Recursos Financieros

Many writers have striven to show Atenism, the philosophy of Akhenaton, as a new innovation, as separate and deviant from the rest of Ancient Egyptian mythology and philosophy. However, upon closer examination, the philosophy of Atonism is quite closely related to Anunian Theology. This is because they had the same common origins and any differences are of degrees of expressing a particular aspect of theology over others at a given time. There are no fundamental differences between Atonism and other religious traditions of Ancient Egypt. The teachings presented in the Hymn to Ra will be noticeably similar to those in the Hymns to Aton (Above). Further, their similarity with the Vedic and Hindu solar conceptions will become evident.

The Hymns to Aton and Their Philosophical Principles

When the hymns to Aton and Ra are compared closely it is discovered that they are both referring to the same divinity. A better way of understanding this is that the worship of Aton was actually the worship of Ra in a more ancient form, highlighting certain features or attributes of Ra in the form of Herakhti. This understanding of course helps us to realize that what on the surface appears to be a disparity or deviation in the practice of Ancient Egyptian religion is actually quite in keeping with the tradition, as the worship of the divine in its various forms was part of the tradition since the earliest times.

Hymns to Aton by Akhenaton

A- The fish in the river swim towards thy face, thy beams are in the depths of the Great Green (i.e., the Mediterranean and Red Seas). The earth becometh light, thou shootest up in the horizon, shining in the Aten in the day, thou scatterest the darkness.

Explanation: Philosophical Principle

A-From time immemorial God was worshipped as the Sun in Ancient Egypt. This has prompted many scholars in ancient and modern times, ignorant of the metaphorical symbolism, to refer to their worship as idolatry. This verse shows that God is seen as the principle operating through the sun and not the sun itself.

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B- Thou makest offspring to take form in women, creating seed in men. Thou makest the son to live in the womb of his mother, making him to be quiet that he crieth not, thou art a nurse in the womb, giving breath to vivify that which he hath made.

Explanation: Philosophical Principle

B- God is not only the Creator of human life but also the very Life Force that sustains it. Worldly people would see the mother as sustaining the baby in the womb. Akhenaton affirms the higher source of sustenance i.e. God. The exact word used is “vivify.” God is therefore not remote but intimately involved with Creation.

C- [When] he droppeth from the womb on the day of his birth [he] openeth his mouth in the [ordinary] manner, thou providest his sustenance…The young bird in the egg speaketh in the shell, thou givest breath to him inside it to make him to live. Thou makest for him his mature form so that he can crack the shell [being] inside the egg. He cometh forth from the egg, he chirpeth with all his might, when he hath come forth from it (the egg), he walketh on his two feet.

Explanation: Philosophical Principle

C- The philosophy of “breath” or breath of life has a very important teaching behind it. Breath relates to the Life Force energy, which vivifies everything. The force is subtle and thus interpenetrates all creation, thereby enlivening and sustaining it from within, much like the later Holy Spirit of the Bible. There is a recognition here that it is this same force, which causes vegetation and human life to grow and thrive.

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D- One God, like whom there is no other. Thou didst create the earth by thy heart (or will), thou alone existing, men and women, cattle, beasts of every kind that are upon the earth, and that move upon feet (or legs), all the creatures that are in the sky and that fly with their wings, [and] the deserts of Syria and Kush (Nubia), and the Land of Egypt.

Explanation: Philosophical Principle

D- This important verse brings forth the understanding that there is a Supreme Being above the gods and goddesses. God caused all to come into being by his will and is not just the Creator of what exists (nature, living beings etc.) but that God and Creation are indeed one and the same, “alone existing” in the form of or manifesting as animals, people of all lands, etc.

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E- Thou settest every person in his place. Thou providest their daily food, every man having the portion allotted to him; [thou] dost compute the duration of his life. Their tongues are different in speech, their characteristics (or forms), and likewise their skins (in color), giving distinguishing marks to the dwellers in foreign lands… Thou makest the life of all remote lands. Explanation: Philosophical Principle

E- God has Created all peoples, all nations and countries and has appointed each person’s country of residence, language and even their ethnicity and physical appearance or features. So all people, including those of foreign lands, have the same Creator and owe their continued existence to the same Divine Being.

______________ F- Oh thou Lord of every land, thou shinest upon them…

Explanation: Philosophical Principle

F- In no uncertain terms, there is one God (Lord) who is the Supreme Being of all countries. ______________

G- Thou hast made millions of creations from thy One self (viz.) towns and cities, villages, fields, roads and river. Every eye (i.e., all men) beholdeth thee confronting it. Thou art the Aton of the day at its zenith.

G- God manifests as and in countless forms, indeed, everything that exists, including life forms but also inanimate objects as well. Thus, when a person uses their senses and perceives objects, they are in reality perceiving God who is manifesting as Creation. This realization indicates the attainment of the highest goals of spiritual realization. This attainment is also known as non-dual vision, seeing God everywhere without separation between Creation and Divinity or the soul from God. This is of course the same teaching given by Jesus in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas from Egypt where he asserts that “The Kingdom is spread upon the earth but people do not see it!”