Akhenaten, Moses & Monotheism

Akhenaten was not, as is often said, a radical advocating a different religion, but rather a primitivist: that is, one who reaches back to a golden age. This lecture suggests that Akhenaten was a genuine convert to the worship of Aten, the sole creator God, based on the Pharaoh’s own testimony of a theophany, a divine encounter that launched his monotheistic religious odyssey. Thus this religious revolution presents something new that is rooted in something old. Akhenaten’s inspiration was the Old Kingdom (2650-2400 BCE), the great pyramid age, when the sun-god Re/Atum ruled as the unrivaled head of the Egyptian pantheon. Through a careful reading of key texts, artworks, and archaeological studies, this presentation also explores the Atenist religion’s possible relationship to Israel’s religion, offering a close comparison of the hymn to the Aten to Psalm 104. This lecture is based on the new book Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism (Oxford University Press, 2015). This was part of the Biblical Excavations DVD.