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Tutankhamen was neither an important pharaoh, nor a successful one. But he was the son of the world's most devoted Sun-worshipper, Akhenaten ("glory of the sun-disc"). Born Tutankhaten ("living image of the sun-disc"), he helped his father in overturning the established religion to worship a single god, the Aten. Thus creating one of the greatest periods in Egyptian history. For Prince Tutankhaten the child/father relationship must have been extremely warm and loving. One can picture the royal family in the Great Temple at Akhet-Aten ("horizon of the sun-disc") worshipping the radiant Aten in an atmosphere of tenderness and love. Sadly, though, Tutankhaten probably always knew the end would come; that his father's act would be an impossible one to follow. After his crowning as Tutankhamen, the practice and doctrine of Atenism declined and the City of the Sun, established "eternally, forever", began to empty of devotees. Only for another four or five years was pure (i.e. monotheist) sun-worship retained. For people, so tragically, preferred the worship of Amen-Ra to the lovely Rising Sun. And yet, the spirit of Atenism will forever burn in the hearts of true men, owing to the survival of Akhenaten's beautiful Hymn to the Sun. Here is a complete version of the poem (after James Breasted):
THE SPLENDOUR OF ATEN
Thy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven,
O living Aten, Beginning of life!
When thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven,
Thou fillest every land with thy beauty;
For thou are beautiful, great, glittering, high over the earth;
Thy rays, they encompass the lands, even all thou hast made.
Thou art Ra, and thou hast carried them all away captive;
Thou bindest them by thy love.
Though thou art afar, thy rays are on earth;
Though thou art on high, thy footprints are the day.
NIGHT
When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven,
The world is in darkness like the dead.
They sleep in their chambers,
Their heads are wrapt up,
Their nostrils stopped, and none seeth the other
Stolen are all their things, that are under their heads,
While they know it not.
Every lion cometh forth from his den,
All serpents, they sting.
Darkness reigns(?),
The World is in silence,
He that made them has gone to rest in his horizon.
Thou makest darkness and it is Night,
Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
The young lions roar after their prey;
They seek their meat from God.
DAY AND MAN
Bright is the earth,
When thou risest in the horizon,
When thou shinest as Aten by day,
The darkness is banished,
When thou sendest forth thy rays,
The Two Lands (Egypt) are in daily festivity,
Awake and standing upon their feet,
For thou hast raised them up.
Their limbs bathed, they take their clothing;
Their arms uplifted in adoration to thy dawning.
Then in all the world, they do their work.
The sun ariseth, they get them away
And lay them down in their dens.
Man goeth forth unto his work,
And to his labour until the evening.
DAY AND THE ANIMALS AND PLANTS
All cattle rest upon their herbage,
All trees and plants flourish,
The birds flutter in their marches,
Their wings uplifted in adoration to thee.
All the sheep dance upon their feet.
All winged things fly,
They live when thou hast shone upon them.
DAY AND THE WATERS
The barques sail up-stream and down-stream alike.
Every highway is open because thou hast dawned.
The fish in the river leap up before thee,
And thy rays are in the midst of the great sea.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
Wherein are things creeping innumerable
Both small and great beasts.
There go the ships;
There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to sport with him.
CREATION OF MAN
Thou art he who createst the man-child in woman,
Who makest seed in man,
Who giveth life to the son in the body of his mother,
Who soothest him that he may not weep,
A nurse (even) in the womb.
Who giveth breath to animate every one that he maketh.
When he cometh forth from the body,
...on the day of his birth,
Thou openest his mouth in speech,
Thou suppliest his necessities.
CREATION OF ANIMALS
When the chicklet crieth in the egg-shell,
Thou givest him breath therein, to preserve him alive.
When thou hast perfected him
That he may pierce the egg,
He cometh forth from the egg,
To chirp with all his might;
He runneth about upon his two feet,
When he hath come forth therefrom.
THE WHOLE CREATION
How manifold are all thy works!
They are hidden from before us,
O thou sole god, whose powers no other possesseth.
Thou didst create the earth according to thy desire.
While thou wast alone:
Men, all cattle large and small,
All that are upon the earth,
That go about upon their feet;
All that are on high,
That fly with their wings.
The countries of Syria and Nubia,
The land of Egypt;
Thou settest every man in his place,
Thou suppliest their necessities.
Every one has his possessions,
And his days are reckoned.
Their tongues are divers in speech,
Their forms likewise and their skins,
For thou divider hast divided the peoples.
O lord, how manifold are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all;
The earth is full of thy creatures.
WATERING THE EARTH
Thou makest the Nile in the Nether World,
Thou bringest it at thy desire, to preserve the people alive.
O lord of them all, when feebleness is in them,
O lord of every house, who risest for them,
O sun of day, the fear of every distant land,
Thou makest (also) their life.
Thou hast set a Nile in heaven,
That it may fall for them,
Making floods upon the mountains, like the great sea;
And watering their field among the towns.
How excellent are thy designs, O lord of eternity!
The Nile in heaven is for the strangers,
And for the cattle of every land, that go upon their feet;
But the Nile, it cometh from the nether world for Egypt.
Thus thy rays nourish every garden,
When thou risest they live, and grow by thee.
THE SEASONS
Thou makest the seasons, in order to create all thy works:
Winter bringing them coolness,
And the heat (of summer likewise).
Thou hast made the distant heaven to rise therein,
In order to behold all that thou didst make,
While thou wast alone,
Rising in thy form as living Aten,
Dawning, shining afar off and returning.
BEAUTY DUE TO LIGHT
Thou makest the beauty of form, through thyself alone.
Cities, towns and settlements,
On highway or on river,
All eyes see thee before them,
For thou art Aten of the day over the earth.
REVELATION TO THE KING
Thou art in my heart,
There is no other that knoweth thee,
Save thy son Akhenaten.
Thou hast made him wise in thy designs
And in thy might.
The world is in thy hand,
Even as thou hast made them.
When thou hast risen, they live;
When thou settest, they die.
For thou art duration, beyond thy mere limbs,
By thee man liveth,
And their eyes look upon thy beauty,
Until thou settest.
All labour is laid aside,
When thou settest in the west;
When thou risest, they are made to grow
...for the king.
Since thou didst establish the earth,
Thou hast raised them up for thy son,
Who came forth from thy limbs,
The king, living in truth,
The lord of the Two Lands Nefer-khepru-Re, Wan-Re,
The son of Ra, living in truth, lord of diadems,
Akhenaten, whose life is long;
(And for) the great royal wife, his beloved,
Mistress of the Two Lands, Nefer-nefru-aten, Nofretete,
Living and flourishing for ever and ever.
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Tutankhaten's 3 Groups
The Evolution And Legacy Of Classical Greece
Position: New Members
Level 2
The goal of "The
Evolution And Legacy Of Classical Greece"
will be a group dedicated to the discussion and study of the Greeks from their early migrations through their rise in power, as a culture, economic, and military force, to their
ultimate decline. (ca. 800 BC to 167 BC)
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Archaic Kemet
Position: Officials
Level 2
Exploration of the Pre and Early Dynastic Periods of Egypt's History.
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Revolutions of the Sun
Position: Member
Level 2
A group intended as a deep-delving study of the causes and effects of the Atenist movement.
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Complete List of Tutankhaten's 3 Groups
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