[Quranic Reflection]: The Aten.

[Leonardo17]

An ancient Egyptian pharaoh called "Akhenaten", worshiped a "single God" described as the "light of heaven and earth"; or the "Aten" in Ancient Egypt:

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/...dZIg?hl=en

This Monolithic pharoah didn't stop at that; he even called the Gods of ancient Egypt "a lie"; in a fashion identical to Jesus, Mohammed, and Moses before them.
Isn't that Muslims' faith? "There is no God but Allah"?

Ironically, he was the husband of the famous "Nefertiti" too.

Is this pharaoh the prophet known to Muslims and Christians as "Joseph; peace be upon him"?
Joseph PBUH in the Quran. was a slave bought by an Egyptian ruler, got appointed as the ruler's son, then became a royalty.

I do believe that Akhaneten is following the same deity as Muslims.
The light of heaven and earth:

Surah 24, The Quran:
https://quran.com/24?startingVerse=35

(35) Allah is the Light of the heavens and earth. The likeness of His light is that of a niche in which is a lamp; the lamp is in a glass; the glass is like a shining star – it is lit by [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, which is neither of the east nor of the west. Its oil would almost glow, even without being touched by fire. Light upon light; Allah guides to His light whom He wills. Allah sets forth comparisons for people, and Allah is All-Knowing of everything.

My position on that:
 
In the picture above you see the “Singular God” – Aten with its rays shining upon the royal family. This is comparable to modern Hinduism. In Hinduism you have many Gods, with a singular God “Shiva” or “The one who is not” (Which is also the same etymological meaning as Al-lah). Who is the source of them all. So there is only one God. But this God has many aspects. These aspects were very important to ancient people who relied on these “energies” in almost all matters of daily existence. In ancient Egypt there was no distinction between daily life and religious life.
 
   So what Akhenaten the “Heretic Pharaoh” did (the way I see it) was to try to restore the original meaning of Egyptian religion. Still he is being depicted as an insane type of personality like the Roman Emperor Nero, or Emperor Commodus (son of Marcus Aurelius in the movie “The Gladiator”). For instance. He built a whole new city in the middle of the desert called Amarna. He took away the powers of the clergy and made them angry. It is said that he would make foreign ambassadors wait for hours under the sun so that “they would be blessed by the rays of the God Aten”. Also: in the traditional Egyptian style, pharaohs were depicted as strong an athletic. During the reign of Aten the royal family was portrayed almost like people with genetic problems (see bellow). Besides, He had a daughter called Ankhesenamun, with whom he was married for a while. When he died his Vizier wanted to mary this woman in order to become the next Pharaoh of Egypt. So Ankhesenamun sent a Letter to SHupilliuliuma II (The Hittite Emperor) to send him his son to marry her and become the next pharaoh of Egypt. This Hittite Prince (Zannanza) was murdered in 1324 BC. Than this Vizier called Semenkhare seizes power anyway. This era is seen as a period of moral and economic decline for the whole of Egypt. Still it’s a period that remains interesting in terms of artistic production like the famous “Bust of Nefertiti” (Bellow).
 
   Akhenaten live between 1253-1336 BC. That a century before the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) – The last Great Egyptian Pharaoh who is (I believe) the pharaoh in the Biblical story of Moses. So are these two are related only in terms of Old Faith / New Faith. Akhenaten tried to simplify a religion that had become needlessly complicated. In the same Era in India they had started having rituals that lasted for weeks. Maybe he saw that the Old Ways were not working anymore, tried to reform it and ended up losing his own mind (that’s one possibility). But, the one who was destined to truly achieve this goal was Moses (who was also technically an Egyptian prince).
 
   I am quite confident in this approach, because that’s more or less how all Near-Eastern and other indo-European pantheons are working. There are many deities, yes. But there is always this Bigger Deity (Zeus, Marduk (Baylonia), Nerik (Hittite), or Odin or Jupiter) who is the source of all other deities. This Bigger Deity is usually the “God of Gods” and all the other deities have some particular tasks. In today’s India even small villages have their own Gods. So this is how I understand it.



Statue of Akhenaten: He looks more like a Woman than a man.



Satue of Kafra (4th Dynasty - 2500 BC): This is the typical Egyptian style. The Pharaoh is strong and athletic. This style does not change ever, exept during the reign of Akhenaten.



This is the Bust of Nefertiti in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Perhaps "the" most important artifact from the Amarna Period (the rule of Akhenaten). One really wonder how a guy like the guy above manages to end up with a girl like that though