Pharaoh Akhenaten

May 22, 2023

Pharaoh Akhenaten who’s name means “successful for” or “of great use to” the god Aten, was king of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty and reigned from 1353 to 1336 BC. He was the son of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Tiye, and husband of Queen Nefertit. He was also the father of Tutankhamen (the famous King Tut). He moved the capital of Egypt from the traditional site at Thebes to the city he founded, which came to be known as Tell el-Amarna. The time of Akhenaten’s rule over Egypt would later be referred to as the Amarna Period. In addition to founding a new capitol for his reign, he created a new religion for Egypt. The cult he founded broke with Egypt’s traditional polytheism and focused its worship on a single deity, the sun god Aten. As a result of this schism Akhenaten has gone down in history as the “rebel pharaoh.”

Akhenaten “discovered” the Aten by means of observation and intuition – that is, he discerned the world’s dependence on light and believed it could be understood as the central principal from which all life originated. But with light, he committed himself to the visible and was led to deny everything that did not belong to the visible world: darkness, the afterlife, and the deities of the pantheon, especially Amun, the “hidden one.”

Amun, the chief god who suffered so much persecution, still appeared on early monuments of Tell el-Amarna; but from the very beginning there was a striking absence of Osiris, the ruler of the dead and of the netherworld. This points to a profound change in beliefs regarding the afterlife, one in which there was no longer room for Osiris. At Amarna, even the title “Osiris” disappeared. This system of thought, which made light its absolute reference point, had great difficulty with the dark side of the world. Night-time eliminated the Aten and signified death. The total dependence of all existence on light, which is the Aten, was now a given. Previously, the night had also been filled with life, and traditional solar belief had pictured the nightly journey of the sun through the netherworld in poetic detail. But now, the nocturnal phase no longer meant the regeneration of light in the darkness, but merely its absence. Where the sun goes at night is never stated; the Aten simply disappears though his normal location is “in the sky.” The moment of his return is the critical one, which all creation jubilantly greets and which ends his nightly absence.

Aten ruled the world as king, and his universal rule was indicated pictorially by the many hands of the god, to which everything was accessible. The Aten was not actually the sun disk, but rather the light that is in the sun, and which, radiating from it, calls the world to life and keeps it alive. Aten’s coexistence with the other deities lasted for only a short time. The Aten with his rays would be the only permissible icon of the god. The mixed form of a human body and an animal’s head would vanish, and only the hands emanating from the sun would serve as a reminder of his former human form. Also in the art of the Amarna period Akhenaten is depicted differently than other pharaohs, and could be a literal representation. His form appears somewhat deformed. For instance Akhenaten is represented in wall carvings and statues with a long neck, a sunken chest, a slack belly and fat thighs. The style in which we are accustomed to in Egyptian sculpture was set aside.

The king died in the prime of life, around the year 1336 BC. Akhenaten had founded no congregation; he had no disciples or apostles to carry on his work after his death. There was only one small circle of followers, who were now left without a leader. Akhenaten had concentrated his teaching so exclusively upon himself as the only one who knew the Aten that it was doomed to perish along with him.

 

References:

Hornung, E. Akhenaten and the Religion of Light. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999).

The Ethiopian Wife Of Moses

May 22, 2023

As it is commonly known to most students of the holy Scriptures: the man Moses fled from Egypt after he had killed an Egyptian, and then dwelt in the land of Midian (Exodus 2:15). It is also clearly understood that Moses married a woman named Zipporah, who was the daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian. However, further on in the story of Moses, Scripture informs us that Moses married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1). Was this Ethiopian woman really Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian, or did Zipporah die sometime during the forty years in the wilderness leaving Moses a widower and thus allowing him to remarry? Though the Bible does not leave us with a great amount of detail concerning the wife or wives of Moses, the Bible does however provide clues elsewhere in the Pentateuch that can help us better understand the origin of Moses’ Ethiopian wife. So now, let us turn and study the Scriptures in the hopes that we may discern the identity of the Ethiopian wife of Moses.

According to the book of Genesis, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham remarried after the death of his wife Sarah. The Bible tells us that the name of the woman who Abraham married was Keturah, but scripture does not identify her racial background or her genealogy. However, further on in Genesis, the Bible does make mention of a people group known as the Midianites, who were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham and his wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2). These descendants of Midian settled in a region near the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aqaba in the northwestern corner of what we know today as the country of Saudi Arabia. Thus it is understood that when Moses left Egypt, he must have traveled eastwards past the Sinai peninsula until he reached the land of Midian.

