In 1989 a very interesting archeological discovery was made outside of Cairo, by French Archeologist
Alain Zivie, in a rock cut tomb at Sakkara. The mummy interred in the tomb was a priest of both the
Hebrew and the Aten God. The mummies' name was Aper-el, an important Egyptian official. It was
very strange however when his DNA came back and indicated that he was a Semite.
Aper-el was a grand vizier in the court of Pharaoh Akhenaten, and was the chief minister of northern
Egypt. His title according to inscriptions at the tomb indicated that his title was servitor of the [God] El.
El was the ancient Hebrew name for God. This was a very strong indicator that Aper-el was an Israelite. This
would indeed be very strange, however the evidence at the tomb identified him as the chief practitioner
of the Israelite religion during the reign of Akhenaten.
Even stranger yet were illustrations at the tomb indicating that he was also High Priest at the Atenist
Temple in Memphis, Egypt.
This indicates that there was a shared link between the Hebrew religion and Atenism as indicated by
the evidence in the tomb, and also that the High Priest didn't have a conflict in representing both
religions. It would seem that these two religions are either very similar or perhaps one in the same.
During Moses' time there came to be in Egypt another state religion during the 1300's
B.C. within the time of the Exodus. Interestingly, the Hebrew faith was the first and only reported
religion to be monotheistic, and not another, until the Christian religion came to be one thousand years
later.
But for a short period under the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten there was another state religion. When
you step outside of the box and compare the two, it is difficult to determine which came first; the
Hebrew or the Aten religion.
Many of my readers may not be familiar with the Aten faith so here is an overview.
There is indication that Hebrew slaves were practicing the worship of one God, known as
monotheism, under the reign of Pharaoh Amonhotep III. The question arises; did
Hebrew religious ideas influence the Egyptian sect, or was the Aten religion the long established
religion after four hundred years of Hebrew slavery in Egypt had influenced Hebrew thought?
This Egyptian sect worshiped one God deity and denied all other Gods, as did the Hebrews. The
religion of the Aten was thriving during the 1300's B.C. By the turn of the century, during the reign
of the Pharaoh's son Pharaoh Akhenaten who took the Throne in the 1360's B.C., the Aten religion had
become so influential that Pharaoh Akhenaten made it the state religion during his reign.
The practices of the two faiths were so similar that Egyptologists believe there is a connection between the
two religions, especially in lieu of the fact that the High Priest's tomb at Sakkara indicated that he was
the leader of both religions.
I have come to put a fair amount of credibility in conspiracy theories, primarily because when you
follow the money and power trails associated with them they start to make sense. Governments use
religions to control the masses. You can see it to this day when politicians invoke the word of God every
time they make a speech to the masses. Since the inception of most organized religions, an emphasis on guilt, control methods, and fear to control their members has historically been used.
The similarities between these two religions are too great to be just coincidence. They just refer to
their God by titles not names, like Lord. The Egyptian gods were referred to by names like the goddess
Dianna, or Ra. When Egyptians refereed to the God of Aten they were also usually referring to a title
normally a glyph or a symbol of the God. A translation of the God Aten would be the giver of life. In
other words Aten is a description of their God not his name.
Thebes was the Ancient capital in southern Egypt. Pharaoh Akhenaten had established a temple to
Atken at karnak in Thebes, shortly after the end of his rein, when Egypt abandoned the Aten faith and
reverted to the traditional gods of Egypt the temple was torn down.
Over forty thousand of the sculptured blocks that were from the temple were preserved inside two
giant gate towers where they were used as fill. Many of these blocks were inscribed with Atenist
prayers that were strikingly similar to Hebrew script.
In the Old Testament Moses is spoken to by God while tending his father in laws heard of sheep at
Mount Sinai when God appears in a burning bush. Moses wasn't sure which God was speaking to him
so he asked God to reveal his name and God replies “ I am who I am”. (Exodus 3:14) He was simply
God. The Hebrew name for God was El. But was frequently referred to as the” Lord of Hosts”.
There is striking similarity between certain inscribed Aten prayers on the stones, known as the Hymn to
Aten and Psalm 104 in the Old Testament. These prayers describe how both Gods created the world
plant and animals, how he nurtured his creation, and was responsible for everything that happened on
earth. Another similarity is that neither Gods were to be represented by images. But both religions
made symbols to represent their Gods.
When the Hebrews settled in Canaan, they used a symbol that is used till this day in synagogues and
homes throughout the world. Of course we are talking about the seven branch candelabrum, the golden
menorah, to represent Gods light and presence in the temple.
The Atenist also used a symbol of light it was a glyph: a disc with arms extending downward to end
with hands holding the ankh, the symbol for life. It depicted the sun with its rays delivering life giving
sunlight to the earth. Egyptologist interpreted this as being evidence of sun worship. It is thought
however my modern archeologists that the glyph represents sunlight and not the sun itself.
Sunlight which cannot be seen offered warmth, light and life and this to the Atenists was representative
of the omnipresent all knowing, and all providing god.
The Hebrew represented their god with the sacred golden bull, also associated with the sun god RA.
This greatly upset Moses which is well depicted in the biblical story of the golden calf.
According to the bible Moses was the prophet who first revealed God's holy laws, and by some
accounts the originator of the Hebrew faith, the founder of what was to become the Jewish religion.
According to the Old Testament Moses was born into a family of Israelite slaves. During a purge where
the Pharaoh orders the killing of all Israelite babies. Moses mother saves him by placing him in a boat
made of bulrushes and hiding him in the shore side reeds in the Nile River. The Pharaoh daughter finds
him and being sympathetic to the plight of the Israelite s adopts him and raises him as her own.
Nobody is aware of the infants true identity, and the Pharaoh accepts him as his grandson.
