2. THE SIMILARITY OF AKHNATON’S HYMN TO PSALM CIV.
In reading this truly beautiful hymn one cannot fail to be struck by its similarity to Psalm civ. A parallel will show this most clearly:—
Akhnaton’s Hymn.
The world is in darkness like the dead. Every lion cometh forth from his den; all serpents sting. Darkness reigns.
When Thou risest in the horizon ... the darkness is banished.... Then in all the world they do their work.
All trees and plants flourish, ... the birds flutter in their marshes.... All sheep dance upon their feet.
The ships sail up-stream and down-stream alike.... The fish in the river leap up before Thee; and Thy rays are in the midst of the great sea.
How manifold are all Thy works!... Thou didst create the earth according to Thy desire,—men, all cattle, ... all that are upon the earth....
Thou hast set a Nile in heaven that it may fall for them, making floods upon the mountains ... and watering their fields. The Nile in heaven is for the service of the strangers, and for the cattle of every land.
Thou makest the seasons.... Thou hast made the distant heaven in order to rise therein, ... dawning, shining afar off, and returning.
The world is in Thy hand, even as Thou hast made them. When thou hast risen they live; when Thou settest they die.... By Thee man liveth.
Psalm civ.
Thou makest the darkness and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey; they seek their meat from God.
The sun riseth, they get them away, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening.
The trees of the Lord are full of sap, ... wherein the birds make their nests.... The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, wherein are ... both small and great beasts. There go the ships....
O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all. The earth is full of Thy creatures.
He watereth the hills from above: the earth is filled with the fruit of Thy works. He bringeth forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men.
He appointed the moon for certain seasons, and the sun knoweth his going down.
These wait all upon Thee.... When Thou givest them [food] they gather it; and when Thou openest Thy hand they are filled with good. When Thou hidest Thy face they are troubled: when Thou takest away their breath they die.
In face of this remarkable similarity one can hardly doubt that there is a direct connection between the two compositions; and it becomes necessary to ask whether both Akhnaton’s hymn and this Hebrew psalm were derived from a common Syrian source, or whether Psalm civ. is derived from this Pharaoh’s original poem. Both views are admissible; but in consideration of Akhnaton’s peculiar ability and originality there seems considerable likelihood that he is the author in the first instance of this gem of the Psalter.
When the young Pharaoh composed this hymn he was probably neither much more nor less than twenty or twenty-one years of age,—a period of life at which many of the world’s greatest poets have written some of their fairest poems. One sees that he believed himself to be the only man to whom God had revealed Himself; and the fact that he never admits that he was in any way taught to regard God as he did, but always speaks of himself, and is spoken of, as the originator and teacher of the faith, indicates that the ideas expressed in the hymn were entirely his own.