Did the Egyptians create the basis for modern religion?

[styley]

A mate of mine recently returned from a holiday in Egypt and he told me that it was the ancient Egyptians who first came up with the notion of there only being one true god. Can anyone shed any light on this theory or perhaps give a couple of links related to this area. I don't want this to lead to any sort of a row as I believe in religious tolerance and that we should all be able to believe whatever the heck we like. But let us delve.

[Whickerman]

Yes, it's true. The Pharoh Akhenaten introduced the first monotheistic religion by forcing the populace to worship ATEN, and destroyed most temples to other gods etc. This was overturned by Tutankhaten, who was renamed in favour of Amun Ra and is now known as Tut-ankh-amun.
Fascinated me when I was in Egypt, the politics very much mirrored that of the later Christian empire.
More here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenaten

[styley]

Thanks.

[VS Prasad]

Religion is a liability in other countries. Such
an attitude breeds atheists. All other countries
have mono-theism. Hinduism is poly-theism. All
rivers finally reach one ocean. In the same way,
worship of any god will finally reach Paramatma (Almighty).
In India, we are free to choose a god of our
liking. This is what it keeps our individuality
and spiritual freedom . We can make religion our
way of life, and live a very lively life.