THE HERETIC PHARAOH

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 197, 22 July 1931, Page 12

THE HERETIC PHARAOH

GLIMPSE OF OLD EGYPT. ADDRESS TO LUNCH CLUB. ’d Members of the Citizens’ .- Club were afforded a glimpse or h i old Egypt of Biblical times s- when Mr H. J. Marriner, of Christs' church. delivered an interesting ® ft dress on the “Heretic Pharaoh. Mr 0 J. A. Grant presided. . ' Mr Marriner, in his opening re- “ marks, referred to the culture ofoia Egypt in the reign of Menes I, a of the first dvnastv, who had reigne £ about 3400 ' B.C. Menes had conv cocted the calendar, which was based e upon the rising of the star sinus, an e was, with minor adjustments, the calsi endar in modern use. It was evident that the nation had existed F thousands of years prior to this, the 4 period he wished to speak of was Q B.C. In the Nile delta was situated ’ Heliopolis, where the sun_ was worT shipped as P.a, a fine clt F> e containing a beautiful temple to the ’■ sun god and a university where oGOU 1’ students were given instruction 111 ■. the higher sciences. It was trom i! Heliopolis that Cleopatra s Needle hat. h been taken. At one period _ Moses '■ had studied at this famous university. Ra was the oldest religion in. Egypt. 1 Later there came into existence the ’ city of Thebes, in the south, and a e different religion, that of Amon, was . taught. The two were combined by j one of the Pharaohs and the universal religion became Amon Ra. to t the course of time the priests or e Thebes secured a tremendous ho.d, >' levying tributes and insisting upon a 7 share of loot taken. They had a 3 stranglehold on Egypt in 1390 B.tL. ’ and it- took a strong king to defy j them. The Pharaoh was looked upon ’ as .a son of the god, and was worj shipped as part of the god-head. His ! powers were autocratic. Egypt was, , at that period, at the zenith of its r power and beauty. In art, litera- ; ture. science and pottery she led toe ; world. Thebes was the metrop-T.s • of the world. Egypt stretched from c the Mediterranean to the lakes of ‘ Uganda, across to Pount. now Somaliland, her other boundaries being across the Red Sea, Arabia and Palestine to the Euphrates. Her frontiers were guarded by military commanders. who had to pay tribute. The speaker said the father of Akhnaton or Amenophis 111, the heretic Pharaoh, was Amenophis, and his I grandfather was Thutmose IV, both ’j of whom were warriors. His mother 1 i was Tiy. a notable woman who had : journeyed far, and had. perhaps, ac- ] 1 quired some of the religious teachings lof the Israelites. The young King ,! Akhnaton suffered from epilepsy., and i: was of a dreamy, rather than war--ilike, nature. It was probable that • ' Tiy had spoken to him of the old gods • and of the one true God. When 13 , or 14 years of age the young Pharaoh ] ‘ was married to a daughter of Dush- .; ratta, King of Mitanni, in 'Assyria, j The young wife lived only 15 months, i i being, in all probability, a political • I tool, as Mitanni was a buffer state. ! Continuing, the speaker said that ;' Pharaoh’s second wife was Nefertiti, ■ i who was, from the records extant, a I beautiful character. Akhnaton. who '; was now about 15 years of age, broke | away from all the old traditions of the | past. He and his young wife walked I round tbe streets arm-in-arm, and j beautiful paintings were to be seen. : depicting scenes in their private life. ' He studied nature very closely, and | wrote a paem to his god which was j regarded as one of the masterpieces of | the world. He extended his influi erice to art and literature. From his ! intensS studies he arrived at the conI elusion that behind every phase of | nature was a moving power or god of ! love. He named this god Aton. TerI riblo difficulties were experienced in j introducing to his people this new ! diety. The priests of Thebes were his chief enemies, so he built a new city named Tel Arrnana, 160 miles south of Cairo. It occupied two and a-half years in construction, and contained a gorgeous palace, exotic flpwers, birds, beasts and fountains. It was here that Akhnaton lived with his wife and family, and pjactised his new religion. But he was a man born out of his time, and everything went against him. Tilings grew from bad to worse, said Mr Marriner. His friends left him, the priests plotted and rebellions broke out. About 1358 8.C., when a crisis was at hand, Akhnaton died in a fit, being then in his thirtieth year. He was buried with full pomp, and his grave remained undisturbed until it was discovered in 18SS when the remains of his city were unearthed. The Heretic Pharaoh lrad three or four daughters, said the speaker.- One of these was • married to one of Pharaoh’s commanders, who reigned for ten or twelve months before he died. The second daughter was married to Tutankhamen, who was wellknown in view of recent archaeological discoveries. The priests were determined to have the old religion back, and Tutankhamen’s reign was conditional upon his acquiescing to their requests. This he did, “and everything of value was removed from Akhnaton’s city, which was soon deserted and was soon covered over by the sand. After Tutankhamen the 19th Dynasty came into power, two well-known monarchs being Ramses 11, the Pharaoh of Oppression, and his son Menephtah, the Pharaoh of the Book of Exodus. At the conclusion of his address the speaker was accorded a warm vote of thanks on the motion of Mr J. Colquhoun.