Atenism Atenism, or the Amarna heresy, refers to the religious changes associated with the eighteenth dynasty Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, better known under his adopted name, Akhenaten. In the 14th century BC Atenism was Egypt's state religion for around 20 years, before subsequent rulers returned to the traditional gods and the Pharaohs associated with Atenism were erased from Egyptian records. History of the Aten before Akhenaten[edit] Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten The Aten—the god of Atenism—first appears in texts dating to the 12th dynasty, in the Story of Sinuhe. had previously adopted one deity as [the] royal patron and supreme state god, there had never been an attempt to exclude other deities, and the multitude of gods had been tolerated and worshipped at all times. . . . Atenist revolution[edit] Year 5 is believed to mark the beginning of Amenhotep IV's construction of a new capital, Akhetaten (Horizon of the Aten), at the site known today as Amarna. Amarna art[edit]
The Dark Bible: History The Dark Bible Back To Table Of Contents The stories of the Bible evolved slowly over centuries before the existence of orthodox religions. Virtually every human civilization in the Middle East, before and through Biblical times, practiced some form of female goddess worship. The Old Testament consists of a body of literature spread over a period from approximately 1450 B.C.E. to 200 B.C.E. The New Testament has even fewer surviving texts. Interestingly, there existed many competing Christian cults in the early years after Jesus' alleged death. So the idea of the Bible as a single, sacred unalterable corpus of texts began in heresy and later extended and used by churchmen in their efforts to define orthodoxy. There has existed over a hundred different versions of the Bible, written in most of the languages of the time including Greek, Hebrew and Latin. At around 405 C.E. (One might wonder what will happen to the "new" revisions a few hundred years from now.
Amduat The Amduat[pronunciation?] (literally "That Which Is In the Afterworld", also translated as "Text of the Hidden Chamber Which is in the Underworld" and "Book of What is in the Underworld")[1] is an important Ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom. Like many funerary texts, it was found written on the inside of the pharaoh's tomb for reference. It tells the story of Ra, the Egyptian sun god who travels through the underworld, from the time when the sun sets in the west and rises again in the east. The underworld is divided into twelve hours of the night, each representing different allies and enemies for the Pharaoh/sun god to encounter. As well as enumerating and naming the inhabitants of the Duat (or Dwat) both good and bad, the illustrations of the 'book' show clearly the topography of the underworld. The hours[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit] Forman, Werner and Stephen Quirke. (1996). External links[edit]
Cuneiform law Cuneiform law refers to any of the legal codes written in cuneiform script, that were developed and used throughout the ancient Middle East among the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, Hurrians, Kassites, and Hittites.[1] The Code of Hammurabi is the most well-known of the cuneiform laws, but there were a number of precursor laws.[1] Features[edit] Although they were written in several different cities and kingdoms, these early laws have a number of formulae in common. Most contain both an epilogue and a prologue, which usually explain the purpose of composing the laws, invoke divine authority, and command the reader to abide by them. They are always imposed or 'enacted' in the name of a ruler, be it a prince or king, and show no sign of being the result of legislative bodies. Unlike modern codes, Cuneiform law provides no universal formula for general areas of law. Timeline[edit] Gallery[edit] An inscription of the Code of Hammurabi. See also[edit] References[edit]
Books of Breathing Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley, who was appointed by the LDS church to learn Egyptian in order to defend the claim that Joseph Smith had found and translated a document from the hand of Abraham, gives a short description of the Book of Breathings; "For the Book of Breathings is before all else, as Bonnet observes, a composite, made up of "compilations and excerpts from older funerary sources and mortuary formulas." [H. Bonnet, Reallexikon der Egyptischen Religionsgeschichte (Berlin, 1952), p. 59.] From the Second Book of Breathings, hardly distinguishable from it, it blends off into such earlier writings as "The Book of Passing through the Eternities," the "Amduat," and the "Book of Gates," in which we recognize most of the ideas and even phrases of the "Sensen" Papyrus. [W. Wreszinski, "Das Buch von Durchwandern der Ewigkeit," Aegyptische Zeitschrift (AZ) 45 (1908), pp. 111ff; Chassinat, "Le Livre second des Respirations," p. 315.]" See also[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit]
Comparing the Genesis and Babylonian stories of creation Evolution vs. creationism. Bible topics & stories. Sponsored link. Creation stories from the ancient Middle East: Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre writes that one of his articles: "... is an attempt to briefly identify some of the Ancient Near Eastern Motifs and Myths from which the Hebrews apparently borrowed, adapted, and reworked in the Book of Genesis (more specifically Genesis 1-11).It is my understanding that Genesis' motifs and characters, God, Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and Noah, are adaptations and transformations of characters and events occurring in earlier Near Eastern Myths. He quotes W.G. "The authors of ancient cosmologies were essentially compilers. De la Torre concludes that Genesis 1-11: "... appears to be a reformatting of motifs and characters from four Mesopotamian myths: Of these four sources, Enuma Elish has the closest parallels with the first creation story in Genesis. Also: The Babylonian creation story is called by its first two words "Enuma Elish." H.C.
