In this series of articles, we will study the stories of heretics, rebels, reformers and revolutionaries who attempted to overthrow organized priestly religions all over the world. In the first article of this series we will study how the first great revolution against ‘Brahmanic’ religion was launched in Egypt in 14th century B. C.
Priest-Kings And Temples
In the dawn of ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, priests were practically the rulers of the land by virtue of their skills in magic, medicine, astronomy, temple architecture, literature, and knowledge of various gods, which they created to represent some aspect of nature. Temples were their power bases. They held sway over people in a given community, and established rules of social conduct within that community. They deluded common people into believing that their gods would fulfill their desires and protect them from evil forces. They gave the society the internal stability, and by means of great personal sacrifices, they safely conveyed civilization from one generation to another. In the process they earned much gratitude of common people, and became wealthy and powerful. Before secular kings came on the stage of history, there were the priest-kings.
Kings And Palaces
The Intellectual priestly class in ancient civilizations suffered from two great weaknesses:
1. They just could not subdue their jealousies of other priests in charge of temples dedicated to other gods, which led to chronic conflicts among them.
2. They were not able to effectively fight off barbaric tribes marauding their lands.
These two problems required creation of secular kingships. The fighting men chosen to be kings built an army of able-bodied men who could protect the society from external aggression, and wage war on other lands to increase their wealth, power, and territory. In the language of Brahmanism, they were both Dhananjaya (Conquerors of Wealth) and Paranthapa (Enemy Burner). However, with the kings came their palaces. Now palaces became the second center of power in the ancient societies. As secular kings became more powerful, they began to hold sway over people’s lives by virtue of their muscle power and wealth. However, the priestly class did not totally surrender to the kings. Instead they manipulated kings into believing that their rule must be shown to the public as granted by the grace and will of the gods, who just happened to reside in their pockets. Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.), the founder of the first Babylonian empire, acknowledges the supremacy of Sumerian gods by beginning one of his inscriptions, “When Anu and Bel entrusted me with the rule of Sumer and Akkad…” (H. G. Wells). Conflict between priestly class and kings is a universal theme in the history of all civilizations. As we read in my earlier articles, Upanishadic revolution to overthrow Brahmanism was led by Kshatriya sages.
God-Kings Of Egypt
In Egypt, however, Pharaohs, as the kings were known, with the connivance of the priests, declared themselves as the earthly manifestation of various Egyptian gods such as Osiris, Hathor and Amun Ra. Due to the enormous power derived from their purported divinity, and authority over people derived from their prowess in war and public service, they were able to muster enough manpower to build colossal monuments to their glory such as pyramids, temples and Sphinx. To prevent diluting their divine blood, they married only immediate relatives of opposite sex, such as sisters or cousins. Anyone marrying outside the ‘divine clan’ was subject to social ostracism, which, of course was in the domain of priestly class. Even though the power and authority of the Pharaoh living in relative isolation of their palaces was seemingly absolute, the priests of great temple-casino complexes such as the ones in Karnak and Luxor, held considerable amount of stranglehold on the Pharaohs as well as the populace. As long as the Pharaohs toed the line drawn by the priests, their power base was secure. If they crossed that line, they would do so at their own peril. Inevitably, such a delicate balance of power would certainly receive a jolt sooner or later.
Seeds Of Revolution
An incident happened during the rule of Amenhotep III, a Pharaoh of 18th Dynasty who ruled from 1386/88 -1349/50. He fell prey to his lust for a beautiful damsel of Syrian/Semitic extract by the name of Tii (“Tee”), and made her his principle wife. This did not sit well with the priests of the chief god Amun Ra. The priests did not hide their dislike for Tii or her offspring. Amenhotep III did another thing to offend the priests. He took an obscure sun god known as Aten, and elevated it to the position of the chief god, while tolerating other gods side by side. (We read in my articles on the Bhagavad Gita how Upanishadic sages took the mysterious spirit Brahman invoked by Brahmins at Yajnas and elevated it into ‘all-pervading Universal Soul Brahman’; and Bhagavatas promoted prince Krishna of Mahabharata epic to the status of Parameshwara.) Thus provoked by Amenhotep III, the priests of Amun Ra became angry, vengeful and turned on his entire family. They did not treat the offspring of Tii well, particularly her second son who came to power later on as Amenhotep IV. Hate for the priests of Amun Ra grew in the heart of Amenhotep IV. It is said that Tii further fuelled the fire of hate in the heart of her son. Now a struggle began between the priests of Amun Ra and the family of Amenhotep III.
Pharaoh Amenhotep IV Launches Monotheism
Amenhotep IV succeeded his father upon his death, following two years of co-regency. He set out to destroy the entire priest-dominated Egyptian polytheistic religion, which had evolved over at least two thousand years. Realizing that the only way to undermine the power of the priests was to take their gods away from them, he rejected Amun Ra as the supreme god, and elevated Aten the Solar Disc to the position of the Only Supreme God as declared in the hymn, “O Sole God beside whom there is none!” This declaration of One Supreme God –monotheism- has echoed through the centuries in Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. It has been speculated that Moses got the idea of monotheism from Akhenaten as evidenced by his First of Ten Commandments, “You shall have no other gods before Me,” and in Islam’s oft-repeated utterance, “There is no god but God.” In fact, its echo could be heard even in the monotheistic Bhagavata creed as uttered by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, “Surrender unto Me alone” (18:66) and “Worship Me alone” (9:22).
