Neither one was meant to be a direct parallel of OTL, although I will admit that Merrekhism was somewhat influenced by mystical interpretations of the Abrahamic religions(especially Sufism) while Hepism was more-or-less directly inspired by both Jewish halakha and Islamic shari’ah, albeit with an Egyptian spin. However, both are ultimately rooted in OTL Egyptian religion. In general, I want to keep TTL’s Atenism rooted in Egyptian religious practices, although due to shared monotheism and Near Eastern cultural background a few notable similarities to the Abrahamic religions will appear.
Living on Ma’at: An Atenist Egypt TL
- Thread starter Merovingian
- Start date
Especially as in OTL Atenism is considered a precursor(albeit imperfect...subject to opinion) of the future monotheist religions, so comparison aren't that weird(also most common reference point)
While I remain somewhat skeptical of claims that Atenism influenced the Abrahamic religions(which seem to have emerged organically from previous Canaanite religion while Atenism only lasted a generation), the fact that both religions emerge from a Near Eastern cultural context and are both monotheistic means that there are bound to be similarities. That said, there are a few notable differences, largely stemming from the differences between Egyptian and Canaanite belief systems. For example, Yahweh was originally conceived of as a tribal god of the Jewish people before Christianity and later Islam added universalist beliefs, while the Aten was rather explicitly a god of all peoples from the very beginning. Another important distinction is that the all-encompassing cosmic struggle between Ma’at and Isfet which has no real equivalent in the Abrahamic religions but was central to Egyptian religion is the key philosophical concept of Atenism ITTL. As a side effect of the focus on Ma’at, TTL’s Atenists have an ideal of social harmony more akin to Confucianism than any of the Abrahamic religions. Their theology and philosophy is also more akin to the cosmic dualism found in OTL Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism, as opposed to the strict monotheism of the Abrahamic religions. While TTL’s Atenism and OTL’s Abrahamic religions have their similarities, Atenism both IOTL and ITTL is distinctly Egyptian in several key ways, and any present day variations on Akhenaten’s religion[1] will not be recognizably Abrahamic. That isn’t to say that monotheism might not develop independently somewhere else, of course.
[1]Considering the sheer amount of time between Akhenaten and today, by TTL’s 2024 there probably won’t be a single “Atenism” so much as there will be multiple “Atenic” religions
IIRC Tetragramatton was more like the Ares or Zeus(depends on the context) of a semitic tribe when the Omnipotent One was El SHADDAI(also there Metatron, also called the lesser Tetragramatton, if tetra was the only one, why was a lesser?) yet also the Ugaritic got the Henotheist tale of genesis before anyone else, with their Adam being like a proto Gilgamesh with thor(ie a magic hammer) who faced an evil reptilian(serpent,dragon?)
Yeah even for the TL itself, Atenist/Akhenaten’s Religion evolved on a very unique form
Canaanite beliefs will feature ITTL in the not too distant future as Atenism spreads into the land of Retjenu.
A lot of Atenist concepts ITTL are taken from OTL Egyptian religion, although I suppose that they have been taken in a very different direction from OTL.
The End of an Era
Akhet-Aten, Egypt, Year Seventeen in the Reign of Akhenaten Neferkheperura-Waenre
Princess Meritaten held gently her young daughter, also named Meritaten. Her son and daughter had already been sent off to bed, and so the two had their corner of the palace to themselves. Meritaten’s husband Paramessu entered the room. Not wanting to wake Atenemhat or Meritaten Tasherit, he announced his presence with a quiet “hello”, before asking his wife about her father. “His health is declining” she said “but the Lord of the Two Lands still reigns.. The Aten willing, his reign will last many years to come.” The ailing pharaoh’s daughter changed the subject to a more pleasant matter “I hear that you have been promoted? Is it true that my father now charges you with keeping the Great Aten Temple?” Paramessu gave a nod of approval. He looked back at how far he had come. He looked at his wife, his son, and his daughter, and a feeling of happiness came over him, appreciation for what he had accomplished. Truly, the Aten had smiled upon him and his family.
