Atenism thrives

This is going to be quite the thought experiment, and I do realise that with a PoD as far back as this anything can happen but let's try it anyway, shall we?

There doesn't seem to be a lot of historical information around regarding the reign of Akhenaten. That is to be expected I guess, it was over 3000 years ago after all. But let's say that for some reason Atenism lives on after his death, and the old Egyptian beliefs never make a comeback (except possibly for a few isolated areas of heretics against the new monotheistic religion). What happens to Egypt next? Could the religion survive into modern day, and what would that mean for the other world religions from that general part of the world? Would Judaism ever appear? Some scholars think there is a link between Atenism and later monotheistic religions. If Atenism survives then would there be a need for other such religions to develop? And what about Egypt as an empire? With a more centralised religion it has laid the groundwork for consolidating power within the kingdom (as Akhenaten in part seems to have wanted with his new religion). Might that allow Egypt to survive longer, maybe not succumb to as many invasions?

Let's hear your speculations.
 

Philip

Donor
Would Judaism ever appear? Some scholars think there is a link between Atenism and later monotheistic religions. If Atenism survives then would there be a need for other such religions to develop?

The existence of Judaism did not prevent the rise of or abrogate the 'need' for other monotheistic religions. Indeed, it seems to have enabled such developments. Why would a surviving Atenism be different?
 
The existence of Judaism did not prevent the rise of or abrogate the 'need' for other monotheistic religions. Indeed, it seems to have enabled such developments. Why would a surviving Atenism be different?

Well the other successful monotheistic religions are all off-shots of Judaism. I can only think of one that isn't (Zoroastrianism). I'm not saying Atenism wouldn't spawn lots of other religions in a similar manner, but it seems unlikely to me that Judaism would come into being like it did IOTL if there's already a major organised monotheistic religion active in the area.
 
There are a lot of misconceptions about Atenism, but the biggie probably has to be that it was monotheistic to begin with - it wasn't. Akenaten simply elevated a new diety to the position of sun god in order to break the power of the Amunite priests. He certainly never stopped worship of himself, or of lesser dieties like Osiris.
 
There are a lot of misconceptions about Atenism, but the biggie probably has to be that it was monotheistic to begin with - it wasn't. Akenaten simply elevated a new diety to the position of sun god in order to break the power of the Amunite priests. He certainly never stopped worship of himself, or of lesser dieties like Osiris.

I read that he did forbid worship of other deities towards the end of his reign. But even so I'd assume that Atenism would eventually evolve into an actual monotheistic religion since it put so much emphasis on one supreme god over all others.

EDIT: Oh and Aten wasn't new. It had been around as a god, or the sun-disc aspect of other sun gods, for centuries before Akhenaten's reign. He elevated an obscure but established deity. He didn't make up a new one.
 
There are a lot of misconceptions about Atenism, but the biggie probably has to be that it was monotheistic to begin with - it wasn't. Akenaten simply elevated a new diety to the position of sun god in order to break the power of the Amunite priests. He certainly never stopped worship of himself, or of lesser dieties like Osiris.

Well, while it is true that Akhenaten was pretty tolerant of other cults during the majority of his reign, he seems to have been headed toward a true monotheistic system at the end of his reign. By that time it appears that he was actually closing temples to other gods and erasing their names from sculpture throughout the country. We can assume that if he had lived longer, he or his successor might have completed that process and Egypt would have been...officially at least...a monotheisitic society.

The problem with Akhenaten's monotheism, however, is that it was totally focused on himself. Only the Pharaoh was allowed to intercede with Aten on behalf of his people. It was basically designed to strip all the power away from the old priesthoods and give it to the king. But as a byproduct, it pretty much totally excluded the mass of the people from the worship of the god. So the new cult never developed any sort of popular following.

Now if Akhenaten had envisioned his god as a god of the people, rather than a god of the king, and made the god accessible to the people at large, the cult would probably have gained a lot of popular support which the king could draw upon to face down the resisters among the old temple priesthood. But he never did that.
 
