on its chest. “I believe that is the ancient gods’ true message for humanity. The Amon priesthood always opposed my interpretations, unlike the poor, the oppressed, intellectuals, and artisans. During the Hyksos occupation, the ancient traditions of Osiris, Ptah, Aten, Thoth, and Isis went underground. After Lower Egypt was freed, the Amon priesthood tried to keep the competition suppressed. I wanted to break the Amon priesthood’s yoke. I had no quarrel with the ancient gods and the wisdom they bestowed upon humanity. Rather I could not promote superstitious obedience to vague idols, whether dozens or just one. We should not worship the ancient gods. We should be enlightened by their sacred message that has to be deciphered and transmitted to everyone. Someone has to lift humanity out of the quicksand of spiritual ignorance. Only decent, compassionate, spiritual ways lead us to realize our already-present immortality. Do you understand? We must really understand the scriptures, not just donate to a temple or hang a little statue or some misunderstood words on an amulet. Spiritual salvation is not a choice or a luxury but a right and an undeniable duty for all.”
“Seems like he is talking about finding theSource,” Hydrogen whispered.
“Sure makes a lot of sense,” Helium concurred. “You know the rest of the story,” Akhenaten
said. “The opportunists in the military are allied with the Amon priesthood. Despite the loyalty of Horemheb and Aye, I was threatened with revolt and bloodshed unless I abdicated. I left Akhet-Aten with my followers, though not everyone who needed protection. How are they treating the rest?”
“Not well, Father. They are excluded from the religious, social, and economic domains. For now, Aye, mother, Horemheb, and I protect them. Otherwise, there would be mass chaos and bloodshed. Our legacy is under threat. There are many rumors, Father, but I am not afraid.”
“After I went into exile, they reopened the Amon temples, but the Amon priesthood will not rest until they regain their monopoly. You must be careful.”
Tutankhamon nodded but changed the subject. “Father, following your advice. I studied the mystery traditions. I have learned much, but much puzzles me. Some concepts are mysterious even to the scholars. They say that much knowledge has been lost since the gods left Earth, and other knowledge must remain hidden. I have come across perplexing relics. The mystery traditions guard ancient secret manuscripts, written in undecipherable
passages that sound like
mathematical symbols,
meaningless poetry but somehow raise you to another spiritual state. And then there’s alchemy and all that about the philosopher’s stone, some existential state invisible to others.”
“I have heard the rumors, my son. But since the alchemists hide their knowledge, we should not even converse such things with ignorant people. They were meant to enlighten us, not to be abused for commerce or spiritual sedation.”
“The mystery schools have begun to hide their wisdom,” Tutankhamon observed, “in anticipation of an onslaught from the Amon priesthood. Many have sought safety in mountain sanctuaries where they intend to ride out the purge of all heretical faiths.”
“We can only lose what we do not deserve to keep.”
“Father, tell me about the faith of the Habiru. They used to live in Canaan and the Sinai provinces, didn’t they?”
“The Canaanite traditions influenced their belief. Their gods—El, Baal, Mot, Anat, and others—resemble the Akkadian and Sumerian gods, just as the Sumerian gods—Enki, Enlil, and Ishtar—resemble our Osiris, Ra, and Isis. The gods of Sumer and Egypt are almost identical. Upon arriving here in exile from Egypt proper, we have had to work hard to promote our faith in the true creator, Aten. Our first year mostly dealt with the social and economic integration with the local population. That was quite difficult. The Egyptian immigrants were more skilled in farming. However, the land here is dryer, and there are no major rivers like the Nile. Water is only available from underground sources. The terrain consists of basically a parched rocky land, suitable mostly for reluctance to share hardship, conflict, and violence. Derived from Egyptian legal codes, a simple set of laws was enshrined as a sort of ‘code of ethics’. I, the ‘heretic Pharaoh’, have been reduced to a tribal leader of an unruly populace! These conditions have only benefited the usual opportunists. The traditional alliance between the local Amorite nobility and the northern kingdoms of Canaan has fostered the current rebellion.”
Akhenaten paused and looked at his son: "That is why I called on you. I am no longer considered Egypt's favorite citizen. But, it is in our collective interests to defend the integrity of Egypt, and all its minorities including the Habiru, against the onslaught of the Canaanite and their Hittite allies. If we lose these lands, the local Egyptians and Habiru will be exiled again, or reduced to foreign servitude. And, with the Canaanites’ and Hittite navy at the doorsteps of the Nile’s trading routes, it will not be long before the accomplishments of the 17th and 18th Dynasties will be undone.”
Tutankhamon fell silent and gazed across the herding. The natives’ initial their herding territory caused moonlit plain. He enjoyed talking to his wise father. It felt like the most beautiful evening he had ever experienced. Serenity spread before them. But, he was suddenly shaken by a vision of screaming bloody bodies, which would soon stain this majestic manifestation of Aten. Where was Aten? Where were the gods? He remembered his mentors at the temple of Osiris in Memphis. He recalled the Osiris Temple monks’ vows of tolerance and non-violence in the face of oppression and hardship. It is hard to be a holy man when one is cast outside a temple, when one is a leader of the people. Could the immense wisdom of the sacred ancient scriptures be summarized in just a few commandments?
