Are there any Ancient Egyptian prayers in the Bible?

There is one major, well-documented case of strong literary influence from an ancient Egyptian prayer/hymn in the Old Testament: Psalm 104 and the Great Hymn to the Aten.

The Strongest Parallel: Psalm 104 and Akhenaten’s Great Hymn to the Aten

Pharaoh Akhenaten (reigned c. 1353–1336 BCE) promoted worship of the Aten (the sun disk) as the sole god in a radical, short-lived form of monotheism. One of the most famous surviving Egyptian religious texts is the Great Hymn to the Aten, inscribed in the tomb of his official Ay at Amarna.

Scholars have long noted remarkable similarities between this hymn and Psalm 104 in the Bible. The parallels include:

The order of creation and daily cycles (day/night, work/rest).
Description of animals (especially lions prowling at night).
God’s care for all creatures, including the provision of water, grass, and food.
The contrast between night (danger, inactivity) and day (life and activity).
Emphasis on the creator’s sole power over the world.

Key Example Comparison (simplified):

Great Hymn to the Aten (c. 1350 BCE): “When you set in the western horizon, the land is in darkness like death… Every lion comes from its den… At dawn, when you rise… the Two Lands are in festivity.”

Psalm 104:20-23 (NIV): “You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the forest animals prowl about. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away… Then people go out to their work…”

Other shared motifs include the vastness of creation, ships sailing, and the dependence of all life on the divine source. These are not generic similarities—some sequences and rare details line up closely.

Scholarly Consensus: Most experts agree there is some form of literary dependence or shared cultural influence. Psalm 104 was likely composed centuries later (possibly during or after the monarchy), so the biblical author may have encountered the Egyptian hymn through trade, diplomacy, or scribal traditions during periods of Egyptian influence on Israel/Judah. It is not a direct word-for-word copy, but a clear adaptation—reframed in Yahwistic (biblical) monotheism rather than Aten worship.

Other Possible or Minor Egyptian Influences

Broader Wisdom and Poetic Traditions: Egyptian wisdom literature (e.g., Instruction of Amenemope) influenced parts of Proverbs. Some hymns and prayers in the Psalms share general stylistic features with Egyptian praise literature, but nothing as specific as the Aten parallel.
Book of the Dead: There are thematic echoes (e.g., moral declarations, afterlife judgment, creation motifs), but no direct prayers or spells from the Egyptian Book of the Dead appear in the Bible. Claims of strong connections (especially in Revelation or the Lord’s Prayer) are usually overstated or fringe and not supported by mainstream scholarship.
New Testament: No clear direct Egyptian prayers. Some have proposed loose parallels between Egyptian texts and phrases in the Gospels or Lord’s Prayer, but these are speculative and not widely accepted. Egyptian cultural influence on early Christianity (via Alexandria, for example) exists, but not in the form of quoted prayers.

Summary

Direct borrowing/adaptation? → Yes, most likely in Psalm 104 from the Great Hymn to the Aten.
Full ancient Egyptian prayers inserted? → No. The Bible does not quote any Egyptian prayer verbatim as a prayer to use.
Cultural influence? → Significant. The biblical writers lived in a world saturated with Egyptian ideas and sometimes drew on them while transforming them to fit exclusive worship of Yahweh.

This reflects how the biblical authors engaged with surrounding cultures—adopting beautiful imagery and poetic forms while redirecting them toward the God of Israel. Psalm 104 remains one of the clearest examples of the Bible’s conversation with ancient Egyptian religious literature.

Akhenaten’s Great Hymn to the Aten: How It Differed from Traditional Ancient Egyptian Beliefs and Prayers

Akhenaten (originally Amenhotep IV, reigned c. 1353–1336 BCE) is one of the most revolutionary figures in ancient history. During his reign, he dramatically transformed Egypt’s religious landscape by elevating the Aten—the visible sun disk and its life-giving rays—to the position of supreme (and eventually sole) deity. The Great Hymn to the Aten, inscribed in the tomb of his official Ay at Amarna, is the most complete surviving expression of this new faith. It is widely regarded as a poetic masterpiece and is often attributed to Akhenaten himself or composed under his direct supervision.

