The President of the United States wakes up one day and says
“Hey guys, you know what, we got it wrong, enough violence, blood, and wars
around the world. Only animals kill each
other, we are supposed to be smart creatures, and we should find smarter, and
peaceful solutions for our conflicts.
I am gonna stop all funding for the military, and I am gonna
allocate it to healthcare, education, and scientific research. I am gonna shut
down the military-industrial complex, and I am gonna turn the arms factories
into hospitals, schools, and research centers.
What would be the reaction of the American people, the
American army, and the military-industrial complex? What we the reaction of the
world?
Well, something similar happened 3,400 years ago in Egypt,
the greatest kingdom on earth back then. An era when the Egyptian Empire was at
one of the peaks of its power with strong control over wider geographical
territories east, west, and south.
In the 18th dynasty about 1,351 BC. Akhenaten, a
famous ancient Egyptian king who was the tenth ruler of the eighteenth dynasty
decided after a few years of his inauguration to seek global peace globally,
and stop war and violence in the whole world.
Akhenaten had a significantly progressive, and humane vision
for achieving global peace and non-violence, even to date after about 3,400
years we are not able to acknowledge this vision and effectively work towards
global peace. The significance of his vision was that it did not come from
peace activists or organizations. It came from the king of the strongest empire
on Earth who had the most powerful military. A case that has not been heard of
in human history.
Yet, it seems that neither humanity, nor his military, nor
his enemies were ready for such a progressive vision for global peace and
non-violence.
The Amarna letters sometimes referred to as the Amarna
correspondence or Amarna tablets, are an archive, consisting of diplomatic
correspondence between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in
Canaan and Amurru, or neighboring kingdom leaders, during the New Kingdom,
spanning a period between c. 1360–1332 BC. The letters were found in Upper
Egypt at el-Amarna, the modern name for the ancient Egyptian capital of Akhet
Aten, founded by the ancient Egyptian king Akhenaten who moved the capital of
Egypt to Akhet Aten.
Most of the letters are in a variety of Akkadian and,
Canaanite-Akkadian. In some letters, we see some of the city-state rulers (who
could be considered as governors) in Canaan and West Asia in some of the
territories that were under Egyptian control back then seeking military support
and help from Akhenaten against their enemies, and highlighting that they are
losing lands and this is a great threat to Egypt. It seems like Akhenaten was
sticking to his peaceful vision, and it seems that he did not even respond to
them, he was seriously done with war, blood, and violence, but his enemies were
not, which created a huge threat to Egypt, and did lead to disastrous
consequences on the Egyptian empire back then losing its power and control, and
losing lands as well. Definitely the Egyptians in general, and the Egyptian
military specifically were not happy with what was happening leading to what
could be considered a military coup with Noble intentions, until Horemheb took
control. Horemheb was the commander-in-chief of the army under the reign of
Tutankhamun (The successor of Akhenaten).
In a sense, this did save the ancient Egyptian empire
leading to the 19th dynasty, and another powerful and prosperous era
in ancient Egypt.
Akhenaten`s vision for global peace and non-violence was
progressive and noble. Yet, at that time it seems that it was not practical, It
seems as well that his approach to achieving his vision was not very
successful. He decided to action his vision on his own without support neither
from the Egyptians nor his military or his allies. Akhenaten did not try to
gradually take this shift from a world dominated by violence, and military
control to global peace and non-violence. Instead, he decided to take an instant,
sort of shocking approach that simply would have never worked.
His approach to achieving his vision for global peace and
non-violence was not the only challenge. He is perhaps best known for his
religious reforms, particularly his attempt to establish monotheism as some
scholars claim. Akhenaten's reign marked a significant departure from
traditional Egyptian religious practices, which typically involved the worship
of numerous deities. He promoted Aten as the sole deity, often depicted as a
sun disk with rays ending in hands offering life. This religious shift led to the
construction of the new capital city called Akhetaten dedicated to the worship
of Aten. Some scholars do debate that he was not actually promoting monotheism
and that it was simply a doctrine of ancient Egyptian beliefs.
Anyways, his religious reforms were not universally
accepted, and his reign was marked by political and social upheaval. After his
death, his successors, reversed many of his reforms, restoring the old
religious practices and abandoning Akhetaten. Some of Akhenaten`s successors
including Horemheb destroyed many of his artifacts, and archeological evidence
of his legacy, they basically tried to delete him and his legacy from
historical records.
His religious reforms were accompanied by changes in art and
culture, notably the introduction of a more naturalistic artistic style, and
for the first time the introduction of the humane side of the ancient Egyptian
kings, with several depictions of Akhenaten having quality time with his
family, his wife, and daughters. Ancient Egyptian kings, ' art and inscriptions
before Akhenaten used to focus on depicting their military victories, and their
legacies.
Despite the short-lived nature of Akhenaten's peaceful,
non-violent religious revolution, Akhenaten remains a figure of fascination and
debate among historians, Egyptologists, and scholars interested in ancient
culture and religion. His reign continues to be studied for its unique
contributions to Egyptian history and its impact on subsequent generations.
Would Akhenaten`s progressive vision for global peace and
non-violence be achieved at some point in the future? Hopefully, it will not
take humanity another 3,400 years to realize that we should end war, and
violence and resolve our conflicts in a much smarter, and more peaceful way.
