The Ancient Egypt of the pharaohs was one
of the most ancient civilizations of the world. It was also one of the
most oppressive. The magnificent monuments that still remain from Ancient
Egypt—the pyramids, sphinxes and obelisks—were constructed by hundreds of
thousands of slaves, worked to the point of death, under the whip and
threat of starvation. The pharaohs, the absolute rulers of Egypt, wanted
themselves to be represented as gods and to be worshipped by the people.
One of our sources of knowledge about
Ancient Egypt is their own inscriptions. These were discovered in the
nineteenth century and, after intense labor, the Egyptian alphabet was
deciphered, bringing to light much information about the country. But,
because these inscriptions were written by official state historians, they
are filled with biased accounts designed to praise the state.
For us, of course, the best source of
knowledge about this matter is the Qur'an. In the Qur'an, in the story of
Moses, we are given important information about the Egyptian system. The
verses reveal that there were two important focal points of power in
Egypt: pharaoh and his inner-council. This council tended to exercise an
important influence over pharaoh; Pharaoh would often consult them and,
from time to time, follow their suggestions. The verses quoted below show
the influence that this council had on Pharaoh:
Moses said, "Pharaoh! I am truly a
Messenger from the Lord of all the worlds, duty bound to say nothing
about God except the truth. I have come to you with a Clear Sign from
your Lord. So send the tribe of Israel away with me." He said, "If you
have come with a Clear Sign produce it if you are telling the truth."
So he threw down his staff and there it was, unmistakably a snake. And
he drew out his hand and there it was, pure white to those who looked.
The ruling circle of Pharaoh's people said, "This is certainly a
skilled magician who desires to expel you from your land, so what do
you recommend?" They said, "Detain him and his brother and send out
marshals to the cities, to bring you all the skilled magicians."
(Qur'an,
7: 104-112)
It should be noticed that mention here is
made of a council that advises Pharaoh, that incites him against Moses,
and recommends to him certain methods. If we look at the records of
Egyptian history, we see that the two basic components of this council
were the army and the priests.
There is no need to explain the importance
of the army; it constituted the basic military power of the regimes of the
pharaohs. But, we should look more closely at the role of the priests. The
priests of Ancient Egypt were a class referred to in the Qur'an as
magicians. They represented the cult which supported the regime. It was
believed that they had special powers and possessed secret knowledge. By
this authority they influenced the Egyptian people, and ensured their
position within the administration of the pharaohs. This class, known from
Egyptian records as the "Priests of Amon," focused their attention on
practicing magic and administering their pagan cult; in addition, they
also studied various sciences such as astronomy, mathematics and geometry.
This class of priests was a closed order
possessed (so they thought) of a special knowledge. Such orders are
commonly known as esoteric organizations. In a magazine called Mason
Dergisi (Masonic Journal), a publication distributed among Turkish
Masons, the roots of Freemasonry are stated as going back to this kind of
esoteric order, and special mention is made of the Ancient Egyptian
priests:
As thought develops in human beings,
science advances and as science advances, the number of secrets
increases within the lore of an esoteric system. In this development,
this esoteric enterprise, which began first in the East, in China
and Tibet, and then spread to India, Mesopotamia and Egypt, formed the
basis of a priestly knowledge that had been practiced for thousands of
years and formed the basis of the power of the priests in Egypt.
How can there be a relationship between the
esoteric philosophy of the priests of Ancient Egypt and present-day
Freemasons? Ancient Egypt—a classic example in the Qur'an of a godless
political system—disappeared thousands of years ago. Can it have any
influence today?
To find the answer to these questions, we
must look at the Ancient Egyptian priests' beliefs with regards to the
origin of the Universe and of life.
In their book The Hiram Key, the
English Masonic authors Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas argue that
Ancient Egypt has a very important place in regards to the origins of
Masonry. According to these authors, the most important idea that has
transpired to modern Masonry, from Ancient Egypt, is that of a universe
existing by and of itself, and evolving by chance. They explain this
interesting notion in these words:
The Egyptians believed that matter had
always existed; to them it was illogical to think of a god making
something out of absolutely nothing. Their view was that the world began
when order came out of chaos, and that ever since there has been a battle
between the forces of organization and disorder
…This
chaotic state was called Nun, and like the Sumerian …description …, all
was a dark, sunless watery abyss with a power, a creative force within it
that commanded order to begin. This latent power which was within
the substance of the chaos did not know it
existed; it was a probability, a potential that was intertwined within the
randomness of disorder.
It will be noticed that the beliefs
described here are in harmony with the assertions of the present-day
materialist establishment, which are promoted by the agenda of the
scientific community with such terms as "the theory of evolution," "chaos
theory," and the "essential organization of matter." Knight and Lomas
continue their foregoing discussion by saying:
Amazingly, this description of creation
perfectly describes the view held by modern science, particularly "chaos
theory" which has shown intricate designs which evolve and mathematically
repeat within completely unstructured events.
Knight and Lomas claim that there is a
harmony between Ancient Egyptian beliefs and modern science, but what they
mean by modern science, as we have stressed, is materialist concepts, such
as the theory of evolution or chaos theory. Despite the fact that these
theories have no scientific basis, they have been forcibly imposed on the
field of science over the past two centuries, and are presented as
scientifically justified. (For further reading, see "Global Freemasonry"
by Harun Yahya)
