Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Blind Judging the Blind...
So, while listening to a short story on NPR about some Egyptians and how one of their kings decided to no longer worship their dozens of gods and instead focused on one, the Sun God. Well, this made me think that anyone today who thinks the Egyptians were misguided to think that their religion was the right one is likely also misguided to think that their own religion (Catholic, other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, whatever) is the right one too. Isn't it funny that they cast judgement on others about their own religious beliefs... but then again, I'm judging them too... hmm....
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Hey, I remember that Egyptian pharaoh! Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti brought about religious reformation and moved the capital of Egypt from Thebes (moder day Luxor) to Armana (exactly equidistant from Thebes and Memphis).
They were reportedly a very happy family with Nefertiti being an equal to Akhenaten.
In his late thirties and after seventeen years of absolute rule, Pharaoh Akhenaten disappears from the records. No one knows what happened. The royal tomb was found empty. Some believe he was a victim of a plague; others claim he died a natural death. A new theory suggests he may have been the victim of a conspiracy. The name of Akhenaten is not present on a list of pharaoh found in Egypt. It is believed there was an active campaign to erase Akhenaten’s reign from ancient Egyptian history.
Whoever succeeded when Pharaoh Akhenaten died had a short lived reign. What is known is the identity of the next pharaoh, a boy of nine who ruled Egypt for a decade, Tutankhamun, better known as King Tut. Tutankhamun’s parents are a mystery. Many think he was Akhenaten’s only son, born to him by a lesser wife.
Towards the end of Akhenaten's reign, Nefertiti disappeared from historical Egyptian records. It may not be simple coincidence that, shortly after Nefertiti's disappearance from the archaeological record, Akhenaten took on a co-regent with whom he shared the throne of Egypt. This co-regent has been a matter of considerable speculation and controversy, with a whole range of theories. One such theory puts forward the idea that the co-regent was none other than Nefertiti herself in a new guise as a female king following the lead of women such as Sobkneferu and Hatshepsut.
The Armana reign was one of the most fascinating periods in Egyptian ancient history, for sure!
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