divine in the nation. In essence, he declared himself and his family a new pantheon. Not strange for a Pharaoh, but there are limits. 3. His father called himself " the Living Aten" in his dying years. In other words, Akhenaten's entire idea is an extension of his father's own cult, now covering the entire royal family and deifying his father into a being beyond mortal comprehension, only reachable by members of his family.

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

I'll give an extra 👍 for the variety of shows available on Nebula. :)

[@ZombieDragQueen]

19:28 Shout out to the old days when press blurbs were on the front cover instead of the back. It's how you avoid fingerprints from people and keep the book in mint condition. You don't have to pick it up and look at the back cover for more info. Everything you want to know is right there on the front cover. I bet the introduction was printed on the dust jacket flaps so potential buyers wouldn't need to browse through the book, thus avoiding more wear and tear.

[@JoeRivermanSongwriter]

I think he was onto something.

[@jbghumanjr]

I know most disagree but I'd love to see us "rebuild" all of Egypt to where all is as it was. Same with Rome, Greece, India, etc. These historic locations would be amazing to see in their prime. I get the history of them but.... if we fix them according to how they we're built, it'd be more like "Restoring" history vs destroying it. Esp with leaving the current structures and simply building up on them, etc. It'd be so rad to see .

[@kevinmilner2072]

the more recent assassin's creed games do a pretty good job of this. You actually get to go to an afterlife version akhenaten's capital in one of the DLCs.

[@luislozano6073]

im so glad you have grown soo mcuh

[@robbabcock_]

Fascinating stuff!

[@mariagandcompany]

The Old Testament places Joseph in Egypt at around 1590 BC and Moses in Egypt around 1390 BC. Surely monotheism (as a concept) was in Egypt well before Akhenaten? Am I missing something?

[@rahimi4762]

You exposing the lies of the church

[@Oldsmobile69]

Space-Jesus and Space-Moses is finally joined by Space-Akhenaten!

[@jonunciate7018]

I learned a new type of theism today... or rather the terminology for something I already knew existed but didn't realize there was a word for.

[@St-uk]

Wonderful Video, I was always curious where Akhenaten's ideas grow out of. Thank you for such an insightful video. Am wondering where is that image of Re-horakhty from?

[@choptop81]

The idea that he associated the Aten with being the deified version of his dead father and Atenism was more like an exclusive personality cult for him and his family (as opposed to the less exclusive personality cults for the other pharaohs) seems rather likely to me

[@alyseleem2692]

Exactly. The guy forbade prayer to the Aten under the pretense people must pray to him and missus so that they may tell daddy Aten about the people's woes. It was a personality cult per the extreme. You gotta wonder just how much of a good father Amenhotep III was, because there has to be a reason his son was so crazy about him!

[@eomguel9017]

I think that the conflicting evidence about the coexistence of the worship ot Aten with that of other deities is not such a difficult thing to explain. They key word being used here is 'accepted,' like when you said that other gods were accepted; I'd rather say that they were 'tolerated,' a benefit that Amun didn't share because of the preeminence and power its priestly class had amassed. In order to maintain control of the elites, Akhenaten could've enforced the erasure of Amun and the conversion (at least in public) of his inner circle and the wider ruling class, but he could not enforce the conversion of the whole Egyptian folk, many of whom might have turned instead to worshipping other traditional gods they were more familiar with and that the new regime in effect tolerated, so long as they didn't pose a threat to the new established order. That said, I surely do see Atenism as an early form of henotheism on its way to becoming monotheism, except it didn't have enough time to get there.

[@cejann3926]

I think he and Nefertiti established the only monotheistic religion. He destroyed temples that's basically it, he also called his God the sole and only. So there's no doubt based on the evidence that he was a monotheist. I agree it took time, just like Christianity and Judaism took time to become "monotheistic" but still have the devil, saints, demons etc. If our religions are considered monotheistic so was and should his and Nefertiti's

[@mirbear72]

Love your channel 👏

[@richarddavis7216]

Wow. Great content.

[@OscarOliverah]

Sinuhe The Egiptian. A great novel where I've learn this years ago.

[@kevinforbesofficial]

the absolute worst take I ever saw on Akhenaten was an old Silver Age Hollywood film called The Egyptian, that for whatever reason decided to reimagine him as basically a Bible character.

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

7: 36. Being a builder, I notice the tradition of speech saying a ruler "built" a monument or other huge artifice. He (they) likely didn't raise a finger of the actual building of it, but ordered the builders to do so. And he missed out on a good adventure.

[@leomilani_gtr]

9:35 the passage from iconic to aniconic gods or at least the different represenyations of gods would be a great episode!!

[@angesystem23]

I am a kemetic polytheist so i worship the egyptian gods to the best of my understanding (based off of archaelogical evidence) so I always feel a little bitter about this guy 😂 regardless it's fascinating, historically. I have to wonder what average people thought when he shifted to this. I know there's some kind of inscription from a priest mourning the lack of worship for the old gods. Speaking of which, I would love a video about the worship of everyday people in Egypt. It's criminally underexplored.

