In what meaning Pharoah Claimed to be Only God.

Pharoah in the Time Of Mighty Prophet,Great Apostle Of God, and Exalted

Messenger Of God Moses is reproted to
laim to be the only God. !holars di"ere in the meaning #sense of the
sentene $TTE%E& by Pharao#Pharoah.
There are more then one possible and ontingent meanings#senses.
O'E O( T)EM I! &I!C$!!E& *E+O,-.
/st Premilinary-.
Anient Egyptian religion was a Polythiesti religion ,b0t it did had
Monothiesti tendenies..
Egyptian if not all then some did belie1e in a !0preme *eing.
*r0gshe did pro1ide some e1idenes for Egyptian Monothiesm.
!OME PEOP+E OPI'E T)AT P)A%OA) *E+IE2E& I' O'E GO& OT)E% PEOP+E
&E'3.,
It seems that the word 4God
4 sho0ld be reser1ed to express the name of the Creator of the $ni1erse, and
that neter0, 0s0ally rendered 4gods,4
sho0ld
be translated by some other word, b0t what that word sho0ld be it is almost
impossible to say.567
The belief in One God.
(rom the attrib0tes of God set forth in Egyptian texts of all periods, &r.
*r0gsh, de %o0g8, and other eminent
Egyptologists ha1e ome to the opinion that the dwellers in the 'ile 1alley,
from the earliest times, 9new and
worshipped one God, nameless, inomprehensible, and eternal. In /:;< de
%o0g8 wrote=..4The
5/. The hierati text of this story was p0blished by Pleyte and %ossi, +e
Papyr0s de T0rin, /:;>./:?;, pll. @/.??, and
/@/./@:- a (renh translation of it was p0blished by M. +ef8b0re, who Arst
reogniBed the tr0e harater of the omposition,
in Aeg. Ceitshrift, /::@, p. 6? "- and a German translation by ,iedemann is
in his olletion of 4!onnensagen,4 %eligion
der alten Aegypter, MDnster, /:><, p. 6> ".
6 A similar diE0lty also exists in )ebrew, for elomhim means both God and
4gods4- ompare Psalm lxxxii., i.7
Fp. xiiG
0nity of a s0preme and self.existent being, his eternity, his almightiness, and
external reprod0tion thereby as
God- the attrib0ting of the reation of the world and of all li1ing beings to this
s0preme God- the immortality of the so0l,
ompleted by the dogma of p0nishments and rewards= s0h is the s0blime
and persistent base whih, notwithstanding
all de1iations and all mythologial embellishments, m0st se0re for the
beliefs of the anient Egyptians a most hono0rable
plae among the religions of antiH0ity.45/7 'ine years later he de1eloped this
1iew, and dis0ssed the diE0lty of
reoniling the belief in the 0nity of God with the polytheism whih existed in
Egypt from the earliest times, and he
repeated his on1ition that the Egyptians belie1ed in a self.existent God who
was One *eing, who had reated man,
and who had endowed him with an immortal so0l.567 In fat, de %o0g8
ampliAes what Champollion.(igea
Irelying 0pon his brotherJs informationK wrote in /:@>= 4The Egyptian religion
is a p0re monotheism, whih manifested
itself externally by a symboli polytheism.45@7 M. Pierret adopts the 1iew that
the texts show 0s that the Egyptians
belie1ed in One inAnite and eternal God who was witho0t a seond, and he
repeats ChampollionJs dit0m.5L7 *0t the
most reent s0pporter of the monotheisti theory is &r. *r0gsh, who has
olleted a n0mber of stri9ing passages from
the texts. (rom these passages we may selet the following=..
God is one and alone, and none other existeth with )im..God is the One, the
One who hath made all things..God
is a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of the Egyptians,
the di1ine spirit..God is from the
beginning, and )e hath been from the beginning, )e hath existed from old
and was when nothing else had being.
