Does anyone have info on Tuthmosis V, Akhenaten's older brother who disappeared?

Question

I am trying to come up with evidence to prove that he was Moses, and I do not mean the sculptor Thutmose who made the Nefertiti bust, I mean Akhenaten's brother who disappeared shortly before his would-be ascension to the throne. The info I have so far supports my theory, but I still need more. As he had no birth record, it may mean he was adopted even.

Well Saint H, you have a good point; it is a little out there. But I do not mean he took on the identity; I am thinking that he was Israelite born and adopted by his second and third cousin (due to the marriage of Amram to his own aunt Yoheved), Tiye, daughter of Yuya and Tuya, whom I have adopted Ahmed Osman's identification as Joseph and Asenath (Yuya means in Hebrew only He ["yo" in Hebrew, which would be transliterated to "yu" due to the absence of an Egyptian "o" until later] of Ya, short for YHWH, while "Tu" in Tuya's name means "you", while in Hebrew only once again Ya comes in meaning You of Ya). At first it seems odd that I have no evidence, but that may be the key: there wouldn't be many records of an illegimite heir. The little evidence I have however fits, although I still feel obliged to use all evidence; Tuthmosis V has no birth record, he only appears into the records later, and he also has no death record, which would make sense that he ran away when he killed a man.

There is more evidence that I have compiled, if you allow me to, I will e-mail it to you. When you have all of the facts compiled in front of you, it seems much more credible, but I certainly understand that you would find this odd.

I'll look into it, shoveling_ferret. Thanks for the sources.

Answer 1

The identification of Akhenaten with Moses is a flight of fancy, I'm afraid. Nor is there any credible evidence supporting the theory that Akhenaten's older brother took on the persona of a Jewish freedom fighter.

Akhenaten's personality, his family dynamics, his stunningly provocative beliefs and behavior are quite fascinating enough - why try to apply an overlay of Biblical soap opera?

Answer 2

I feel like you have a good instinct for dates and time-frame...

If you look at these individuals from the point of view of the Old Testament, it reads that an Egyptian Pharaoh ordered the culling of all Hebrew baby boys, and Moses was spared by being floated down the Nile in a basket, where a priestess from the Royal Family noticed him amongst some reeds, and took him into her home, and raised him as her son...

This means that he would have received an education, and would perhaps have been a contemporary of Akhenaten, although he is believed to have outlived him by nearly 100 years. The Bible says Moses lived till age 120. Akhenaten probably did not live past 40...That is, assuming they were of similar age, although many scholars believe that Moses was closer in age to Tutenkhamen, who would have been younger than Akhenaten, and perhaps even his son, or at least a younger cousin...

Answer 3

The identification of Akhenaten with Moses is not a particularly new theory - Sigmund Freud, better known for psychoanalysis, postulated such a link, despite his lack of full familiarity with Egyptology. If memory serves, Freud suggested Moses was a follower of Akhenaten and the Aten cult. His conclusions are not accepted by reputable scholars.
I have to say that it is extraordinarly unlikely that Akhenaten's brother Tutmose is to be equated with the figure of Moses - whose own actual historical existence has yet to be proved outside the evidence in the Biblical texts.

Amenhotep III had two acknowledged sons. Tutmose was probably the eldest and named after his grandfather. He was likely the heir apparent, judging by the fact that he was appointed priest of Ptah in Memphis, a standard procedure during the 18th Dynasty for royal sons.
The youngest was, of course, Amenhotep IV, later Akhenaten.

Referring to Tutmose, as Tumose V is not appropriate, as he never actually reigned as king. The fact that he was appointed to the priesthood of Ptah suggests that his birth was legitimate otherwise he would not have been part of the formal succession. While the identity of his mother is unknown, she may have been the Great Royal Wife, Tiye, mother of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten. Even if Tutmose was not the son of Tiye, though, he was not necessarily removed from the succession, as there were any number of other royal wives. Nor would a birth to a lesser wife remove him from the succession, as is evidenced by a similar situation in the parentage of Tutmose III, who was the son of Tutmose II and one of his lesser wives, Aset (Isis).
Tutmose died young, which is why Amenhotep eventually became king. Strangely, despite being one of the two recognized legitimate sons of Amehotep III, young Amenhotep was not frequently shown on his father's monuments, unlike his brother (Tutmose) or his sisters. Some have suggested that this was due to a physical and/or mental defect that caused the royal family to exclude him from public life. As his mummy has never been found and debate continues regarding how realistic the Amarna style of representation actually is, we have no way of knowing for certain.
This further calls into question your identification of Tutmose with Moses, as he would not have been displayed so prominently with his father were he not a legitimate son.

The early death of Tutmose is also suggested by the probable co-regency of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, which may have lasted as long as 12 years. If Akhenaten was never meant to succeed to the throne and the early death and unexpected death of Tutmose forced that solution, then the co-regency may have been meant as a sort of training for Akhenaten and a bolstering of his own legitimacy to rule after his father's eventual death.

If you are interested in more information about the period , I suggest you look at the following and the bibliography therein:

Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt: A Genealogical Sourcebook of the Pharaohs

Donald Redford. Akhenaten: The Heretic King

David O'Connor and Eric H. Cline (editors). Amenhotep III. Perspectives of his Reign

Answer 4

There is a book out by the name JESUS IN THE HOUSE OF THE PHAROES. by Ahmed Osman. It will tell you all about the Hebrews intertwining with the Egyptians.