[@ZeroGravityFuneral]

There’s literally no need to be bitter because most of his “revolutionary” ideas were already a thing before him in the new solar theology which also was anti polytheistic(moving towards pantheistic understandings of Amun) Also he didn’t tell you that you can’t worship whatever god you want so there’s no reason to be bitter by default

[@angesystem23]

@matthewbennett75 oh no I know it's silly! It's not actual bitterness lol, after all he's just a dead guy now. He did deface depictions of Amun though, which would've been super sacrilegious at the time as the depictions of Gods, their names etc were in some sense the manifestations of those Gods. In the end it didn't really matter because Amun came back of course, but I think he really really wanted people to get into Aten worship to have done that. Edit: thanks though, you make a good point about the direction of Amun's worship!

[@americaeaustraliaepius4338]

@@ZeroGravityFuneral Besides the deliberate disecration of stuff dedicated to Amun, yes.

[@av-gb5cp]

Wow, I didn't know it had believers to this day. Mind explaining what it's like?

[@angesystem23]

@av-gb5cp the modern pagan community is full of people trying to revive ancient religions--it hasn't been practiced continuously mind you, we try to reconstruct the religion as best we can using archeological evidence. But most of the modern pagan community has love for the gods at the center of their practice. Many feel like the gods reached out to us first.

[@MeteOguc]

If only there was an appropriate political climate so that he had transferred his power to his heir, as well, there would probably have been a complete transition to monotheism within a few generations. I did not know the influence of his relationship and the heritage he got from his father. That explains a lot. It is very similar to the Roman Imperial Cult era in that sense.

[@stevenzapiler5806]

The "monotheists" had to leave Amarna when Horehemb closed it down. They left in 1313 BCE and headed north and west. They had to hide from Egypt and later Merneptah tried to locate them and either covered for them or didn't find them.

[@MeteOguc]

@@stevenzapiler5806 I meant the conversion of the state politics. I agree that it did not stop there.

[@fiolettbjorn7461]

Woohoo! New RFB video! And it is def a good one.

[@fiolettbjorn7461]

There's no way they could just ban Osiris outright. Although, I'd wager the Atenists wanted to.

[@sneil18]

great video!! would you ever consider doing a video on pantheism?

[@danielchand944]

I love Akhenaten! He invited monotheism -- and the beer belly.

[@shadbakht]

Aten and its disc (or rays) is akin to how Baha'is view Lahut (God-the knowable or the _One Manifestation of God_ or Logos) and Jabarut (the manifestations/messengers of God when manifested in the material realm).

[@urbanhunter001]

Excellent!!! Literally had this for breakfast, lol.

[@Pooneil1984]

Very timely in that I saw the Met stream of Philip Glass' opera Akhenaton last night. It must be a great and terrible thing to believe yourself to be the one and only son of god.

[@capricciocrypto]

I'm only familiar with Akhnaten and Satyagraha from the portrait trilogy, but I think the portrait trilogy's entire concept is a great way to connect with both distant and recent revolutionary thinkers and their impact on the present.

[@Pooneil1984]

​@@capricciocrypto Satyagraha and Akhnaten both started me into learning about the historical figures at the center of each opera. As with all theater, there is some amount of simplification and transposition to connect the actual history in an artwork relevant to a modern audience. That in turn teaches about how theater is created. I'll watch either of those operas any time.I have had the good fortune to see three different productions of Akhnaten.

[@mrelephant2283]

It's wild that there was a period of time where the head of state could just say "God(s) is this now" and then God(s) was that now

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

Or "Let's just go ahead and build a new city and then move there".

[@varana]

@@garanceadrosehn9691 We're still doing this. In Egypt right now, the regime is building a new city a bit away from Cairo (still with a placeholder name of "New Administrative Capital") and is planning to move the seat of government there in the next years. But there's also cities like Brasilia or Canberra or, for that matter, Washington D.C. which where founded in a similar manner.

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

@@varana - I'm thinking more along the lines of *One* guy said "Let's build a new city", and he was able to move government into that city just a few years later.

[@iannewton3820]

@ReligionForBreakfast do you know of a site that has the primary sources relevant to Akhenaten's reign?

[@WilliamTheDestroyer.]

This is excellent information! We are observing the root history of the Abrahamic religions and Kabbalah.

[@RollinsFN]

Huh, funny enough the Pharaoh character from Yugioh is called "Atem", do you think Aten was the inspiration for this? Or could it be referencing a different God or Pharaoh?

[@CKNate1]

I imagine him like Hezekiah or Josiah just much earlier. And less successful. It seems the attempt to impose worship of one god started and failed several times. The bible shows this too I think, with repeated reforms/attempts to stamp out polytheism, only to have the pillars and sacred poles erected again a generation later.

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

Very interesting!

[@carlossolarempyr8578]

Super fascinating. any books reccomendations for a newcomer interested in learning more about ancient egypt/ancient egyptian religion?

[@GordonLonghouse]

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson is a good readable survey of ancient Egyptian history.

[@annalisette5897]

If we follow this video with Dr. Robert Sapolsky's lecture on schizophrenia (Stanford University YT channel), we might have some new theories about Akhenaten and his father Amenhotep III. Dr. Sapolsky theorizes that schizophrenia has not been bred out of humanity because a lesser amount of genes for the disorder produces schizotypal personalities. These people have been revered shamans, priests and visionaries in tribes, groups and civilizations. Might Akhenaten and his biological father have been schizotypal? That could explain a lot!