)e existed when nothing else existed, and what existeth )e reated after )e
had ome into being, )e is the (ather
of beginnings..God is the eternal One, )e is eternal and inAnite and end0reth
for e1er and aye..God is hidden and no
man 9noweth )is form. 'o man hath been able to see9 o0t )is li9eness- )e is
hidden to gods and men, and )e is a
mystery 0nto )is reat0res. 'o man 9noweth how to 9now )im..)is name
remaineth hidden- )is name is a mystery 0nto
)is hildren. )is names are inn0merable, they are manifold and none
9noweth their n0mber..God is tr0th and )e li1eth
by tr0th and )e feedeth thereon. )e is the 9ing of tr0th, and )e hath
stablished the earth there0pon..God is life and
thro0gh )im
5/. Mt0des des %it0el (0n8raire des Aniens Mgyptiens Iin %e10e
Arh8ologiH0eK, Paris, /:;<, p. ?6.
6. +a royane N lJ$nit8 d0 &ie0 s0prOme, N ses attrib0ts de Cr8ate0r et de
+8gislate0r de lJhomme, H0Jil a do08 dJ0ne Pme immortelle- 1oilN les notions
primiti1es enhPss8es omme des diamants indestr0tibles a0 milie0 des
s0perf8tations mythologiH0es a0m0l8es par les siQles H0i ont pass8 s0r
ette 1ieille i1iliBation. !ee Conferene s0r la %eligion des aniens Mgyptiens
Iin Annales de Philosophi Chr8tienne, RiQme !8rie, t. xx., Paris, /:;>, pp.
@6R.@@?K.
@. Mgypte, Paris, /:@>, p. 6LR, ol. /.
L. +e Panth8on Mgyptien, Paris, /::/, p. L.7
Fp. xiiiG
only man li1eth. )e gi1eth life to man, )e breatheth the breath of life into his
nostrils..God is father and mother
, the father of fathers, and the mother of mothers. )e begetteth, b0t was
ne1er begotten- )e prod0eth,
b0t was ne1er prod0ed- )e begat himself and prod0ed himself. )e
reateth, b0t was ne1er reated-
)e is the ma9er of his own form, and the fashioner of )is own body..God
)imself is existene,
)e end0reth witho0t inrease or dimin0tion, )e m0ltiplieth )imself millions of
times, and )e is manifold in forms
and in members..God hath made the 0ni1erse, and )e hath reated all that
therein is- )e is the Creator of what
is in this world, and of what was, of what is, and of what shall be. )e is the
Creator of the hea1ens, and of the earth,
and of the deep, and of the water, and of the mo0ntains. God hath strethed
o0t the hea1ens and fo0nded the
earth.,hat )is heart onei1ed straightway ame to pass, and when )e hath
spo9en, it ometh to pass and end0reth
for e1er..God is the father of the gods- )e fashioned men and formed the
gods..God is merif0l 0nto those who
re1erene )im, and )e heareth him that alleth 0pon )im. God 9noweth him
that a9nowledgeth )im, )e
rewardeth him that ser1eth )im, and )e proteteth him that followeth )im.
5/7
Monotheism and polytheism coexistent.
*ea0se, howe1er, polytheism existed side by side with monotheism in
Egypt, M. Maspero belie1es that the
words 4God One4 do not mean 4One God4 in o0r sense of the words- and Mr.
%eno0f thin9s that the 4Egyptian n0tar
ne1er beame a proper name.4567 ,hether polytheism grew from
monotheism in Egypt, or monotheism from polytheism we will not 1ent0re to
say, for the e1idene of the pyramid texts shows that already in the 2th
dynasty monotheism and polytheism were So0rishing side by side. The
opinion of Tiele is that the religion of Egypt was from the beginning
polytheisti, b0t that it de1eloped in two opposite diretions= in the one
diretion gods were m0ltiplied by the addition of loal gods, and in the other
the Egyptians drew nearer and nearer to monotheism.5@7
The s0n the emblem of God.
(rom a n0mber of passages drawn from texts of all periods it is lear that the
form in whih God made himself manifest
to man 0pon earth was the s0n, whih the Egyptians alled %a and that all
other gods and goddesses were forms of him.
The prinipal a0thorities for epithets applied to God and to )is 1isible emblem
the s0n are the hymns and litanies whih are
fo0nd insribed 0pon
5/. *r0gsh, %eligion 0nd Mythologie, pp. >;.>>. The whole hapter on the
anient Egyptian oneption of God sho0ld
be read with M. MasperoJs omments 0pon it in +a Mythologie Mgyptienne
IMt0des de Mythologie, t. ii., p. /:> ".K.