Traditional Ancient Egyptian Religion and Prayers

For over 2,000 years before Akhenaten, Egyptian religion was polytheistic, vibrant, and deeply mythological. Key characteristics included:

A large pantheon of gods with human, animal, or hybrid forms (e.g., Amun-Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Hathor, Thoth).
Gods were personal, anthropomorphic beings with emotions, myths, families, and rivalries.
The sun god had multiple aspects: Ra (daytime sun), Amun (hidden/creator aspect), Aten (the physical disk), and others. These coexisted harmoniously.
Worship involved temple rituals, statues (idols), daily offerings, festivals, magic (heka), and complex afterlife beliefs centered on the Duat (underworld), judgment by Osiris, and spells from the Book of the Dead.
Hymns and prayers were highly formulaic. They often invoked multiple gods, used elaborate titles, included myths, and sought specific favors (protection, fertility, safe passage in the afterlife). They frequently blended praise with magical activation.
Night was not empty: the sun god battled chaos (Apep/Apophis) in the underworld, while other gods maintained order. Life continued under divine oversight even when the sun was absent.

Traditional prayers emphasized reciprocity, moral order (Ma’at), and the interconnectedness of many divine powers.

Key Differences in Akhenaten’s Atenism and the Great Hymn

Akhenaten’s reforms introduced radical changes, especially after Year 9 of his reign, when he declared the Aten the only god. Here’s how the Great Hymn and Aten worship diverged from tradition:

Monotheism (or Strict Henotheism) vs. Polytheism The Hymn repeatedly stresses the Aten’s uniqueness: “O sole god, like whom there is no other!” It credits the Aten alone with creating and sustaining all life, with no mention of other deities. Traditional hymns often praised one god while acknowledging others. Akhenaten suppressed the worship of gods like Amun (whose powerful priesthood he opposed), closed temples, and ordered the erasure of their names.
Abstract, Non-Anthropomorphic Deity The Aten was depicted only as a sun disk with rays ending in hands (offering ankhs, the symbol of life). No human or animal form, no myths, no family. In the Hymn, the Aten is distant yet immanent: “Though you are far, your rays are upon the earth.” Traditional gods were relatable, statue-dwelling beings who interacted personally with humans. Prayers often addressed them directly as “my lord” or “my mother/father.”
The Role of Night and Absence of the Underworld In the Hymn, when the Aten sets, the world dies: “When you set in the western horizon, the land is in darkness like death… Every lion comes from its den… the earth is silent.” There is no active divine presence at night. In traditional belief, the sun god journeyed through the Duat at night, fighting chaos so he could rise again. Other gods watched over the world. The Hymn erases this entire cosmic drama.
No Afterlife Focus or Osirian Judgment Traditional Egyptian prayers (especially from the Book of the Dead) were heavily concerned with the afterlife, mummification, judgment, and eternal life among the gods. The Great Hymn focuses almost entirely on this life—the beauty of creation, daily cycles, fertility, and the natural world. There is little to no mention of death, resurrection, or the underworld.
The Central Role of the King as Exclusive Intermediary The Hymn presents Akhenaten (and his family, especially Nefertiti) as the only ones who truly know and can worship the Aten. Ordinary people were to worship the king as the son of the Aten. In traditional religion, priests, individuals, and even commoners could pray directly to gods via personal piety, amulets, and household shrines.
Creation and Providence The Aten creates everything alone “according to your desire” and sustains all life directly through its rays. It is portrayed as a nurturing, life-giving force (sometimes with maternal qualities). Traditional creation myths involved multiple gods (e.g., the Heliopolitan Ennead or Memphite theology) and more complex processes.
Style and Tone The Great Hymn is more naturalistic, observational, and joyful—celebrating the visible beauty of the sun’s daily cycle and its effects on nature, animals, and humans. It feels almost proto-scientific in its wonder at life. Traditional hymns were more ritualistic, magical, and mythological.

Excerpt from the Great Hymn to the Aten (John A. Wilson translation)

“How manifold it is, what thou hast made! They are hidden from the face (of man). O sole god, like whom there is no other! Thou didst create the world according to thy desire, Whilst thou wert alone…”

Why These Changes Mattered

Akhenaten’s reforms centralized religious and economic power in the hands of the king, weakening the old priesthoods (especially Amun’s at Thebes). They represented a dramatic break with millennia of tradition. After his death, the reforms were quickly reversed under Tutankhamun and later pharaohs, who restored polytheism and tried to erase Akhenaten from history (calling him “the heretic”).

The Great Hymn stands as a beautiful but radical document—often called the earliest surviving expression of monotheism. While it shares poetic themes with later texts like Psalm 104, its worldview was fundamentally alien to mainstream ancient Egyptian thought.