https://www.ancient-origins.net/history ... sOO_UGMK0c
In the history of Ancient Egypt, Akhenaten occupies a very special place. Of all the pharaohs over the many centuries, he was by far the most controversial one. His radical policies, major religious reforms, and social changes, all caused a lot of instability in the Ancient Egyptian state. His reign and the changes he put through were one of the major turbulences in the entire timeline of this ancient civilization, and arguably caused a spiraling and slow downfall that could not be remedied by his successors. One of the major changes Akhenaten introduced was in art. Sculptures, carvings, and paintings from his reign are all markedly different from the usual Egyptian fare. Human features were accentuated to impossible and odd proportions, and some pieces look outright alien. This has caused a lot of unique theories to spring up over time. But what was the actual reason the odd art pieces propagated by Akhenaten?
A colossal statue of Akhenaten from his Aten Temple at Karnak on display in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. ( CC BY-SA 2.5 )
Akhenaten and His Controversial Reign
We can understand a lot about Akhenaten’s controversial reign by just observing his origins. He was a son of Pharaoh Amenhotep III . The reign of this exalted ruler was marked as a period of unparalleled prosperity in Ancient Egypt. Amenhotep III reigned from circa 1388 to 1351 BC as the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty . During this time arts, culture, architecture, and international power within Ancient Egypt were at their absolute zenith. To that end, we can understand that Amenhotep III’s son, the future Akhenaten, was born and raised in relative peace, prosperity, and abundance. In fact, in Akhenaten’s life there were little to no hardships that would toughen up and shape a future ruler. Could it be that much of his questionable future stems from such an idyllic background?
Upon the death of his father Amenhotep III, and his older brother Thutmose, young Akhenaten became the tenth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Akhenaten was not his original name: at birth and ascension to the throne, he was named Amenhotep IV. But after the fifth year of his reign, around the time when he began introducing his odd policies, he adopted the name Akhenaten, meaning “Effective for the Aten.”
This famous (or infamous) pharaoh is best known for his radical and revolutionary changes to the traditional Ancient Egyptian polytheistic religion . Initially in his reign, he followed the established traditions that were followed by his father also. But after that fateful fifth year into his rule, young Amenhotep IV underwent a major transformation. He officially changed his name to Akhenaten, and became a devotee of the cult of Aten, changing his allegiance from the cult of Amun . And over the following twelve years, he caused a major ruckus across the Egyptian state. And he became known as the “Heretic Pharaoh” by instigating major changes in Egyptian religion and art.
Aten: The Living Incarnation of the Sun Itself
First, a word or two about Aten. In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Aten was the great disc of the Sun, initially another aspect of the God Ra . The symbol of Aten was the Sun disc and its radiating rays of light. In many ways, Aten could be considered as the Sun, personified.
In Akhenaten’s time, Aten, the Sun Disc, was not new. It had existed for centuries and was a small and lesser-known religious cult god, like many others. The major religious deity of Akhenaten’s time, however, was that of God Amun . The cult of Amun was a major religious (and political) player within Ancient Egypt. The powerful priests of Amun held a lot of power in the state, and at its peak (during the reign of Amenhotep III), the cult of Amun owned more land than the pharaoh himself. And by the time Akhenaten came to the throne, the priests of Amun were almost on an equal standing with the pharaoh, in terms of wealth and influence.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mo ... ury%20bce.
Moses, Hebrew Moshe, (flourished 14th–13th century BCE), Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader who, in the 13th century BCE (before the Common Era, or BC), delivered his people from Egyptian slavery. In the Covenant ceremony at Mt. Sinai, where the Ten Commandments were promulgated, he founded the religious community known as Israel. As the interpreter of these Covenant stipulations, he was the organizer of the community’s religious and civil traditions. In the Judaic tradition, he is revered as the greatest prophet and teacher, and Judaism has sometimes loosely been called Mosaism, or the Mosaic faith, in Western Christendom. His influence continues to be felt in the religious life, moral concerns, and social ethics of Western civilization, and therein lies his undying significance.