Hattusa, Hittite Empire, Year Seventeen in the Reign of Akhenaten Neferkheperura-Waenre
“My Lord and my Sun” Prince Ziti spoke to his brother, King Suppiluliuma “it appears that the Great King of Egypt is in ill health.” The Great King of Hatti leaned back into his throne with a smile on his face, already thinking up his next plan. It had been years since the Great King of Egypt had humiliated him in Hanigalbat[1], and he had been eager to claim his revenge and take the glory that was rightfully his. Everything Suppiluliuma had, he had to fight for. He had not been the rightful heir to the throne, that had been his brother, the incompetent Tudhaliya III. Tudhaliya had run the land of Hatti into the ground. Had he not usurped his brother’s throne, the Nesili[2] might very well have been erased from history! Suppiluliuma’s usurpation of power was not without controversy, for the Hittites had few greater taboos than the breaking of oaths. Suppiluliuma, however, had proven his right to the throne.
He had brought the land of Hatti from near-oblivion to once again being a great power, respected and feared by allies and rivals alike. That is, until his invasion of Hanigalbat. The Egyptians has humiliated him, and in doing so, they humiliated the land of Hatti and the sun-goddess Arinitti that watched over it. Yet Suppiluliuma did not waste precious men and resources while Egypt remained strong, for he was a shrewd and cunning monarch. Rather, he would wait until Egypt was in a position of weakness, and strike again. “Let it be known that I, the Great King Suppiluliuma, intend to go on campaign in Hanigalbat when the next King of Egypt is being crowned!”
From “Under the Rays of the Aten; A History of Egypt’s New Kingdom” by Netjerneferu Raemhat
It would not be controversial to state that Akhenaten is a serious contender for the title of “most important person in history.” His religious reforms paved the way for today’s monotheistic religions. Without him, the world that we live in today could not have existed. The great city of Akhet-Aten remains a major religious and cultural center. It was thanks to him that the Aten went from one of many solar deities to a god worshipped by millions of people across the globe, spanning multiple religions. Akhenaten’s reign marked the end of an era; it saw the downfall of Egypt’s traditional polytheism and the world’s first true monotheistic religion. But more than that, it paved the way for all history that would happen long after Akhenaten’s passing.
[1]Mesopotamian name for Mitanni/Naharin
[2]The Hittites‘ name for themselves
Princess Meritaten held gently her young daughter, also named Meritaten. Her son and daughter had already been sent off to bed, and so the two had their corner of the palace to themselves. Meritaten’s husband Paramessu entered the room. Not wanting to wake Atenemhat or Meritaten Tasherit, he announced his presence with a quiet “hello”, before asking his wife about her father. “His health is declining” she said “but the Lord of the Two Lands still reigns.. The Aten willing, his reign will last many years to come.” The ailing pharaoh’s daughter changed the subject to a more pleasant matter “I hear that you have been promoted? Is it true that my father now charges you with keeping the Great Aten Temple?” Paramessu gave a nod of approval. He looked back at how far he had come. He looked at his wife, his son, and his daughter, and a feeling of happiness came over him, appreciation for what he had accomplished. Truly, the Aten had smiled upon him and his family.
Hattusa, Hittite Empire, Year Seventeen in the Reign of Akhenaten Neferkheperura-Waenre
“My Lord and my Sun” Prince Ziti spoke to his brother, King Suppiluliuma “it appears that the Great King of Egypt is in ill health.” The Great King of Hatti leaned back into his throne with a smile on his face, already thinking up his next plan. It had been years since the Great King of Egypt had humiliated him in Hanigalbat[1], and he had been eager to claim his revenge and take the glory that was rightfully his. Everything Suppiluliuma had, he had to fight for. He had not been the rightful heir to the throne, that had been his brother, the incompetent Tudhaliya III. Tudhaliya had run the land of Hatti into the ground. Had he not usurped his brother’s throne, the Nesili[2] might very well have been erased from history! Suppiluliuma’s usurpation of power was not without controversy, for the Hittites had few greater taboos than the breaking of oaths. Suppiluliuma, however, had proven his right to the throne.
He had brought the land of Hatti from near-oblivion to once again being a great power, respected and feared by allies and rivals alike. That is, until his invasion of Hanigalbat. The Egyptians has humiliated him, and in doing so, they humiliated the land of Hatti and the sun-goddess Arinitti that watched over it. Yet Suppiluliuma did not waste precious men and resources while Egypt remained strong, for he was a shrewd and cunning monarch. Rather, he would wait until Egypt was in a position of weakness, and strike again. “Let it be known that I, the Great King Suppiluliuma, intend to go on campaign in Hanigalbat when the next King of Egypt is being crowned!”