6. )ibbert +et0res, p. >>.
@. )ypotheBen omtrent de wording 1an den Egyptishen Godsdienst Iin
Geshiedenis 1an den Godsdienst in
de O0dheid, Amsterdam, /:>@, p. 6RK- and see +ieblein, Egyptian %eligion,
+eipBig, /::L, p. /<.
L !ee the hapter 4&ie0 se manifestant par le soleil,4 in Pierret, Essai s0r la
Mythologie Mgyptienne, pp. /:, />.7
Fp. xi1G
Conf0sion of gods.
the walls of tombs,5/7 stelT, and papyri567 of the U2IIIth dynasty- and these
pro1e that the Egyptians asribed the
attrib0tes of the Creator to the reat0re. The religio0s ideas whih we And in
these writings in the U2IIIth dynasty are,
no do0bt, the o0tome of the religion of earlier times, for all the e1idene
now a1ailable shows that the Egyptians of the
later periods in1ented omparati1ely little in the way of religio0s literat0re.
,here, how, and in what way they
s0eeded in preser1ing their most anient texts, are matters abo0t whih
little, 0nfort0nately, is 9nown. In o0rse of
time we And that the attrib0tes of a ertain god in one period are applied to
other gods in another- a new god is formed
by the f0sion of two or more gods- loal gods, thro0gh the fa1o0rable help of
politial ir0mstanes, or the fort0ne of
war, beome almost national gods- and the gods who are the ompanions of
Osiris are endowed by the pio0s with all
the attrib0tes of the great osmi gods..%a, Ptah, Vhnem0, Vhepera, and the
li9e. Th0s the attrib0tes of %a are bestowed
0pon Vhnem0 and Vhepera- the god )or0s exists in the aspets of )er0.
maati, )er0.9hent.an.maa, )er0.Vh0ti, )er0.n0b,
)er0.beh0tet, et., and the attrib0tes of eah are onfo0nded either in
periods or loalities= Tm0.%a, and Menth0.%a,
and Amen.%a are omposed of Tm0 and %a, and Menth0 and %a, and Amen
and %a respeti1ely, and we ha1e seen
from the hymn H0oted abo1e Ip. lii.K that already in the U2IIIth dynasty the
god Osiris had absorbed the attrib0tes whih
belonged in the earlier dynasties to %a alone.
!ECO'& P%EMI+I'A%3
)istory of the god Amen.
!till more remar9able, howe1er, is the progress of the god Amen in Egyptian
theology. In the early empire, i.e.,
d0ring the Arst ele1en dynasties, this god ran9ed only as a loal god,
altho0gh his name is as old as the time of $nas-5@7
and
5/. E.g., the litany from the tomb of !eti I., p0blished by 'a1ille, +a +itanie d0
!oleil, +eipBig, /:?R, p. /@ ".
6. E.g., )ymn to Amen.%a, translated by Goodwin from papyr0s 'o. /?, now
preser1ed in the GiBeh M0se0m Isee +es Papyr0s Mgyptiens d0 M0s8e de
*o0laH, ed. Mariette, Paris, /:?6, pll. /./@- %eords of the Past, 1ol. i., p. /6?
f., and Trans. !o. *ibl. Arh., 1ol. ii., p. 6R<K, and by Gr8ba0t, )ymne N
Ammon.%a, Paris, /:?LK- )ymns to Amen, translated by Goodwin Isee
%eords of the Past, 1ol. 1i., p. >? f.- Trans. !o. *ibl. Arh., 1ol. ii., p. @R@K,
and Chabas IM8langes MgyptologiH0es, /:?<, p. //?K- )ymn to Osiris,
translated by Chabas I%e10e Arh8ologiH0e, t. xi1., Paris, /:R?, p. ;R ".K, and
Goodwin I%eords of the Past, 1ol. i1., p. >? ".K. The 1ario0s 1ersions of the
U2th Chapter of the *oo9 of the &ead, whih onsists of a series of hymns,
are gi1en in the Theban edition by 'a1ille ITodtenb0h, *d. I., *ll. /L.6@K, and
the text of the later !aWte 1ersion is dis0ssed and translated by +ef8b0re,
Trad0tion ompar8e des hymnes a0 !oleil, Paris, /:;:, Lto.
