Christ in Egypt.

The Horus-Jesus Connection.

by D.M. Murdock.

Preface.

"So there grew, during those first centuries of Christianity, a whole literature of the Hermetic sort in which the symbols, interpreted in the orthodox Christian tradition as historical, were being read in a proper mythological sense. And these then began to link the Christian myth to pagan analogues. The Gnostics, for instance, were in that boat. But the orthodox Christians insisted on the historicity of all these events."

Joseph Campbell, An Open Life (77).

Over a century ago, renowned British Egyptologist Sir Dr. E.A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934), a Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum, as well as a confessed Christian, remarked that a study tracing the "influence of ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and mythology on Christianity" would "fill a comparatively large volume."[1] Since Dr. Budge's time, for a variety of reasons, including the seemingly irreconcilable academic gap between historians and theologians, no one has taken up the call to produce such a volume-until now.

This book is the result of decades of study of the world's religions and mythologies, focusing on comparative religion with the intention of showing from where Christianity in particular likely devised many of its most cherished beliefs. My previous books on the subjects of comparative religion, mythology and Christian origins include: The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold; Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled; and Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. I continue this ongoing investigation with the fascinating land of the pharaohs not only because that nation was extremely influential in the world into which Christianity was born, but also because it possesses so much material preserved from the centuries of destruction-much of it quite deliberate-that it is to Egypt we may look for solid, primary-source proof of our premise.

It should be noted, however, that I did not originally set out to prove a thesis established a priori but that, having been engaged in this field for so many years and, having been raised a Christian and knowing that faith very well, I have been struck over the decades by the profound and relevant resemblances between it and pre-Christian and non-Christian religions, and it has become clear that Egypt was the fount of much of this religious and spiritual knowledge.

In this groundbreaking effort, I have used the latest and best technology to search far and wide through a massive amount of material across several languages, beginning with the ancient primary sources and extending into the modern era. In order to demonstrate a solid case, I have been compelled to do extensive and exhaustive research in the pertinent ancient languages, such as Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Coptic, while I have also utilized authorities in modern languages such as German and French.

Not only have I provided much important and interesting information directly addressing the striking comparisons between the Egyptian and Christian religions, but also I have exposed on several occasions various biases, censorship and other behaviors that have impacted mainstream knowledge over the centuries, allowing for certain revelations to come to light in English here possibly for the first time in history.

In order to set the stage for the various premises of each chapter, I have included quotations at the beginnings thereof, at times both modern and ancient. After thus providing a summary of the premise, in each chapter I delve into the appropriate primary sources to whatever extent possible. In my analysis of the ancient Egyptian texts, I consulted and cross-referenced as many translations as I could find, and I attempted to defer to the most modern renditions as often as possible. All of this work was accomplished as truly independent scholarship, without funding from any group, organization or institution, as has been the case with all of my past endeavors as well.

The result is that the paperback edition of Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection comprises nearly 600 pages with almost 2,400 footnotes and citations from more than 900 books, journals and assorted other sources from experts in germane fields of study from different time periods beginning in antiquity up to the most modern Egyptologists, in order to create a consensus of opinion since the topic is so contentious. In this regard, brief biographical material is also included for many of these authorities, so that readers may be assured of the individual's credentials. The broad scope of these sources dating from thousands of years ago to the most modern research means there can be no dismissive argument based on either a lack of primary sources or because the authorities cited are "outdated."

Yet, for all this erudition, I have hopefully succeeded in making Christ in Egypt as readily accessible to the average reader as possible, so that the book can be enjoyed by all who wish to know the hidden history of the origins of religious ideology. Some of the material may strike some readers as difficult and/or tedious, but I hope it will be understood that, in consideration of the controversial nature of this issue, it was necessary to be as thorough as possible. This book is therefore not meant to be a "quick read." Rather, it is intended as a reference book providing knowledge for years to come.

In comparison to other literature on the subject, the present book might be considered the most complete and scientific study of the Egyptian influence on Christianity ever produced in English. Each major contention and many minor ones have been carefully cited with an eye to as exacting accuracy as is possible, and every effort has been made to doublecheck particularly controversial facts. My intent has always been to restore the proper milieu of the eras in question, resurrecting cultures that have been the object of disinformation and disdain. In creating this opus, I experienced great delight at a number of significant features that came to light, and I offer this unusual but intriguing research in the spirit in which it was intended: To wit, to demonstrate that mankind's most cherished and fervently held religious beliefs are rooted firmly in human creation based on natural phenomena, without the need for supernatural genesis but nonetheless extraordinarily marvelous and meaningful.

D.M. Murdock.

aka Acharya S.

February 2009.

(Kindle edition: January 2011).

Introduction.

"Out of Egypt have I called my son."

The Gospel of Matthew (2:15).

"For what is now called the Christian religion existed of old and was never absent from the beginning of the human race until Christ came in the flesh. Then true religion which already existed began to be called Christian."

Saint Augustine, Retractiones (1:13).

