3. ATON WORSHIPPED AT SUNRISE AND SUNSET.
In order to prevent the more ignorant of his disciples from worshipping the sun itself, Akhnaton seems to have selected the sunrise and the sunset as the two hours for ceremonial adoration; for then the light, the beauty, the tenderness, of the celestial phenomenon could be appreciated, and the awful majesty of the sun was not in great prominence. Akhnaton attempted to cultivate in his followers an appreciation of the gentle hues of daybreak and of evening; and he taught them to believe that the oft-mentioned “beauties” of the Aton were only to be fully understood at these times. In the gladness of sunrise and in the hush of the sunset, the emotions are most apt to be touched and moved; for in Egypt there is always praise in the heart in the cool opalescence of the dawn, and in the red dusk there is many and many a dream.
Phrases such as the following may be gleaned from Akhnaton’s hymns: “Thy rising is beautiful in the horizon of heaven, O living Aton, who dispensest life; shining from the eastern horizon of heaven, Thou fillest Egypt with Thy beauty.” “Thy setting is beautiful, O living Aton, ... who guidest ... all countries that they may make laudations at Thy dawning and at Thy setting.” “When the Aton rises all the land is in joy; His rays produce eyes for all that He has created; and men say, ‘It is life to see Him, there is death in not seeing Him.’” “When Thou settest alive,[47] O Aton, West and East give praise to thee.” “Thou settest behind the western horizon; Thou settest in life and gladness, and every eye rejoices though they are in darkness after Thou settest.” “When Thou hast risen they live; when Thou settest they die.”
The ceremonial side of the religion does not seem to have been complex. The priests, of whom there were very few, offered sacrifices, consisting mostly of vegetables, fruit, and flowers, to the Aton, and at these ceremonies the king and his family often officiated. They then sang psalms and offered prayers, and, with much sweet music, gave praise to the great Father of joy and love. The Aton, however, was not thought to delight in these ceremonies as He did in more natural thanksgivings. Why should God be praised in set phrases and studied poses when all the fair world was shouting for the joy of Him? The young calf frisking through the poppy-covered meadows, the birds singing upon the trees, the clouds racing across the sky, were the true worshippers of God.
One of the recently discovered sayings of Christ closely parallels Akhnaton’s utterances. “Ye ask,” it runs, “who are those that draw us to the kingdom if the kingdom is in heaven? The fowls of the air, and all the beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth, and the fishes in the sea, these are they which draw you, and the kingdom is within you.” The contemplation of nature was more to Akhnaton than many ceremonies, and his thoughts were more easily drawn upwards by the rustle of the leaves than by the shaking of the systrum.