Now the fact that both the Hebrews and the Midianites shared a common ancestor, namely Abraham, then the marriage of Moses to Zipporah must not have been such a scandalous ceremony. However, during the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness, we see how both Miriam and Aaron spoke against their brother Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1). From this passage a couple important questions may be asked. One, if this unnamed Ethiopian woman was Moses’ first wife, then why did Miriam and Aaron wait to complain about this interracial marriage of their brother Moses several years (possibly even decades) after they left Egypt and not sooner? Also, if Moses had only one wife, then why does the Bible identify her as being a Midianite in one place and then as an Ethiopian or Cushite in another place? It is my theory that Moses was in fact married twice. His first wife was a Midianite, who must have died sometime during the wanderings in the desert and his second wife, being of Ethiopian descent, must have originated from the mixed multitude that went up also with the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38).

This mixed multitude that the Bible speaks of were a people of non-Hebrew or Israelite stock, who also chose to follow Moses out of Egypt. Thus it is highly probable that the various people groups stemming from the neighboring countries surrounding Egypt, as well as several other African nations, were all a part of the mixed multitude that went up also with the children of Israel in the Exodus. So, the Ethiopian wife of Moses must have come from among the mixed multitude of the non-Israelite tribes who willingly chose to leave Egypt, and who also chose to accept and worship the One True God of Israel. Though the mixed multitude were ethnically separated from the Hebrews, this did not mean that the God of Israel didn’t love them just as He did the other Israelites. Evidence of divine favor among the foreign nations who lived alongside the camp of Israel was revealed when God struck Miriam with leprosy after she spoke against Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:10). So even from ancient times has God proven to not show favoritism among the children of men, and it is also evident that the Lord deals with and judges all of mankind without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).

Now that a clear argument has been made regarding the identity of the wives of Moses, I would like to close this study by touching on quite a bizarre story which is found in the book of Exodus concerning Moses and his Midianite wife Zipporah. As Exodus informs us, shortly after God called Moses to go down unto Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves, the Lord sought to kill Moses. For it is written, “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision” (Exodus 4:24-26). This passage is indeed a perplexing account in the life of Moses, but to understand why the Lord wanted to kill the very man He had just called to the prophetic office may be clarified by looking into the covenant of circumcision that God handed down to Abraham and to his seed after him. For as the Lord spoke unto Abraham saying, “…ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you…and the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant” (Genesis 17:11,14). So because Moses had been negligent by not circumcising his son, as was the custom of the children of Abraham, Moses had broken the covenant between God and His people which in turn kindled God’s wrath to the point that He would have killed Moses had not Zipporah taken matters into her own hands. Through the circumcision of Moses’ son was the Lord’s anger appeased so that Moses would not be put to death because of his disobedience to the covenant between God and the seed of Abraham.

It is interesting to note that even though Moses was married to foreign women, these intermarriages must have been blessed in the eyes of the Lord. For if it was not for Zipporah, Moses would have died and if it was sinful for Moses to marry an Ethiopian woman, then God would not have punished Miriam for speaking out against her brother’s marriage to a non-Israelite. Even in the genealogy of Jesus Christ do we find the records of gentile women who were married to Hebrew men. So it is evident from searching the Scriptures that God loves and cares for all people, and not just the Jews. The mixed multitude who came out of Egypt along with the Israelites also stand as a testimony of God’s love and mercy towards all people. So whether we are African or European or Asian, the Lord is not looking at the color of our skin, but at the content of our character.

 

References:

Ancient Faith Study Bible. (Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019).

Gregory of Nyssa. The Life of Moses. (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006).

Kirsch, J. Moses, A Life. (New York, NY: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998).

Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).