@. 4Amen and Ament,4 are mentioned in /. RR: of the insription of this 9ing-
see Maspero, %e0eil, t. i1., p. ;;.7
Fp. x1G
it is not 0ntil the so.alled )y9sos ha1e been expelled from Egypt by the
Theban 9ings of the U2IIth dynasty that Amen,
whom the latter had hosen as their great god, and whose worship they had
delined to reno0ne at the bidding of the
)y9sos 9ing Apepi,5l7 was a9nowledged as the national god of so0thern
Egypt at least. )a1ing by 1irt0e of being the god
of the onH0erors obtained the position of head of the ompany of Egyptian
gods, he reei1ed the attrib0tes of the most
anient gods, and little by little he absorbed the epithets of them all. Th0s
Amen beame Amen.%a, and the glory of the
old gods of Ann0, or )eliopolis, was entred in him who was originally an
obs0re loal god. The worship of Amen in
Egypt was f0rthered by the priests of the great ollege of Amen, whih seems
to ha1e been established early in the U2IIIth dynasty by the 9ings who were
his de1o0t worshippers. The extrat from a papyr0s written for the priness
'esi.Vhons0,567 a member of the priesthood of Amen, is an example of the
exalted lang0age in whih his 1otaries addressed him.
4This is the sared god, the lord of all the gods, Amen.%a, the lord of the
throne of the world, the prine of Apt,5@7
the sared so0l who ame into being in the beginning, the great god who
li1eth by right and tr0th, the Arst ennead
whih ga1e birth 0nto the other two enneads,5L7 the being in whom e1ery
god existeth, the One of One,5R7 the reator
of the things whih ame into being when the earth too9 form in the
beginning, whose births are hidden, whose forms
are manifold, and whose growth annot be 9nown. The sared (orm, belo1ed,
terrible and mighty in his two risings IXK,
the lord of spae, the mighty one of the form of Vhepera, who ame into
existene thro0gh Vhepera, the lord of the form
of Vhepera- when he ame into being nothing existed exept himself. )e
shone 0pon the earth from prime1al time
5in the form of7 the &is9, the prine of light and radiane. )e gi1eth light and
radiane. )e gi1eth light 0nto all peoples.
)e saileth o1er hea1en and ne1er resteth, and on the morrow his 1igo0r is
stablished as before- ha1ing beome old
5to.day7, he beometh yo0ng again to.morrow. )e mastereth the bo0nds of
eternity, he goeth ro0ndabo0t hea1en,
and entereth into the T0at to ill0mine the two lands whih he hath reated.
,hen the di1ine Ior mightyK God,5;7
mo0lded himself, the hea1ens and the earth were made by his
5/. The literat0re relating to the fragment of the !allier papyr0s reording this
fat is gi1en by ,iedemann,
Aegyptishe Geshihte, p. 6>>.
6 The hierati text is p0blished, with a hieroglyphi transript, by Maspero,
M8moires p0bli8s par les Membres
de la Mission Arh8ologiH0e (ranYaise a0 Caire, t. i., p. R>L "., and pll. 6R.6?.
@ A distrit of Thebes on the east ban9 of the 'ile, the modern Varna9.
L !ee within, p= x1ii.