Book of Caverns Fifth division: A scene from tomb of Ramses V./VI. (KV9, chamber E, right wall) The Book of Caverns is an important Ancient Egyptian netherworld book of the New Kingdom.[1] Like all other netherworld books, it is also attested on the inside of kings’ tombs for the benefit of the deceased. The Book of Caverns originated in the 13th century BC in the Ramesside Period.[3] The earliest known version of this work is on the left hand wall of the Osireion in Abydos.[1] Later it appears in the tomb of Ramesses IV in the Valley of the Kings. Content[edit] Like the two earlier Great Netherworld Books, the Book of Caverns first of all describes the journey of the sun god (Ra) from the western horizon to the eastern horizon through the underworld, the divine creatures that he meets, and his interaction with them. During his journey, the sun god passes over the caverns of Hell, in which the enemies of the world order (the enemies of Ra and Osiris) are being destroyed. Structure[edit] History[edit]
Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Iraq, formerly Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1772 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a human-sized stone stele and various clay tablets. The Code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (lex talionis)[1] as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.[2] Nearly one-half of the Code deals with matters of contract, establishing, for example, the wages to be paid to an ox driver or a surgeon. One nearly complete example of the Code survives today, on a diorite stele in the shape of a huge index finger,[4] 2.25-metre (7.4 ft) tall (see images at right). History[edit] Code on clay tablet Code on diorite stele Hammurabi ruled for nearly 43 years, ca. 1792 to 1750 BC according to the Middle chronology. Law[edit] Ex.
Book of the Dead This detail scene, from the Papyrus of Hunefer (ca. 1275 BCE), shows the scribe Hunefer's heart being weighed on the scale of Maat against the feather of truth, by the jackal-headed Anubis. The ibis-headed Thoth, scribe of the gods, records the result. If his heart equals exactly the weight of the feather, Hunefer is allowed to pass into the afterlife. If not, he is eaten by the waiting chimeric devouring creature Ammit composed of the deadly crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus. The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BCE.[1] The original Egyptian name for the text, transliterated rw nw prt m hrw[2] is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day".[3] Another translation would be "Book of emerging forth into the Light". The Book of the Dead was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, which were painted onto objects, not papyrus. Spells[edit]
Hammurabi Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in c. 1792 BC and upon his death in c. 1750 BC Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; died c. 1750 BC) was the sixth king of Babylon (that is, of the First Babylonian Dynasty) from 1792 BC to 1750 BC middle chronology (1728 BC – 1686 BC short chronology[2]). He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire following the abdication of his father, Sin-Muballit, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms.[3] Although his empire controlled all of Mesopotamia at the time of his death, his successors were unable to maintain his empire. Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history. Reign and conquests This bust, known as the "Head of Hammurabi", is now thought to predate Hammurabi by a few hundred years[6] (Louvre)
Book of the Earth Fifth division: A scene from "Book of Caverns" from the tomb of Ramses V./VI. (KV9, chamber E, right wall) Original Sources[edit] The scenes were found on all of the walls of the tombs of Ramesses VI and Ramesses VII. There were a few additional scenes found on the walls of other royal tombs extending from the New Kingdom to the Late Period, but since many scene from the Book were scattered around, the ordering of the illustrations is slightly convoluted.[1] Jean-François Champollion was the first one to publish the scenes and texts from the tomb of Ramesses VI in his Monuments de l'Egypte where he deciphered the hieroglyphs depicted in the tombs. Structure of the Book[edit] Although it is uncertain, it is believed that the surviving panels of the original composition were each divided into three registers. Scholars believe that the Book consists of two halves with one half containing scenes of punishment. The Book's Content[edit] Part E[edit] Part D[edit] Part C[edit] Part B[edit] Part A[edit]
Enuma Elish--The Babylonian Creation Story The Babylonian Creation Story (Enuma elish) (LINKS) Like the Greek Theogony, the creation of the world in the Enuma elish begins with the universe in a formless state, from which emerge two primary gods, male and female: Apsu, the male "begetter," is the sweet waters, while Tiamat, the female "maker," is the bitter, salt waters. Sweet and salt water mingle together at the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, site of the origins of Mesopotamian civilization. Some translators see the word "maker" in line 4 not as an adjective describing Tiamat but as another god, named Mummu, who emerges at the same time. After the waters of Apsu and Tiamat mix, the gods Lahmu and Lahamu ("slime, mud") emerge. The young Ea was stronger than his father, and like any youngster he was fond of running around, playing with some other new gods (his brothers). Like a captive slave, Mummu is led by a nose-rope. The poem certainly celebrates a god who is new to us, Marduk. Babylonian Creation Questions 1. 2.