The Prophet Enoch in the Book of Jubilees

May 22, 2023

The prophet Enoch is first mentioned in the fifth chapter of the book of Genesis, where it is written that Enoch is the son of Jared and the father of Methuselah, making Enoch the seventh from Adam and therefore part of the righteous bloodline of the ten great Antediluvian Patriarchs. Yet excluding his righteous and lofty lineage, the most profound element of Enoch’s life is how he was taken from the earth that he should not see death (Hebrews 11:5). For the Bible informs us that Enoch walked with God, and then was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24). Though the Bible tells us that Enoch was “taken”, nowhere in all of the 66 books which make up the accepted Biblical Canon explain where exactly Enoch went, neither is much else written about him in both the Old and New Testaments. However, in the Ethiopic Canon do we find many more details concerning Enoch’s life. For in the Ethiopian Bible two whole books (appropriately titled I and II Enoch) are devoted to the events which Enoch experienced after he was translated. And apart from the books of Enoch, another apocryphal source included in the Ethiopian scriptures, provides even more key insight as to Enoch’s current whereabouts and of the special role he plays in God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. And this Apocryphal work which provides an expansion on the life of the prophet Enoch is none other than the Book of Jubilees.

The Book of Jubilees, also known as the Little Genesis, is an ancient religious work of Jewish origin. Comprised of fifty chapters, Jubilees is held canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as by the Jews of Ethiopia, but it is not considered canonical among the Jewish communities living outside of Ethiopia. Apart from the Ethiopian Church, the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and the various Protestant Churches, all consider Jubilees to be part of the Pseudepigrapha: a work which is believed to falsely attribute authorship to a religious document. The Book of Jubilees is postured as a revelation given to Moses concerning the history of the division of the days of the law. The chronology presented in Jubilees is based on multiples of seven years, with each period of time lasting of 49 years to be considered a jubilee. The Bible also speaks of these cycles, calling the seven year periods Sabbatical years, and the fiftieth year a jubilee. For according to the book of Leviticus on the year of the jubilee slaves would be freed, financial debts would be forgiven, and the Lord’s mercy would be poured out in great abundance (Leviticus 25:8-13).

Now when it comes to the prophet Enoch in the Book of Jubilees, we see how Enoch is described as the first among men who learned writing. Being filled with knowledge and wisdom, Enoch wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months, in order for mankind to understand the order of the seasons of the years. Enoch also wrote a testimony to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years. Jubilees also tells us how Enoch had a vision in which he saw what would happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment. Enoch saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men and for their generations (Jubilees 4:17-19). Could this book which Enoch wrote concerning the future of mankind and the day of judgment really be the Book of Enoch? For we find in both Jubilees and I Enoch apocalyptic elements which are directly tied to one another. Conversely speaking, it is also highly probable that an ancient scribe concocted these stories, which may be why most Christian denominations do not accept the Book of Jubilees nor the Book of Enoch to be inspired and are thus labeled as Apocryphal.

As fascinating and revealing as these accounts of Enoch are, as found in the Book of Jubilees, yet another amazing detail of Enoch’s life is also presented within it’s Pseudepigraphal pages. And this astounding story is that of Enoch being translated to the Garden of Eden. For as it is written in Jubilees: “And he [Enoch] was taken from amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he writes down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of men (Jubilees 4:23). Thus the mystery of where Enoch was taken after he walked with God is revealed, or at least it provides a possibility of where Enoch was taken, due to the questionable authority of the Book of Jubilees as an inspired work.

In conclusion, though it is a doctrinal debate which questions the validity of the Book of Jubilees and also that of the Book of Enoch, these Apocryphal books do at least challenge the Bible student to think and may even help the Orthodox believer to better understand the mysteries held in the accepted canon of the Holy Scriptures. So, in the final analysis it is best to take the teachings of these extra-Biblical books with a pinch of salt as they say, and not to accept them as the infallible Word of God. For reading such books could be dangerous, as the teachings or beliefs expressed in them could lead one astray. It could be read after the appreciation of ancient literature, but it could also prove detrimental if someone (Christian or atheist alike) accepted these doubtful books as the absolute truth. The truth indeed sets us free, but if we believe in a lie then we could end up as prisoners. That being said, may we all lean on the accepted canon as our foundation, and may the Spirit of Truth guide us into all truth. Amen.

 

References:

Burns, R.I. The Book of Enoch: Messianic Prophecy Edition. (San Francisco, CA: SagesWorks Press, 2017).

Brown, R.K. The Book of Enoch. (Nashville, Tennessee: James C. Winston Publishing Company, Inc., 1997).

Holy Bible: Ethiopic Version. (Saderingrad Productions, 2007).

