Did any ancient Egyptians hate the gods?

Answer 1

I have come across some evidence in a History Channel program on the religions of Egypt from ancient times to the present. Reference is made to the lyrics of songs sung by harp players at funerary feasts probably during a later period. Some of the lyrics seem to indicate a growing doubt in the very existence of the afterlife. One lyric refers to the deified architect Imhotep, saying something like... "even the temples of Imhotep are no longer venerated; they are not filled with offerings". Another lyric says "No one who has ever departed has ever returned", suggesting that there was never a destination for them in the first place. Both lyrics are paraphrased from my recollection of the program. I have not yet found evidence of these songs, and the name of a pharaoh contemporary to the songs given by the program narrator is difficult to determine. I reviewed a full list of pharaohs in an attempt to isolate a close homophone for the name, without success. To my ear the narrator seems to be saying "Imiotef", Im-yo-tef. He is clearly NOT saying Imhotep.

It is impossible to be sure one way or the other without evidence from primary sources, and the sources could only support the contention that there were haters or nonbelievers among the people. Such sources may exist. I am following one line of reasoning from the WMD controversy in Iraq. Can we prove beyond ANY doubt that there are NO WMD's there? No, we cannot. We can only prove, in the event that any are discovered, that there ARE.

It seems extremely unlikely that in all the history of ancient Egypt no individuals ever hated or rejected belief in the gods. Virtually everyone understood the consequences of making such things public, because religion and the entire political structure were so interlinked. When the monarch claims to be a god, and when the whole system supports the claim, it doesn't go well for publicly open free religious thinkers. It was even difficult for a reigning Pharaoh to challenge the system.

The much later ancient Romans had a system that at times was similar; the Roman Emperor claimed divinity. More recently Japan, until the end of the second world war, believed their emperor to be a god. Until the middle of the 20th century Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was considered divine. In fact, Selassie is still considered divine among Rastafarians.

I mention these because it seems completely unlikely that all of the followers of these later rulers above offered complete faith and devotion to them without any questions or doubts. There are some vestiges of such beliefs even today. The pope is considered to be the vicar of Christ. There is NO teaching or implication that the pope is divine, but it is taught that the pope has a special connection with the deity and exercises special authority, as with the infrequently invoked and widely misunderstood Papal Infallibility. Theocracies like Islamic republics clearly do not claim divinity of any human rulers, but scriptures provide a direct and unchallenged connection with the mind, authority and requirements of the deity.