R. ZZZ.
;. ZZZ neter netra. M. Maspero translates 4die0 exerYant sa fontion de die0,
die0 en ati1it8 de ser1ie,4 or 4die0 d8isant.47
Fp. 1iG
oneption.5/7 )e is the prine of prines, the mightiest of the mighty, he is
greater than the gods, he is the yo0ng
b0ll with sharp pointed horns, and he proteteth the world in his great name
JEternity ometh with its power and
bringing therewith the bo0nds IXK of e1erlastingness.J )e is the Arstborn god,
the god who existed from the beginning,
the go1ernor of the world by reason of his strength, the terrible one of the
two lion.gods,567 the aged one, the form
of Vhepera whih existeth in all the gods, the lion of fearsome glane, the
go1ernor terrible by reason of his two eyes
,5@7 the lord who shooteth forth Same 5therefrom7 against his enemies. )e is
the prime1al water whih Soweth forth in
its season to ma9e to li1e all that ometh forth 0pon his potterJs wheel.5L7 )e
is the dis9 of the Moon, the bea0ties
whereof per1ade hea1en and earth, the 0ntiring and beneAent 9ing, whose
will germinateth from rising to setting,
from whose di1ine eyes men and women ome forth, and from whose mo0th
the gods do ome, and 5by whom7
food and meat and drin9 are made and pro1ided, and 5by whom7 the things
whih exist are reated. )e is the lord
of time and he tra1erseth eternity- he is the aged one who reneweth his
yo0th he hath m0ltit0des of eyes and myriads
of ears- his rays are the g0ides of millions of men he is the lord of life and
gi1eth 0nto those who lo1e him the whole earth, and they are 0nder the
protetion of his fae. ,hen he goeth forth he wor9eth 0nopposed, and no
man an ma9e of none e"et that whih he hath done. )is name is graio0s,
and the lo1e of him is sweet- and at the dawn all people ma9e s0ppliation
0nto him thro0gh his mighty power and terrible strength, and e1ery god lieth
in fear of him. )e is the yo0ng b0ll that destroyeth the wi9ed, and his strong
arm Aghteth against his foes. Thro0gh him did the earth ome into being in
the beginning. )e is the !o0l whih shineth thro0gh his di1ine eyes,5@7 he is
the *eing endowed with power and the ma9er of all that hath ome into
being, and he ordered the world, and he annot be 9nown. )e is the Ving who
ma9eth 9ings to reign, and he direteth the world in his o0rse- gods and
goddesses bow down in adoration before his !o0l by reason of the awf0l
terror whih belongeth 0nto him. )e hath gone before and hath stablished all
that ometh after him, and he made the 0ni1erse in the beginning by his
seret o0nsels. )e is the *eing who annot be 9nown, and he is more hidden
than all the gods. )e ma9eth the &is9 to be his 1iar, and he himself annot
be 9nown, and he hideth himself from that whih ometh forth from him. )e
is a bright Same of Are, mighty in splendo0rs, he an be seen only in the form
in whih he showeth himself, and he an be gaBed 0pon only when he
manifesteth himself, and that whih is in him annot be 0nderstood. At brea9
of day all peoples ma9e s0ppliation 0nto him, and when he riseth with h0es
of orange and sa"ron among the ompany of the gods he beometh the
greatly desired one of e1ery god. The god '0 appeareth with the breath of
the north wind in this hidden god who ma9eth for 0ntold millions of men the
derees whih abide for e1er- his derees
5/. +iterally 4his heart,4 ab.f.
6 I.e., !h0 and Tefn0t.
@ I.e., the !0n and the Moon, 0tJati.
L. nehep- other examples of the 0se of this word are gi1en by *r0gsh,
,[rterb0h I!0ppl., p. ;><K.7
Fp. x1iiG
4are graio0s and well doing, and they fall not to the gro0nd 0ntil they ha1e
f0lAlled their p0rpose. )e gi1eth long life and m0ltiplieth the years of those
who are fa1o0red by him, he is the graio0s protetor of him whom he setteth
in his heart, and he is the fashioner of eternity and e1erlastingness. )e is the
9ing of the 'orth and of the !o0th, Amen.%a, 9ing of the gods, the lord of
hea1en, and of earth and of the waters and of the mo0ntains, with whose
oming into being the earth began its existene, the mighty one, more
prinely than all the gods of the Arst ompany thereof.4
Theories of the origin of the gods.
,ith referene to the origin of the gods of the Egyptians m0h 0sef0l
information may be deri1ed from the pyramid texts. (rom them it wo0ld seem
that, in the earliest times, the Egyptians had tried to thin9 o0t and explain to
themsel1es the origin of their gods and of their gro0pings. Aording to M.
