Abstract

The article discusses a separate narrative episode from the narration of Islamic-Egyptian work “Abridged [Description] of Curiosities” (c. 1000/1200 AD) about the ancient monotheist king “Malius”/“Malik” and his successor “Horma”/“Khartabs” who restored paganism. This narrative itself is confi dently identifi ed as a late form of the legend of Akhenaten and Horemheb transmitted continuously since their time. The episode in question concerns a divine solar disk with a face, which emerges from a body of water and is used by the One God to manifest His power through it, protecting those pleasing to Him and severely punishing the displeasing. Analysis of the episode reveals that this disk is a legendary refl ection of Aten, and the motifs associated with it harken back to certain reminiscences of Akhetaten and the religious concepts of Amarna.

Keywords

Islamic-Egyptian tradition, Pseudo-Masudi, Amarna, Akhenaten, Aten, Horemheb.

Aleksandr A. Nemirovskiy, Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ORCID: 0000-0001-8023-8817

Anastasiya A. Banshchikova, Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ORCID: 0000-0001-6130-3417