The historical problem
Historical views of Moses
Few historical figures have engendered such disparate interpretations as has Moses. Early Jewish and Christian traditions considered him the author of the Torah (“Law,” or “Teaching”), also called the Pentateuch (“Five Books”), comprising the first five books of the Bible, and some conservative groups still believe in Mosaic authorship.
Opposing this is the theory of the German scholar Martin Noth, who, while granting that Moses may have had something to do with the preparations for the conquest of Canaan, was very skeptical of the roles attributed to him by tradition. Although recognizing a historical core beneath the Exodus and Sinai traditions, Noth believed that two different groups experienced these events and transmitted the stories independently of each other. He contended that the biblical story tracing the Hebrews from Egypt to Canaan resulted from an editor’s weaving separate themes and traditions around a main character Moses, actually an obscure person from Moab.
This article, following the lead of the biblical archaeologist and historian W.F. Albright, presents a point of view that falls somewhere between these two extremes. While the essence of the biblical story (narrated between Exodus 1:8 and Deuteronomy 34:12) is accepted, it is recognized that, during the centuries of oral and written transmission, the account acquired layers of accretions. The reconstruction of the documentary sources of the Pentateuch by literary critics is considered valid, but the sources are viewed as varying versions of one series of events (see biblical literature: The Torah [Law, Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses]). Other critical methods (studying the biblical text from the standpoint of literary form, oral tradition, style, redaction, and archaeology) are equally valid. The most accurate answer to a critical problem is therefore likely to come from the convergence of various lines of evidence. The aid of critical scholarship notwithstanding, the sources are so sketchy that the man Moses can be portrayed only in broad outline.
The date of Moses
According to the biblical account, Moses’ parents were from the tribe of Levi, one of the groups in Egypt called Hebrews. Originally the term Hebrew had nothing to do with race or ethnic origin. It derived from Habiru, a variant spelling of Ḫapiru (Apiru), a designation of a class of people who made their living by hiring themselves out for various services. The biblical Hebrews had been in Egypt for generations, but apparently they became a threat, so one of the pharaohs enslaved them. Unfortunately, the personal name of the king is not given, and scholars have disagreed as to his identity and, hence, as to the date of the events of the narrative of Moses.
One theory takes literally the statement in I Kings 6:1 that the Exodus from Egypt occurred 480 years before Solomon began building the Temple in Jerusalem. This occurred in the fourth year of his reign, about 960 BCE; therefore, the Exodus would date about 1440 BCE.
This conclusion, however, is at variance with most of the biblical and archaeological evidence. The storage cities Pitḥom and Rameses, built for the pharaoh by the Hebrews, were located in the northeastern part of the Egyptian delta, not far from Goshen, the district in which the Hebrews lived. It is implicit in the whole story that the pharaoh’s palace and capital were in the area, but Thutmose III (the pharaoh in 1440) had his capital at Thebes, far to the south, and never conducted major building operations in the delta region. Moreover, Edom and Moab, petty kingdoms in Transjordan that forced Moses to circle east of them, were not yet settled and organized.
Finally, as excavations have shown, the destruction of the cities the Hebrews claimed to have captured occurred about 1250, not 1400.
Inasmuch as tradition figured about 12 generations from Moses to Solomon, the reference to 480 years is most likely an editorial comment allowing 40 years for each generation.
Since an actual generation was nearer 25 years, the most probable date for the Exodus is about 1290 BCE. If this is true, then the oppressive pharaoh noted in Exodus (1:2–2:23) was Seti I (reigned 1318–04), and the pharaoh during the Exodus was Ramses II (c. 1304–c. 1237). In short, Moses was probably born in the late 14th century BCE.