Kush, I.K. Enoch the Ethiopian. (Buffalo, NY: Eworld Inc., 2000).

Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).

The Epic of Gilgamesh

May 22, 2023

Gilgamesh was a historical king in the Sumerian city-state of Uruk and a major hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology – predominantly the Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem written on clay tablets, dating to the late second millennium B.C. The major themes are the question of why are we born only to eventually die one day, and the struggle to overcome death through the quest of immortality.

As the story goes, Gilgamesh the king of Uruk is a tyrant who oppresses the people. Because of this evil the people of Uruk make supplications to the gods. In order to stop Gilgamesh the gods create the wild man Enkidue, who lives in the fields and grazes on grass with the gazelles and other wild animals. One day a hunter sees Enkidue who is sabotaging all the hunter’s traps. To solve this problem the hunter lures Enkidue away from the animals with a prostitute. The prostitute shows Enkidue her “charms” and the couple make love for six days and seven nights. After their time of pleasure the prostitute convinces Enkidue to come with her to a shepherds camp. There he is initiated into the ways of men. He eats bread and drinks the the strong drink, puts on clothes and enters civil society. At the shepherd’s camp Enkidue hears of the wicked ways of Gilgamesh. Primarily the policy of prima nocta, where Gilgamesh takes a bride from her husband on the first night of their wedding. Enkidue, enraged by this practice, enters Uruk and fights with Gilgamesh. Ultimately Gilgamesh acknowledges that he has met his match with Enkidue, whereupon the pair become friends.

Feeling confident with his new friend and equal, Gilgamesh has the idea to venture towards the Forest of Cedar and battle the great creature Humbaba. The elders persuade them not to go, but the two take their weapons and make ready for their journey. The two heroes visit the goddess Ninsun who enlists the help of the sun god, Shamash, and the aid of his wife Aya. Then the heros depart. As they travel, Shamash instructs them on how to kill Humbaba – the creature who guards the Cedars. As the heroes nervously try to quench each others fears they arrive at the Forest of Cedar. As the heroes draw their weapons and enter the forest, Humbaba confronts them. Gilgamesh fights the creature and Shamash sends winds to blind Humbaba. The heroes immediately kill him and begin to cut down the cedars.

On their return to Uruk the goddess Ishtar is impressed with Gilgamesh and proposes to him. Gilgamesh rejects her offer, bringing to mind the fate suffered by her former lovers. Enraged Ishtar mounts up to heaven and persuades her father Anu to giver her the fiery Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh with death. The Bull of Heaven causes havoc in Uruk, but Gilgamesh and Enkidue kill it. To further insult Ishtar, Enkidue tears off the bull’s thigh and throws it in her face. After this the gods assemble to degree Enkidue’s doom, which he sees in a dream. After describing the dream to Gilgamesh he becomes very sick. On his deathbed he laments to Gilgamesh of how it would be better to die in battle and have his memory live forever, rather than die quietly and be forgotten. Enkidue then dies.

After the death of Enkidue, Gilgamesh is faced with his own mortality. He leaves Uruk and wanders the earth to find the immortal Utanapishti – a man who survived the Flood and was given immortality by the gods as a result. Gilgamesh travels through arid deserts and over high mountains until he stops at an inn. He tells the barmaid how his friend has died and that he seeks immortality. She warns him of the futility of his quest, but finally tells him how to find Utanapishti. Making an arduous journey across the Waters of Death, Gilgamesh finds Utanapishti who tells him that deep under the sea, grows a flower that has the properties of eternal life. Gilgamesh dives down to the sea-bed and retrieves it. On his way back to Uruk, Gilgamesh stops at a pool to bathe. Seizing on his inattention a snake steals the flower, and as Gilgamesh reaches out to stop it, the snake sheds it’s skin in his hands and gets away.

Gilgamesh realizes that now all his efforts have been in vain. Yet on his return to Uruk he describes the beauty of his kingdom and all the magnificent architecture of the city and the stone work that will be his lasting monument. So in the end Gilgamesh achieves immortality, not by living forever but through his achievements and the legacy he leaves behind. In summation one could say that even though this is a story dating back some 5,000 years ago in ancient Iraq, its themes are in the words of the late Dr. David Neiman, “eternal and universal.”

 

References:

George, A. The Epic of Gilgamesh. (London, England: Penguin Classics, 1999).