Now if Akhenaten had envisioned his god as a god of the people, rather than a god of the king, and made the god accessible to the people at large, the cult would probably have gained a lot of popular support which the king could draw upon to face down the resisters among the old temple priesthood. But he never did that.

Maybe that could be a PoD which would allow Atenism to survive throughout the ages?
 
Akhenaten went on a power trip in elevating his parton god over the rest of Egypt.

Though you see a problem is that following Akhenaten he was succeeded by his own son, Tutankhamun! Who was glorified by reversing his own father's Atenist laws (First named Tutankhaten, then Tutankh-Amun, Amun being just one of the many all-powerful creator deities of Egypt) and then we know what happened to him. Which leads off into a generally unstable period of Egypt as the various powers behind the Boy-King's throne take the throne one after another. Within a decade of Akenaten's death the shift back to undoing his works. As the general period of instability following his reign ended the 18th Dynasty period.

His reign was also one of social uphevel in part because of the Aten controversy but also due to outbreaks of plague. Also his eemingly random and gradual shift from tolerance to outright forbiddence may have been due to mental illness (Caligula).

So basicly you need a more successful Egypt.

Edit: Henotheism would work better. Aten was already well associated with former Pharoahs of the 18th Dynasty.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/aten.htm

http://www.touregypt.net/hymntoaten.htm QUite a long dedication to Aten, may grant you insight on the nature of this new Atenism.
 
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Now if Akhenaten had envisioned his god as a god of the people, rather than a god of the king, and made the god accessible to the people at large, the cult would probably have gained a lot of popular support which the king could draw upon to face down the resisters among the old temple priesthood. But he never did that.

Maybe that could be a PoD which would allow Atenism to survive throughout the ages?

Very possibly.

Akhenaten went on a power trip in elevating his parton god over the rest of Egypt.

Though you see a problem is that following Akhenaten he was succeeded by his own son, Tutankhamun! Who was glorified by reversing his own father's Atenist laws (First named Tutankhaten, then Tutankh-Amun, Amun being just one of the many all-powerful creator deities of Egypt) and then we know what happened to him. Which leads off into a generally unstable period of Egypt as the various powers behind the Boy-King's throne take the throne one after another. Within a decade of Akenaten's death the shift back to undoing his works. As the general period of instability following his reign ended the 18th Dynasty period.

His reign was also one of social uphevel in part because of the Aten controversy but also due to outbreaks of plague. Also his eemingly random and gradual shift from tolerance to outright forbiddence may have been due to mental illness (Caligula).

So basicly you need a more successful Egypt.

Well, Tutankhaten/Tutankhamun came to the throne as a child, and died before he could really exercise full control. The Priests of Amun took advantage of this weakness and forced Tut to abandon Atenism in favor of the old religion. If Akhenaten lives a decade or two longer, Tut will come to the throne as a man, and may well prove to be a strong king. And Tut's death seems to have been accidental (recent research indicates he probably died from an infection stemming from a broken leg, most likely suffered in a hunting accident). So that circumstance could well have been avoided, allowing him to live a long and healthy life. If that happens, you might well have time for the Aten cult to be firmly established.
 
Given so much is unknown, this is the most ancient of history. The Cult of Aten may very well be established with the Ruling Pharaohs but there is little evidence of signs of the majority of the population finding much favor, especially as most of the religious work was channeled through the Pharaoh instead of the personal shrines of the domestic house. It very well may turn into a civil war in my opinion, the Priests of Amun and their allies would not go quietly. Akhenaten was not a good ruler -plague,costly building projects, total reversal of international fortune allowing the rise of the Hittites-. The Ma'at was not kept for sure during his reign.

If you REALLY want it to do well, I would make the founder of the 18th Dynasty Ahmose I start Atenism, given that he favored Aten and he "Thew Out" the Hyskos, so combine it with a more positive political-social event.
 
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Make Akhenaten competent. The best way to do that would be to remove any one of the suspected genetic disorders he had. But there were still food shortages, and the massive economic hit that Egypt took during his reign (moving capitols and removing the wealth of the Pharaoh from one will do that), and foreign threats. You'd need to fundamentally change Akhenaten's personality, which may remove Atenism itself.
 
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