A Contextual Prerequisite

Some quick contextual reference that is essential to realize in order to properly understand First Century Judea: In approximately 1,350 BC, a narcissistic ruler named Amenhotep IV assumed the throne of Egypt. Upon assuming the throne, he changed his name to Akhenaten. Akhenaten ruled over Egypt for a period of approximately seventeen years, during which time he went about destroying the traditional religion of Egypt, replacing it with his own cult called Atenism. Atenism demanded the worship of the Sun as the one supreme, monotheistic deity, whom he called Aten. As part of Akhenaten's campaign to ruin the traditional religion of Egypt, he ordered the destruction of all temples and places of worship and reverence of the previous deities of Egypt, the murder of all priests and priestesses of such deities, and the erasure of all references to all previous Egyptian deities as well. It was his intent by doing so, to wipe out all other noble families, as it was the nobility whom served as priests and priestesses in ancient Egypt.

The traditional religion of Egypt was somewhat restored after Akhenaten's death approximately 17 years later, but by then the damage he had done to both the traditional religion as well as to Egypt itself was nearly insurmountable, causing Egyptian sovereignty to pass into the hands of what would become known as the Ramses Dynasty not long after the death of his son Tutankhamen. Upon the onset of the Ramses Dynasty, Akhenaten and his lineage were rightfully discredited as heretics, with Akhenaten himself being referred to as both "the enemy of Egypt" and "that criminal" in official Egyptian records.

The Ramses Dynasty began in 1,279 BC with the reign of Ramses II. It was sometimes during Ramses II's 66 year reign that Moses and Aaron left Egypt with their uniquely monotheistic spiritual viewpoints, which many of their followers did not understand. This is important to keep in mind when trying to contextualize what influences were astir during the 14th-13th centuries BC. By Old Testament accounts, the Jews were slaves in Egypt during the reigns of Akhenaten and Tutankhamen, and were freed during the reign of Ramses II.