"The Religion proclaimed by him to All Nations was neither New nor Strange."

Bishop Eusebius, The History of the Church (2:4).

"Christianity represents the last term of [the] invasion of oriental ideas into the West. It did not fall like a thunderbolt in the midst of a surprised and alarmed old world. It had its period of incubation, and, while it was seeking the definitive form of its dogmas, the problems for which it was pursuing the solutions preoccupied the thoughts in Greece, in Asia, in Egypt. There were in the air stray ideas that combined themselves in all sorts of proportions."[2]

Dr. Louis Menard, Hermes Trismegiste (ix).

"There can be no doubt that the oldest Egyptian writings contain some vestiges of primeval faith. Egyptians in very remote areas believed in the immortality of man, with reward or punishment in the future state. They believed in the existence of good and evil powers in this life, and were not without a sense of personal responsibility..."

Rev. Dr. W.H. Rule, The Horus Myth and Its Relation to Christianity (66).

Over the centuries, it has been the contention of numerous scholars and researchers of comparative religion and mythology that one of the major influences on the Christian faith was that of ancient Egypt. Although we today may find the ancient Egyptian religion bizarre and amusing, with all its peculiarities, including gods and goddesses in the forms of many kinds of animals, the truth is that the Egyptians themselves took their faith very seriously, so much so that, as with religions of today, murder in its name was not unknown. One need only look to the cautionary tale of the notorious monotheistic pharaoh Amenhotep IV, aka Akhenaten, for an example of how sincerely the Egyptians and their priesthoods upheld their religion. Indeed, many Egyptians-and especially their priests-were as devout in their own religion as are the most pious among us today. And this faith was not isolated or fleeting: The Egyptian religion was exceedingly widespread and possessed an antiquity unparalleled in the known world at the time. As the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484-c. 425 BCE[3]) wrote in his Histories (2.37) almost 2,500 years ago, the Egyptians were "religious to excess, beyond any other nation in the world."[4] Concurring with this assessment, renowned Egyptologist Dr. Jan Assman (b. 1938), a professor of Egyptology at the University of Konstanz, remarks: In ancient Egypt, mortuary religion was not simply one area of cultural praxis, among others, such as the cult of the gods, economy, law, politics, literature, and so forth. Rather, in this case, we are dealing with a center of cultural consciousness, one that radiated out into many-we might almost say, into all-others areas of ancient Egyptian culture.[5]

In Egyptian Religion, Egyptologist Dr. Siegfried Morenz (1914-1970), a director of the Institute of Egyptology at the University of Leipzig, likewise describes religion as the "matrix of culture" and "womb of culture," especially as found in Egypt.[6]

Over its vast life of several millennia, hundreds of millions of people engaged in the Egyptian religion, with its major themes and motifs well known and highly respected. In fact, it has been estimated that some 500 million Egyptians were mummified during the time of the pharaohs, indicating there were at least half a billion followers of the Egyptian religion during that era.[7] Hence, any competing faith would be hard-pressed to overturn this deep and abiding reverence for the Egyptian religion and its gods, and would need to incorporate as much of the Egyptian mythos and ritual into itself as was possible. The fact is that such devoutly religious people do not easily and readily abandon their religion and god(s)-do fervent Christians, for instance, give up their god without a fight?

Also, much of the disparagement of the Egyptian gods and religion emanates from the Christian Church fathers of the second century and onwards, such as the particularly snide Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-211/216 AD/CE), in a transparent play to usurp the others' deities with their own faith, which was, in reality, no less ridiculous overall.[8] This behavior is unwarranted, in light of what we know today about the Egyptian religion, which, largely because of these prejudicial efforts, was almost lost to us forever. Fortunately, a number of individuals over the centuries were able to overcome these prejudices to see for themselves what the Egyptian religion truly represented-and they did so often at great risk, as there was a concerted effort by the Church to censor this information. This type of abuse continues to this day, with those who dare to suggest that Christianity is not original but basically constitutes a reworking of old faiths subjected to all sorts of derision and ridicule, as well as irrational and impossible demands for evidence of an obvious fact, when, in upholding their own religious beliefs, these same detractors require little or no evidence at all. As independent philosopher N.W. Barker says, "If there were valid scientific evidence in support of the supernatural religious claims, faith would not be the main requirement."

Despite the disparagement and dismissal, the reality remains that the many Egyptian myths and rituals, including numerous gods and goddesses, prayers and hymns, were not obscure and ignored but were known by millions of people over a long period of time. These hallowed Egyptian motifs included the sacredness of the cross, the virgin mother who gave birth to the divine son, a godman who taught on Earth, led 12 followers, healed the sick, and raised the dead, and who was murdered, buried and resurrected, etc. Although they were often deemed "mysteries," a number of these important concepts were undoubtedly in the minds of many people by the time the Christian religion appeared in the same areas of the Mediterranean. As pointed out by renowned Swiss Egyptologist Dr. Erik Hornung (b. 1933), a professor emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Basel, the Egyptian mysteries were not necessarily secrets but were carried out in public, such as the annual passion play of the god Osiris.[9] As Dr. Morenz also points out, "The participation of large masses of the population was necessary at the so-called mysteries..."[10] These mysteries were particularly known to those responsible for the creation of religion, the priests, who actively studied and imitated other priesthoods in their fabrications. Knowing what we do about the priesthood and the manufacture of religion, and noting the obvious parallels between the Egyptian religion and Christianity, it would seem disingenuous to suggest that Christianity represents a "unique, divine revelation" to a small group of people in the tiny area of Palestine/Judea. Instead of thus denying the clear connection between the two religions, we will explore it here, using as many relevant and quality sources as is possible.

