Akhenaton was an Egyptian Pharaoh who abandoned Egypt's traditional religion and embraced monotheism. He called his god The Aten. The only image allowed for his god was the sun disk. Akhenaton is not a legend. His story is true.

Akhenaton asked for a new city built on previously unoccupied land near the modern Egyptian settlement of Amarna. In a few years it became a thriving metropolis that was both capital of the greatest nation of its time and holy city of Akhenaton's religion. Historians refer to Akhenaton's reign as the Amarna Era.

The Pharaohs of the Sun exhibit recreates that city. It's truly amazing that the ancients built such a city so quickly. Only the dedicated energy of many people could accomplish such a feat. The monotheism of Ancient Egypt clearly began before Akhenaton became Pharaoh and survived past his death.

So what happened to the Monotheists? The hieroglyphs are silent. There are no records of monotheism after the Amarna era. To understand why, we need to look before the Amarna Era when the state religion was controlled by the powerful Amun Clerics. So great was their power that they didn't believe they could be threatened. They tolerated lesser cults. Then came Akhenaton's reign and the Amun Clerics lost wealth, prestige, and power.

After Akhenaton's death, the Amun Clerics regained power. This time they were not so tolerant of monotheism. Now it was the Amarna priests' turn to loose their wealth, prestige, and power. The Amarna priests became outcasts. In Ancient Egypt, the word for such outcasts was hibaru!

When a Pharaoh named Horemheb came to the throne, he gained the backing of the Amun Clerics by aggressively outlawing and repressing the remnants of monotheism. He went as far as destroying Akhenaton's city and expelling all residents.

The only record remaining of the sad yet heroic struggle of the survivors of the Amarna era is the Exodus story in The Bible. However, from the Amarna Era to the first attempt to write the story of the Exodus is about five hundred years. The authors were talented and creative scribes and storytellers whose work would endure the test of time, but they were mere mortals writing tales that had been passed down orally for generations. During that time, news became legend and legend became myth. However, the Exodus is a story of people fleeing Egypt to avoid persecution for their monotheistic beliefs.

The basis for the Exodus story is the scores of refugees who fled Egypt during the reign of Horemheb. A major destination of the refugees was the hill country of Canaan. It was here they were able to reestablish their monotheism. We can call those refugees The Cult of the Levites. They were the ones who introduced monotheism to Israel. They are the bridge between the monotheism of the Amarna era and the monotheism of our present day.