Tutankhamen - Amenism, Atenism and Egyptian Monotheism

King Tut brought the entire world to its knees in admiration of the masterful skills of Ancient Egypt. No other discovery from that land has thrilled the world more than the discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Riches and unknown wonders were revealed to the modern world that were only suspected in history. This manuscript about Tutankhamen is by the world's foremost Egyptologist in his era, and he was probably one of the first to scientifically and critically examine the tomb, the mummy, and the artifacts.

E.A. Wallis Budge went further than most archeologists and scientists would dare, for Budge's unique understanding of the Ancient Egyptian world caused him to question and research the esoteric and mystical values of that great civilization, including their gods.

From the Preface

THE announcement made early in December, 1922, of the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings in Western Thebes by the late Lord Carnarvon and Mr. Howard Carter sent a thrill of wonder and expectation through all the civilized peoples on the earth. In the accounts of the contents of the Tomb, which were published with admirable promptness and fullness in The Times, we read of bodies of chariots, chairs of state, gilded couches, royal apparel, boxes of trinkets and food and cosmetics and toilet requisites, large bitumenized wooden statues, alabaster vessels of hitherto unknown shapes and beauty, and countless other objects, until the mind reeled in its attempts to imagine the sight that met the eyes of the two discoverers when they entered the two outer chambers.

Those who have seen the smaller objects and have enjoyed the privilege of examining them have been amazed at their exquisite beauty and finish; and there is no doubt that the importance of the "find," from an artistic point of view, can be expressed in words only with difficulty. It is easy to believe Sarwat Pasha when he says none of the accounts published have really done justice to the "finds," which, however, is not surprising, since their beauty is unique and indescribable (Times, Jan. 18, 1923, P. 9).

All the writers who have described and discussed the discovery have, quite rightly, lost no opportunity of proclaiming the great value and importance of Lord Carnarvon's "find" as illustrating the arts and crafts that were practised in the city of Aakhut-Aten under its founder, the famous Atenite king, Amenhetep IV. But some of them have been led astray by their eagerness to do ample justice to the great discovery, and have introduced into their eulogies statements of a historical character which are incorrect. Some have declared that the information derived from the "find" makes necessary the rewriting and recasting of the history of the XVIIIth dynasty, but there is no foundation for this statement, for the authorized accounts of the Tomb of Tutankhamen and its contents include no new historical facts. Lord Carnarvon may have obtained from the tomb information that would amplify our knowledge of the reign of Tutankhamen, but if he did so he did not publish it. As matters stand we know no more now about the reign of this king than we did before Lord Carnarvon made his phenomenal discovery.

Other writers have tried to make out that Tutankhamen was one of the greatest of the kings of Egypt, but this is not the case. When he came to the throne he professed the same religion as his wife, that is to say, the cult of Aten, the Solar Disk, or Atenism, and for a short time he continued to do so. But he soon realized that Atenism had failed, and then he substituted the name of Amen for Aten in his own name and that of his wife, and became a fervent follower of Amen and a worshipper of the old gods of his country. The fame of Tutankhamen really rests on the fact that he restored the national worship of Amen, and made the Atenites to relinquish their hold upon the revenues of this god. Other writers again have tried to show that Tutankhamen was the "Pharaoh of the Exodus," and also that it was his wife Ankh-s-en-pa-Aten (or Amen) who took Moses out of his ark of bulrushes and brought him up. But there was more than one Exodus, and Tutankhamen was not King of Egypt when any of them took place. And strange views have been promulgated even about some of the articles of furniture that Lord Carnarvon found in the tomb.

Thus the funerary couch or bier with legs made in the form of a strange beast has been declared to be of Mesopotamian origin; but such is not the case. The beast represented is the composite monster called "Ammit," i.e. "Eater of the Dead," and she is found in the Judgment Scene in all the great papyri containing the Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead. About her component parts there is no doubt, for in the Papyrus of Hunefer it is written, "Her fore-part is crocodile, her hindquarters are hippopotamus, her middle part lion (or cat)". The Mesopotamians knew of no such beast, and the couch or bier could only have been made in Egypt, where the existence of Ammit was believed in and the fear of her was great.

Excerpt:

WHEN and where TUTANKHAMEN was born is unknown, and there is some doubt about the identity of his father. From a scarab which was found in the temple of Osiris at Abydos, we learn that his mother was called Merit-Ra. In the inscription on the red granite lion in the Southern Egyptian Gallery in the British Museum (No. 431), he says that he "restored the monuments of his father, King of the South and North, Lord of the Two Lands, Nebmaatra, the emanation of Ra, the son of Ra, Amenhetep (III), Governor of Thebes."

It is possible that Tutankhamen was the son of Amenhetep III by one of his concubines, and that when he calls this king his father the statement is literally true, but there is no proof of it. On the other hand, Tutankhamen may have used the word "father" simply as a synonym of "predecessor."

The older Egyptologists accepted the statement made by him on the lion that he dedicated to the Temple of Sulb in Nubia as true, but some of the more recent writers reject it. The truth is that the name of Tutankhamen's father is unknown. He became king of Egypt by virtue of his marriage with princess ANKHSEN-PAATEN, the third daughter of Amenhetep IV , at least that is what it is natural to suppose, but it is possible that he got rid of his immediate predecessor, Smenkhkara, or Seaakara, who married the princess MERITATEN, or ATENMERIT, the eldest daughter of Amenhetep IV, and usurped his throne.

When Tutankhamen ascended the throne he was, or at all events he professed to be, an adherent of the cult of Aten, or the "Solar Disk," and to hold the religious views of his wife and his father-in-law. Proof of this is provided by the fragment of a calcareous stone stele preserved at Berlin (No. 14197), on which he is described as "Lord of the Two Lands, Rakheperuneb, Lord of the Crowns, Tutankhaten, to whom life is given for ever."

He did not at once sever his connection with the cult of Aten, for he started work on a temple, or some other building, of Aten at Thebes. This is certain from the fact that several of the blocks of stone which Heremheb, one of his immediate successors, used in his buildings bear Tutankhamen's name. It is impossible to describe the extent of Tutankhamen's building operations, for this same Heremheb claimed much of his work as his own, and cut out wherever possible Tutankhamen's name and inserted his own in its place. He went so far as to usurp the famous stele of Tutankhamen that Legrain discovered at Karnak in 1905. From this stele we learn that the "strong names" and official titles which Tutankhamen adopted were as follows:--

1. Horus name. KA-NEKHT-TUT-MES

2. Nebti name. NEFER-HEPU-S-GERH TAUI.

3. Golden Horus name. RENP-KHAU-S-HETEP-NETERU

4. Nesu bat name. NEB-KHEPERU-RA

5. Son of Ra name. TUTANKHAMEN

In some cases the cartouche of the nomen contains the signs which mean "governor of Anu of the South" (i.e., Hermonthis). When Tutankhaten ascended the throne he changed his name to Tutankhamen, i.e., "Living image of Amen."

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