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Nineteenth Dynasty 1295 – 1186 BC
Seti I’s reign looked for its model to the mid-18th dynasty and was a time of considerable prosperity. He restored countless monuments. His temple at Abydos exhibits some of the finest carved wall reliefs. His son Rameses II is the major figure of the dynasty. Around this time the Hittites had become a dominant Asiatic power. An uneasy balance of power developed between the two kingdoms, which was punctuated by wars and treaties.
By now Egypt was an ethnically pluralistic society and this is reflected in a diversity of artistic expression. Unfortunately the tide of history was turning and Rameses son, Merenptah had to struggle to maintain Egypt’s prestige.
Rameses I 1295-1294
Seti I 1294-1279
Rameses II 1279-1213
Merenptah 1213-1203
Amenmessu 1203-1200
Sety II 1200-1194
Saptah 1194-1188
Tausret 1188-1186
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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/cult ... nished-god
The Egyptian king is the principal villain of the Exodus story. Unlike the pharaoh who knew Joseph, the pharaoh of Moses is cruel and vindictive. When Moses asks him to release the Israelites, Pharaoh makes the slaves work harder, depriving them of straw to make sun-dried mud bricks, even though the daily quota of finished bricks must remain the same (Exodus 5:7-8).
The identity of Pharaoh in the Moses story has been much debated, but many scholars are inclined to accept that Exodus has King Ramses II in mind. The Bible confirms that the Israelites were to build “supply cities, Pithom and Ramses, for Pharaoh.” Egyptian records confirm that the kings of the 19th dynasty (ca 1293–1185 B.C.E.) launched a major military program in the Levant. As part of this effort, King Seti I (ca 1290–1279 B.C.E.) built a new garrison city, which his successor, Ramses II (ca 1279– 1213 B.C.E.), later called Pi-Ramesses. Ramses II also built a second city dedicated to his personal patron, Atum, called Per Atum. These two cities are quite possibly the biblical Ramses and Pithom.
Read how female pharaohs ruled ancient Egypt.
The Egyptian origin of the story is also emphasized by the name of “Moses.” The Book of Exodus says that his name is derived from the Hebrew verb moshe, which means “to draw out.” However, mose or moses is also a very common Egyptian patronymic, as in Tutmoses, meaning “son of Tut.”
Finally, the very first reference to “Israel” appears on the Victory Stela of Pharaoh Merneptah, one of Ramses’ sons. This monument is dated around 1207 B.C.E., which suggests that the Exodus story must be set in a time period prior to the reign of Merneptah, possibly between 1280 and 1220 B.C.E. No record of the exodus has been found in any Egyptian tablets, but that is not unusual; the new dynasty did not make a habit of recording its defeats. On the other hand, there are ample records of Semitic immigrant workers in Egypt, who may have drifted back to Syria-Canaan in the 13th century for a variety of reasons—including, perhaps, Ramses’ harsh policies of conscripting labor.
Years and deeds of Moses
The formative years
One of the measures taken by the Egyptians to restrict the growth of the Hebrews was to order the death of all newborn Hebrew males. According to tradition, Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed (whose other children were Aaron and Miriam), hid him for three months and then set him afloat on the Nile in a reed basket daubed with pitch. The child, found by the pharaoh’s daughter while bathing, was reared in the Egyptian court. While many doubt the authenticity of this tradition, the name Moses (Hebrew Moshe) is derived from Egyptian mose (“is born”) and is found in such names as Thutmose ([The God] Thoth Is Born). Originally, it is inferred, Moses’ name was longer, but the deity’s name was dropped. This could have happened when Moses returned to his people or possibly even earlier, because the shortened form Mose was very popular at that time.