A Word about Primary Sources.

The field of comparative religion and mythology can be highly contentious because it confronts the fervent beliefs of modern religions, demonstrating that many religious notions are rooted in older mythology. In this regard, often unreasonable demands of proofs are required in order to show these correlations. Although they do not request such proofs when it comes to their own faith, likely for the reason that they were imbued with it from a very young age and simply accept it as "reality," the devoutly religious require pristine "primary sources" from the very finger of God in order to believe anything outside of the religious box many have been closed in practically since birth. Basically, the cry for "primary sources" highlights a number of difficulties, such as that current religious beliefs are themselves not the result of examining pristine primary sources. Indeed, in the case of Christianity, there are no "primary sources" of the kind demanded as proofs of the correspondences between Christianity and Paganism. There are no originals of the gospels, for example, from the very hands of the evangelists themselves or any other alleged eyewitness of the events in the New Testament-why have these sources not been preserved along with a pedigree proving that they were written by the individuals claimed as their authors and giving the dates when they were composed? What about the so-called Pauline epistles, which have clearly been altered repeatedly-why do we not have the autographs so that we may see for ourselves that nothing has in fact been forged in them? Where are the originals of the extrabiblical texts, such as those from the Jewish historian Josephus (37-c. 100 AD/CE), to prove they have not been tampered with? Where are the certified autographs to prove that these texts are authentic and that they have not been altered, mutilated and interpolated?

The call for primary sources also serves to remind us that Christians went on a censorship rampage and destroyed as much evidence as they could in the name of "piety," ravaging Pagan temples, murdering their priests, burning libraries and torturing and slaughtering nonbelievers and believers alike by the millions. Christian structures were built upon the ruins of the Pagan temples, such as in the case of the Vatican, which was founded upon the remains of a complex dedicated to the sun god Mithra. Indeed, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome stands an obelisk moved from Egypt by Emperor Caligula (12-41 AD/CE), who placed it in his circus, after which it was later transported during the 16th century AD/CE to the Piazza San Pietro,[11] eventually serving as the gnomon of a sundial.

In the end, the lack of artifacts and primary sources thus reflects the criminal destruction on the part of the devout. In this same regard, Christian writers also mutilated the works of ancient authors, both Christian and non-Christian. Much destruction of ancient culture has likewise occurred during the many wars, including both World Wars, which greatly affected Christian civilization.

Included in the "sources" debate is the constant dunning for credentials, along with the notion that only those with the highest qualifications in the most salient fields are able to give any truthful or educated opinion on a subject. In reality, such is not necessarily the case, with many non-specialists often capable of putting forth erudite and accurate views. Moreover, in shoring up their faith, fervent believers frequently require no credentials at all. Nevertheless, again, in order to satisfy this request for credentials, every effort has been taken here to provide commentary from highly credentialed scholars in relevant fields.

In any event, amid the rubble of the past destroyed remains enough primary-source material to show sufficiently that there is little original or "historical" about Christianity. This claim regarding primary sources ranks as especially true in Egypt, where the material could not be completely obliterated, as no matter how mightily the utter annihilation of evidence was attempted, there simply existed too much, despite the destruction ages before by grave robbers and other vandals. In addition to trashing texts and mutilating monuments, Christians even stuccoed over the hieroglyphs in order to remove them from sight, because they could not chip them away. However, this behavior had the effect of preserving the hieroglyphs for us to work with now, and scientists and scholars have only had serious access to the Egyptian culture over the past couple of centuries. Indeed, not so long ago even the massive Great Pyramid was partially buried in sand, while the Sphinx was covered up to its neck.