Maspero5/7 they red0ed e1erything to one 9ind of prime1al matter whih
they belie1ed ontained e1erything in embryo- this matter was water, '0,
whih they deiAed, and e1erything whih arose therefrom was a god. The
priests of Ann0 at a 1ery early period gro0ped together the nine greatest
gods of Egypt, forming what is alled the pa0t neter0 or 4ompany of the
gods,4 or as it is written in the pyramid texts, pa0t aat, 4the great ompany of
gods4- the texts also show that there was a seond gro0p of nine gods alled
pa0t netJeset or 4lesser ompany of the gods4- and a third gro0p of nine gods
is also 9nown. ,hen all three pa0ts of gods are addressed they appear as
ZZZ.567 The great yle of the gods in Ann0 was omposed of the gods Tm0,
!h0, Tefn0t, !eb, '0t, Osiris, Isis, !et and 'ephthys- b0t, tho0gh pa0t means
4 nine,4 the texts do not always limit a pa0t of the gods to that n0mber, for
sometimes the gods amo0nt to twel1e, and sometimes, e1en tho0gh the
n0mber be nine, other gods are s0bstit0ted for the original gods of the pa0t.
,e sho0ld nat0rally expet %a to stand at the head of the great pa0t of the
gods- b0t it m0st be remembered that the hief loal god of Ann0 was Tm0,
and, as the priests of that ity re1ised and edited the pyramid texts 9nown to
0s, they nat0rally s0bstit0ted their own form of the god %a, or at best 0nited
him with %a, and alled him Tm0.%a. In the prime1al matter, or water, li1ed
the god Tm0, and when he rose for the Arst time, in the form of the s0n, he
reated the world. )ere at one we ha1e Tm0 assimilated with '0. A 0rio0s
passage in the pyramid of Pepi I. shows that while as yet there was neither
5/. +a Mythologie Mgyptienne IMt0des, t. ii., p. 6@?K.
6. !ee Pyramid of Teta, l. @<? IMaspero, %e0eil de Tra1a0x, t. 1., p. L;K.7
Fp. x1iiiG
hea1en nor earth, and when neither gods had been born, nor men reated,
the god Tm0 was the father of h0man beings,5/7 e1en before death ame into
the world. The Arst at of Tm0 was to reate from his own body the god !h0
and the goddess Tefn0t-567 and afterwards !eb the earth and '0t the s9y
ame into being. These were followed by Osiris and Isis, !et and 'ephthys.
&r. *r0gshJs 1ersion of the origin of the gods as p0t forth in his last wor9 on
the s0b\et5@7 is somewhat di"erent. Aording to him there was in the
beginning neither hea1en nor earth, and nothing existed exept a bo0ndless
prime1al mass of water whih was shro0ded in dar9ness and whih ontained
within itself the germs or beginnings, male and female, of e1erything whih
was to be in the f0t0re world. The di1ine prime1al spirit whih formed an
essential part of the prime1al matter felt within itself the desire to begin the
wor9 of reation, and its word wo9e to life the world, the form and shape of
whih it had already depited to itself. The Arst at of reation began with the
formation of an egg5L7 o0t of the prime1al water, from whih bro9e forth %a,
the immediate a0se of all life 0pon earth. The almighty power of the di1ine
spirit embodied itself in its most brilliant form in the rising s0n. ,hen the
inert mass of prime1al matter felt the desire of the prime1al spirit to begin
the wor9 of reation, it began to mo1e, and the reat0res whih were to
onstit0te the f0t0re world were formed
5/. %e0eil de Tra1a0x, t. 1iii., p. /<L Il. ;;LK. The passage reads=..
mes Pepi pen a0 atf Tem an xepert pet an
Ga1e birth to Pepi this father Tm0 5when7 not was reated hea1en, not
xepert ta an xepert reth an mest neter0 an xepert met
was reated earth, not were reated men, not were born the gods, not was
reated death.
6. %e0eil de Tra1a0x, I. 1ii., p. /?< Il. L;;K.
@. %eligion 0nd Mythologie, p. /</.