From “Under the Rays of the Aten; A History of Egypt’s New Kingdom” by Netjerneferu Raemhat
It would not be controversial to state that Akhenaten is a serious contender for the title of “most important person in history.” His religious reforms paved the way for today’s monotheistic religions. Without him, the world that we live in today could not have existed. The great city of Akhet-Aten remains a major religious and cultural center. It was thanks to him that the Aten went from one of many solar deities to a god worshipped by millions of people across the globe, spanning multiple religions. Akhenaten’s reign marked the end of an era; it saw the downfall of Egypt’s traditional polytheism and the world’s first true monotheistic religion. But more than that, it paved the way for all history that would happen long after Akhenaten’s passing.
[1]Mesopotamian name for Mitanni/Naharin
[2]The Hittites‘ name for themselves
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Descent Unto the West
Year Seventeen in the Reign of Akhenaten Neferkheperura-Waenre
Meritaten could barely speak as the messenger delayed the terrible information; “the King Neferkheperura-Waenre[1] has... gone unto the west.” Akhenaten’s death was followed by several days of morning, and once the initial shock wore off, a feeling of sadness came over her. Her father was dead, she would have to go on without the guiding force in her life who had been there since birth. At the same time, however, she knew that the world had not yet ended, life would go on. She still had her mother, her husband, her children, her younger sisters, and many other important people in her life. Eventually, once she had overcome the sadness that comes with death and mourning, a feeling of hope for the future fame over her. It seemed this was how most of the court felt as well.
The funeral of Akhenaten was an elaborate affair, as Egyptian royal burials had been since time immemorial. The professional mourners tore at their disheveled hair, wailed loudly, beat their exposed breasts, and smeared dirt and mud on their bodies. The body of the deceased pharaoh was embalmed and taken to its tomb, where the opening of the mouth ceremony traditionally performed by priests was instead performed on Akhenaten by Nefertiti. The King’s lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines were removed and placed in canonic jars before his body was mummified and entombed. Rather than the scenes from myth traditional to Egyptian royal tombs, Akhenaten’s tomb portrayed the Aten as a benevolent deity and showed scenes from the king’s everyday life. Unlike previous kings, Akhenaten was not buries with vast amounts of his material possessions in life, for all he needed would be given by the Aten.
Akhenaten would be succeeded by his brother Smenkhkare[2]. He ascended to the throne, taking the throne name Ankhkheperure[3]. The festivities of the coronation would soon be overshadowed, however. Far outside the borders of the Two Lands, the Great King of Hatti Suppiluliuma sought to avenge his defeat by Akhenaten so many years earlier. Not to long after Smenkhkare’s coronation, Hittite armies crossed into the Kingdom of Mitanni. While Suppiluliuma couldn’t have invaded the exact day of the coronation like he had wanted to, since the realities of Bronze Age logistics meant that he hadn’t heard about the coronation until days after it happened, it was still close enough to the festivities that the court at Akhet-Aten was distracted. And the very same Bronze Age logistics that prevented Suppiluliuma from learning of Smenkhkare’s coronation until days after it had happened also meant that Smenkhkare didn’t hear about the invasion until several days after it was already underway. It wasn’t until several weeks after his coronation that Smenkhkare received word that Mitanni had been invaded in the form of a letter from the King of Mitanni, Shattiwaza(Tushratta having died some few years prior). Without hesitation, Smenkhkare ordered the movement of Egyptian troops into Mitanni under the command of Paramessu.
[1]Akhenaten
[2]Smenkhkare was Akhenaten’s immediate successor as pharaoh and was likely either his brother, son, or nephew. TTL will be going with the assumption that Smenkhkare was Akhenaten’s brother. IOTL, his reign was rather short, and ITTL won’t be much longer. However, keep in mind that the person who IOTL would become Ramesses I is an Atenist ITTL and married to Akhenaten’s eldest daughter, so he still has a potential successor.
[3]Beautiful are the forms of life
Meritaten could barely speak as the messenger delayed the terrible information; “the King Neferkheperura-Waenre[1] has... gone unto the west.” Akhenaten’s death was followed by several days of morning, and once the initial shock wore off, a feeling of sadness came over her. Her father was dead, she would have to go on without the guiding force in her life who had been there since birth. At the same time, however, she knew that the world had not yet ended, life would go on. She still had her mother, her husband, her children, her younger sisters, and many other important people in her life. Eventually, once she had overcome the sadness that comes with death and mourning, a feeling of hope for the future fame over her. It seemed this was how most of the court felt as well.
