that 31 December 1999 of our Gregorian calendar would have meant absolutely nothing to the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians did not think in millennia but in Sothic cycles, which lasted 1,460 years. The last cycle had started in AD 1599 41 and the next was due in AD 3059. So, strictly speaking, we were 1,059 years early! All this, however, demonstrated to me the strange frenzy that could overcome the populace at the coming of a new astronomical age. One can only imagine the anticipation that must have gripped the Egyptians when the Sothic cycle of 1321 BC was in sight.
In 1995 the astronomer Alexander A. Gurshtein presented a paper to the Academy of Russian Science with the controversial title: ‘The Great Pyramids of Egypt as sanctuaries commemorating the origin of the zodiac: An Analysis of astronomical evidence’. In this paper Gurshtein discussed the Sothic cycle of 1,460 years and the foundation of the Egyptian civil calendar in 2781 BC. He then made these intriguing comments:
1460 years after the introduction of the solar calendar in Egypt, its wandering starting point was empirically found to return to its initial position, which correlated with both the heliacal rising of Sirius and the inundation of the Nile. The return fell on 1321 BC. This date is associated with two events: (1) In 1366 BC the Pharaoh Akhenaten moved his capital to Akhet-Aten . . . 42
In an article he published in the British journal Vista in Astronomy entitled ‘The evolution of the Zodiac in the context of ancient oriental history’, Gurshtein further wrote:
In one of my first publications on the Zodiac, I made a suggestion that the emergence of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) as a true Sun believer could be influenced by astronomical motivations . . . In regnal year eight, this heretical pharaoh moved his capital into the middle part of Egypt near the modern site of Tell-el-Amarna . . . Historians do not know Akhenaten’s motivations, but it may probably be clarified if we remember that Akhenaten took the crown before the end of the Great (Sothic) Cycle of the Egyptian calendar which, according to Censorinus’ information, had happened in 1321 BC-a moment that was potentially within the king’s life . . . Let me suggest that the pharaoh Akhenaten knew - as it was his duty to know - the circumstances connecting the establishing of the civil Egyptian calendar . . . his rule began only a short time before the first returning of the New Year’s Day to its initial point. Such an event was triumphantly celebrated one and a half millennia later by the Roman Emperor, and of course, it had to be of the utmost significance during Akhenaten’s time. 43
The Break with Karnak
Akhenaten is known to history for having banned all worship of the gods in Egypt except for Aten, his apparently new sun-god, symbolised by a disc of the sun with golden rays shooting downwards. In other words: one religion, one sun-god, one symbol. Not surprisingly, he is thus often thought of as the precursor of monotheism, and there are even those who claim that he was none other than the real historical patriarch Moses. 48 But whatever Akhenaten was or was not, there is one thing about this mystical king that comes across most strongly in his passionate decrees and proclamations: his absolute and total commitment to the cosmic order, Maat. Over and over the ancient texts emphasise that Akhenaten was ankh em maat , ‘living in Maat’. As the British Egyptologist Cyril Aldred was to write, ‘The king was the personification of Maat, a word which we translate as “truth” or “justice”, but has an extended meaning of the proper cosmic order at the time of its establishment by the Creator . . . There is in Akhenaten’s teaching a constant emphasis upon Maat . . . as is not found before or afterwards.’ 49
When Amenhotep IV (the future Akhenaten) first came to the throne in 1353 BC, probably at the age of 16, he was co-regent with his
In 1995 the astronomer Alexander A. Gurshtein presented a paper to the Academy of Russian Science with the controversial title: ‘The Great Pyramids of Egypt as sanctuaries commemorating the origin of the zodiac: An Analysis of astronomical evidence’. In this paper Gurshtein discussed the Sothic cycle of 1,460 years and the foundation of the Egyptian civil calendar in 2781 BC. He then made these intriguing comments:
1460 years after the introduction of the solar calendar in Egypt, its wandering starting point was empirically found to return to its initial position, which correlated with both the heliacal rising of Sirius and the inundation of the Nile. The return fell on 1321 BC. This date is associated with two events: (1) In 1366 BC the Pharaoh Akhenaten moved his capital to Akhet-Aten . . . 42
In an article he published in the British journal Vista in Astronomy entitled ‘The evolution of the Zodiac in the context of ancient oriental history’, Gurshtein further wrote:
In one of my first publications on the Zodiac, I made a suggestion that the emergence of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) as a true Sun believer could be influenced by astronomical motivations . . . In regnal year eight, this heretical pharaoh moved his capital into the middle part of Egypt near the modern site of Tell-el-Amarna . . . Historians do not know Akhenaten’s motivations, but it may probably be clarified if we remember that Akhenaten took the crown before the end of the Great (Sothic) Cycle of the Egyptian calendar which, according to Censorinus’ information, had happened in 1321 BC-a moment that was potentially within the king’s life . . . Let me suggest that the pharaoh Akhenaten knew - as it was his duty to know - the circumstances connecting the establishing of the civil Egyptian calendar . . . his rule began only a short time before the first returning of the New Year’s Day to its initial point. Such an event was triumphantly celebrated one and a half millennia later by the Roman Emperor, and of course, it had to be of the utmost significance during Akhenaten’s time. 43
The Break with Karnak
Akhenaten is known to history for having banned all worship of the gods in Egypt except for Aten, his apparently new sun-god, symbolised by a disc of the sun with golden rays shooting downwards. In other words: one religion, one sun-god, one symbol. Not surprisingly, he is thus often thought of as the precursor of monotheism, and there are even those who claim that he was none other than the real historical patriarch Moses. 48 But whatever Akhenaten was or was not, there is one thing about this mystical king that comes across most strongly in his passionate decrees and proclamations: his absolute and total commitment to the cosmic order, Maat. Over and over the ancient texts emphasise that Akhenaten was ankh em maat , ‘living in Maat’. As the British Egyptologist Cyril Aldred was to write, ‘The king was the personification of Maat, a word which we translate as “truth” or “justice”, but has an extended meaning of the proper cosmic order at the time of its establishment by the Creator . . . There is in Akhenaten’s teaching a constant emphasis upon Maat . . . as is not found before or afterwards.’ 49
When Amenhotep IV (the future Akhenaten) first came to the throne in 1353 BC, probably at the age of 16, he was co-regent with his
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