King Tut's Dilemma

This, and the next few posts may at first seem a little out of the ordinary to be placed within the general line of investigation within this blog, however the sensational facts that will emerge as we progressively investigate these matters, and particularly the awesome precipitation upon every human today, will soon make this line of witnessing - of the awesome ‘WHAT IS’ of our existence, arguably the most relevant of all.

Ancient Egypt has long been a source of great fascination to people the world over. With its amazing pyramids and Sphinx, entrenched worship system and royal families, elaborate rituals and artwork; the place holds a most definite magnetism for so many reasons. We will be discussing some of these, but they will be mainly observations from 'left field', because our historical observations are not so well known. Indeed they are almost (but not quite) entirely unknown in the general. So we will delve a little into why the place holds such fascination, and like the rest of this blog, the discoveries will not be from the 'norm', and a touch controversial.

Basically speaking, the primary reason ancient Egypt holds such deep fascination is because we have much yet to learn from the place, it’s history and most essentially what it means to every one of us today, however this is not referring to learning about their pottery or how detailed the preparation of the deceased Pharaoh was, in his promotion to immortality. Rather than such 'regular' discoveries, there is a far deeper and more fundamentally essential knowledge that we are still to discover, that is absolutely vital for us today - even into the next few years.

It is fundamentally about religion - as we will learn - being the very fabric of Egyptian society - and of today. It is about origins and how these continue despite popular belief. It is about how the very religion of the ancient Egyptians still lingers in ways that will astound, and will have us asking how this could have been possible without any awareness - until now. It will have us querying just how much of what we have always trusted is worthy of our trust?

It will find us seeking a deeper and more unshakeable set of facts, than the stories handed down over and again these past few centuries, which may have sounded perfect enough to our great grandfather, yet he didn't have the latest discoveries to factor in, as we do. For whenever new discoveries of hard fact from the past come to light, they must fit in somewhere, somehow; so fanciful speculation of 200 years ago might make a kind of sense for a while, until another new find, and another - then somewhere along the way, we really need to re-evaluate - provided we have the courage to do so.

Naturally, there will be no shortage of those who will say that they are more than happy to stick it out with what they have always believed - as handed on by their father or some other respected human, and who can blame them really? Everyone knows that having a fresh look at something that has always had a cozy dyed-in-the-wool appearance feels particularly dangerous, and can result in placing us at odds with those we feel close to, and who wants that? So I can well sympathise with any who do not like reading this blog, but to a few - like myself, the urgency to avoid being lulled into any false mythological fancy of well intentioned predecessors who really did not have the evidence we have today; is just way too essential to my nature to shy away from.

Therefore it is in the service of (only) those courageous few that I provide my time and efforts in the investigations of this blog. If you, my reader do not see yourself in the above definition of those interested in new discovery as such of essential matters, might I suggest that you may as well shut down your computer and read a good book - for your time will be much better spent doing that. I will not pass (nor imply) any judgement upon you for doing so.

For those still with me, please be forewarned, that what you are about to read, particularly in the subsequent posts to this one will for the most part; find you being witness to things which are hard to swallow and many will be inclined at first to refuse acceptance of any part of it. This is understandable however none of that changes the truth, as presented in our continuing delving into ‘WHAT IS’, and how it is indelibly, one way or another tied into ‘WHAT HAS BEEN’.

With that noted, let us now witness a few startling details of history, even if they are not a part of the standard historical curriculum. We will commence with a look into the religious system of the people under the leadership of mighty Pharaoh, according his awesome empire. The reason being that; the entire society of Egypt was built around and upon the prevailing religion of the day in ways that are echoed by the very most religious of peoples we see today - plus some.

As with most pagan belief systems, the main deity (god) of the religious structure of ancient Egypt had to be known as the ‘creator’ and at the same time; the deity who looked after the sun – the ‘sun god’ if you will. In Egypt, this deity was known as ‘Amen’ (Amun), or ‘Ra’ at various stages, becoming in the latter dynasties, Amen-Ra (at right). For our purpose, we will refer to him as Amen, who was a member of the Ogdoad, paired with the goddess Amaunet. They represented hidden power, and he was also a member of the Theban TRINITY, where he was the husband of Mut and adoptive father of Khons.

Note: The type of religion referred to in this blog as 'pagan', is to do with worship towards a range of 'gods', each respectively attending to differing tasks, and all as being superior and in charge over the planet and mankind - as distinct from the other kind of religion - that sees man giving his reverence towards only one deity (one 'god') - being termed 'monotheism'.

