Egypt worshipped many gods but with king Akhnaten whose name means, 'Effective spirit of Aten" a revolution took place. He compelled the people of Egypt to worship only the sun god, Aten. This god was symbolized by the disk of the sun with each ray ending with a caressing hand. In this image the King and his wife Nefertiti are holding the hieroglyphs in their hands meaning life. He built a new capital in northern Egypt el-Amarna in order to distance himself from Thebes, the capital and center of religious worship of Egypt. Some call this movement monotheism but it should be called monolatry because Aten (the sun) whom he worshipped was not the true One God who revealed himself to Moses. The priests of Thebes were in opposition to this movement, so at his death, they tried to obliterate his memory and return to the worship of the other gods.

Sometime after Akhnaten, Moses was a Hebrew raised as an Egyptian by Pharaoh's daughter. One day he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew forced laborer and he killed him. Knowing that his deed had become known, he fled to Median. There he married and one day while pasturing his father in law Jethro's flock at Mount Horeb experienced an encounter with the living God at the Burning Bush. God chose him to deliver the Hebrews from slavery which he did leading them into the desert of Siani and giving them God's law at Mount Horeb or Sinai. The first commandment reads as follows:

"I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, .... You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. (Ex 20:1-5)

 

The Hebrews, having lived among the Egyptians were also inclined to worship Idols. Although they knew that idols were not to be worshipped, while Moses was away on the Mountain communing with God, they convinced Aaron to make them a Golden Calf to whom they attributed deliverance from Egypt. We know that some Jews had intermarried with the Egyptians and that a "crowed of mixed ancestry went up with them". (Ex 12:38) This group may have been the ones demanding the creation of a god in the image of a calf.

In Egypt, Apis the Bull was was an object of worship and some goddesses were represented as cows or depicted as humans with cow horns and ears. The Golden Calf was most likely a representation of these images from Egypt, although their intention was to represent the "I Am", who led them out of Egypt - "They cried out, 'This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" (Ex 32:4) "Rashi notes that they desired many gods. This again reflects the primitive emotion they possessed. They had desires for different gods, to cater to each of their diverse needs. Their basic insecurities and trepidation's were expressed by their desire for different gods, that would satisfy all their personal whims and grant them a sense of security." (Webpage: The Golden Calf by Rabbi Israel Chait)

3. The Greek gods