The funeral of Akhenaten was an elaborate affair, as Egyptian royal burials had been since time immemorial. The professional mourners tore at their disheveled hair, wailed loudly, beat their exposed breasts, and smeared dirt and mud on their bodies. The body of the deceased pharaoh was embalmed and taken to its tomb, where the opening of the mouth ceremony traditionally performed by priests was instead performed on Akhenaten by Nefertiti. The King’s lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines were removed and placed in canonic jars before his body was mummified and entombed. Rather than the scenes from myth traditional to Egyptian royal tombs, Akhenaten’s tomb portrayed the Aten as a benevolent deity and showed scenes from the king’s everyday life. Unlike previous kings, Akhenaten was not buries with vast amounts of his material possessions in life, for all he needed would be given by the Aten.
Akhenaten would be succeeded by his brother Smenkhkare[2]. He ascended to the throne, taking the throne name Ankhkheperure[3]. The festivities of the coronation would soon be overshadowed, however. Far outside the borders of the Two Lands, the Great King of Hatti Suppiluliuma sought to avenge his defeat by Akhenaten so many years earlier. Not to long after Smenkhkare’s coronation, Hittite armies crossed into the Kingdom of Mitanni. While Suppiluliuma couldn’t have invaded the exact day of the coronation like he had wanted to, since the realities of Bronze Age logistics meant that he hadn’t heard about the coronation until days after it happened, it was still close enough to the festivities that the court at Akhet-Aten was distracted. And the very same Bronze Age logistics that prevented Suppiluliuma from learning of Smenkhkare’s coronation until days after it had happened also meant that Smenkhkare didn’t hear about the invasion until several days after it was already underway. It wasn’t until several weeks after his coronation that Smenkhkare received word that Mitanni had been invaded in the form of a letter from the King of Mitanni, Shattiwaza(Tushratta having died some few years prior). Without hesitation, Smenkhkare ordered the movement of Egyptian troops into Mitanni under the command of Paramessu.
[1]Akhenaten
[2]Smenkhkare was Akhenaten’s immediate successor as pharaoh and was likely either his brother, son, or nephew. TTL will be going with the assumption that Smenkhkare was Akhenaten’s brother. IOTL, his reign was rather short, and ITTL won’t be much longer. However, keep in mind that the person who IOTL would become Ramesses I is an Atenist ITTL and married to Akhenaten’s eldest daughter, so he still has a potential successor.
[3]Beautiful are the forms of life
I said millions of worshippers, but by the present day, the Aten likely will have billions of worshippers like the Abrahamic religions IOTL. “Millions” in this context just means “a very large number of people.” As for how Atenist gender roles work, they will pull from pre-existing Egyptian gender roles. Egyptian women had considerably more rights than in most other contemporary civilizations; they could own and sell property, have their own businesses, serve as witnesses in court cases, and were entitled to one third of their husband’s property. Even more unique for the time, marriages were not usually arranged by third parties and women could initiate divorces. At the same time, women were prohibited from certain professions, were expected to be wives and mothers, and polygamy was common among the upper classes. The rise of Atenism will only increase the relative equality of Egyptian women, with the precedent for powerful women in the Egyptian court has been established by Nefertiti. Once Atenism has been fully established in Egypt, it might become popular with women in the neighboring Mesopotamian cultures(which were often heavily patriarchal), paralleling the popularity of Christianity with women in the Roman Empire IOTL.
Atenism will spread beyond Egypt, and adapt to local cultures. Greece was heavily influenced by Egypt(as well as Phoenicia, which will likely also be Atenist) IOTL, and so it will likely spread into the Aegean. An idea I’ve thought about including in the TL is a “Greek Islam” that develops in response to Atenism, since the conditions in post-Bronze Age collapse Greece ITTL will be fairly similar to the conditions in Arabia that led to the rise of Islam IOTL(peripheral region that engages in trade with a larger power that introduces an evangelistic religion). If the Greeks still establish colonies outside the Aegean, than they will spread either Atenism or a local derivative throughout the Mediterranean and from their throughout Europe. The Silk Road will still exist ITTL, so variants of Atenism might spread throughout the steppe the same way Nestorianism and Manichaeism did IOTL, although they’ll be at a disadvantage against whatever comes out of Persia and/or China. Atenism could conceivably spread to India through the Indian Ocean trade routes(which like the Silk Road will still exist ITTL), establishing itself in southern port cities. That said, there’s no saying that the religious traditions coming out of India, Persia, China, etc. will be the same as IOTL. The Abrahamic and Hellenistic religious traditions are certainly butterflied due to not being able to compete in an environment dominated by Atenism, while there’s a decent chance that Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Buddhism, etc. might also be butterflies or at least rendered unrecognizable due to the sheer distance in time between the POD and their founding. Whatever comes out of Persia and China ITTL will likely bear a noticeable resemblance to OTL’s Zoroastrianism and Confucianism due to originating from a similar cultural context, but will still be different enough to be distinct in some fairly significant ways.
