Egyptian religious poetry

30 EGYPTIAN RELIGIOUS POETRY

built a new town and called it Akhet-Aten, “ Horizon [home] of the Sun-disc ” (now known as Tell el Amarna), and changed his own name to Akh-en-Aten, “Glory of the Sun-disc’’. Here he spent the rest of his life building temples and writing hymns to his new deity, leaving his country to go to rack and ruin for want of the guidance which is required of every king. Though he was a great worshipper of his god, he was more aloof from his subjects than any other Pharaoh, insisting so much on his own divinity that none of them dared to stand upright in his presence. He deserted his faithful and loyal friends in Syria and Palestine, leaving them to be butchered by invading tribes because he was engaged in making offerings to his god. It is true, that he wrote, or at least is credited with, a few fine hymns to the Sun-disc, but it is equally true that as a king and as a man he was despicable. When he died he had lost all the northern provinces and Egypt itself was in a state of chaos. The hatred in which he was held by his own people is shown by the complete and deliberate destruction of the town of Akhet-Aten, the statues and temples being the special objects of the popular fury. It was not until the accession of Haremheb, who was a successful general and administrator, that any semblance of law and order could be restored to Egypt.

The xixth dynasty was another period of military glory for Egypt, and there are many hymns to the Pharaohs, in which they are acclaimed as God or the Son of God. It was in this dynasty that Egypt comes into contact with the legendary beginnings of the history of another people, for it was in the reign of Merenptah (circa 1227-1218 B.c.) that the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt appears to have taken place. TheTriumphStela of Merenptah shows the Egyptian side of the Biblical story, when he recounts how he drove out all the foreigners who had settled in the northern and most fertile parts of Egypt. This