L A n0mber of 1al0able fats onerning the plae of the egg in the Egyptian
%eligion ha1e been olleted by +ef8b0re, %e10e de lJ)istoire des %eligions, t.
x1i., Paris, /::?, p. /; ".7
Fp. xixG
aording to the di1ine intelligene Maa. $nder the inS0ene of Thoth, or that
form of the di1ine intelligene whih reated the world by a word, eight
elements, fo0r male and fo0r female, arose o0t of the prime1al '0, whih
possessed the properties of the male and female. These eight elements were
alled '0 and '0t,5/7 )eh and )ehet,567 Ve9 and Ve9et,5@7 and Enen and
Enenet,5L7 or Vhemenn0, the 4Eight,4 and they were onsidered as prime1al
fathers and mothers.5R7 They are often represented in the forms of fo0r male
and fo0r female apes who stand in adoration and greet the rising s0n with
songs and hymns of praise,5;7 b0t they also appear as male and female
h0man forms with the heads of frogs or serpents.5?7 The birth of light from
the waters, and of Are from the moist mass of prime1al matter, and of %a
from '0, formed the starting point of all mythologial spe0lations,
on\et0res, and theories of the Egyptian priests.5:7 The light of the s0n ga1e
birth to itself o0t of haos, and the oneption of the f0t0re world was
depited in Thoth the di1ine intelligene- when Thoth ga1e the word, what he
ommanded at one too9 plae by means of Ptah and Vhnem0, the 1isible
representati1es of the power whih t0rned ThothJs ommand into deed.
Vhnem0 made the egg of the s0n,5>7 and Ptah ga1e to the god of light a
Anished body.5/<7 The Arst pa0t of the gods onsisted of !h0, Tefn0t, !eb,
'0t, Osiris, Isis, !et, 'ephthys and )or0s, and their go1ernor Tm0 or Atm0.
5//7
Egyptian ao0nt of the Creation.
In a late opy of a wor9 entitled the 4*oo9 of 9nowing the e1ol0tions of %a,
the god 'eb.er.ther, the 4lord of the ompany of the gods,4 reords the story
of the reation and of the birth of the gods=..4I am he who e1ol1ed himself
0nder the form of the god Vhepera, I, the e1ol1er of the e1ol0tions e1ol1ed
myself, the e1ol1er of all e1ol0tions, after many e1ol0tions and de1elopments
whih ame forth from my mo0th.5/67 'o hea1en existed, and no earth, and
no terrestrial animals or reptiles had ome into being. I formed them o0t of
the inert mass of watery matter, I fo0nd no plae whereon to stand . . . . . I
was alone, and the gods !h0 and Tefn0t had not gone forth from me- there
existed
5/. *r0gsh, %eligion, pp. /6:, /6>.
6. Ibid., p. /@6.
@. Ibid., p. /L<.
L. Ibid., p. /L6.
R. Ibid., p. /L:.
;. Ibid., pp. /L>, /R6.
?. Ibid., p. /R:.
:. Ibid., p. /;<.
>. Ibid., p. /;/.
/<. Ibid., p. /;@.
//. Ibid., p. /:?.
/6 The 1ariant 1ersion says, 4I de1eloped myself from the prime1al matter
whih I had made.4 and adds, 4My name is Osiris, ZZZ, the s0bstane of
prime1al matter.47
Fp. G
4none other who wor9ed with me. I laid the fo0ndations of all things by my
will, and all things e1ol1ed themsel1es therefrom.5/7 I 0nited myself to my
shadow, and I sent forth !h0 and Tefn0t o0t from myself- th0s from being one
god I beame three, and !h0 and Tefn0t ga1e birth to '0t and !eb, and '0t
ga1e birth to Osiris, )or0s.Vhent.an.maa, !0t, Isis, and 'ephthys, at one
birth, one after the other, and their hildren m0ltiply 0pon this earth.4567
!0mmary of theories.
The reader has now before him the main points of the e1idene onerning
the EgyptiansJ notions abo0t God, and the osmi powers and their phases,
and the anthropomorphi reations with whih they peopled the other world,
all of whih ha1e been deri1ed from the nati1e literat0re of anient Egypt.