Amen’s main job after creating the world was to look after the passage of the sun through the heavens from east to west every day. Of course, this facilitated the production of food in season, and therefore in the Egyptian mind, also the condition of order in the known universe. So Amen was a very important deity to keep happy, in order that everything would continue to function successfully for Egyptian life and society, but he was not the only deity to consider. For example, Amen had a son, named ‘Set’ (Seth), and a vicious enemy 'Apophis' (Apopohis), and there were many other deities in the belief system, but all came under Amen, the sky ‘god’ who evolved into a sun ‘god’ and the head of the Egyptian pantheon. By Dynasty XVIII, Amen was the "King of the Gods." Karnak was his most famous temple - the largest religious structure ever built by man.

So each morning as the sun rose anew, the Egyptian priests would lead worshipers as they faced east to witness the work of Amen. This was obviously the ‘Dawn Service’, and was a deeply religious devotional time as honoring Amen for a new day by his hands. So the sun would again rise over the horizon, and travel across the sky from east to west as it still does, giving out on it’s journey that most essential LIGHT - the same stuff we have been reading about in previous posts, thereby giving life to the entire planet. The Egyptian was not stupid, and appreciated very well his reliance upon the sun’s energy, as provided – as the power source for everything required for life to flourish. As such, he was most thankful to Amen for his efforts each day.

So each morning as the sun rose anew, the Egyptian priests would lead worshipers as they faced east to witness the work of Amen. This was obviously the ‘Dawn Service’, and was a deeply religious devotional time as honoring Amen for a new day by his hands. So the sun would again rise over the horizon, and travel across the sky from east to west as it still does, giving out on it’s journey the most essential LIGHT that we have been reading about in previous posts, thereby giving life to the entire planet. The Egyptian was not stupid, and appreciated very well his reliance upon the sun’s energy, as provided – as the power source for everything required for life to flourish. As such, he was most thankful to Amen for his efforts each day.

However, as evening approached and the great supplier of all life through the providence of solar (electro-magnetic) power would again disappear into the west, a most alarming thought would result from the Egyptian’s witnessing of the setting sun. His fears would again rise, for he wasn’t at all certain it would again re-appear on the opposite side of the world; in another twelve hours or so. This was a terrifying period of doubt. So, why such fear?

It should come as no surprise that the ancient Egyptian believed the world to be flat, so there existed for him - the known ‘heavens’ above, and the much less known ‘underworld’ beneath this flat earth he existed upon. So the sun would rise in the east and travel across the sky to set in the west, but during this intervening period of darkness each night, something quite frightening would be taking place as the Egyptian would head off to bed. It would be, that during the sun’s passage through the netherworld towards the east for the next morning’s Dawn Service, something of a war would break out.

Each night as Amen supervised his charge through the underworld from west to east, an almighty fight would again commence, when the evil Apopohis, who also knew of the value of the solar provider of light, would attempt to take possession of the thing, and keep it for himself in his region of dark domain. This desperate fight for control of the sun would continue through the darkened hours overhead, until the Egyptians would learn that Amen again won the fight, as the sun would rise afresh the following morning in the east - with much rejoicing and thankfulness within the Dawn Service gathering. So throughout the twilight hours, on the barque of the sun in it’s journey through the underworld, the Egyptian snake god of personified darkness, evil and the forces of chaos; being the eternal enemy of Amen (and cosmic order), would try and wrestle the sun from the control of Amen.

Naturally enough this was a torrid struggle, leaving the Egyptian very concerned about the re-appearance of the sun for a new morrow. Apopohis (under at right) was an evil but strong opponent, even for the king of deities, such as Amen. Therefore Amen in the terrifying fight throughout the night would call upon the assistance of two other deities – his son Set (or Seth), and Mehen, and it seems that this TRINITY of ‘gods’ has actually won all the battles against Apophis - so far. However there was a well understood belief in the religious system of the Egyptian; that Apophis would eventually win out over Amen, bringing an end to order, resulting in total destruction upon the earth. Complete darkness and chaos would then reign with all living things destroyed, and man would cease to be a part of the universe.

It may come as some surprise, that this kind of belief system did not start in Egypt, but around 1000 years prior – in Babylon, however it was in Egypt that it was promoted from a hit and miss/take it or leave it type of thing, as had been the case in previous societies, to being escalated into the fabric of the law of the land. Indeed, the Pharaoh supposedly was a future deity in apprenticeship, with his eventual death releasing him onto a path to join the long list of pagan ‘gods’, as in control of the place.

Thus the regular guy in the street Egyptian lived under punishment by law; duty bound to embrace this pagan belief structure in every way – in support of his Pharaoh, as on his path towards immortality - or alternatively risk being sent to the slave quarries; or death. So obviously the religion of the day had become the basis of all society, with the temples being the center of all communal activity, and as all trading had to be conducted through the temples, the priests became the wealthiest folk in the land.