Also does the spread of Egyptian influence mean *Greek and other Indo-european languages will be written in *Demotic?
B_Munro’s Atenist Egypt map also has the eternal-return Siberian Steppe religion of Fiangyuu.
I agree that some kind of reaction to Shang (Hlyang~Stang)/Zhou (Tiw) dynasty state cults will emerge
B_Munro’s Atenist Egypt map also has the eternal-return Siberian Steppe religion of Fiangyuu.
I agree that some kind of reaction to Shang (Hlyang~Stang)/Zhou (Tiw) dynasty state cults will emerge
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In terms of India, how will Hinduism change in reaction to the butterfly’s?
While I want to wait till the butterflies have already spread throughout the Middle East before they reach India or anywhere else, I have a few ideas. The Vedas have already been composed by this point, as have some of the earlier Upanishads. India around this time is in the midst of the Vedic era, which emerged following the collapse of the enigmatic Indus Valley Civilization and it’s conquest by Indo-European nomads from Central Asia. This period saw the development of the caste system, the earliest bedrock of Hinduism(actual Hinduism as practiced today doesn’t develop until much later, but it has its roots in this era), and other things which we’ve come to associate with Indian civilization. The era of history following the Bronze Age collapse, sometimes called the axial age, saw the widespread proliferation of new religious ideas, as seen by China’s Hundred Schools of thought, various Greek philosophies, the rise of the Abrahamic religions, and so forth. ITTL, as IOTL, India will be fertile ground for the development of new ideas. While Greek philosophers ITTL will be debating concepts derived from Atenist monotheism, perhaps India ITTL will see a similar flourishing of philosophy that Greece did IOTL, with something akin to Platonism or Stoicism emerging from the subcontinent. India had many of the same conditions that lead to Classical Greece’s golden age IOTL, and it’s large and diverse enough that it could potentially see the rise of a multitude of different philosophies and religions.
Considering that the Aten is a solar deity, how will Atenism adapt to the cloudy and dark environment of Northern Europe, assuming it spreads that far?
Demotic script doesn’t exist yet; the Egyptian language has two scripts that are used, the older hieroglyphic script and the newer hieratic script. Hieratic originated as a cursive form of the older hieroglyphics, and is the ancestor of demotic. The Greeks ITTL will develop their own script based on hieratic the same way they developed one based on Phoenician IOTL.
While nothing’s for certain yet, the Eurasian steppe’s status as a major center of trade and cultural exchange makes it a fertile breeding ground for new religions, and the military advantage that horse nomads have over settled people’s means any religion originating in the steppe could spread relatively quickly. I’m honestly surprised that there isn’t a major world religion IOTL originating in the steppe. Don’t be surprised if TTL’s Turkic migrations have a similar effect ITTL that the Arab migrations did IOTL.
China IOTL around this time saw the Hundred Schools of Thought, whose ideas were very diverse and varied, so really almost anything could emerge out of China. These new philosophies will pull on the Shang and Zhou state cults and the precedent of the Mandate of Heaven(an idea that dates back to the Zhou), while also presenting their own ideas. That said, there’s no saying that whatever emerges out of China ITTL will resemble Confucianism or Daoism particularly closely, even if there will be similarities. An interesting idea would be if *Mohist-style philosophies emerged triumphant rather than OTL’s Legalistic-Confucianism.