Amenhotep IV Becomes Akhenaten And Attacks Old Religion
Amenhotep IV changed Amun in his name into Aten, his Supreme God, and called himself Akhenaten. He named his son Tutankhaten, whom we now know as Tutankhamen (king Tut). Akhenaten built many huge temples for Aten in Thebes and systematically knocked down old temples dedicated to Amun Ra as well as other gods. He abolished all different quarrelling sects. Disgusted by the narrow-mindedness and oppressive atmosphere created by the priestly class, which completely dominated his capital city Thebes, he built a new capital at Amarna, 180 miles north of Thebes. He named his new capital Akhetaten. He banished priests from his capital and banned their ancient religious ceremonies. In his religion, one could relate to Aten directly, without brokers. He dictated that his statues should be as realistic as possible so that his subjects would see him as he is rather than as an awe-inspiring phony figure as dictated by the priestly rules of sculpturing. Defying the priestly tradition, he portrayed his wives and children with him in the carvings so that his subjects would see him as having a family life just like them. He made sure that the Sun Disc with radiating rays was depicted in all his portraits. Thus he became the first king in history to initiate a revolution to overthrow the ancient polytheistic religion mediated by hoards of corrupt and powerful priests, and establish a monotheistic religion without priests.
The Priestly Backlash
Akhenaten did not live long. He died around 1334 B. C. after ruling Egypt for seventeen years, and his revolution died immediately thereafter. As Ashoka the Great did, he underestimated the weed-like power of priests rooted in two thousand years of Egyptian history. The priests had merely bent with the wind. As soon as the winds blew away, they came back to power and immediately began to destroy every temple and palace Akhenaten had built so lavishly. They used the debris of the demolished buildings as the filler material for the foundations of their new temples built for Amun Ra. Akhenaten’s successor Tutankhaten was about eight years old when he was put on the throne, and he could not rule the country without the guidance of experienced priests. The priests renamed him Tutankhamen to reflect his renewed allegiance to Amun Ra, and made him a puppet in their hands. Like Brahmins did to Ashoka the Great after his death, they wiped out the names of Akhenaten and his family from the history of Egypt. Thanks to their thoroughness, Tutankhamen’s tomb remained intact till Howard Carter discovered it in the early part of twentieth century. Grave robbers did not know such a king existed and so they did not look for his tomb!
Why Akhenaten’s Revolution Failed
Ordinary people, who had been bewildered by the new religion of Atenism, reverted back to the comfort of worshiping their old animal-headed gods by means of their traditional rituals and festivals conducted by their trusted priests, no different than 21st century Hindus finding solace in worshiping elephant-headed god Ganesha or monkey god Hanuman. They could better relate to these gods in their cool stone temples than to the Sun Disc in the burning desert. The concept of a Sun Disc as the Supreme God was too abstract for their simple minds, just as people of post-Vedic period found it difficult to relate to the concept of all-pervading, invisible Brahman as replacement for various anthropomorphic Vedic gods. Besides, unlike Ashoka the Great, Akhenaten did not appoint a huge cadre of emissaries to spread the message of his new religion far and wide. Ashoka’s incessant effort resulted in Buddhism becoming the dominant religion of India for a thousand years, and one of the great religions of the world to this day. Besides, unlike Ashoka, Akhenaten did not undertake great community projects such as building wells, tree-lined roads, hospitals, etc. to serve the public and enhance his own stature. Some historians say that because of Akhenaten’s preoccupation with his religious revolution, he neglected his kingly duties; did not wage war against potential enemies as expected of Pharaohs, nor maintained proper diplomatic relationship with his neighbors. Others have provided evidence to contradict these claims by quoting correspondence in the clay tablets unearthed at archeological sites in Amarna. In any case, the truth is whereas in the beginning of his rule Egypt was very prosperous, by the time he died, decline had already set in. Thus ended the first great revolution against ‘Brahmanism’ of Egypt.
Lessons From Akhenaten’s Failed Revolution
Akhenaten was a revolutionary, but unlike Ashoka the Great, he was not a visionary. It is clear from all the available evidence that Akhenaten attempted to overthrow the old religion of Egyptians by brute force rather than by means of clever set of strategies and tactics. He did not understand the limitation of power of even God-Kings, and the extent of power of priests over the minds of common people. He did not understand the reality that to reform or overthrow a well-established priestly religion, he needed to take small steps, and carry people with him by means of reasoning, education, sympathy and support. He did not realize that for a new ideology to take roots and spread, he would need the services of thousands of dedicated emissaries and selfless volunteers. He underestimated the power of priests over the minds of simple folks, which they had gained over two thousand years by means of great personal sacrifices. He seemed driven more by hatred for the priests than by genuine desire to reform Egyptian religion. Besides all this, he failed to understand that the new ideology or religion must be so down-to-earth that even common people should be able to relate to it.
Atheists should note that Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam took deep roots only because thousands of dedicated missionaries sacrificed their lives to promote them. No one can convert another person to his way of thinking without making great personal sacrifices. Modern day Atheists dedicated to enlightening common people about stupidity of religion will do well to take note of the lessons from the Story of Akhenaten’s Revolution.
(To be continued)
Read Dr. Kamath’s complete series on Heretics, Rebels, Reformers and Revolutionaries here.
Read Dr. Kamath’s series on The Truth About The Bhagavad Gita here.
Dr. Prabhakar Kamath, is a psychiatrist currently practicing in the U.S. He is the author of Servants, Not Masters: A Guide for Consumer Activists in India (1987) and Is Your Balloon About Pop?: Owner’s Manual for the Stressed Mind.