All this went along and developed quite nicely, until around 3340 years ago, when a truly outstanding man entered the picture. Indeed this man may arguably be the most underestimated man ever to draw breath on this planet. I can think of only one other contender to this claim, but he was born around 1340 years later to a father Joseph and mother Mary (Miriam). So our amazing young friend, at the age of just 17, ascended the throne as Pharaoh, but what he achieved soon after, turned the entire society of Egypt consummately on it’s head in one fell swoop, when he enacted the most stunning society changing law of all time – without equal or parallel. Amazingly, although he would certainly be the far and away most outstanding Pharaoh, and possibly man ever born, his details are shrouded in great mystery, to the point where he had been almost entirely dismissed until just a couple of decades ago.

This almost unknown Pharaoh was in fact the father of the most famous Pharaoh of all – King Tut (Tutankhamen) - (burial mask at right), yet the amazing details about this period of historical record are almost entirely focused on the generalised fascination with his son, thereby eclipsing the unparalleled events of this dynasty as a whole. In the process, the overall account has become almost blotted out over the centuries like no other period in history, leaving only King Tut under focus.

We will discover as we delve through the next few posts; the reason why this is so, however for our purpose, we will herein refer to this boy Pharaoh by the well known term ‘King Tut’ (or ‘Tut’) So in order to establish a few generally unrecognised details about King Tut, and from there, just whom his most outstanding dad was, we will for the moment; focus on this boy king.

It is well known that Tut was brought to power around age 9, and reigned until around 17, when he died under highly suspicious circumstances. What is not so well known is that when he was born, he was given the name by his father; Tutankhaten, but changed it when he ascended the throne; to Tutankhamen. This change was to honor the head ‘sun’ deity Amen, but even more so; the pagan priesthood (of Amen) for their act of promoting Tutankhamen to the throne. To this end, you will notice the alteration at the end of Tut’s name, with the original ‘aten’ being dropped in favour of ‘amen’ - in an act of adherence to one deity over another

The circumstances of his ascending the throne are most curious, as it was the pagan priesthood of Amen who promoted Tut to power following a defiant rebellion to remove his father. So King Tut, as a boy was first romanced by the wealthy pagan priesthood, and then used as the figurehead in the overthrow of his dad. In the end, Tut was in turn murdered by the same men who promoted him, after he realised he had been tricked by a patently unholy priesthood, who used him to rid the country of his father along with his astounding law changes; and whilst Tut was in the process of turning the clock back on Egyptian society - to again embrace the most amazing society changing revolution the world has ever witnessed, brought on approx. 25 years earlier by his non-famous dad.

Therefore King Tut was murdered and placed in his pyramid in the usual manner - with much gold and riches in the aim to further please Amen, and set him up – as pointing heavenward bound. But what of his outstanding father, and mother – before and after the eight Pharaonic years of this boy king? And what relevance could all this possibly have to do with us approx. 3340 years later? The answers to these questions will astound in no small measure.

King Tut’s mother is certainly the most famous woman to emerge from ancient Egypt, and is even now regarded by many as the most beautiful woman who ever lived, with her bust (above), likely the best known artefact from this civilization to remain to this day; as currently in the Altes Museum of Berlin. She is best known as Queen Nefertiti, however she most likely did not personally give birth to Tut, yet as the main wife of his father, she is royally regarded as his mom. Nefertiti, it is suspected, was promoted to an almost equal position as her husband the Pharaoh, and reigned as co-regent for a time, but then mysteriously disappeared from view a few years prior to her husband being overthrown and subsequently sent into exile - in favor of his son Tut. Nefertiti bore six (half sisters to Tut) daughters to Akhenaten, but her disappearance from the Egyptian record, as mysterious as it seems, is an amazing story in it's own right.

So now we will look into Tut’s father - Nefertiti’s husband, being the most outstanding (by a long shot) Pharaoh of them all - named Akhenaten, who in the royal tradition also inherited upon ascension to the throne, the titles Thutmosis IV and Amenhotep IV, however he chose to reject the identification of Amenhotep IV, due to it’s association with the head pagan deity Amen (note; ‘amen’ in the title). This meant that subsequent Pharaohs inherited a dissimilar set of titles, such as Thutmosis V/AmenhotepIV

Akhenaten (left) was born ‘Akhenamen’ (again notice ‘amen’), but changed his name upon ascension, for the same reason he rejected the title 'Amenhotep IV’. This was all closely linked to his amazingly audacious society convulsing law change that is almost unfathomable in its scope and relevance, and furthermore; in no small measure has the most powerful repercussions right down - even into our future. The change brought upon this most religious society by this very young leader is nothing if not a study in awesome personal strength, dedication and resolve, especially at such a young age; for he enacted a law that immediately disenfranchised every wealthy priest, businessman and general guy in the street in one awesome sweep, when he outlawed all the long list of pagan deities, closed all pagan temples, ordered the total destruction of all pagan idols, halted any pagan ceremony, and put the mighty pagan priest out of his lucrative business - all at once. The entire place subsequently ground to a halt, and had to then mobilise within a totally new way of being - a change which was as awesome in its breadth and results as it was courageous.

