Oedipus Rex Akhenaten Est

In ancient Egypt, rulership passed through the females of the royal lineage. To cement his power, the son often married his sister. The question of incest arises: Were such marriages between brother and sister consummated?

Those familiar with the plays said to be written by William Shakespeare know they are sometimes more than just stories. Sometimes real history lurks inside. (Also, secret codes, in the “Shakespeare” plays. See “Secret Codes of Jamestown and Beyond”, http://www.shout.net/~bigred/SecretCodes.html). Psychoanalyst Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky applied this concept of hidden history to the Oedipus legend. Suppose, theorized the student of Sigmund Freud, that Oedipus is more than just a story. What if it is a garbled history based upon oral tradition, and written down centuries after the actual events?

In his book, “Oedipus and Akhnaton”, Velikovsky summarized the Oedipus legend, based upon Sophocles' trilogy, “Oedipus Rex,” “Oedipus at Colonus,” and “Antigone.”

The Theban king Laius and his wife Jocasta were long childless. Eventually a son was born to them. An oracle predicted their son would kill his father and marry his mother. So, the child was handed over to a servant to be taken into the wilderness and left to die from exposure.

But the child was found by a shepherd and cared for by the man and his wife. Later, they took the child to the palace of Polybus and Merope at Corinth.

Polybus and Merope adopted the child. They named him “Oedipus” because of his swollen feet and/or legs. (Notice again the sculpture of Akhenaten, above.)

When he became a young man, Oedipus wandered. One day he encountered his real father, King Laius. Oedipus killed King Laius, not knowing he was his father.

Oedipus next arrived at the entrance to Thebes. There he was blocked by a Sphinx which guarded the city. Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and the grateful citizens of Thebes offered their queen to him as wife. Oedipus again did not know the true situation, that the queen, Jocasta, was his mother, nor did she know Oedipus was her son.

Queen Jocasta bore two sons to Oedipus, Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene.

But then followed a plague or a famine. Consulted on the matter, an oracle found it to be a punishment from the gods. A son had killed his father. To satisfy the gods, the criminal must be killed or driven into exile.

Oedipus discerned the truth, blinded himself, abandoned the throne, and went into exile. Jocasta, on whom the truth also dawned, hanged herself.

Creon, Jocasta's brother, arranged for Polynices to share the throne with Eteocles, rotating kingship each year. Polynices ruled for a year, then Eteocles took over. But then, the following year, Eteocles refused to relinquish power to Polynices. In this, Eteocles was supported by Creon.

Polynices, leading an army, besieged Thebes. In personal combat, each of Oedipus's sons killed the other.

Creon, now the king, forbade burial to Polynices. Anyone who disobeyed the order risked death. For Eteocles, Creon ordered an elaborate funeral and national mourning.

Antigone could not bear the thought of her brother, Polynices, unburied. She defied Creon, and Polynices was hastily entombed. For this defiance, Creon condemned Antigone to be buried alive.

Later, Creon died, and thus ended the dynasty of King Laius.

“Oedipus” Is Egyptian History?

One thing which is especially incongruous in the legend is the Sphinx. What is a Sphinx doing in a presumably Greek myth? It is not a familiar Greek figure. The land of origin for the Sphinx is Egypt.

Notice also the city which King Laius ruled: Thebes. This city, known also as Luxor and Karnak (Karn-Ak), once was the capital of all Egypt. It is known there was a Sphinx at Thebes (in Egypt) to which human sacrifices were made during the 18^th Dynasty. Thebes, ancient capital of Boetia in Greece, may not be the source of the Oedipus legend. Thebes in Egypt, more ancient, had been known to the Greeks at least since the time of Homer. The Oedipus story, like much else in supposedly autonomous Greek culture, could have been transplanted from Egypt.

Amenhotep IV, son of Queen Tiye, later changed his designation to Akhenaten. (Due to difficulties in translation from the Egyptian, the name is variously spelled, such as Akhnaton, Ikhnaten, etc.) A frequent epithet for Akhenaten is, “Who survived to live long.” There is thus a possibility that, when born, Amenhotep IV had not been expected to live long. During the 18^th Dynasty, it was customary to consult the oracle regarding royal succession. The oracle of Thebes was predominant while Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, was enthroned. Velikovsky suggests this oracle viewed the newborn son of Amenhotep unfavorably. Recall that Akhenaten was not of purely royal Egyptian blood, since his mother was Queen Tiye. Velikovsky infers “that the boy must have been removed, possibly to be destroyed.”

