368. Ancient Egypt: The Origin of Abrahamic Religions? (Ep 7)
episodePreviously titled “367. Ancient Egypt: The Origin of Abrahamic Religions? (Ep 7)” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 2, 2026
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What is the relationship between Pharaoh Akhenaten and the origins of monotheism?
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On his deathbed in 1938, Sigmund Freud wrote his final, and in many ways his most original work. But the most famous psychologist in history wasn't writing about the unconscious mind or the ego. who is writing about the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. And he was asking whether Akhenaten's radical religious beliefs laid the seeds from which Judaism, Islam, and Christianity grew. In this episode, we're going to be exploring that. And we're welcoming to the studio. I'm afraid it's just me today. No, no, Anita. She's busy. But it gets me all the more time with one of my favorite authors who I have completely loved the work of. Francesco Stavrakopoulos. Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you.
So everyone put your seatbelts on because what you're going to get is certainly very different from what I understood to be the origins of monotheism, which is what we're looking at today. We're asking two questions in a sense. What was the beginnings of monotheism? Was Akhenaten's Aten faith a form of monotheism or not? We looked a bit at that with Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, but we're going to go now forward with Francesca and ask a second question. What are the origins of the cult of Yahweh? And how far did Akhenaten's thought and ideas, which seemed to be so thoroughly smashed when we last looked in the last episode with the end of Telemanna and the abandonment of this entire world and the revolution, even by the time of Tutankhamen, his son, how much can we see the influence of that in what became the three great monotheistic Abrahamic religions?
So tell us about Freud, first of all. Jessica, how did he come to this and does anyone take this book at all seriously?
Oh gosh, that's a huge question. So Freud, as you said, Freud is writing in the late 1930s and he's living in a world in which it's not easy to be Jewish. He's Jewish.
1938, to be Jewish, even in your own London is quite uncomfortable.
Exactly. And so this is a time of heightened anxieties, heightened, certainly heightened antisemitism.
Who was Freud and what was his theory about Jewish monotheism?
Antisemitism was a part of British culture anyway. But obviously what's going on with the rise of Nazism in Germany and obviously the Second World War is just around the corner. It's a very difficult time. But he's also writing at a time in which everything ancient Egypt is mega exciting still. So if you think about it, Tutankhamun, the tomb was discovered in 1922.
It's all quite new stuff.
That is still really new. Even in terms of the rediscovery of Akhenaten and the very distinctive qualities and aspects and artwork, for example, of his reign, that was only in the late 19th century. We're now in the early 20th. Egypt mania is still a big thing. He's writing at this time, and for him to be Jewish at a time when there is so much hostility and violence, I think it's safe to say that he's looking at the ways in which to be Jewish is not to be shameful. And I think to link Jewish faith and particularly its monotheism to the glories, if you like, of ancient Egypt and everything that was seen. It was seen as so sophisticated by 1920s, 1930s European culture. It was seen as exciting, as refined.
We still see it as exciting. Oh, exactly. And so I think that was probably very appealing. And also, this is a guy who goes to dinner parties. He's a very intellectual man. He socializes. This is kind of dinner party talk as well.
We should say at this point that it is significant that he has a Jewish publisher. He is my great, great, great uncle, Lennon Wolfe. Well, Virginia is my great, great aunt. I'm not related to Lennon except by marriage. But yes, and that was the publisher. The Hogarth Press was the publisher that published this book.
Absolutely. So I think there's all sorts of, which is very exciting, by the way, about Virginia Wolfe being your great, great aunt. I think there's all sorts of reasons why this is a very important work for Freud.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the relationship between Pharaoh Akhenaten and the origins of monotheism?
0:00–2:46
2
Who was Freud and what was his theory about Jewish monotheism?
2:46–7:55
3
What were Akhenaten's radical religious beliefs?
7:55–9:16
4
What are the origins of the cult of Yahweh?
9:16–35:53
5
How did the concept of Yahweh evolve over time?
35:53–41:54
Speakers
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