The Aten is a solar deity, but that’s not just what it is. It is also a universal god of all humanity. A benevolent creator god who creates and sustains the universe. The sun is simply the physical manifestation of the Aten at which worship is directed, but the Aten is present in all things. That said, the sun also features prominently in Atenist ritual practiced; most notably, Atenists pray in the direction of the sun, and are required to do so three times a day(in the morning before the rising sun, at noon before the sun in its zenith, and at night before the setting sun). This might be a bit more difficult in a place where the sun isn’t as easily visible. That said, local variants of Atenism might adapt to local conditions and develop their own practices. The Abrahamic religions of today don’t all have the exact same practices as Iron Age Yahwism, nor do today’s Dharmic religions perfectly ape the ancient Vedic religion. So to will religions ITTL derived from Atenism branch out from their origins, much as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are distinct from each other IOTL.
The First Holy War
Paramessu and his troops moved north from Egypt through Retjenu before eventually reaching Naharin and meeting up with Shattiwaza’s Mitanni forces. “Men of the Two Lands” he began to speak “the King Smenkhkare has sent us to this foreign soil for what purpose?” “To defend Ma’at and repel Isfet![1]” his troops responded in unison. “That’s right! And who is the agent of Isfet upon Earth?” asked Paramessu, to which the Egyptian soldiers spat “Suppiluliuma, the accursed ‘king’ of Hatti!” “And who is the earthly vice regent of the Aten, who has been tasked with upholding Ma’at in the Two Lands?” Paramessu retorted, and just as quickly his troops exclaimed “the Lord of the Two Lands, Smenkhkare brother of Akhenaten!“ “And where have the frontlines of Ma’at and Isfet been drawn?” “In the land of Naharin, where the accursed Suppiluliuma assaults the land!” “Who has been tasked with expelling Isfet and it’s agents from Naharin?” “What nation has the Aten tasked with being his soldiers upon Earth, spreading Ma’at with every conquest?[2]” One by one the Egyptian soldiers clamored “EGYPT! EGYPT! OUR OWN TWO LANDS!” before they departed for battle.
Suppiluliuma had learned his enemy in the years since his last defeat. He paid attention to the differences between Hittite and Egyptian chariots; Egyptian chariots were faster but only had two people aboard them, while Hittite chariots were slower but sturdier, and could hold three people(allowing more spears and arrows to be thrown/shot from the chariot). Suppiluliuma’s plan was to encircle the Egyptian chariots and systematically pick them off, one by one. The Egyptian and Hittite forces met at Washukanni, the capital of the Mitanni Kingdom. Suppiluliuma’s Hittites feigned retreat before surrounding the Egyptians and reigning a fire of arrows upon them. It seemed that all hope was lost, until Paramessu came up with a last ditch plan to save the Egyptians from almost certain annihilation; he took advantage of the greater mobility allowed by Egyptian chariots by ordering his forces to run around in circles, distracting the Hittites. The less mobile Hittite chariots were unable to keep up with the Egyptians, and then Paramessu went on the offensive. The Egyptian’s battled cry of “Ma’at! Ma’at!” could be heard throughout the city. One by one, the scattered Hittite chariots were wiped out by the Egyptians. Seeing his inevitable fate, Suppiluliuma ordered his troops to retreat.
The Hittites regrouped outside the city, and once they had fully recovered they once again laid siege to it. The Egyptians now engaged the Hittites from a defensive position, volleying arrows as the Hittites laid siege. As the siege went on, a sense of hopelessness emerged amongst the Hittites; they had already lost, but Suppiluliuma was hellbent on revenge. The battle finally ended when Suppiluliuma was slain by one of his own charioteers. The Hittites then surrendered to the Egyptians, but soon came to faced with a conundrum of unimaginable significance. Not only had they lost the battle, they had killed their own king. Not only were they cowards and failures, but traitors and oath breakers as well. If they returned to Hatti, they would face execution followed by a cruel and destitute afterlife, paying for their crimes for all eternity. And so, one of the Hittites offered a proposal to Paramessu, translated by a Hurrian[3] soldier in the Egyptian army who spoke both Egyptian and Hittite; the Hittites would come with Paramessu to Egypt, where they would serve in the armies of the pharaoh.