Moses’ years in the court are passed over in silence, but it is evident from his accomplishments later that he had instruction in religious, civil, and military matters. Since Egypt controlled Canaan (Palestine) and part of Syria and had contacts with other nations of the Fertile Crescent, Moses undoubtedly had general knowledge of life in the ancient Near East. During his education he learned somehow that he was a Hebrew, and his sense of concern and curiosity impelled him to visit his people. According to the biblical narrative, Moses lived 120 years and was 80 when he confronted Pharaoh, but there is no indication how old he was when he went to see the Hebrews. Later Jewish and Christian tradition assumed 40-year periods for his stay in the Egyptian court, his sojourn in Midian, and his wilderness wanderings.
Most likely Moses was about 25 when he took the inspection tour among his people. There he saw the oppressive measures under which they laboured. When he found an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew, probably to death, he could control his sense of justice no longer. After checking to make sure that no one was in sight, he killed the tough Egyptian overlord. As a prince in the court, Moses was probably in excellent physical condition, and apparently he knew the latest methods of combat.
The flush of victory pulled Moses back the next day. He had removed one threat to his people and was determined to assist them again. This time, however, he found two Hebrews fighting. After parting them, he questioned the offender in an attempt to mediate the disagreement. Two questions jolted him: “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” The confidence of the self-appointed deliverer turned into fear. One of his own knew his “secret” and soon Pharaoh would, too. Realizing that he would have to flee, he went to Midian (mainly in northwest Arabia).
Moses in Midian
In noting the flight to Midian the narrative says nothing of the difficulties involved. Like Sinuhe, the Egyptian court official whose flight in about 1960 BCE was narrated in a famous story, Moses undoubtedly had to filter through the “Wall of the Ruler,” a series of forts at the eastern border, approximately where the Suez Canal is now located. From there he made his way southeast through very desolate country. Unfortunately, the Bible does not specify the part of Midian in which Moses resided. Midian proper was east of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the northern section of Hejaz in Arabia, but there is evidence that some of the Midianite clans crossed over the Arabah (the great valley south of the Dead Sea) and settled in the eastern and southern sections of the Sinai Peninsula.
While Moses was resting at a well, according to the biblical account, seven daughters of the Midianite priest Jethro came to water their father’s flocks. Other shepherds arrived and drove the girls away in order to water their own flocks. Again Moses showed his courage and prowess as a warrior because he took on the shepherds (perhaps with the girls’ help) and routed them. Moses stayed on with Jethro and eventually married Zipporah, one of the daughters. In assuming the responsibility for Jethro’s flocks, Moses roamed the wilderness looking for pasture.
One day at the base of a mountain, his attention was attracted by a flaming bush, but, oddly, it was not consumed. He had seen bushes brilliant with flamelike blossoms, but this phenomenon was different, and so he turned aside to investigate it. Before he could do so, he was warned to come no closer. Then he was ordered to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground.
Regardless of how one interprets the burning bush, the important fact is that Moses was conscious of an encounter with Deity. This God, who claimed to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was calling him to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt. Although on his own he had previously been zealous to help his own people, now that he was being commissioned to deliver them he expressed doubt concerning his qualifications. The underlying reason was probably fear—he had fled from Seti I, and he did not relish confrontation with Ramses II. God reassured Moses that in the future he and the Hebrews would worship at this mountain. Then Moses asked to know the name of the Deity commissioning him. The God of the fathers had been known mostly as El ʿElyon (God Most High) or El Shaddai (God of the Mountain or Almighty God), but he identified himself to Moses as Yahweh and gave instructions that he was to be called by his new name from then on. As the causative form of the verb “to be,” Yahweh means He Who Creates (Brings Into Being). This revelation enabled Moses to understand the God of the Hebrews as the sovereign Lord over nature and the nations of the world.
Even after further assurances, Moses was still reluctant to accept Yahweh’s call; therefore, he pleaded for release because he was a stammerer. Yahweh acknowledged the defect but promised to help him express himself. Awed by his assignment, Moses made a final desperate plea, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person.” Although angry at Moses, Yahweh would not yield. Moses would still be Yahweh’s representative, but his golden-tongued brother Aaron would be the spokesman. Apparently Moses was ready to play the role of God to Pharaoh providing Aaron would serve as his prophet. He returned to Jethro and requested permission to visit his people in Egypt, but he did not disclose that he had been commissioned by Yahweh.
