Akhen Aten - The King who pursued global peace and non-violence

 

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 18^th 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 19^th 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.