As with the Bible, texts from the ANE describe one or more of the following types of polytheism:
- a high god at the head of a pantheon. E.g.:
- a high god that manifests as different gods. E.g.:
- a high god in harmony / conflict with its divine peers. E.g.:
Even though all three of these exist in the bible, only the last category has come down to us.
Hymns from different epochs in Egyptian history make mention of the high god as having:
- a form that is invisible and incapable of being portrayed
- a name that cannot / should not be said aloud.
The same is true of deities in other states in the ANE, like Canaan, Mesopotamia and Hatti.
Every town and village had a local deity. If the town produced a line of pharaohs, the prominence of that god rose. In Thebes, AmunRa rose in power until he ruled over all the gods in Egypt.
Hymn to Amen-Ra (1700 BCE)
HAIL to thee, Amen-Ra, Lord of the thrones of the earth... Chief of the gods, lord of truth; father of the gods, maker of men and beasts and herbs... Deliverer of the sufferer and oppressed... Lord of wisdom, lord of mercy; most loving... source of joy, in whose goodness the gods rejoice, thou whose name is hidden. Thou art the one... the only one; maker of gods and men... Hail to thee, thou one with many heads... God of the horizon, Horus of the East... Ani in his sanctuary... adoration to thee. Hail to thee from all creatures from every land, from the height of heaven, from the depth of the sea. The spirits thou hast made extol thee, saying, welcome to thee, father of the fathers of the gods; we worship thy spirit which is in us.
Amen was the unknowable, unseen force from which all the other gods emanated. Amen-Re is not only the king of the gods. In a sense he is all other gods.
Akhenaten:
“I know all about the gods, but they have all ceased, whether made of gold, silver or stone. But my god is the uncreated creator. No man crafted him." Akhenaton .
“Atenism”
ttp://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/tut/index.htm
Egyptian Monotheism
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/tut/tut12.htm
Hymn to the Aton (1350 BCE)
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/amarna/belief.html .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23W1Qa1YimY&t=214s
Parallels
—Tutankhaten: Living Image of the Sun God, Aten
—Tutankhamen: Image of the God of Life, Amen
—Psalm 104: https://projectaugustine.com/biblical-studies/ancient-near-east-studies/parallelism-between-the-hymn-to-aten-and-psalm-104/
—Psalm 104: https://factsaboutreligion.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/psalm-104-is-almost-a-duplicate-of-the-egyptian-hymn-to-aten/
Hyksos:
(A Baal-only Monism?)Hymns from different epochs in Egyptian history make mention of the high god as having:
- a form that is invisible and incapable of being portrayed
- a name that cannot / should not be said aloud.
The same is true of deities in other states in the ANE, like Canaan, Mesopotamia and Hatti.
Every town and village had a local deity. If the town produced a line of pharaohs, the prominence of that god rose. In Thebes, AmunRa rose in power until he ruled over all the gods in Egypt.
Hymn to Amen-Ra (1700 BCE)
HAIL to thee, Amen-Ra, Lord of the thrones of the earth... Chief of the gods, lord of truth; father of the gods, maker of men and beasts and herbs... Deliverer of the sufferer and oppressed... Lord of wisdom, lord of mercy; most loving... source of joy, in whose goodness the gods rejoice, thou whose name is hidden. Thou art the one... the only one; maker of gods and men... Hail to thee, thou one with many heads... God of the horizon, Horus of the East... Ani in his sanctuary... adoration to thee. Hail to thee from all creatures from every land, from the height of heaven, from the depth of the sea. The spirits thou hast made extol thee, saying, welcome to thee, father of the fathers of the gods; we worship thy spirit which is in us.
Amen was the unknowable, unseen force from which all the other gods emanated. Amen-Re is not only the king of the gods. In a sense he is all other gods.
Akhenaten:
“I know all about the gods, but they have all ceased, whether made of gold, silver or stone. But my god is the uncreated creator. No man crafted him." Akhenaton .
“Atenism”
ttp://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/tut/index.htm
Egyptian Monotheism
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/tut/tut12.htm
Hymn to the Aton (1350 BCE)
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/amarna/belief.html .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23W1Qa1YimY&t=214s
Parallels
—Tutankhaten: Living Image of the Sun God, Aten
—Tutankhamen: Image of the God of Life, Amen
—Psalm 104: https://projectaugustine.com/biblical-studies/ancient-near-east-studies/parallelism-between-the-hymn-to-aten-and-psalm-104/
—Psalm 104: https://factsaboutreligion.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/psalm-104-is-almost-a-duplicate-of-the-egyptian-hymn-to-aten/
Hyksos:
Anti-Hyksos propaganda claimed that “they ruled without the sun god and they worshipped only the storm god (Ba’al).”
Hor of Sybennitos
(Egyptian priest c. 175 BCE)
“... You are in serious trouble. I am a god. I told you before, do not worship any god except me.”
Empedocles:
(495 BCE)
"In the 'golden age,' men worshipped only Aphrodite. And the alter did not reek with bulls blood which was held in abomination among men.”
It is not possible for us to set God before our eyes, or to lay hold of him with our hands, which is the broadest way of persuasion that leads into the heart of man. (Purifications, 134)
Blessed is the man who has gained the riches of divine wisdom; wretched he who has a dim opinion of the gods in his heart. (Purifications, 133)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fragments_of_Empedocles
https://www.cairn.info/revue-de-metaphysique-et-de-morale-2012-3-page-315.htm
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/empedocles/
“... You are in serious trouble. I am a god. I told you before, do not worship any god except me.”
Empedocles:
(495 BCE)
"In the 'golden age,' men worshipped only Aphrodite. And the alter did not reek with bulls blood which was held in abomination among men.”
It is not possible for us to set God before our eyes, or to lay hold of him with our hands, which is the broadest way of persuasion that leads into the heart of man. (Purifications, 134)
Blessed is the man who has gained the riches of divine wisdom; wretched he who has a dim opinion of the gods in his heart. (Purifications, 133)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fragments_of_Empedocles
https://www.cairn.info/revue-de-metaphysique-et-de-morale-2012-3-page-315.htm
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/empedocles/
