It may be argued that this material conception of the life after death is not equal in purity of tone to the faith of the Aton. But is it, then, less lofty to believe in a heaven in which there is joy and laughter, a scent of flowers, and a breath of north wind, than in one where the streets are paved with gold, and where there are many mansions? By no religion in the world is Christianity so closely approached as by the faith of Akhnaton; and if the Pharaoh’s doctrines as to immortality are not altogether convincing, neither are the Christian doctrines, as they are now interpreted, altogether without fault. In the above pages it has been necessary always to compare Akhnaton’s creed with Christianity, since there is so much common to the two religions; but it should be remembered that this comparison must of necessity be unfavourable to the Pharaoh’s doctrine, revealing as it does its shortcomings. Let the reader remember that Akhnaton lived some thirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, at an age when the world was steeped in superstition and sunk in the fogs of idolatry. Bearing this in mind, he will not fail to see in that tenderly loving Father whom the boy-Pharaoh worshipped an early revelation of the God to whom we of the present day bow down; and once more he will find how true are the words—
“God fulfils Himself in many ways.”
Since writing the above, another point in Akhnaton’s teaching has become apparent, from the scenes, recently discovered by the present writer, in the tomb of Rames. There is a scene often represented upon the walls of tombs of Dynasty XVIII. which seems to represent human sacrifice. The figure of a man is seen dragged to the tomb upon a sledge, and Sir Gaston Maspero has pointed out that this can hardly be anything else than such a sacrifice. This scene was shown on one of the walls of the tomb of Rames, and evidently dated from a period previous to Akhnaton’s revolution. When, however, the young king had formulated his religion of love he could not tolerate a barbaric and cruel ceremony of this kind. We thus find that the entire scene is here obliterated, almost certainly by the king’s agents. The objection to human sacrifice is closely in accord with his objection to human suffering as recorded on [page 175].
[V.]
THE TENTH TO THE TWELFTH YEARS OF THE REIGN OF AKHNATON.
“One must be moved with involuntary admiration for the young king who in such an age found such thoughts in his heart.”—Breasted: ‘History of Egypt.’