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Akhenaten and Nefertiti

Eden in Egypt – Part 2

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(Read part 1) So if the Garden of Eden was located at Amarna, then what of Adam and Eve? The first thing to note is that Adam and Eve were the first man and first woman. But then so too were Pharaoh Akhenaton and Queen Nefertiti. Just as the American president and his wife are known as the First Man and the First Lady, so too were Akhenaton and Nefertiti. So the Genesis description of them was not wrong - just confusing (and deliberately so).

Note also that Adam and Eve were famed for being innocently naked in their idyllic Garden; but when they were eventually banished from this Garden they became embarrassed by their nakedness and were forced to cover up. This, I believe, is another direct allusion to the famous royal couple from Amarna. Yes, Akhenaton and Nefertiti did indeed float through their beautiful palaces at Amarna in a state of near nakedness, and scene after scene portrays the royal couple in either see-though diaphanous robes or being completely naked. And this probably did cause a bit of a stir in the Egyptian 'media' - the gossiping in the market squares. Think what a media storm would erupt today, if Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were photographed strolling naked through the gardens at Buckingham Palace!

The Fall and Expulsion of Adam - Michaelangelo

Fig 2.5   A 'lumpy naked body' depiction of the Fall and Expulsion of Adam, by Michaelangelo.

Akhenaton and Nefertiti naked at Amarna

Fig 2.6   Akhenaton and Nefertiti naked at Amarna, just as Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden. The third torso is of an unknown Amarna queen/princess in a diaphanous robe that is so revealing she might as well be naked.

However, when Amarna was destroyed and the royal couple were forced to flee from their palace (there is no evidence for their deaths there), they would have been forced out into the big wide world of sailors, artisans and farmers. Their usual nakedness, which seemed so respectable and befitting within the confines of the royal court at Amarna, would have looked positively indecent in a rural village or town. There was nothing else to do, except cover up!

Tower of Babel

The topic that inspired this article was actually the Tower of Babel, not the Genesis story, so how does this novel information about Eden effect the famous tower of many languages? Well, the story thus far is one with a distinctly Egyptian flavour, and so if we travel with the descendants of Adam and Eve (Akhenaton and Nefertiti) northwards from Amarna, we arrive at the land of Shiniar, the 'land of two rivers' where the Tower of Babel was built. Well, perhaps, but I rather think that the location they arrived at was actually Shiniyr, the land of the 'mountain of snow'.  And where is the Mountain of Snow, where a massive 'tower' was to be built? Giza, of course.

The Tower of Babel at Giza

Fig 2.7    The Tower of Babel at Giza. Originally, the two main pyramids at Giza would have been covered in pure white limestone, and known as the Snow Mountains, or Shiniyr.

Remember that the Great and Second pyramids were originally covered in pure white limestone, and so they would indeed have looked like two snow-covered peaks standing on the Giza plateau. And so it is likely that the Tower of Babel (the Migdal Babel) was one of the pyramids on the Giza plateau. But if that is so, then what does Migdal Babel mean?

The first thing to note is that migdal is an Egyptian word that is pronounced as maktal meaning 'tower'. Then we come to the Aramaic babel, which is said to mean 'confusion' or 'scatter', much as the biblical story relates. But anyone who has studied Egyptology would instantly know that the Egyptian word berber refers to a pyramid rather than a tower, just as its determinative hieroglyph demonstrates. Furthermore the 'r' to 'l' transliteration, that is so common when transposing from Egyptian to Aramaic, would render this word as belbel in the Torah, just as the Egyptian maktar was eventually rendered as maktal. And this Egyptian-to-Aramaic translation is further confirmed by the similar Egyptian and Coptic word berber ( belbel) meaning 'expel', which is exactly what happened to the people of Shiniyr.

Fig 2.8    The Egyptian berber (belbel) meaning 'expel' or perhaps 'scatter'.  The similar Coptic word berber confirms this translation from the Egyptian.

