President Trump, his muse and buddy Elon Musk and his hand picked Cabinet are making massive changes in our government and polity. They are in the process of relentless efforts to remake the presidency, rethink and alter domestic policy and turn foreign policy on its head. They reversed long standing US foreign doctrines, enemies have become allies, “propaganda” has become policy, foreign heroes have become “dictators”. In only a month they have exposed massive domestic and foreign aid fraud, political malfeasance, mischievousness, slush funds, corruption and excess of the previous administration. Trump and his allies have put fear into the bureaucratic DC “swamp”with firings and lay-offs. No one in government knows for sure if they still have a job. The old guard—on both sides of the aisle— are in retreat.The Democrats are without credible leaders and are demoralized. It’s a one man show both in DC and across the globe. Trump has even called himself a “King” as he turned the world upside down. It’s a one man show both in DC and across the globe.
Has the “Trump phenomenon” ever happened in the past? I can not think of any examples in US presidential history of such all encompassing change. But perhaps ancient history has an example of overriding massive change in government.
The ancient doctrine of “historic recurrence”, or that human history occurs in cycles was always a popular idea. Santayana’s oft repeated aphorism: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is one iteration of this idea.
This concept of “recurrence” is often used (and abused) to sway voters thinking one way or another, or to advance some government policy. A common one: “never negotiate with terrorists”, another warns of the dire consequences of “crossing the Rubicon”. In recent times, as Trump prepares to negotiate with Putin regarding the Ukraine war legacy media who are opposed to Trump policy warn of the potential recurrence of pre-WWII events such as Neville Chamberlain’s “appeasement” and Hitler’s response by boldly marching into Czechoslovakia.
But is was Thucydides (460 BC-404BC) Greek historian, author “Peloponesian War” who warns that history does not occur in cycles or repeat itself..but human nature is a constant and if humans are placed in similar circumstances they often respond to events in similar ways, thus giving the impression of historic recurrence..not its reality.
So this brings me to President Trump and King Tut (Tuthankamen), perhaps being faced with somewhat similar circumstances though separated by more than two millennia, as such seem to support Thucydides concepts.
On King Tut
In Egypt When the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenamun of the 18th Dynasty took power in 1353 BC (reigned 1353-1336 BC) he introduced a new cult dedicated to the worship of only one “god” the sun disc or “Aten”. Akhenamun (or ~Akhenaten) may have been physically and mentally weakened by one or more genetic disorders (Marfan or Froehich’s syndrome) which may have affected his mind or thinking patterns. For unknown causes Akhenaten broke with long and powerful forces of tradition to forbid the veneration and worship of all the many Gods of the old Egyptian pantheon, and in particular, he forbade the worship of the “invisible one” or “God of Creation and Air” the god Amun. Worship of Amun was very popular in Thebes the capital city.
To insure that the new religion would become permanently established Akhenamun, changed his name to Akhenaten and then, at great cost to the empire, moved the capital from Thebes which was located on the shores of the Nile, about 500 miles south of the coast of the Mediterranean. He chose a new site further north, closer to the Mediterranean at Amara, which was halfway between Thebes and Memphis (a city near coast). There, Akhenaten spent extravagant profligate spending on the fabulous new city on the east-shore of the Nile. But Akenaten’s reign was controversial and unpopular. His spending eventually brought down the empire penury.
“King Tut” or Tutankhamen was Akenaten’s son and heir. When Akhenaten died, his two sons took over. Neither one supported living at the new capital in Amara, its extravagant costs, the instability of the reign, or unpopular religion of Aten —and the loss of communicating with al of the old popular gods—and now restricted only to the new monotheistic sun god Aten.
When Akhenaten died Tutankhamen was crowned pharaoh. ‘Tutankhamun (sometimes spelled “Tutankhamen”) was determined to restore traditional worship and the old pantheon of gods. He issued a decree restoring the temples, images, personnel and privileges of the old gods and the rights of Egyptians who worshipped these gods. He restored the temples, of particular interest was the highly popular temples of Amun, which had been abandoned and fallen into disrepair. He returned the authority of the priests. He restored the shrines. He reversed the unpopular changes made by his father Akhenaten and returned to the worship of the popular polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt. He restored the centrality of Amun the “god of creation and air” who had power of “the invisible force” or “the hidden one” in Egyptian. The symbol or representation of Amun, a ram’s head, (which suggested fertility or power) was widely copied and reproduced ancross the empire.
So young King Tut reestablished the old order…and made things right again in the 14th century BC.
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