The ancient texts in which many of the aspects and myths of the Egyptian religion can be found date back millennia, with estimates varying from more than 4,000 to 7,000 years ago.[12] Precise dates for the oldest Egyptian texts are difficult to ascertain: For example, the Pyramid Texts-claimed to be the "world's oldest religious literature"[13]-are conservatively dated to at least 4,000 years ago and are said to be the basis for what became the Book of the Dead (c. 1600 BCE).[14] Yet, parts of the Book of the Dead or "BD"-the Egyptian Bible, as many have styled it-have been dated to at least 7,000 years ago as well, based on the chronology provided by the Egyptians themselves, who asserted these portions to have been so old as to have been lost by the time of the First Dynasty (c. 3100 to c. 2890 BCE).[15]

In any case, beginning at least 4,000 years ago the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BCE) were inscribed all over Egyptian pyramids, eventually to adorn the many tombs, both royal and non-royal, as well as "sarcophagi, coffins, canopic chests, papyri, stelae, and other funerary monuments..."[16] These texts continued in one form or another into the common era, some embodied into the more famous Book of the Dead and other writings such as on mummy wrappings that included portions of the BD.[17]

Beginning in the First Intermediate Period (2181-2041 BCE),[18] the mortuary literature began to be written on coffins as well, constituting the "Coffin Texts." The Coffin Texts represent a mass of "magical and liturgical spells"[19] inspired by the Pyramid Texts that were written on the coffins of wealthy but non-royal individuals. However, the Coffin Texts ranks as "far less coherent than the Pyramid Texts, for they lack a unifying point of view."[20] Numbering over 1,000, these texts constitute a result of the "[f]ear of death and longing for eternal life [that] have been brewed in a sorcerer's cauldron from which they emerge as magic incantations of the most phrenetic sort."[21] The Coffin Texts are important in that they allowed for the spread of the ideas within the Pyramid Texts, along with much material newly introduced, demonstrating not only longevity for the PT but also that the religion changed, as well as that it became pervasive and well known by even the common people.

Working with the Egyptian material is quite satisfying overall, since so much of it escaped destruction-again, much of which was deliberate. With a little teasing here and there, the secrets of the Egyptian religion yield themselves up beautifully, providing excellent primary-source data for our major contentions concerning the relationship to Christianity. Indeed, regarding the Egyptian mortuary literature, or "Books of the Netherworld," Dr. Hornung remarks: Their purpose was to provide the king with a systematic description of the world beyond death, one that followed the path of the sun after sunset through the twelve hours of the night.... Private tombs and sarcophagi of the Late Period were also decorated with copies of these works, and it is not improbable that even early Christian texts were influenced by ideas and images from the New Kingdom religious books.[22]

Thus, by the words of a major modern Egyptologist, we are encouraged to look for "ideas and images from the New Kingdom religious books" that may have influenced "early Christian texts!"

Speaking of sources, it often appears necessary to repeat that searching encyclopedias will not yield adequate results when it comes to deep research, particularly since until lately most of the encyclopedias in English were written and edited by Christians who would hardly be keen on including obvious parallels to Christ in their various entries on gods and men.[23] Moreover, flipping through encyclopedias will not make an expert of anyone; thus, caution is required when reading hasty rebuttals from fervent believers-such commentaries tend to be inadequate, representing a cursory scan by those who are rarely experts. Such interpretations may sound impressive at first to the untrained eye; however, with serious, time-consuming research digging into long-forgotten and buried archives, most if not all of these shallow encyclopedia-rebuttals can be put to rest, as demonstrated in this present work.

Egyptian Language Translations.

The most important and obvious place we may turn in our quest for data regarding the Egyptian religion is to the ancient Egyptian texts, monuments and other artifacts, including, of course, the fabled hieroglyphs, the ancient script used to describe, among other things, the many sacred concepts. In discussing the translations of these hieroglyphs, it should be kept in mind that, while some antiquated "religious" language is frequently used, there is in general not as much room for interpretation as some might aver, and the common renderings by older scholars such as Sir Dr. E.A. Wallis Budge and devout Catholic Sir Peter Le Page Renouf (1822-1897), the previous Keeper at the British Museum, tend to be fairly faithful and accurate for the most part.[24] Of course, various more modern translations represent improvements in certain areas and often may be preferable. We know this assertion concerning interpretation to be true in part because these scholars were using the keys provided by the famous Rosetta Stone (196 BCE), which included not only the Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts but also Greek, the main language along with Coptic that allowed for the Egyptian to be translated at last. The Greek language is very specific and readily translated into English, usually with little interpretation necessary. Hence, we can be relatively certain that the English renderings of the Egyptian hieroglyphs using the decoding provided by the ancient Greek translations are relatively accurate and generally require little interpretation, although at times some is necessary. Regarding the ability of modern scholars to read the Egyptian hieroglyphs, professor of Egyptology at Brown University Dr. James P. Allen (b. 1945) concludes: Since Champollion's time, Egyptologists have continually refined our knowledge of ancient Egyptian writing, words, and grammar. Except for the most obscure words, hieroglyphic texts can be read today almost as easily as those of any other known language.[25]

Thus, we can be reasonably assured when reading the various translations that we are faced with the essential intention of the writers of the original texts. In order to provide a consensus, in this present work I have used translations of not only Sirs Budge and Renouf but also several others, such as Dr. James Allen, Dr. Thomas George Allen, Dr. Samuel Birch, Dr. James Breasted, Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey, Dr. Hellmut Brunner, Dr. Raymond Faulkner, Dr. John Gwyn Griffiths, Dr. Tom Hare, Dr. Richard Hooker, Dr. Samuel Mercer, Dr. William Murnane and Neil Parker.