Bear in mind that the oracle of Thebes likely belonged to the Amun priesthood, a key power-bloc in Egypt. Amun, and later Amun-Ra, identified with Jupiter (Zeus), was the major deity worshiped by the Egyptians. The oracle of Thebes, by pronouncing Akhenaten unfit for the throne, “may have laid the doom of death on Akhnaton [Akhenaten], a fate he miraculously escaped.” This parallels the Oedipus legend, where an oracle foretells the fate of the child.

The record of Amenhotep III abruptly ends in the eleventh year of his reign (based on research current circa 1960). History does not tell us how he died (ca. 1960). Thereafter, Queen Tiye was sole ruler. At about this time, in Thebes, a Sphinx was carved.

At the time of his father's death, Akhenaten was not in Thebes. He had spent his youth abroad, possibly in Syria. The “mere existence of Akhnaton [Akhenaten] is nowhere hinted at during the reign of his father, Amenhotep III.” Then, in the short space of weeks following the demise of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten suddenly appeared and, along with his mother, took control.

The death of Amenhotep III may not have been a murder in the literal sense. Yet Akhenaten, for some reason, caused his father's name to be erased from his memorial tablet and from his monuments. This was equivalent to murder because, for the Egyptians, if the name and memorial were destroyed, it could rob the deceased of his eternity. (Something similar occurred last year in Spain. Prime Minister Zapatero “wants towns across Spain to erase all vestiges of [former dictator Francisco] Franco – from street names to statues.” Johnson, Keith. “Spanish Civil War Re-Enacted in Fight Over Franco's Legacy.” Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4, 2006, page A1.)

Because the Amun priesthood had not supported Akhenaten's claim to the throne, and because Queen Tiye, of foreign origin, was not viewed favorably, almost immediately tension between the two camps must have emerged. Tiye and her son decided to construct a new capital city, far away from Thebes and their priestly enemies. Half-way between Thebes and Memphis, Akhet-Aton was built, and occupied during the fifth year of Akhenaten's reign. Limestone nearby was of poor quality, so the city was built mostly with bricks of mud.

It was a magnificent city. Egypt at the time was the most powerful nation on earth. To Akhet-Aton came people from all over the world. It was the most cosmopolitan city of its time. In order to converse more easily, a new, hybrid language developed. This new language was the beginning of the Hebrew tongue. (Sabbah, Messod and Roger. Secrets Of The Exodus. New York: Helios Press, 2004. ISBN: 1-58115-319-8). Yet in a mere 15 years, Akhet-Aton lay abandoned. Until 1892 AD, the lost city remained buried and unknown beneath the sand.

It is known that Akhenaten had “an extremely close relationship with his mother, Queen Tiye.” (Osman, Ahmed. Moses and Akhenaten. Rochester, VT. Bear & Company, 2002. ISBN: 1-59143-004-6). How close? Akhenaten, according to Velikovsky's theory, had two wives: Nefertiti, daughter of Ay, brother of Queen Tiye, and shockingly, Queen Tiye herself. “My wife who is my mother,” says Oedipus of Jocasta. “My daughter who is my sister,” he says of Antigone (Meritaten(?), daughter of Akhenaten).

A struggle between the two wives, Nefertiti and Tiye, developed, according to Velikovsky's theory. “The true meaning of the contest was dynastic and conjugal.” Nefertiti disappeared during the last five years of Akhenaten's reign. Her fate is unknown (ca. 1960), though a famous bust survives. Nefertiti's name was erased from monuments. But Ay, father of Nefertiti, continued to gain power. Eventually, Queen Tiye also disappeared from the historical record. Like Nefertiti, her end is also unknown. (Jocasta, in the Oedipus legend, committed suicide.)

Semenkhare married Meritaten, eldest daughter of Nefertiti. (The second oldest daughter, Meketaten, died at an early age.) The third daughter, Ankhhesenpaaten, married her half-brother Tutankhamun.

There was famine in Palestine, and epidemics in Cyprus and elsewhere. At the close of Akhenaten's reign, described by King Tutankhamun on a stele, “The land was sick and the gods turned their backs upon this land.” The Oedipus legend also tells of some sort of plague, famine or disaster which befell the kingdom. An oracle was consulted. In Egypt, this was the son of Hapu, named Amenhotep (not a pharaoh in this case). He is Tiresius in the so-called Greek myth, if Velikovsky is correct.

