The once magnificent capital of the Kingdom of Kindah, Al-Faw south west of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia has been the subject of a project spearheaded by the Saudi Heritage Commission, headed by a Saudi...
In the history of Ancient Egypt, Akhenaten occupies a very special place. Of all the pharaohs over the many centuries, he was by far the most controversial one. His radical policies, major religious...
The religious influences upon both Akhenaten and his brother Tuthmose from the temples of Heliopolis went a long way in fashioning their comparative belief systems. By encouraging the older solar...
The Amarna age of ancient Egypt lasted only twenty years, a relatively tiny slice of time, yet it irrevocably altered the course of the country’s art, religion, and language. From ~1350-1334 BC a...
The name of the Torah has a complicated history. It has been thought to mean a multitude of things including “instruction”, “law”, and “teaching”. The Torah is often misunderstood to represent the...
Over the years there have been gods for creation, death, love, war, and everything in between. Zeus, Hera, and their companions on Mount Olympus, Odin, Frigg, and the rest of the Æsir, Osiris, Isis,...
The population that inhabited Akhenaten’s brand new city, Akhetaten, in Middle Egypt was ill at ease with the massive religious uncertainty their monarch had unleashed. A question mark hung over not...
The ancient Egyptians held magical practices in high esteem and used it for a variety of purposes in almost every sphere of life. Their worldview was not restricted to that which occurred on earth,...
At first glance it appears as though Pharaoh Akhenaten is someone whom one would describe as a textbook monotheist, but are we missing the plot? Apart from Amun (and later, Osiris) the king doesn’t...
Pharaoh Akhenaten has been revered and reviled in equal measure for unleashing his religious policy of one god, the Aten sun disc. But, was the king a monotheist in letter and spirit – one who...
How plentiful it is, what you have made, Although they are hidden from view, Sole god, without another beside you; You created the earth as you wished, When you were by yourself, Mankind, all cattle...
Even though there are hundreds of thousands of followers of pagan religions, the old beliefs haven't survived enough to be included in the group of the five major religions of the world. Officially,...
The Amarna period, roughly 1353-1336 BCE, introduced a new form of art that completely contradicted what was known and revered in the Egyptian culture. The pharaoh Amenhotep IV not only changed his...
A team of Spanish and Egyptian archaeologists has made an unexpected discovery in a southern Egyptian tomb, which could lead to a reinterpretation of Pharaonic chronology and change our understanding...