Even though some of the renditions may seem "outdated" because they use the archaic English pronouns "thou," "thy," "thee" and "thine," there was a method to the madness of these translators beyond simply attempting to emulate biblical verbiage: In Egyptian, like so many other languages, including French and Spanish, there were different forms for the word "you" and "yours," etc., one formal and one informal. Where the Egyptian word for "you" was formal, addressing a god or higher up, the term was translated as "thou," "thee," etc. In more modern translations this salient distinction has become lost by the uniform rendering as "you," "your" and so on. Although the modern language is more accessible, particularly to non-native speakers of English, in some instances the older form is preferable, as it reveals the sense of reverence indicated by the original Egyptian, also providing a better comparison with the equal but not exceeding reverence with which biblical figures, including God, are held.

When comparing translations, it is also important to keep in mind that various translators at times used different editions of the ancient texts, some of which possessed alterations and emendations. A study of the Egyptian texts themselves is thus eye-opening for a variety of reasons, including not only the content but also the differences from text to text over the centuries, with mistakes creeping in, transpositions changing meaning and interchangeability of characters, among other discrepancies. A careful comparison of editions reveals these discrepancies, which are at times meaningful, such that there is some leeway in the interpretation, as reflected in the translator's notes, for example, in several places in the Coffin Texts rendered by Dr. Raymond O. Faulkner (1894-1982), a professor of Egyptian language at University College London.[26] Moreover, Faulkner's notes regarding a number of Coffin Texts demonstrate that there are certain times when the writings are incomprehensible and therefore impossible to interpret in any fashion. In other words, there is at times uncertainty even with the best of translations.

In the long run, however, the painstaking work of the translators of the Rosetta Stone, Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832) and Dr. Thomas Young (1773-1829), as well as the diligent labor of many others using a wealth of texts since then, to establish an accurate understanding of the Egyptian culture, including and especially the religion, were successful enough for us to reconstruct a fairly reliable picture of what the Egyptians believed about this world and the next.

God, Man or Myth?

A major source of confusion within the field of religion has occurred because there has existed a tendency over the centuries to make gods into men and men into gods. It is therefore imperative that we develop our skills for discernment as to what is historical and what is mythical. In the case of the Egyptian gods, all of the major deities have been mythical, not historical, despite the stories that place them into history and claim they were "real people" at some point.[27] Let us take for example the Egyptian god Osiris, upon whose "life" so much of the gospel tale appears to have been based. Was Osiris ever a "real person?" Concerning Osiris, Budge remarks: ...we can see that in very primitive times Osiris passed through many forms, and that his attributes were changed as the result of the development of the minds of the Egyptians and the natural modification of their religious views. Osiris, as we know him, was a compound of many gods, and his cult represented a blending of numerous nature cults, many of them being very ancient.[28]

Nevertheless, even in ancient times the story of Osiris included his advent on what seems to be Earth, and, as related by historians Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus (c. 90-27 BCE) beginning centuries prior to the common era, many people have believed Osiris was a real person, as they have with numerous other gods and goddesses worldwide for thousands of years. Even in the modern era we find statements such as, "That Osiris was actually an ancient divine king who reigned in the Delta is now generally agreed among Egyptologists...."[29] Yet, as Renouf says, "It must be remembered...that many of the geographical localities named in the Book of the Dead have their counterparts in the Egyptian heaven."[30] In reality, Osiris is in large part a sun god, and, although there may have been real people by the same name, the figure in the myths was never a human being who lived on Earth. The tales that assert Osiris to have traveled here and there saving and civilizing humanity in fact refer to the spread of his cult or religion.[31] The same phenomenon may be claimed as concerns the tales of other gods and goddesses having supposedly walked the Earth, extending even to the story of Jesus Christ.

The tendency to make the gods into real people dates back into ancient times and was developed most notoriously by the Greek writer Euhemerus or Evemeros (c. 330/320-c. 260 BCE), who argued that the gods and goddesses of the day had been real people of old, such as kings, queens and other heroes and legendary figures. This thesis developed by Euhemerus may be called "euhemerism," "evemerism"[32] or the "evemerist position," defined as follows: Evemerism represents the perspective that many of the gods and goddesses of antiquity had been real people, such as kings, queens and other heroes and legendary figures, to whose biographies were later added extraordinary and/or supernatural attributes.

While such a development has happened as concerns a relative handful of individuals, the fact will remain that the majority of popular deities have constituted mythical entities who never were real people but who often largely represented natural and astronomical phenomena.

