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  • From: "Joseph I. Lauer" <josephlauer AT hotmail.com>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Amarna Letters
  • Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:56:56 -0500


Yitzhak Sapir wrote: "Amenhotep IV was not monotheistic."
Jim Stinehart replied that "Amenhotep IV ... was 'monotheistic' in the same sense as the Patriarchs are portrayed in Genesis as being 'monotheistic'. Their religious views were very different, but each was a type of monotheism."
He gives as a "Point of Similarity" that "Each of Akhenaten and the Patriarchs worshipped only one main deity."
Am I right in remembering something that I learned (or heard) many years ago that the Egyptians under Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten's rule had to worship him and he was the only one to worship the one main deity, the Sun God?
And is this considered to be a correct statement of the situation under Akhenaten's rule, and, if so, how does it (or a correct statement) affect (if at all) calling Akhenaten a monotheist?
And further, if one speaks of the Sun God as being "the one main deity", implying that Egypt still had other "minor" deities, how does that fit into calling Akhenaten a monotheist?
In addition, I (and likely many others) would appreciate a bit more exposition of why "Amenhotep IV was not monotheistic."
Thank you!
Joseph I. Lauer
Brooklyn, New York




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