                             

Fig 2.9    The Egyptian maktar berber (maktal belbel) meaning 'tower pyramid'. The Tower of Babel was therefore a pyramid - the Great Pyramid of Giza.

What we have here is a complete and comprehensive explanation for the meaning and location of the Tower of Babel. In reality the Genesis epic was an Egyptian story and history, and not something derived from Babylon - a region that the Israelites did not go to until the 6th century BC. In reality, the famous Tower of Babel was located in Shiniyr, the land of the snow-white pyramids which is known today as the Giza plateau, and the Migdal Babel is now called the Great Pyramid. And this is not the end of this fascinating story, of course, because the history of the Migdal tower continues right up into the 1st century, and the equally momentous epic of the New Testament. And there, in Judaea, a much later vestal virgin priestess of the pyramids became almost as famous as the tower she was named after - Mary Migdalene, the blonde Princess of the Tower....

Fig 2.10    Mary Migdalene, the Princess of the Tower, lowering her ginger-golden hair down for her lost prince. (Illustration from the fairytale Rapunzel.)

Conclusion

Once more we have seen good evidence that there are elements of real history within the Torah, and that this biblical history often relates stories, events and locations that are closely linked with Egypt. It is likely, therefore, that the entire Genesis story has come from the peculiar events of the Amarna era, when Egypt's first monotheist pharaoh was banished to a barren plain on the eastbank of the Nile. It was in Amarna that Pharaoh Akhenaton penned the Hymn to the Aten, and an analysis of this hymn has demonstrated direct parallels with the account of Genesis. But if all of this is true, then the inescapable and potentially explosive conclusion to be drawn, is that Adam and Eve were Akhenaton and Nefertiti. And so the entire cult of Judaeo-Christianity was based upon the life of Egypt's heretic pharaoh, who was exiled and created a new city and a new kingdom in Middle Egypt - a founder and leader who has been all but expunged from the religion he created.

Featured image: Akhenaten and Nefertiti holding their daughters. Source: Wikipedia

Part 1

By Ralph Ellis

References:

*1  The god Aton or Aten is spelt as Aden in  'The Book of Precepts of Amenemapt, the son of Kanekht'.

*2  Paradise:  meaning 'a walled garden'.

*3   The Great Hymn to the Aten, N. de G. Davies, The Rock Tombs of El Amarna.

The article ‘Eden in Egypt’ has been extracted with permission from the books ‘Eden in Egypt’ and ‘Mary Magdalene, Princess of Orange’ by Ralph Ellis, available from edfu-books.com.

 

Comments

Interesting hypothesis, I would be interested in learning more about where you came up with this idea.

 

I have long thought that the Hebrews incorporated myths from all the people they encountered into their own history. Since the “Old Testament” was not written down until their return from the captivity in Babylon, probably by the prophet Jeremiah, they would have encountered many different peoples during their captivity, so the myths of many ancient peoples got incorporated.

 

That being said, I don’t think that Akhenaten was either Adam or Moses as I believe the Israelites left Egypt much earlier than his reign. But, I did enjoy reading your hypothesis and hope that you will continue your research. That is why I’m enjoying this site. All the interesting hypothesis’ that appear here.

 

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>>But neither Judaism nor Christianity are in any way
>>"based on the life of Adam."

But Nazarene Judaism was. Their great founder-leader was the Primaeval Adam, who was either a eunuch or a hermaphrodite, just like Akhenaton.

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>>and there is the anomalous lifespans of the antediluvian patriarchs.

Not anomalous at all. As Manetho tells us, the ancient Egyptians used the Lunar Year instead of the Solar Year. All you need to do is divide these large life spans by 12.3.

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>>Babel and Exodus are post-flood. Adam is decidedly not…

Only because this story has been placed in the wrong place. It needs replacing in or just before the Moses Exodus.