In his long treatise in volume V of the Moralia entitled "Isis and Osiris," Greek writer Plutarch (46-120 AD/CE) positively fumed while discussing the theories of Euhemerus/Evemeros. In his criticisms, Plutarch (23, 360A) harshly remarked: I hesitate, lest this be the moving of things immovable and not only "warring against the long years of time," as Simonides has it, but warring, too, against "many a nation and race of men" who are possessed by a feeling of piety towards these gods, and thus we should not stop short of transplanting such names from the heavens to the earth, and eliminating and dissipating the reverence and faith implanted in nearly all mankind at birth, opening wide the great doors to the godless throng, degrading things divine to the human level, and giving a splendid licence to the deceitful utterances of Euhemerus of Messene, who of himself drew up copies of an incredible and non-existent mythology, and spread atheism over the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods of our belief and converting them all alike into names of generals, admirals, and kings, who, forsooth, lived in very ancient times and are recorded in inscriptions written in golden letters at Panchon, which no foreigner and no Greek had ever happened to meet with, save only Euhemerus....[33]

As we can see, Plutarch accused Euhemerus of spreading "atheism over the whole inhabited earth." Plutarch's sentiment is well founded that reducing to human exploits the glorious cosmic dramas of the Egyptian gods and others constitutes a degradation of "things divine to the human level." In this regard, no such tendencies will appear in this present work, as we are convinced that these deities represent mythical and fabulous entities, and that, if there were any human beings named Osiris, Isis and Horus, it is not their story being told within Egyptian religion. The same contention may be made of individuals who happened to have been named "Yeshua," "Joshua" or "Jesus" during the first century of the common era-they may indeed have been real people and historical individuals, but it is not their story being told in the gospels. In fact, the most scientific and valid evidence points to an origin for Jesus Christ as mythical and fabulous as that of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman gods of the same general era and area. Moreover, in the end the evidence also demonstrates a strong connection between these various mythical entities, including and especially the gods of Egypt and the Jewish godman of Christianity.

In this regard, when the mythological layers of the gospel story are removed, there remains no core to the onion, no "real person" to point to as found in the evemerist position. To put it another way, a composite of 20 people, whether mythical, historical or both, is no one. This perspective can be called "mythicism" or the "mythicist position," which is defined as: Mythicism represents the perspective that many gods, goddesses and other heroes and legendary figures said to possess extraordinary and/or supernatural attributes are not "real people" but are in fact mythological characters. Along with this view comes the recognition that many of these figures personify or symbolize natural phenomena, such as the sun, moon, stars, planets, constellations, etc., constituting what is called "astromythology" or "astrotheology." As a major example of the mythicist position, it is determined that various biblical characters such as Adam and Eve, Satan, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, King David, Solomon and Jesus Christ, among other entities, in reality represent mythological figures along the same lines as the Egyptian, Sumerian, Phoenician, Indian, Greek, Roman and other godmen, who are all presently accepted as myths, rather than historical figures.

It should be kept in mind throughout this work that when we talk about "myth," we are not dismissing something necessarily as being "false." While it may be true that a myth never occurred in history, as a third-dimensional reality, myth nevertheless can be very profound and possess much meaning. As explained by Dr. Vincent Arieh Tobin, a professor of Classics at Saint Mary's University: ...Myth is a means of sacred revelation, a method of communication that functions through symbolic expression and has its own inner logic-a logic belonging to a realm of the mystical and metaphysical rather than to that of reason and rationality.[34]

As may have been gathered from the important work of renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), rather than serving as something "fabricated" that needs to be dismissed, mythology possesses a vital role in culture worldwide. Hence, myth has a very real purpose and meaning, which is in reality depreciated when removed from its context and placed into "history."

Who Is Gerald Massey?

In exploring the various Egyptian influences upon the Christian religion, one name frequently encountered is that of lay Egyptologist Gerald Massey (1828-1907). Born in abject poverty in England, Gerald Massey was almost entirely self-taught; yet, he was able to write and lecture about several subjects with tremendous erudition and authority. Despite his lack of formal education, Massey could read several languages, including not only English but also French, Latin, Greek and evidently Hebrew and Egyptian to a certain degree.

Massey was fortunate enough to live during an exciting time when Egyptology was in its heyday, with the discovery in 1799 of the Rosetta Stone and the subsequent decipherment of hieroglyphs in 1822 by Champollion. This monumental development allowed for the exposure to light of the fascinating Egyptian culture and religion, meaning that before that time no one could adequately read the Egyptian texts, which Massey ended up spending a considerable portion of his life studying and interpreting, and relatively little was known about the religion, for which Massey possessed a keen sense of comprehension.

In his detailed and careful analysis of the Egyptian religion, the pioneer Massey extensively utilized the Egyptian Book of the Dead-which was termed "The Ritual" by Champollion, a convention followed by Massey and others but since abandoned[35]-as well as several other ancient Egyptian sources, including the Pyramid Texts and assorted other funeral texts and stele. Massey quite evidently understood the Egyptian spirituality and was able to present it in a highly sound and scientific manner.

