The Pharaoh, The Prophet, and the Mysterious Near-Death Experience – Ancient mysteries are complex puzzles with countless pieces consisting of ruins, artifacts, tombs, and hidden knowledge. Analyzing them involves archaeology, biology, chemistry, physics, theology, and philosophy. It requires examining things we thought we knew through a different lens.
For thousands of years, there’ve been accounts of people who’ve died but returned to life with tales of traveling through a tunnel into a “Light” where they encountered deceased loved ones and other spiritual beings. These mysterious “resurrections” mystified physicians and religious leaders. This phenomenon is now known as a near-death experience (NDE). While NDEs are life-changing for the experiencer, they’ve also set into motion profound events that have changed the world.
Thirty-four centuries ago, a young prince named Thutmose was a member of Egypt’s magnificent 18th Dynasty. A hunting trip brought him to the Giza Plateau site of the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx. By Thutmose’s time, these mysterious monuments were well over a thousand years old. The Sphinx was engulfed in sand up to its neck. Thutmose “fell asleep” in the Sphinx’s shadow. He dreamt the Sphinx appeared to him as the sun god Khepri-Re-Atum and promised Thutmose the throne if he would clear away the sand covering its body.
Thutmose had ten siblings and wasn’t the Crown Prince. Chances were he’d never be king. Nonetheless, Thutmose summoned workers to clear the sand away from the Sphinx. Six months later, he was crowned Pharaoh Thutmose IV.
What really happened to Thutmose in the shadow of the Sphinx? A study by The Imperial College in London suggests Thutmose suffered from inherited Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE). According to the Epilepsy Foundation, when people with TLE gaze at bright light, this can induce a “photosensitive seizure,” which can be life-threatening.
Egyptologist Russell Jacquet-Acea places Thutmose’s accession date in August 1388 BC. According to the NASA Eclipse website, six months earlier, on February 9, 1388 BC, there was an Annular Solar Eclipse directly over the Great Sphinx. An Annular Solar Eclipse occurs when the moon is at its farthest point in orbit around Earth, so it cannot completely block the sun, which creates a ring of light around the moon. Did Thutmose stare at this eclipse, which caused a photosensitive epileptic seizure, which triggered an NDE?
People with TLE don’t remember what happened during their seizures. Conversely, NDErs have vivid memories of their experiences. Aftereffects of NDEs include prophetic/precognitive dreams about future events—which come true.
Thutmose IV was known as “The Dreamer” due to his obsession with prophecy and dream interpretation. He even had erected between the paws of the Great Sphinx the “Dream Stele.” A stele is an upright, relief-carved stone slab. The Dream Stele relays Thutmose’s “dream” and his encounter with the god of light. Is the Dream Stele actually a documented account of an NDE?
In Genesis 41:1-36, an unnamed pharaoh of Egypt had two disturbing recurring dreams. The first dream was of seven hefty cows that emerged from the Nile River only to be devoured by seven scrawny cows. The second dream was seven plump ears of corn that emerged from the Nile, which were consumed by seven withered ears of corn. None of Egypt’s priests could interpret these dreams. However, in Pharaoh’s prison was the Hebrew Joseph, who’d been sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph had the gift of foresight, which enabled him to interpret dreams that foretold future events. Today, this is known as the psychic ability of precognition.
Joseph interpreted the pharaoh’s dreams to mean that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Impressed, the pharaoh elevated Joseph to a position of power second only to the pharaoh himself. Joseph was responsible for preparing Egypt for the impending famine. Eventually, Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him into slavery. He welcomed the Hebrews into Egypt to rescue them from the famine.
Archaeological evidence verifies Thutmose IV had a Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) of Semitic origin, meaning he came from the areas now known as Israel and Syria. The Grand Vizier’s Egyptian name was Yuya, which has several translations, one of which is “Yusef of Yahweh” (Joseph of the God Yahweh).
The parallels between Yuya and Joseph are astounding. Both were foreigners in Egypt who rose to a position of power second only to the pharaoh. Both married noble women. Both were in charge of food production and storage. According to Genesis 41:41-42, Pharaoh gave Joseph a ring, a gold chain, and a chariot. Yuya was the bearer of the seal and ring of Lower Egypt, and inside Yuya’s tomb, a gold chain and chariot were discovered.
The existence of Yuya’s tomb presents a conundrum. Yuya’s tomb and well-preserved mummy are in Egypt. Conversely, Exodus 13:19 states the Hebrews took Joseph’s bones with them when they left Egypt. The traditional site of Joseph’s Tomb in Judea is at Nablus in the disputed West Bank. According to Archaeologist and Jewish History Professor Dr. Richard Freund, there is no archaeological evidence establishing this tomb as Joseph’s.
A compelling piece of evidence linking Yuya and Joseph is that they both held the exalted title “Father of Pharaoh.” Yuya was both stepfather and father-in-law to Thutmose’s son, Pharaoh Amenhotep III, earning him the title “Father of Pharaoh.” In Genesis 45:8, Joseph was “made father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”
The Hebrew Joseph was a monotheist, meaning he believed in one universal God who is incomprehensible and beyond human imagination. Ergo, there are no Hebrew idols depicting God. Ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods. Over 2,000 deities were worshipped in Egypt. Idols of gods were depicted as a human body with an animal’s head.
The Dream Stele relays that the Sphinx appeared to Thutmose as the sun god Khepri-Re-Atum. Khepri-Re-Atum had three aspects: Khepri when the sun was rising, Atum when setting, and the Aten, which was the solar disk when the sun was at its zenith. For centuries, this god was depicted as a falcon or as a human with a falcon’s head.
Suddenly, during Thutmose’s reign, the Aten became a separate deity with neither human nor animal form but was portrayed as the solar disk, its beams of light tipped with hands reaching toward earth. After 13 centuries of portraying gods as falcons, crocodiles, cobras, and jackals, this was a radical development.
Could the depiction of the Aten as the solar disk be the annular eclipse Thutmose witnessed? Could this have induced a photosensitive seizure, which triggered an NDE where Thutmose traveled through a tunnel into the light? Is the image of the Aten actually a tunnel of light whose arms reach out from the eternal to earth?
Another aftereffect of NDEs is the belief that everyone and everything is energetically interconnected. The Aten rose as the universal god whose divine light energy interconnects all life. Was the dawn of Aten-ism the result of what Thutmose encountered during his NDE and influenced by the monotheist beliefs of Joseph/Yuya?
Aten-ism began a 50-year trend in Egypt toward monotheism. Thutmose’s grandson, Pharaoh Akenaten, even banned worship of all gods except the Aten. Akhenaten cut funding to all temples and priests of the old religion. As the scribes, bureaucrats, and tax collectors, Egyptian priests resented losing their wealth and power. Aten-ism was abruptly abolished when Thutmose’s nine-year-old great-grandson, Tutankhamun (King Tut), became pharaoh. Not coincidentally, Tutankhamun’s Grand Vizier was a priest of the old religion. Even so, an image of the Aten was discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb.
Did Thutmose have an NDE that changed his perception of the divine? Was Yuya the Prophet Joseph? Did Yuya/Joseph welcome the Jewish people into Egypt to save them from famine? Were the monotheistic Hebrews subsequently enslaved by the Egyptians? If so, did that lead to a confrontation centuries later between the not-so-nice Pharaoh of Exodus and another Hebrew Prophet named Moses?
“Aftereffects of NDEs include prophetic/precognitive dreams about future events—which come true.” – Mark Anthony
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