  Our most important source for knowledge of the Aton cult is found in the tombs of the nobles east of Akhetaton. These tombs include reliefs bearing hymns in praise to Aton and to his son, Akhenaton. Either the Pharaoh composed them himself, or they were composed by courtiers who had completely assimilated the religious convictions which were basic to his reforms. The so-called long hymn to Aton not only extols the glories of the god of Akhenaton, but it also contains expressions which have become a part of Egyptian, and even Hebrew devotional literature. The Long Hymn was inscribed on the walls of the tomb prepared for the priest and courtier Eye who had known Akhenaton from his youth. The Splendor and Power of AtonThou dawnest beautifully on the horizon of heaven, Oh living Aton, the beginner of life. When thou risest on the eastern horizon Thou fillest every land with thy beauty. Thou art beautiful, great, glittering, and high over every land. Thy rays encompass the lands to the limit of all that thou hast made. Thou art Re, and thou reachest to their end. Thou subjectest them to thy beloved son. Though thou art far away, thy rays are on the earth; Though thou art before men, no one sees thy movements. NighttimeWhen thou settest in the western horizon The earth is in darkness, like death. The night is passed in a bed-chamber with heads covered. One eye sees not the other. All their belongings which are under their heads might be stolen, And they would not know it. Every lion comes forth from his den, Darkness broods, the earth is still, While he who made them rests in his horizon. DaytimeAt daybreak, when thou arisest on the horizon, Shining as Aton by day, Thou drivest away the darkness, and givest thy rays. The Two Lands Men awaken and stand on their feet, For thou hast lifted them up. When they wash their bodies they put on their clothing, And their arms are raised in praise at thy glorious appearing. The entire land does its work. All cattle are content in their pastures; The trees and plants flourish; The birds fly from their nests, Their wings are stretched out in praise to thy spirit. All beasts spring to their feet, Whatever flies and alights; They live when thou arisest for them. The ships are sailing upstream and downstream For every road is open at thy appearing. The fish in the river leap up before thee, Thy rays are in the midst of the great green sea. The Creation: ManWho causest semen to grow in women, Who makest water into mankind; Who bringest to life the son in the womb of his mother; Soothing him that he may not weep. Thou nurse, even in the womb; Who givest breath to sustain all that thou hast made. And he comes forth from the womb on the day of his birth. Thou openest his mouth completely; Thou suppliest his necessities. The Creation: Animal LifeThe chick in the egg chirps in the shell. Thou givest him breath within it to make him live. When thou hast made his time in the egg, to break it, He comes forth from the egg to speak of his completion. He walks upon his legs when he comes forth from it. Aton’s Glory in CreationHow manifold are thy works, They are hidden from the face of man, O sole god, like whom there is no other. Thou didst create the world according to thy desire. Whilst thou wast alone. Even all men, herds and flocks; Whatever is on earth; creatures that walk upon their feet, And that soar aloft, flying with their wings. The countries of Syria and Cush, the land of Egypt; Thou settest every man in his place; Thou suppliest their necessities. Everyone has his food and his days are reckoned. Their tongues are diverse in speech, And their characters likewise. Their complexions are distinguished, For thou distinguishest country from country. Aton Waters the EarthThou makest a Nile in the netherworld; Thou bringest it forth at thy pleasure, To give life to the people of Egypt. For thou madest them for thyself, Thou lord of all who travailest with them; Thou lord of every land who shinest for them; The Aton of the day, great in majesty. All distant lands; thou givest them life also, For thou hast set a Nile in the sky. That it may descend for them and make waves upon the mountains, Like the great green sea, To water their fields in their villages. Aton: Lord of the SeasonsHow efficacious are thy plans, O lord of eternity. There is a Nile in the sky for the foreign peoples, But the (true) Nile comes from the nether-world for the land of Egypt. And for the animals of every country, that walk upon their feet; Thy rays nourish every garden; When thou shinest forth they live and they grow for thee. Thou makest the seasons in order to prosper all thou hast made: The winter to cool them, and the summer heat that they may taste thee. Thou hast made the distant sky to shine in it, And to see all that thou hast made. Whilst thou wert alone, Shining in thy form as the living Aton, Appearing gloriously, and gleaming, being both distant and near. Thou makest millions of forms through thyself alone, Towns, villages, fields, roads, and rivers. All eyes behold thee before them, For thou art the Aton of the day over the earth. Thou art in my heart, And there is no other that knows thee, Save thy son Nefer-Kheperu Re, Wa-en-Re. For thou hast made him wise in thy ways and in thy power. Aton’s ProvidenceThe earth came into being by thy hand, even as thou hast made them. When thou dost shine, they live, When thou settest, they die. Thou, thyself, art length of life; For men live only by thee. Eyes are fixed on beauty until thou settest; All work is laid aside when thou settest in the west, But when thou risest again, everything is made to flourish for the king.... Every leg is in motion, since thou didst establish the earth. Thou raisest them up for thy son, who came forth from thy body.
Although the Hymn to the Aton clearly grants a favored position to Egypt, Aton is pictured as holding sway over all peoples, for the sun brings light and heat to men of every nation. This universalism finds a modern counterpart in the hymn of Joseph Addison (1712): The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim: Th’ unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his creator’s power display, And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand. Parallels between the Hymn to the Aton and Psalm 104 suggest that the poetic expressions of the hymn became a part of the literary heritage of the Near East. Although Atonism as a religion died a short time after the death of its chief apostle, Akhenaton, poetic utterances used in praise to Aton could readily be incorporated into other Egyptian devotional literature and, eventually, find an echo in the literature of other lands. While many of the similarities between Psalm 104 and Akhenaton’s Hymn could arise from independent contemplation of the movements of the sun on the part of people with no contact whatever, the numerous contacts between Israel and Egypt at least suggest that devotional language as well as proverbs (cf. I Kings 4:30) were common knowledge among the two peoples. The two compositions are basically different, however, in that the Biblical psalmist acknowledges Yahweh, the God of creation and providence, as a spiritual being associated with natural phenomena only as their creator, whereas Aton, Akhenaton’s “sole god” is identified with the disk of the sun. While Akhenaton seems to have spiritualized the Egyptian sun worship, he never divorced himself completely from it. Biblical monotheism asserts that the One God made “lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth” (Gen. 1:15). The Hymn of the Aton reaches a high point in the devotional literature of Egypt, but its monotheism was radically different from that presented on the pages of Scripture. |
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