The di"erent interpretations whih di"erent Egyptologists ha1e plaed 0pon
the fats demonstrate the diE0lty of the s0b\et. !pea9ing generally, the
interpreters may be di1ided into two lasses= those who redit the Egyptians
with a n0mber of abstrat ideas abo0t God and the reation of the world and
the f0t0re life, whih are held to be essentially the prod0t of modern
Christian nations- and those who onsider the mind of the Egyptian as that of
a half.sa1age being to whom oasional glimmerings of spirit0al light were
1o0hsafed from time to time. All eastern nations ha1e experiened diE0lty
in separating spirit0al from orporeal oneptions, and the Egyptian is no
exeption to the r0le- b0t if he preser1ed the gross idea of a prime1al
existene with the s0blime idea of God whih he manifests in writings of a
later date, it seems that this is d0e more to his re1erene for hereditary
tradition than to ignorane. ,itho0t attempting to deide H0estions whih
ha1e presented diE0lties to the greatest thin9ers among Egyptologists, it
may safely be said that the Egyptian whose mind onei1ed the existene of
an 0n9nown, insr0table, eternal and inAnite God, who was One.whate1er the
word One may mean here and who himself belie1ed in a f0t0re life to be
spent in a gloriAed body in hea1en, was not a being whose spirit0al needs
wo0ld be satisAed by a belief in gods who o0ld eat, and drin9, lo1e and hate,
and Aght and grow old and die. )e was 0nable to desribe the inAnite God,
himself being Anite, and it is not s0rprising that he sho0ld, in some respets,
ha1e made )im in his own image.
5/. The 1ariant 1ersion has, 4I bro0ght into my own mo0th my name as a
word of power, and I straightway ame into being.4
6 The papyr0s from whih these extrats are ta9en is in the *ritish M0se0m,
'o. /</::. A hieroglyphi transript and translation will be fo0nd in
ArhTologia, 1ol. lii., pp. LL<.LL@. (or the passages H0oted see Col. 6;, l. 66-
Col. 6?, l. R- and Col. 6:, l. 6<- Col. 6>, l. ;.7
Fp. iG
T)I%& P%EMI+'A%3
%elation b#w God and gods-
Eah God was belie1ed to be amenifestation God,yet eah menifestation dad
its own memory,will,and power.
This is why eah menifestation whether male or female o0ld do what annot
asribed to God.
*0t Pharao laimed to be a diret inarnation of God, a 0nion of God and
inarnation in whih Egyptian God has beome
Pharoah with o0t easing to be Egyptian God.
It appears that Pharoah laimed to be a monothelete inarnation.
Pharoah perporated as if the inarnation was not spea9ing b0t the inarnated
Egyptian God was spea9ing.
LT) P%EMI+I'A%3
ME'I(E!TATIO'! O( O'E A'& !AME GO& O(TE' (IG)T O% )$%T EAC)
OT)E% A! I' T)E CA!E O( I!I! A'& %A.
RT) P%EMI+I'A%3
Pharoah laimed to be only godin the meaning -.
God is one and alone, and none other existeth with )im..
God is the One, the One who hath made all things..
God is
a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of the Egyptians,
the di1ine spirit..God is from the beginning,
and )e hath been from the beginning, )e hath existed from old and was
when nothing else had being. )e existed when
nothing else existed, and what existeth )e reated after )e had ome into
being, )e is the (ather of beginnings..God is
eternal One, )e is eternal and inAnite and end0reth for e1er and aye..God is
hidden and no man 9noweth )is form.
'o man hath been able to see9 o0t )is li9eness- )e is hidden to gods and
men, and )e is a mystery 0nto )is reat0res.
'o man 9noweth how to 9now )im..)is name remaineth hidden- )is name is
a mystery 0nto )is hildren. )is names are
inn0merable, they are manifold and none 9noweth their n0mber..God is tr0th
and )e li1eth by tr0th and )e feedeth
thereon. )e is the 9ing of tr0th, and )e hath stablished the earth there0pon..
God is life and thro0gh )im.
God is one and alone, and none other existeth with Him--God is the One, the One who hath made
all things--
This means that Pharoah 1iewed God of Moses in the 1ery meaning did
ontradit the oness and loneliness of This
Egyptian God .
Other wise the existene of hea1en and earth and mefestations of God i.e
gods did not ontradit Oneness of this
Egyption God.
O'E I! %E]$E!TE& TO !T$&3 IT MO%E T)O$%O$G)+3. I( T)E%E I! A'3
E%%O% T)E' IT I! O'+3 MI'E, A'& CA''OT *E A!C%I*E& TO A'3 O'E E+!E
.