Akhenaten, (“He Who Serves The Aten”), was the tenth king of the 18th Dynasty, and far and away the most controversial. He also renamed his queen Nefertiti to Nefer-Nefru-Aten (“Beautiful is the Beauty of Aten”). They left the traditional capital Thebes behind, and founded his new capital city Akhetaten (“The Horizon of Aten”) - now Amarna - where elaborate buildings were constructed. He then sent his officials out to destroy Amen’s (and all other pagan deities) statues and to desecrate their worship sites. The estates of the great temples of Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis reverted to the throne, and all pagan worship had to by law cease. These actions were so courageous and diametrically contrary to the traditional, that opposition rose against him, but Akhenaten did not stop there, for he knew only too well that entirely removing religion from such a proud and fervent society so drenched in religion; being the very fabric for everything from the laws on down, would ultimately be very troublesome indeed.

So in an effort to minimise the disruption, now instituted upon his most dyed in the wool religious population through this first ever monotheistic religion (as opposed to pagan), as never before tried - Akhenaten unleashed the concept of one only lawful religion – to the one only ALMIGHTY Eternal Creator - “THE ATEN” (the ONE and ONLY). The previous pagan fabric of this highly religious society, as based within the well worn system, had to be shredded, overturned and demolished in one; from the most basic level and all the way up, and then replaced by royal decree with a previously unknown monotheistic belief structure. Even more than this, for Akhenaten lifted the mandatory nature of societal observance, for he had no adherent requirement according to any 'godlike' afterlife - as there existed only THE ONE (deity), so he had no apprenticeship towards becoming a second.

Perhaps the most significant alteration Akhenaten introduced into his new "one only Deity" society, replacing the prevailing culture of a great multitude of pagan, headed by Amen; was unlike all previous religions of the place, there were to be absolutely no idols permitted according the new all encompassing deity - ‘The Aten’. This I imagine, would have been the most severe adjustment that the Egyptian had to embrace in his requirement to now disregard the well worn structure in favour of the new monotheistic understanding. To overnight transcend the gulf; coming from a place with a wide range of physical (idol) representations to relate to in order to remain subservient to the bondage of the law of the land in obedient pagan worship - to now having to make do with absolutely nothing of a physical model at all, would have sadly been too huge a leap to make – for most.

The question may well be asked as to just how did the general 'guy in the street' Egyptian cope with having the multiple levels of bondage from the oppressive chains of mandatory religious observance, be abolished without notice? We can only speculate regarding such details, however as we will soon enough learn, the overwhelming majority of Egyptians never actually embraced the resultant release that such a transition embodied at all, and when given the opportunity a second time (approx. 40 years later) to leave this oppression behind; the overwhelming majority chose to remain subservient rather than exit to a promised freedom. More on this later, but for now, with Akhenaten's awesome revolution set under royal decree, the society had to find a whole new way of being; in order to continue on.

Continue on they managed, however the enormous changes this brought about in society, effectively led it as you would expect; into turbulent times, culminating in the angry overthrow and subsequent exile of Akhenaten by the previous (pagan) priesthood, and the ascension to the throne of his 9 year old son Tutankhamen. Society was subsequently returned to it’s original pagan structure, with Amen again controlling things (above) and fighting it out (below) with Apopohis, which must mean that his happiness returned, and with it the sun and the keeping of seasons for general cosmic order - or so they believed.

As is reasonably obvious; Akhenaten was far and away, the most remarkable king to sit upon Egypt’s, or any throne - before or since. As a child, Akhenamen was raised by his parents, Amenhotep II and the beautiful Queen Tiy (right), who as a Hebrew, was introduced into Egypt a couple of generations previous, through the influx due to drought in the account of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob/Israel, as we read of in the Biblical record in Genesis 37-50. Queen Tiy was Joseph’s granddaughter, with her young son being mentored by his great grandfather until his death just prior to Akhenaten's ascension. As a result of his personal strength; passed on through the maternal family's exceptional background, Akhenamen lived as very much out of favour with his father throughout his childhood, and only ascended the throne as a result of the untimely death of his (half) brother Thutmose; who predeceased his father Amenhotep II.

With this post, we have had a general overview of the way things were during this most significant and fateful but well ‘hidden-under-the- Egyptian-sands’ period in man’s history, yet we have so far not witnessed just how it makes so much a difference to our daily lives in the year 2008. Surely, as we delve further; discovering and piecing together these and further amazing crumbs of historical fact, we will find a truly striking loaf of undeniably nutritious value emerge from our ongoing witness, that will bring home to all (who can stand it) readers; just how starved we have been and how significant this period is to us – especially at this very time in the record of man - as we continue to witness together; the too long hidden secrets of the nourishing feast that is; “WHAT IS” (and always has been) YAHWEH.