Aton hymn

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Copy of the Great Sun Hymn

Hymn to Aton , also Great Sun Song or Great Sun Hymn of Akhenaten is the name of an ancient Egyptian hymn of the 18th Dynasty from the time of King ( Pharaoh ) Akhenaten (around 1351-1334 BC, New Kingdom ).

Origin and source

The text was written during the reign of Akhenaten around 1345 BC. In Egypt. As its author Echnaton applies itself. The in hieroglyphs written text is only once in the grave of Ay ( grave no. 25 , Südfriedhof) in Amarna occupied, where it with 13 vertical columns almost the entire surface of the right wall of the short entrance corridor to the inside of the grave.

The inscription was partially destroyed around 1890, but has been preserved as a complete copy by Urbain Bouriant from 1883/1884, so that the entire hymn could be translated.

In addition to the "Great Sun Hymn", the so-called "Small Sun Hymn" is known from another five graves in Tell el-Amarna. This text is much shorter than that of the Great Canticle. In three texts the words are spoken by Akhenaten himself, in the other two the dignitaries speak in his name.

content

In the first line of the Canticle of the Sun the two names of the god Aton of King Akhenaten and his great royal wife Nefertiti are mentioned. This worship is followed by the words “he [Akhenaten] says” and introduces the hymn.

The central theme is the uniqueness and singularity of the sun god as the creator and sustainer of the world and all life in all its diversity. Aton is “the lord of all lands, who rises for them and himself keeps all foreign lands alive by setting a Nile in the sky and letting it come down to the people.” He is not only God over the land of Egypt, but becomes to the god of all people. In addition, its cosmic qualities as a heavenly body and its royal qualities are particularly praised.

interpretation

Hornung interprets the text as free of mythical ideas: “With his light he creates the world again and again. It is pure present and no longer needs a mythical past. ”At the center of the hymn is the creative power of the Aton; not only does he create the entire world, he is also a God who created himself: he "built himself with his own hands".

All animals, plants, people, all life is created by Aton and renewed every day. The night in which Aton is hidden is described with gloomy symbolism: “If you go under in the western land of light, the earth is in darkness, in the state of death.” The images of other gods are replaced by images from real nature and press like the art of the Amarna period, a strong connection to nature:

“All cattle are happy with their herbs, trees and herbs turn green. The birds have flown out of their nests, their wings praise your ka. All game hops on their feet, everything that flies and flutters is alive when you have risen for them. "

In the Amarna - theology Sun God and King are directly related to each other, the unique position of the sun god of the king on earth has its counterpart in the exclusive position in the sky. King Akhenaten is the sole mediator between God and man, and only to him did God reveal himself:

“[For] there is no one else who knows you except your son Nefercheperure [Akhenaten]; you let him know your intentions and your power. "

- Hermann A. Schlögl

However, Donald Redford does not see this nature-loving concept as positive. “He [Aton] does not seem to have any compassion for his creatures. He gives them life and maintains them, but in a fairly mechanical, disinterested way. There is no text to read that he hears the cry of the poor, helps the sick or forgives the sinners. "

The majority of researchers, even if they perceive and interpret it differently, see the Aton hymn as a living element of history that gives a direct insight into the new theology. Reeves and Allen, who deny the content of the Aton religion and see it only as an inadequately developed instrument with which Akhenaten could break free from the firmly established role and redefine royalty: “The substance of the hymn is too poor in order to establish the concept of a new religion on it. "Everyone comes to the conclusion - with which Reeves agrees:" The god of Akhenaten's 'religion' is Akhenaten himself. "

Reeves points out that some motifs occur "in a practically identical hymn to the god Amun (Papyrus Bulaq 17) from the pre-Amarna period [...] How do we have to interpret such borrowings?" He answers this question as follows : “But we cannot help but also an instinctive feeling of well-calculated planning, which combines familiar elements in a cynical way and repackaged them with a specific goal in mind. [...] the Aton religion was in truth nothing more than a pragmatic element of political control. "

Reception in the Bible

Soon after its first publication in 1884, the content of the Aton hymn was found to be very similar to Ps 104 : 27-28  EU of the Bible , as was Ps 145 : 15-16  EU . This is probably due to the general presence of this text in the Middle East. Some theologians infer an influence of Amarna theology on the Moses theology of the Exodus in the Bible and consider parts of Psalm 104 to be a direct translation of the Egyptian text. In the broadest sense, the hymn has in common with the Canticle of the Sun of Francis of Assisi the praise of a single Creator God.

expenditure

Text output
  • Norman de Garis Davies : The Rock Tombs of El Amarna. Part 6: The Tombs of Parennefer, Tutu, and Ay. In: Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of Egypt. (MEES) Vol. 18, London 1908.
  • Maj Sandman : Texts from the Time of Akhenaten (= Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca. [BAe] Vol. 8). Brussels 1938.
Translations

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicholas Reeves: Akhenaten. P. 166.
  2. ↑ Erik Hornung : Akhenaten. The religion of light. Artemis, Zurich 1995; Patmos, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7608-1111-6 , ISBN 3-491-69076-5 . P. 88.
  3. ↑ Erik Hornung: Akhenaten. The religion of light. P. 93.
  4. ^ Translation by Jan Assmann in: Nicholas Reeves : Akhenaten. Egypt's false prophet. Translated from the English. by Brigitte Jaroš-Deckert (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 91). von Zabern, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2828-1 , p. 162.
  5. ^ Translation by Erik Hornung in: Hermann A. Schlögl : Echnaton, Tutankhamun. Data, facts, literature. 4th, extended edition, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1993, ISBN 3-447-03359-2 , p. 113.
  6. ^ Translation by Erik Hornung in: Hermann A. Schlögl: Echnaton - Tutankhamun. P. 116.
  7. ↑ Donald B. Redford: Akhenaten, the Heretic King. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1984, ISBN 0-691-03567-9 , p. 178.
  8. ↑ a b c Nicholas Reeves: Akhenaten. P. 166.
  9. ↑ JP Allen in: WK Simpsons Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt. Yale Egyptological Seminar, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages ​​and Civilizations, the Graduate School, Yale University, New Haven Conn 1989, ISBN 0-912532-18-1 , p. 100.
  10. ↑ Jan Assman: Moses the Egyptian. Fischer, Frankfurt 2004, ISBN 3-596-14371-3 , p. 255.