“Father,” he said at last, “there are rumors of an attempt on my life. Should something happen to me, promise you will not put yourself or the family in danger by opposing the rebels. That could trigger a massacre.”
“That will happen regardless of what I do. I do not hope to regain Egypt’s heart and soul. I have already failed. But in case of an exodus, our people will need help. If they depose you, Aye and Horemheb cannot get the refugees out safely. It is my moral and spiritual duty to help them escape.”
Tutankhamon pointed to the desert dawn sky’s myriad stars: “Father, which star is closer to heaven, to the abode of Aten?”
“Any of them.”
“Why do people refer to you as Mose?”
“Just as Tuthmose (Thoth-mose) means reflection of Thoth, Ramses (Ra-mose) means reflection of Ra. According to them, I am the reflection of the invisible god.”
“Why do they call me a yesua?”
“Because they consider you a savior. That’s what it means in their language. You are here to help them gain their promised land. The land they believe Aten and I promised them, a place of peace and prosperity. Surely, following the ways of Aten can lead to such a world.”
They smiled and gazed at the sky, red with the sun’s rise, red in anticipation of a bloody battle.
Tutankhamon got up, knelt, embraced his father’s hand and kissed it “Father, I must prepare for battle.”
Tutankhamen walked away, passing through the still fluttering white linen drapes and disappeared from view. Akhenaten lovingly followed every last move of his departing son.
He then quietly whispered: "Here we are, ironically living the dark ways of war, chaos, and conflict.”
Akhenaten then rose, turned to a statue and cried, “Damn you, Seth! Again you steal our faith and fate. How long must humanity put up with your evil designs? When will you free us from war, misery, subjugation, and slavery?”
The statue represented a tall man with the head of a black jackal and tall square ears, fierce red eyes, and a cold smile. Its headdress featured a fearsome vulture. Red straps crossed like a big ‘5’ lay over its white tunic.
Hydrogen and Oxygen saw a tear roll down Akhenaten’s elongated chin. His prominent hips leaning on his bronze serpent cane, he limped beyond the white curtains at the balcony entrance.
Copper, Tin and Silver rushed forward, and Silver said, “What will happen to Tutankhamon?”
“I’ll tell you what I know,” Silicone said. “Tutankhamon survived the next few days. The Egyptian army reestablished Egypt’s sovereignty over the promised land, a semi-autonomous Egyptian province and a haven for the exiled Habiru. The arrangement did not
eighteenth dynasty’s
last beyond the reign of the last pharaohs—Tutankhamon, Horemheb, and Aye. Soon Ramses fulfilled his ambition of becoming Pharaoh, supported by the Amon priesthood. His reign marked another era of Egyptian military glory. Her Asian borders again extended well into Asia, all the way to the western bank of the Euphrates. The period also marked the reestablishment of the Amon priesthood’s intolerant religious monopoly and the persecution of religious and racial minorities. One of Ramses’ first acts was to strip the foreign Egyptian Habiru of their wealth and power and expel them en masse. He undertook a campaign to purify Egypt of aliens, just as Akhenaten predicted. The Hebrew exodus legend refers to that episode. Akhenaten’s disciples arranged the evacuation, which the new rulers called rebellion and dispatched General Seti, who ruled after Ramses as Seti I, to deal with the fleeing heretic rebels. During a chase, his army bogged down in sudden unusual flooding of the Nile Delta. With his pursuing army’s heavy chariots immobilized in the flooded marshes, Seti abandoned the hordes of refugees escaping to the promised land. Even there they suffered under oppressive nineteenth dynasty governments. Later the Assyrians, armed with iron swords, overcame them. Eight centuries later, they were defeated again and their most valuable people taken to Babylon as hostages. They were free briefly 150 years later when Cyrus, the first Persian Achaemenid King, defeated Babylon. Soon, however, Greek and Roman conquerors ended Hebrews’ elusive freedom. The dream of a promised land remained a dream among a people united by faith, history, and tradition. Centuries of hardship, exile, and oppression imprinted their culture and religion. Hebrew historians recorded their recollections of mythical kings, history, and faith. Their heritage influenced three religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Many know Egyptian heroes only by their Hebrew names—David, Solomon, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Joshua. In nineteenth dynasty Egypt, the saga was censured from official Egyptian history to leave only a scornful mention of the mad heretic pharaoh. But nineteenth century archeological finds at Akhet-Aten (Amarna) revealed a different Akhenaten. Egypt suffered from her spiritual wound. She never recovered her glory. The legacies of the ancient crossroads of myths and mysteries and Akhenaten’s spiritual reformation survived with the gnostics, the Essenes, and others. Egyptian wisdom has influenced mystics, prophets, philosophers, and scholars, just as they did Akhenaten and Tutankhamon and their Habiru followers.”
“But what happened to Tutankhamon?" Silver asked again.
“Tutankhamon was assassinated a day after the war with Canaan ended. A popular, just, competent young pharaoh, his death marked the end of Egypt's eighteenth dynasty. Because his tomb was unmarked and unmentioned—a sign of disrespect—looters never found Tutankhamon's burial treasures.”
Silver, Copper, and Tin were saddened, but their new path would soon obviate their sentiment for their old world.