Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism

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Pharaoh Akhenaten, who reigned for seventeen years in the fourteenth century B.C.E, is likely one of the most intriguing rulers of ancient Egypt. His peculiar appearance and his preoccupation with worshiping the sun disc Aten have stimulated academic discussion and controversy for more than a century. Despite the a large number of books and articles about this enigmatic figure, many questions about Akhenaten and the Atenism religion remain unanswered.

In Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism, James K. Hoffmeier argues that Akhenaten was once not, as is incessantly said, a radical advocating a new religion, but reasonably a primitivist: that is, one who reaches back to a golden age and emulates it. Akhenaten’s inspiration was once the Old Kingdom (2650-2400 B.C.E.), when the sun-god Re/Atum ruled as the unrivaled head of the Egyptian pantheon. Hoffmeier finds that Akhenaten was once a genuine convert to the worship of Aten, the sole writer God, based on the Pharoah’s own testimony of a theophany, a divine encounter that launched his monotheistic religious odyssey. The book also explores the Atenist religion’s imaginable relationship to Israel’s religion, offering a close comparison of the hymn to the Aten to Psalm 104, which has been identified by scholars as influenced by the Egyptian hymn.

Through a careful reading of key texts, works of art, and archaeological studies, Hoffmeier provides compelling new insights into a religion that predated Moses and Hebrew monotheism, the affect of Atenism on Egyptian religion and politics, and the aftermath of Akhenaten’s reign.

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