The Ancient Egyptian Monotheism

The Ancient Egyptian Monotheism

The Ancient Egyptians believed in One God who was self-produced, self-existent, immortal, invisible, eternal, omniscient, almighty, etc. This One God was never represented. It is the functions and attributes of his domain that were represented. These attributes were called the neteru (pronounced net-er-u, singular: neter in the masculine form and netert in the feminine form). The term, gods, is a misrepresentation of the Egyptian term, "neteru"

The animal or animal-headed neteru

Gods/goddesses: are symbolic expressions of a deep spiritual understanding. When a total animal is depicted in Ancient Egypt, it represents a particular function/attribute in its purest form. When an animal-headed figure is depicted, it conveys that particular function/attribute in the human being.

Names in Ancient Egypt were not just labels. A name was like a short resume or synopsis of the principle. For example, the neter (god) Ra (Re) is described in the Unas Funerary (Pyramid) Texts: "They cause thee to come into being as Ra, in his name of Khepri." Khepri is not just another label/name for Ra (Re), it represents a particular function/attribute . Khepri means coming into being .

One God who was self-produced, self-existent, immortal, invisible, eternal,almighty. This One God was never actually represented.Since there cannot be more than one being who possesses supreme Dominion all over things.

Akhenaten said in his hymn:
O sole god, like whom there is no other,
Thou didst create the world according to thy desire,
Whilst thou wert alone

In essence his doctrine rejected the universal concept of idolatry.
He taught that the graven images in which
Egyptian gods revealed themselves had been invented by man
and made by the skill of artisans.
He proclaimed a new god, unique, mysterious, whose forms could not be known
and which were not fashioned by human hands.

See: wallis budge egyptian religion

http://www.egypt-tehuti.org/articles/monotheism-polytheism.html