Paramessu obliged, under the conditions that they committed themselves to the worship of only one god, a strange god whom until now the Hittites has never heard of. The Egyptian promised that this god, which he called “Aten” would forgive the Hittites for their misgivings and that, upon death, He would grant them entry into a paradisiacal realm of eternal bliss. The Hittites eagerly agreed, and Paramessu reported the news of his victory back to the King. In Egypt, Paramessu would return a hero, with Smenkhkare promoting him by making him his chief vizier. It seemed that this young man had a bright future ahead of him. In the land of Hatti, meanwhile, the young Prince Arnuwanda would ascend to the throne with a bitter vengeance in his heart. From that day forth, it had been set in stone that the Egyptians and Hittites would forever be the bitterest of rivals, with neither resting until they had achieved a complete victory against the other. The Near East was entering a new era, an era defined by something which the world had not yet seen; a conflict defined not just by geopolitical or dynastic rivalry, but by ideological competition. An era of holy war between the devotees of the Aten, backed by Akhet-Aten, and those who worshipped the old gods, backed by Hattusa. The coming years would see lines drawn in the sand, and the world would never be the same again.
[1]Akhenaten’s victory against Suppiluliuma the last time around has made the army a bastion of Atenism(some would say “fanaticism”)
[2]You can already see the beginnings of an imperial ideology to justify expansion
[3]Predominate ethnicity in Mitanni
Suppiluliuma had learned his enemy in the years since his last defeat. He paid attention to the differences between Hittite and Egyptian chariots; Egyptian chariots were faster but only had two people aboard them, while Hittite chariots were slower but sturdier, and could hold three people(allowing more spears and arrows to be thrown/shot from the chariot). Suppiluliuma’s plan was to encircle the Egyptian chariots and systematically pick them off, one by one. The Egyptian and Hittite forces met at Washukanni, the capital of the Mitanni Kingdom. Suppiluliuma’s Hittites feigned retreat before surrounding the Egyptians and reigning a fire of arrows upon them. It seemed that all hope was lost, until Paramessu came up with a last ditch plan to save the Egyptians from almost certain annihilation; he took advantage of the greater mobility allowed by Egyptian chariots by ordering his forces to run around in circles, distracting the Hittites. The less mobile Hittite chariots were unable to keep up with the Egyptians, and then Paramessu went on the offensive. The Egyptian’s battled cry of “Ma’at! Ma’at!” could be heard throughout the city. One by one, the scattered Hittite chariots were wiped out by the Egyptians. Seeing his inevitable fate, Suppiluliuma ordered his troops to retreat.
The Hittites regrouped outside the city, and once they had fully recovered they once again laid siege to it. The Egyptians now engaged the Hittites from a defensive position, volleying arrows as the Hittites laid siege. As the siege went on, a sense of hopelessness emerged amongst the Hittites; they had already lost, but Suppiluliuma was hellbent on revenge. The battle finally ended when Suppiluliuma was slain by one of his own charioteers. The Hittites then surrendered to the Egyptians, but soon came to faced with a conundrum of unimaginable significance. Not only had they lost the battle, they had killed their own king. Not only were they cowards and failures, but traitors and oath breakers as well. If they returned to Hatti, they would face execution followed by a cruel and destitute afterlife, paying for their crimes for all eternity. And so, one of the Hittites offered a proposal to Paramessu, translated by a Hurrian[3] soldier in the Egyptian army who spoke both Egyptian and Hittite; the Hittites would come with Paramessu to Egypt, where they would serve in the armies of the pharaoh.
Paramessu obliged, under the conditions that they committed themselves to the worship of only one god, a strange god whom until now the Hittites has never heard of. The Egyptian promised that this god, which he called “Aten” would forgive the Hittites for their misgivings and that, upon death, He would grant them entry into a paradisiacal realm of eternal bliss. The Hittites eagerly agreed, and Paramessu reported the news of his victory back to the King. In Egypt, Paramessu would return a hero, with Smenkhkare promoting him by making him his chief vizier. It seemed that this young man had a bright future ahead of him. In the land of Hatti, meanwhile, the young Prince Arnuwanda would ascend to the throne with a bitter vengeance in his heart. From that day forth, it had been set in stone that the Egyptians and Hittites would forever be the bitterest of rivals, with neither resting until they had achieved a complete victory against the other. The Near East was entering a new era, an era defined by something which the world had not yet seen; a conflict defined not just by geopolitical or dynastic rivalry, but by ideological competition. An era of holy war between the devotees of the Aten, backed by Akhet-Aten, and those who worshipped the old gods, backed by Hattusa. The coming years would see lines drawn in the sand, and the world would never be the same again.
[1]Akhenaten’s victory against Suppiluliuma the last time around has made the army a bastion of Atenism(some would say “fanaticism”)
[2]You can already see the beginnings of an imperial ideology to justify expansion
[3]Predominate ethnicity in Mitanni
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