Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Joseph I. Lauer" <josephlauer AT hotmail.com>]

   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