In these intensive and meticulous efforts, Massey studied the work of the best minds of the time-all towering figures within Egyptology, especially during Massey's era, when most of them were alive and some were familiar with his work. These celebrated authorities in Egyptology whose works Massey studied and utilized included: Sir Dr. Budge; Dr. Brugsch-Bey; Jean-Francois Champollion; Dr. Eugene Lefebure; Dr. Karl Richard Lepsius; Sir Dr. Gaston Maspero; Dr. Henri Edouard Naville; Sir Dr. William Flinders Petrie; Dr. Thomas Joseph Pettigrew; Sir Renouf; le vicomte de Rouge; Dr. Samuel Sharpe; and Sir Dr. John Gardner Wilkinson, among many other scholars in a wide variety of fields. As other examples, Massey also used the work of Sir Dr. J. Norman Lockyer, the physicist and royal English astronomer who was friends with Budge and knew Egypt well, along with that of Dr. Charles Piazzi Smyth, royal Scottish astronomer and professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. Massey further studied the work of Reverend Dr. Archibald Sayce, professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford, as well as that of famous mythologist Sir Dr. James George Frazer, although he did not agree with their conclusions. He likewise cited the work of Francois Lenormant, professor of Archaeology at the National Library of France, as well as that of comparative theologian and Oxford professor Dr. Max Muller, philosopher and Jesus biographer Dr. Ernest Renan, and Christian monuments expert Rev. Dr. John Patterson Lundy.

Gerald Massey was very influenced by the work of Dr. Samuel Birch (1813-1885), archaeologist, Egyptologist and Keeper of the Department of Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. The creator of the first alphabetically arranged Egyptian dictionary, Dr. Birch also was the founder of the prestigious and influential Society of Biblical Archaeology, to which belonged many other notables in the fields of archaeology, Assyriology, Egyptology and so on.[36] Much of this eye-opening work on comparative religion, in fact, emanated from this august body of erudite and credentialed individuals. Birch held many other titles and honors, including from Cambridge and Oxford Universities. His numerous influential works on Egypt, including the first English translation of the Book of the Dead, were cited for decades in scholarly publications.

In the "Introduction" to his book The Natural Genesis, Gerald Massey writes: The German Egyptologist, Herr Pietschmann...reviewed the "Book of the Beginnings"... The writer has taken the precaution all through of getting his fundamental facts in Egyptology verified by one of the foremost of living authorities, Dr. Samuel Birch, to whom he returns his heartiest acknowledgements.[37]

Dr. Richard Pietschmann was a professor of Egyptology at the University of Gottingen, an impressive "peer reviewer" for one of Massey's early works on Egypt. By verifying his "fundamental facts" with Birch, Massey appears to be saying that his work was also reviewed by Birch, with whom he enjoyed a personal relationship expressed in his letters. Indeed, following this statement in The Natural Genesis, in his "Retort" to various attacks he endured, Massey remarked: As I also say in my preface [to The Natural Genesis] I took the precaution of consulting Dr. Samuel Birch for many years after he had offered, in his own words, to "keep me straight" as to my facts, obtainable from Egyptian records. He answered my questions, gave me his advice, discussed variant renderings, read whatever proofs I sent him, and corrected me where he saw I was wrong.[38]

It is evident from these remarks that a significant portion of Massey's work was "peer reviewed" by the eminent Dr. Samuel Birch, a remarkable development that should be factored into the assessment of Massey's work. With such developments, it becomes evident that it is not the quality of Massey's work at issue, since it is obviously sound, but that his conclusions as to the nonhistoricity and unoriginality of the Christian religion do not sit well with his detractors. This latter fact is critically important to bear in mind when studying Massey's works, especially since he largely discovered and developed parallels between the Egyptian and Christian religions, crucial data that may have otherwise been left to lie fallow based on occupational considerations by the vested-interested professionals upon whose work Massey relied.

Massey was likewise personally friendly with Sir Lockyer (1836-1920), as well as Dr. Birch's protege Assyriologist Dr. Theophilus Goldridge Pinches (1856-1934). Naturally, among these various scholars of his era, Massey also had his critics, including, apparently, the devout Roman Catholic Renouf, who evidently was a mysterious anonymous Egyptologist who spewed calumny and vitriol at Massey, essentially calling him a lunatic. That Massey was so well known as to draw such attention and ire speaks to his efficacy, rather than his incompetence. As he himself said in his retort to such vituperation, "Such damnation is dirt cheap! Also, the time has passed for denunciation to be mistaken for disproof."[39] In his "Retort," Massey also made the following observation, which readers of this present work might wish to keep in mind as well: "I had already warned my readers that they must expect little help from those Egyptologists and Assyriologists who are bibliolaters first and scholars afterwards. Bibliolatry puts out the eye of scholarship or causes confirmed strabismus," the latter term referring to a vision disorder. "Bibliolatry," of course, refers to "Bible worship," while "bibliolaters" are "Bible worshippers."

