The early Egyptians, faced with the incomprehensible nature of the Divine, came up with a pantheon of gods. Originally, they were symbolic representations of attributes of the godhead. Set (or Seth, Setan, or Seteh), was the Egyptian equivalent of the devil. Set also had a brother-god. Set was the god of the desert, storms, darkness and chaos.
If you wanted power over the forces of chaos and darkness, you called upon Set.
One of the oldest Egyptian gods was Ra. It was Ra who called forth all forms of life by uttering their secret names. This belief is echoed in the creation myths of both the Kabbalists and Australian Aboriginals.
As the sun god, Ra was the giver of life. When you died, you went into the light, fed on and were nourished by light, and became one with the light. Clearly there’s nothing new about the ‘New Age.’
Over time, Egyptians became more materialist and literal in their thinking. The gods began to be viewed as independent deities that could be bargained with to attain one’s desired ends. The ‘riches in heaven’ one could expect changed from supernatural light to actual stuff.
And you could take it with you. So preparing for death became a very important part of everyday life.
There were many temples and sanctuaries in Egypt, each one dedicated to a different god. After all, if you wanted the job done right, you needed to contract the appropriate god.
Business was booming for those who served up the gods to the public.
When Amenhotep IV took the throne in 1380 BC, he changed his name to Ahkenaten (in honor of the sun god, Aten, whom he equated with Ra), and promptly set to work on social reforms which included doing away with polytheism.
Historically, anything that opposes the culturally-held view is considered the “work of the devil.” As might be expected, Ahkenaten’s attempts to return Egypt to monotheism met with strong resistance. He soon earned himself the reputation of a heretic king.
Eventually his plans to restructure society were abandoned and Ahkenaten lead his loyal followers out into the desert to worship the one true god in peace. Freud theorized that Ahkenaten and the Bibilical Prince of Egypt, Moses, are one and the same historical character.
After building a city in the desert where the faithful could worship the Aten, Ahkenaten ruled 17 years before his death in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. All evidence of his existence was erased, including his city.
And the culturally accepted shrines and temples of many gods continued to thrive and prosper.
No comments:
Post a Comment