Akhenaten is no longer mentioned at the end of his rulership. It is assumed by many he must have died, yet his remains are not in his tomb nor have they been found elsewhere. Akhenaten may in fact have abdicated the throne. Velikovsky believes Akhenaten, like Oedipus, was deposed and became a wanderer. Oedipus was expelled from Thebes during the reign of his elder son. Akhenaten, like Oedipus, may actually have gone blind. Herodotus has an Egyptian king named “Sesostris” whose identity is uncertain. A footnote to the University of Chicago Press translation says Sesostris is “identified by some as Ramses II” but that other possibilities are widely held. (2-102, footnote 36). If “Sesostris” were Amenhotep III, then the history related by Herodotus, that the son of “Sesostris” became blind (2-111), gains new significance. (About the son of “Sesostris,” un-named by Herodotus except as “Pheros”, meaning “Pharaoh,” an interesting tale is told involving a disease of the eyes and ten years of blindness. The eventual cure for the blindness involved washing “Pheros's” eyes “with the piss of a woman who had known only her own husband and no other men at all.” 2-111)

After the disappearance, abdication, or exile of Akhenaten, a “strong leader,” Ay, arose. He compares with Creon in the Oedipus tale. Ay aligned himself with the Amun priesthood.

Semenkhkare and Tutankhamun were pharaohs for a brief time, and then Ay became pharaoh. But Ay, like Creon, was the “power behind the throne” during the reigns of his youthful predecessors. A hymn written during the kingships of Tutankhamun and Ay reads:

“The sun of him that knew thee not hath set, O Amun.
But he that knoweth thee, he shineth.
The forecourt [eye] of him that assailed thee is in darkness,
While the whole earth is in sunlight.
Whoso putteth thee in his heart, O Amun,
Lo, his sun hath risen.

Those familiar with pictorial representations and statues of Akhenaten are aware of his unusual, misshapen body. “His head is long, his neck is thin, his abdomen is pendulous, but the most pronounced malformation is in the shape of his thighs: they are swollen.” (Velikovsky, op. cit.). Perhaps the scandalous pharaoh had a derisive nickname, especially after he lost power: “Swollen thighs.” Oedipus, as previously noted, translates to “Swollen foot” or “Swollen legs.”

Following the deposition or abdication of Akhenaten, his memory was erased from Egypt's records. Instead of his name, when necessary he is called “the scoundrel of Akhet-Aton.” The site, now known as Tell el-Amarna, was suddenly abandoned. Semenkhkare moved to Thebes. Akhet-Aton, built for eternity, lasted only 15 years.

When Oedipus went into exile, Creon (Ay) arranged for the two sons of Oedipus, Polynices (Semenkhkare) and Eteocles (Tutankhamun), to rule in turns. Polynices, the elder, ruled first. After one year, Eteocles ruled and Polynices left the kingdom. Polynices then returned, but Creon encouraged Eteocles to reject his brother's claim.

Semenkhkare (Polynices) seems to then have enlisted the Ethiopians on his side. A battle was fought in which both brothers were killed, if the Oedipus parallel holds up.

Creon, in the Oedipus tale, decreed that one of the princes was to receive an honorable burial, and the other was not to be buried at all. But Antigone, sister of both princes, disobeyed Creon and gave Polynices (Semenkhkare) a hasty burial. For this, Creon condemned her to “a doom most dire.” Antigone would neither live nor die. She was put into a tomb pit and sustained by occasional food. Her tomb pit was near to the final resting place of Polynices. Velikovsky reports such a tomb pit, of small dimensions, was later found by archaeologists in the vicinity of Semenkhkare's tomb. There are indications, such as leftover eating utensils, that Meritaten (Antigone) had indeed suffered such a fate. It is also worth mentioning that Semenkhkare's tomb and remains were in a shabby, disgraceful state when found by explorers, and that Tutankhamun's tomb and remains were in magnificent condition.

Amenhotep III had married Tiye, daughter of Yuya and Tuya. Tiye was not of royal blood, nor was her brother Ay. Tutankhamun had married Ankhesenpaaten, the grand-daughter of Ay. When Tutankhamun and Semenkhkare died, Ay solved the problem of lineage (he, not of royal blood) by marrying his own grand-daughter, Ankhesenpaaten. (Since she had been married to Tutankhamun, an acknowledged pharaoh, Ay thereby wedded into a proper lineage and bolstered his claim to pharaoh-ship.)

But Ay's reign did not endure for long. In the Oedipus legend, Tiresius, the blind seer, prophesies that Creon (Ay) will be dishonored after his death and thrown out of his tomb. Such was the case with Ay. “His sarcophagus was broken to pieces and, apparently, his body was destroyed.” (Velikovsky, op. cit.)

Sigmund Freud may have erred when he assumed there was no historical basis for the Oedipus legend. It is ironic that Freud's last book, “Moses and Monotheism”, deals largely with Akhenaten yet Freud never consciously connected Oedipus with the Egyptian pharaoh.

Conspiracy Nation

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