Robert Feather's recent book (2012) consolidated a strong suspicion I held for almost sixty years: that monotheism had its roots in ancient Egypt. In the library of Cotham Grammar School in Bristol in the early 1950s, I read of Pharaoh Amenophis IV, who changed his name to Akhenaton and founded the new religion of the worship of the One God, Aton, at his newly-built capital near modern Amarna. All I knew at that time was that Akhenaton died about 150 years before Moses led the Jews out of Egypt and that the memory of the Great Hymn to Aton was preserved in Psalm 104 of the Bible. To these bare bones, Robert Feather has added flesh in such abundance that one is tempted to believe that the suspicion is confirmed; but we are warned that it may be many decades before mainstream scholarship overcomes its plethora of vested interests to rewrite history along these lines.
As the book title suggests, Robert Feather focuses his work on understanding the position of the community of Essenes at Khirbet Qumran as revealed in the Dead Sea Scrolls. He accuses mainstream scholars of refusing to answer many basic questions which he calls black holes. This is, perhaps, an unfortunate designation, because the black holes of astrophysics attract all matter in their vicinity whereas the unanswered questions raised by the Dead Sea Scrolls seem to repel potential investigators. Nevertheless, Feather is justified in his criticism of scholars who retained control of the scrolls and delayed translation and publication for half a century. Even now, a new generation of academic experts, refuses to accept what appear to Robert Feather, and I suspect to most of his unbiased readers, as obvious deductions.
Robert Feather maintains that the Qumran community was the preserver of the ancient religion of Aton from the time of the Maccabees in the 160s BC to the war with the Romans in the 60s AD. He admits that there are important gaps in linking Qumran all the way back to Akhenaton in 1350 BC but provides numerous clues and gives the prophet Ezekiel (6th century BC) a major role in preserving the memory of Aton at the time of the exile of the Jews in Babylon. He also shows quite convincingly that the temple remembered so often in the books of the Bible, is more often the temple built by Akhenaton at his capital Akhetaton than the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
Robert Feather's excellent book suffers from an ambition to be both popular and scholarly. His choice of a popular style of writing, with references to an alternative view as a 'crackpot claim,' to non-believers as 'sceptics' and with chapter headings like 'How Potty Can You Get?' suggest a book for the general reader, but one is reluctant to believe what one reads in the tabloid press.
On the other hand, Feather's choice of two academics to support his arguments suggests the book is also aimed at people with a special interest. The Foreword by Dr J H Ellens and the interview with Professor Geza Vermes only serve to show the reluctance of established scholars to committing themselves to a minority opinion. Professor Vermes does shed some light on why the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls was so long delayed, but he fails to endorse any of Feather's views on a connection between Qumran and Akhenaton. No mention of Akhenaton is made by Ellens. One is forced to wonder why these gentlemen were troubled.
Robert Feather shares with other authors holding a firm religious opinion, such as Richard Dawkins, a tendency to follow a strong argument with several weaker ones, as though the weak can further strengthen the strong. However, having accomplished so much research, and having been a voice crying in the Judean wilderness for so long, it is easy to understand why Robert Feather wants to tell us all that he has found in preparing the way of the Aton.
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Source by John Powell