Moses and Pharaoh
Ramses II became king as a teenager and reigned for 67 years. He aspired to defeat the Hittites and control all of Syria, but in the fifth year of his reign Ramses walked into a Hittite trap laid for him at Kadesh, on the Orontes River in Syria. By sheer determination he fought his way out, but in the light of his purpose the battle was an utter failure. Yet Ramses, like all the pharaohs, claimed to be divine; therefore, the defeat had to be interpreted as a marvellous victory in which he alone subdued the Hittites. His wounded ego expressed itself in massive building operations throughout Egypt, and before his reign ended the boast of his success literally filled acres of wall space.
It was probably only a few years after the Kadesh incident that Moses and Aaron confronted Ramses with their demand, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go.’ ” As a god in human form Ramses was not accustomed to taking orders from lesser gods, let alone an unknown like Yahweh. “Who is the Lord,” he inquired, “that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.” Thus the stage was set for a long struggle between a distrustful ruler with an outsize ego and a prophet with a new understanding of Yahweh and his power.
Ramses increased the oppression of the Hebrews by the fiendish plan of requiring them to gather the straw binder for the bricks and still produce the same quota each day. Some of the Hebrews rebuffed Moses, and in frustration he asked Yahweh, “Why didst thou ever send me?” Moses’ doubt was allayed by Yahweh’s promise to take action against Pharaoh. Scholars differ widely concerning the narrative about the plagues. Some claim that three sources have been combined, but more recent scholarship finds only the two traditions. While granting that some of the plagues had a core of historicity, older critics tended to discount the present accounts as fantastic stories with pious decorations. A recent school of research suggests that, notwithstanding some later additions, all the plagues probably had a historical core.
The basic cause, according to one interpretation, was an unusually high flooding of the Nile. The White Nile originates in the lake region of east central Africa, known today as Uganda. The flow is fairly even throughout the year because of consistent equatorial rains. The Blue Nile, on the other hand, originates in the headwaters of the Ethiopian highlands, and it varies from a small stream to a raging torrent. At the time Moses was bargaining with Ramses, excessively heavy summer rains in Ethiopia washed powdery, carmine-red soil from the slopes of the hills. Around the Lake Tana region the blood-red torrent picked up bright red algae (known as flagellates) and their bacteria. Since there were no dams at that time, the Nile flowed blood-red all the way to the Mediterranean. It probably reached the delta region in August. Thus, this rare natural event, it is held, set in motion a series of conditions that continued until the following March.
During these months Moses used the plagues of the frogs, gnats, mosquitoes, cattle murrain, boils, hail, locusts, and thick darkness to increase the pressure on Ramses. At first the King was adamant. The Hebrews were not the only disgruntled slaves, and, if he agreed to let them go, then other groups would want the same privilege. To protect his building program, he had to suppress the slave rebellion at its outset. Yet he could not discount the effect of the plagues, and grudgingly he began to acknowledge Yahweh’s power. As an expedient attempt to restore order, he offered to let the Hebrews sacrifice in Goshen. When this failed, he suggested that they make offerings to Yahweh at the edge of the Egyptian border. Moses, however, insisted on a three-day journey into the wilderness. Pharaoh countered by allowing the Hebrew men to make the journey, but this, too, was rejected. As his final offer Pharaoh agreed to let the people go. He would keep the livestock, however, as the guarantee of their return. Moses spurned the condition, and in anger Pharaoh drove him out. After nine rounds with Pharaoh it appeared that the deliverance of the Hebrews was no nearer, but, in contrast to his earlier periods of doubt and frustration, Moses showed no despair. Apparently he had an inner assurance that Pharaoh would not have the last word.