The Assassins

January 11, 2024

The Old Man of the Mountain – Hasan-ben-Sabah, was the founder of the secret order of the Islamic Assassins in northern Persia in the late 11th century A.D. Hasan’s residence was in a mountain fortress named Alamut which he seized control of in 1090 AD. Hasan’s devotees became knows as the Assassins, or Hashshashins, because of their addiction to the drug hashish. The following is an account by Marco Polo who heard of their fame from diverse peoples during his travels:

We shall now tell of the old man of the mountain. In a beautiful valley enclosed between two lofty mountains he had built a luxurious garden, stored with every delicious fruit and fragrant shrub that could be procured. Palaces of various sizes and forms were erected in different parts of the grounds, ornamented with works in gold, with paintings, and with furnishings of rich silks. By means of small conduits in these buildings, streams of wine, milk, honey, and some of pure water, were seen to flow in every direction.

The inhabitants of these palaces were dainty and beautiful damsels, accomplished in the arts of singing, playing upon all sorts of musical instruments, dancing, and especially amorous dalliance. Clothed in rich dresses, they were seen continually sporting and amusing themselves in the garden and pavilions, their female guardians being confined within doors and never allowed to appear. The subject which the chief had in view in forming a garden of this fascinating kind was this: that Muhammad promised those who obeyed his will, the enjoyments of Paradise where every kind of sensual gratification would be found, among a society of beautiful nymphs. Hasan wanted it understood by his followers that he also was a prophet and like Muhammad, had the power of admitting to Paradise such as he should choose to favor.

In order that no one might find his way into this delicious valley without his permission, Hasan caused a strong and impregnable castle to be erected, through which the entry was by a secret passage. At his court, moreover, this chief entertained a number of youths, from the age of twelve to twenty years, selected from the inhabitants of the surrounding mountains, who showed a warlike disposition and appeared to posses the quality of daring courage. To them he was in the daily practice of conversing on the paradise announced by the prophet, and of his own power of granting admission to it. At certain times he caused opium to be administered to a dozen or so of the youths; and when they were unconscious he had them conveyed to the many apartments of the palaces in the garden.

Upon awakening from the state of stupor, their senses were struck with all the delightful objects that have been described. Each saw himself surrounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and captivating him with the most delightful caresses, serving him also with delicate foods and exquisite wines until, intoxicated with excess of enjoyment amid rivers of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in paradise, and unwilling to relinquish its delights. When four or five days had thus been passed, they were thrown once more into a drugged state and carried out of the garden. Upon their being brought into Hasan’s presence and questioned by him as to where they had been, their answer was, ”In paradise, through the favor of your highness”; and then before the whole court, who listened with curiosity and astonishment, they gave a circumstantial account of the scenes they had witnessed. The chief thereupon addressing them, said: ” we have the assurances of our prophet that he who defends his lord shall inherit Paradise, and if you show yourselves devoted to obeying my orders, that happy lot awaits you.”

Aroused with enthusiasm by these words, all considered themselves blessed to receive the commands of their master and were ready to die in his service. The consequence of this system was that when any of the neighboring princes, or others, offended Hasan, they were put to death by his disciplined assassins, none of whom felt terror at the risk of losing their own lives, which they held in little esteem, provided they could execute their master’s will. On this account his tyranny became a matter of dread in all the surrounding countries.

Hasan also dispatched two deputies to represent himself. One was placed in the vicinity of Damascus and the other in Kurdistan; and these pursued the plan he had established for training their young devotees. Thus there was no one, however powerful, who, having been exposed to the fierceness of the Old Man of the Mountain, could escape assassination.

The end of the Assassins and their mountain stronghold of Alamut came from a Mongol invasion. The Mongol Hulegu, the brother of the Great Khan Mongke, learned of the atrocious practices of the Assassins, and in 1252 sent one of his armies to besiege their castle. However, Alamut was built so strongly that for three years no impression could be made upon it, until at length the last successor of Hasan had to surrender from want of provisions, and being made prisoner was put to death. Alamut was dismantled and the Garden of Paradise was destroyed. However, a remnant of the sect, called the Ismaili’s, have survived into modern times. Its Leader today is the Aga Khan.

References:

https://about-history.com/the-hashashins-assassins-according-to-marco-polo/?amp