In his scholarly works on Egypt, in addition to the available Egyptian sources, Gerald Massey utilized numerous other ancient texts, including Judeo-Christian writings such as the Bible, as well as those of early Church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome. Massey also cited non-Christian, Jewish and Gnostic writers such as Herodotus, Philo, Pausanias and Valentinus, along with writings such as the Talmud and the Hindu Puranas. Having taught himself to read not only English but also several other languages including Egyptian hieroglyphs as well as Sanskrit, providing an extensive comparison between these two languages, Massey scrutinized and interpreted the texts and monuments for himself, such as the Book of the Dead, as well as the famous zodiacs in the Temple of Dendera and the "Nativity Scene" at the Temple of Luxor, texts and images that predated the "Christian era" by centuries to millennia.[40] Regarding his abilities with the hieroglyphs, Massey states: ...although I am able to read the hieroglyphics, nothing offered to you is based on my translation. I work too warily for that! The transcription and literal renderings of the hieroglyphic texts herein employed are by scholars of indisputable authority. There is no loophole of escape that way.[41]

Thus, while Massey did read hieroglyphs and therefore worked with primary sources, knowing the contentiousness of the subject, he purposely did not rely on his own translations and interpretations but consulted repeatedly with "scholars of indisputable authority," in other words, those previously mentioned, including Dr. Samuel Birch, with whom Massey conferred personally on much of his work.

Massey was not only skilled at interpreting the Egyptian data in a highly intelligent and unusual manner, but, having been raised a Protestant Christian compelled to memorize whole sections of the Bible, he was also quite knowledgeable about the scriptures and was able to see the numerous and significant correlations between the Christian and Egyptian religions, or the "mythos and ritual," as he styled them.

Gerald Massey appears to have possessed an understanding of the spirituality and astrotheology being conveyed by the Egyptians more profound than most who have worked on the subject. As was possibly the case with the Egyptian masses to a large extent, the astronomical or astrotheological meanings behind Christianity have been lost on the majority of its adherents. Concerning this "astronomical mythology,"[42] Lockyer, the founder of the respected journal Nature, remarks: Naville rightly pointed out how vital the study of mythology becomes with regard to the advancement of any kind of knowledge of the thoughts and actions of the ancient Egyptians. Mythology, as Bunsen said, is one of the poles of the existence of every nation; hence it will be well not to neglect the opportunity thus afforded of studying the astronomical basis of one of the best-known myths.[43]

Dr. Henri Edouard Naville (1844-1926) and Dr. Christian C.J. Baron von Bunsen (1791-1860) were well-known Egyptologists, the former Swiss and the latter German. If mythology is "one of the poles of the existence of every nation," we might rightly ask, where is the Jewish mythology, if not in the Bible, with its supernatural claims and bizarre tales? Isn't the gospel tale simply more of the same "god on Earth" mythology of the past?

In any event, the case demonstrating that "astrotheology"-the reverence for the sun, moon, stars, planets and other natural phenomena-has been the main motivating factor behind major religious myths and rituals the world over can be found in my book Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled. This fact of an astrotheological foundation for major religious and spiritual concepts-so brilliantly discerned by Gerald Massey, who was far ahead of his time-is being demonstrated on a regular basis by numerous archaeological discoveries around the world.

Although Budge also has been the subject of certain criticism, in part perhaps because, like Massey, he found many parallels between Christianity and the Egyptian religion, he too had a fine grasp of the spirituality within the latter faith, and expressed it in spiritual terms usually reserved-in a culturally biased move-for the Bible. Dr. James Allen likewise possesses an exceptional understanding of the Egyptian spirituality and astrotheology, remarking upon it throughout his important works on the Pyramid Texts and Egyptian language. Regarding Egyptian nature worship, in Middle Egyptian, Allen states: Just as there are hundreds of recognizable elements and forces in nature, so too there were hundreds of Egyptian gods. The most important, of course, are the greatest phenomena.[44]

In The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Allen also says: "The Sun was the original and daily source of all life: his appearance at the creation and at every sunrise thereafter made life possible in the world."[45]

The astronomical science of the ancient Egyptians is likewise prominently displayed in the ancient astronomical papyri found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, dating from the first century BCE to the sixth AD/CE. Regarding these astronomical texts from Oxyrhynchus, Dr. Alexander Jones, a professor of Classics at the University of Toronto, remarks: The fragments tend to be of three kinds: horoscopes, numerical tables, and prose texts. Horoscopes record the positions of the sun, moon, planets, and ascendant point of the ecliptic computed for the birthdate of a person, who is often named. Positions of the heavenly bodies also appear in many of the tables ("almanacs"), computed now for not an arbitrary given date but for a succession of dates at regular intervals or determined by some other astronomical criterion.... the prose texts are also by and large concerned with knowing the positions of the sun, moon, and planets and the disposition of the heavens at specific times, or the dates and circumstances of such conspicuous phenomena as eclipses and the alternating appearances and disappearances of the planets. In contrast to the modern conception of Greek astronomy as a theoretical enterprise, the papyri portray a science that was overwhelmingly directed towards prediction....

The papyrus horoscopes give an indication of the range of dates during which astrology flourished, from the earliest horoscope, a demotic ostracon cast for a native born in 38 b.c., to the latest..., for a native born in a.d. 508.[46]