Anyway, the flood myth comes straight from Egypt once more, and is a story about the Solar Barque of Ra sailing the celestial waters of Nu (Nuah). And yes, the barque was indeed filled with pairs of animals (i.e.: the gods), and had black and white ravens flying from it to find the first signs of land - the Primaeval Mound. They were the Phoenix(es), who landed on the Primaeval Mound.

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>>somehow in that intervening period they had conflated
>>Aaron/Akhenaton with Adam, forgotten that the song
>>of Aten was about the dawn and confused it with creation

As you might have noticed, in Judaic theology the Egyptians became the enemy and the pariah state. But this is very difficult if you yourselves were Egyptians. Perforce, many things had to change.

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>>Also...Mary Magdalene was not the "virgin" Mary, mother of Jesus

Yes, we know. But there are many similarities between the two because they were mother and daughter. (Yes, I know - but that is the big secret of Christianity.) Mary is not a name it is a formal title, it means 'loved by' (the gods) in Egyptian and 'bishop' in Syriac Christianity. As the Nag Hammadi gospels clearly indicate, Mary was the primary disciple (bishop) of Jesus.

Cheers,
Ralph

Tsurugi's picture

Fascinating, but you lost me at the end there. I didn't get the leap in logic from "the Eden and Babel stories in Genesis are a garbled version of the tale of Akhenaton" to "the entire cult of Judeo-Christianity is based on the life of Akhenaton"?

You are suggesting that Adam and Akhenaton are one and the same; a compelling argument that bears serious consideration. But neither Judaism nor Christianity are in any way "based on the life of Adam," AFAIK.

Also, I have to wonder about the timeline.The genealogy is carefully recorded, and there is the anomalous lifespans of the antediluvian patriarchs, which interestingly enough are the same in number as what is shown in Egyptian and Sumerian "king lists"...which also have antediluvian rulers of great age.

Babel and Exodus are post-flood. Adam is decidedly not....if the text is given any credence at all.

There is also the problem of Genesis being the first part of the Book of Moses. Moses leads the Exodus and remains in the picture until they reach Canaan, and begin the process of the conquest, He stays in the desert(there are hints that this is because of his appearance, he looked weird, especially his face), but remains alive quite a while and Joshua seeks his council often. Eventually they aquire the platform on Moirah, which was the target all along, because that is where Moses (and YHWH ??) want to build a containment for the Ark.
Thereafter follows one of the most stable, non-nomadic periods in Jewish history, up until the city and temple is sacked in the 6th century BC.
But you seem to be suggesting that even though they settled in their own place shortly after they left Moses, and were stable all the way to the 6th century BC from whence came the text referenced by Josephus, somehow in that intervening period they had conflated Aaron/Akhenaton with Adam, forgotten that the song of Aten was about the dawn and confused it with creation, and severely screwed up the timeline of their own exodus? Plus any number of other major errors that would seem strange for a people when there was no reason their original texts should be lost, since they were living secure in their own city the entire time.

Also...Mary Magdalene was not the "virgin" Mary, mother of Jesus, these are two separate characters entirely as portrayed in biblical texts. Magdalene was a follower of Jesus and was present at key moments in his life, often playing very strange roles that appear, to me, filled with odd symbolism. I have wondered if she isn't actually a real person but an esoteric insert...a little marker in the text that says, "secret stuff here!" Your connecting her name to the Pyramids makes me think this is very likely.

Anyway....fascinating stuff, and thought provoking! Thank you!

angieblackmon's picture

I like your theory Ralph! It seems well thought out and logical!

love, light and blessings

AB

I like it. But Tom Cruise plays the part of Nu and he is an alien who settles Earth with his people. The solar boat is a.mother ship! And then thow in some violence as all action films have. I love your books Ralph. I think more people need to know about you.

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Ralph

Ralph Ellis was trained in surveying and computer science. He has been touring the Mediterranean and researching Egyptian and biblical history for over 30 years, and his comparisons between the two have greatly assisted our understanding of biblical history. In addition,... Read More

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