The more I learn about Egyptian mythology, and Akhenaten, and knowing the close proximity it had to the "Fertile Crescent" or "Mesopotamia", the more I am convinced that the later polytheism of the Canaanites and thus monotheism of Abraham got their inspiration from the ancient Egyptians.
Akhenaten was the famous Pharaoh who bucked the polytheism and insisted that the kingdom worship only one God, Ra the Sun God. And other themes such as "the book of the dead" and "Madonna and child" and "miracles", such as the healing god Thot spitting in the eye of Horus to cure his blindness, have their origins in Egyptian polytheism long before we see those stories in the OT or bible. Even the ancient Egyptians had their concept of a "trinity" in Ra, Osiris with the savior son god Horus sitting at the right hand of Osiris sitting in judgment of humanity.
Many would argue that there is no direct connection between those mythologies. But it can be quite easy because of the proximity of the regions being so close, that travelers could exchange stories without leaving a record of having done such, thus a trope motif bleed into a newer interpretation and thus a seemingly different religion.
Much the same way the flood in the Epic Of Gilgamesh while not 40 days of rain, still was a story about a hero saving a small group of his family and livestock from a seemingly global catastrophic flood. Just like the Code of Hammurabi mentions the same "Eye for an eye" motif of the OT.
Akhenaten was the famous Pharaoh who bucked the polytheism and insisted that the kingdom worship only one God, Ra the Sun God. And other themes such as "the book of the dead" and "Madonna and child" and "miracles", such as the healing god Thot spitting in the eye of Horus to cure his blindness, have their origins in Egyptian polytheism long before we see those stories in the OT or bible. Even the ancient Egyptians had their concept of a "trinity" in Ra, Osiris with the savior son god Horus sitting at the right hand of Osiris sitting in judgment of humanity.
Many would argue that there is no direct connection between those mythologies. But it can be quite easy because of the proximity of the regions being so close, that travelers could exchange stories without leaving a record of having done such, thus a trope motif bleed into a newer interpretation and thus a seemingly different religion.
Much the same way the flood in the Epic Of Gilgamesh while not 40 days of rain, still was a story about a hero saving a small group of his family and livestock from a seemingly global catastrophic flood. Just like the Code of Hammurabi mentions the same "Eye for an eye" motif of the OT.
