Were the Hebrews truly the first people to conceive the concept of a monotheistic worship? Was it a society under political and economic oppression living in a foreign land with a limited amount of their own traditions left that created the idea of a one true god? If so, how did they manage to overcome the evident conflict their religious views instigated with the more commonly accepted polytheistic religion established throughout Egypt? Could they have had an ally that shared their insights with enough power to allow them to keep their own faith? Some historians believe that the Israelites were not the first to propose this new form of belief. Instead, this innovation might have occurred inside the royal palace through King Akhenaton (Damen …show more content…
(Gadalla 187). He introduced to his people a new type of religion, involving the worship of only one god and, for this reason, is considered the first monotheistic pharaoh in Egyptian history. At the beginning of his reign, Akhenaton was known as Amenhotep IV, a name chosen after the god Amon who was the king of the gods at Thebes (Osman 1). However, after the fifth year of his reign, he changed his name to Akhenaton and ordered the worship of the god Aten to be established throughout the country. He commanded his army to erase Amon’s name from any engravings at their temples and to destroy any altars dedicated to him (2). Nevertheless, these changes were instituted in a rather hasty and violent manner, which undoubtedly ended Akhenaton’s regency with a military coup and forced him to flee to southern Sinai before Amon’s priests would kill …show more content…
Sun temples were built in great numbers during Akhenaton’s reign (Gadalla 194). This Heliopolitan solar form of temples closely resembles the tabernacle at Mount Sinai erected by the Israelites under Adonai’s orders known to them through Moses (Exo. 25:9 NIV). Along with the exact pattern for the construction of the tabernacle, the Hebrews received instructions about assembling an ark of the covenant, where Elohim was to meet with the Habiru and where He would reside among his people (Exo. 25:22). Likewise, Akhenaton presented the idea of building a holy boat at the center of the altar in the courtyard, which the Egyptians would carry around in religious processions (Freud 23). Also, the Hebrew priests, appointed by Moses, who were in charge of the temples have surprisingly almost identical names with the high priests under Akhenaton’s rule. Exodus 6:25 mentions Phinehas as being one of the heads of the houses of the Levites, and verse 6:19 states Merari was one of the sons of another head of the Levites (NIV). These two names are almost the same as Meryre II and Panehesy, who were the two highest priestly officials throughout Akhenaton’s reign (23). These facts imply that both Moses and Akhenaton shared the same priests in their religious activities, and therefore, should have shared the same religious teachings. In fact, Moses himself was from the house of Levi