This would make Moses a Prince of Egypt, heir to the thrown of Egypt. ( Exodus 2:14) states that
Moses indeed does become a Egyptian Prince, however there isn't any Egyptian records available to
identify Moses during the Rein of Amonhotep III or any time in the history of Egypt. However there
is the thought that Moses may not have been his true name..
The name Moses is the Greek translation taken from the Tanak, that means to draw forth as when the
Pharaoh's daughter drew Moses out of the reeds of the Nile River. Mose is an Eqyptian word meaning
“son”.
In 1995 the Israeli historian David Ullian, suggests that Mose may have been a title and not a name just
like Christ the “anointed one” later became an epithet for Jesus. Perhaps the shortening of a title “son
of God”. In ancient times Kings and prophets of Judea were referred to as “sons of God”. It is possible
then that if an individual did lead the Israelite s to freedom, then perhaps he appears in the Egyptian
record under a different name.
Who anywhere in Egyptian history would meet the profile of Moses? I believe that the adopted baby
story isn't accurate. I believe it was taken from a Babylonian legend. In Exodus 2:3 we are told how
Moses's mother hides him. There is a Mesopotamian myth concerning King Sargon I of Akkard, dated
around B.C. 2330. This King was also floated on a river in a basket of bulrushes like Moses he was
found and adopted.
The story of Moses's adoption fails to meet historical scrutiny. The exodus story says that the Pharaoh's
daughter adopted him and he was raised as a prince. In ancient Egypt the bloodline of the royal family
was strictly controlled and manipulated. The Pharaoh's were considered “gods” and their daughters
could only conceive children with someone chosen by the Pharaoh—frequently the Pharaoh himself.
Adoption would be completely out of the question! It would have been unheard of for any Pharaoh to
allow one of his daughter's to adopt a son.
If Moses really was a prince of the Egyptian Court he would have been a naturally born Egyptian!
Someone in the court o f Amonhotep court who is strikingly similar to Moses was his eldest son Prince
Tuthmose a brief outline of his life was interpreted by Egyptologists through inscriptions left at the
tomb site.
He was Pharaoh Amonhotep eldest son and heir to the throne. He was Governor of Memphis in
northern Egypt before being appointed as commander of the Pharaoh's Chariot Forces and seeing
active service against the Ethiopians. After a successful campaign against the Ethiopians he returned to
religious life and was installed as high priest at the Temple of the god Ra in Heliopolis, in northern
Egypt.
In the twenty third year of pharaoh Amonhotep rein, he suddenly and for no apparent reason resigned
his position and disappeared. Two years upon the death of his father Prince Tuthmose younger brother
Akhenaten ascended to the throne.
Prince Tuthmose profile matches Moses's in a number of ways, first he commanded the army during an
Ethiopian campaign. So did Moses. In Josephus account in the Jewish Antiquities he provides a full
chapter on Moses time as a Egyptian Prince. For some reason because of Moses success during the
Ethiopian campaign something happened to cause his exile.
The Pharaoh was jealous of Moses popularity and eventually ordered his arrest, but forewarned, Moses
escaped out of the country. In Exodus we are told that Moses was forced into exile for killing a vicious
slave driver however in reality a Egyptian prince could order the execution of a slave driver on the spot
if he so desired.
The second similarity between Moses and Prince Tuthmose was for a time Tuthmose was a high priest
at the Temple of Ra, in Heliopolis. So was Moses. A forth century B.C. Manuscript was discovered
describing a revolt that took place amongst Semite slaves during the reign of Pharaoh Amonhotep III.
The revolt was said to have taken place in Avaris, the stone quarries where the Israelite s were forced to
work as slaves for many years until they were joined by a priest from Heliopolis, from the Temple of
Ra. The priest had abandoned the gods of Egypt and had been condemned to bondage. Josephus
interpreted the manuscript as the priest being Moses.
The manuscript goes on to say that the priest had once been a soldier and had taught the Israelite slaves
how to fight during their captivity. When he led them during a rebellion thousands escaped to their
homeland.
A third similarity is that like Moses, Tuthmose may have been driven into exile. The reason for this
thought is that his tomb was never used. In Egypt the tombs were prepared while the person was alive
and only after death were the final inscriptions made of the funerary and mummification but this tomb
found in the valley of the Kings didn't have the final inscriptions, decorations and was unused.
To build a Royal Tomb it took years to cut out the 100's of square feet of solid rock for the burial
chamber and treasury chambers deep under ground. With the absence of any memorials, or obituaries,
his sudden disappearance from the Temple of Ra is indicative of some sort of disgrace which either
ended in an execution or being exiled from the country.
During this period in history forty or fifty years would be considered a normal life cycle. We have to
treat biblical ades with caution also in lieu of the fact that frequently biblical history is recorded orally
and written hundreds of years after the fact so its always a good idea to try to compare biblical stories
to historical fact where possible.
The only difference between these two people would be their age. Tuthmose would have been around
thirty-five and Moses around eighty. I actually think Moses was probably around thirty five also.
If the Exodus took place during the rein of Pharaoh Amonhotep III then Prince Tuthmose was the best
choice for the historical Moses. They were uniquely similar in several ways. They were both the
commander of an army in Ethiopia, they were both priests at the Temple of Ra and both exiled.
Tuthmose's name was also unique: it means “son of the god Thor” If Tuthmose had abandoned Egypt’s
gods and decided to drop the divine Tuth—Toth--from his name then he would be called Mose the
original of Moses.
He lived in the right time and place, they have identical profiles other than age but why the mystery?
The ancient Israelite s needed to obscure his Eqyptian origins and concort an alternate story of Moses’s
origins. The Israelite would have had a hard time accepting that their great law giver, who established
the covenant with god and protected it in the Ark, was actually an Egyptian Prince.
