As can be seen, the motif of the star in the east and the three "wise men" or "kings" as heralds of the savior of the world was in existence long before the common era. Indeed, this stellar motif regarding the savior's birth appears repeatedly in Egyptian religion and mythology, as it can also be found in the stories of many other gods and heroes at whose births appeared bright stars, comets and other portents, such as the Hindu god Krishna,[966] the Indian sage Buddha,[967] the Persian king Mithridates and the biblical patriarch Abraham.[968] As Dr. Farrar also states: Even the Greeks and Romans had always considered that the births and deaths of great men were symbolised by the appearance and disappearance of heavenly bodies...[969]

Even the Jews depicted their coming messiah as being astrotheologically heralded, as at Num 24:17: "a star shall come forth out of Jacob." (RSV) Naturally, over the centuries Jesus has been claimed to have been this "star out of Jacob." Hence, the motif must have been in the minds of many people-possibly many millions-long prior to the common era and continuing well into it.

By whatever number, and whether or not they constitute astrotheological symbols, the presentation of gifts to the divine child by dignitaries is made plain in the various nativities scenes of Egyptian royals already examined. Based on the evidence, the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus Christ as a savior being announced by the star in the east attended by three kings represents an old pre-Christian mythical motif redressed and presented as "history."

Horus at the Ages of 12 and 30.

"Horus was the son of Seb, his father on earth. Jesus is the son of Joseph, the father on earth. Horus was with his mother the Virgin until twelve years old, when he transformed into the beloved son of God as the only-begotten of the father in heaven. Jesus remained with his mother the Virgin up to the age of twelve years, when he left her to be about his father's business. From twelve to thirty years of age there is no record in the life of Horus. From twelve to thirty years of age there is no record in the life of Jesus. Horus at thirty years of age became adult in his baptism by Anup. Jesus at thirty years of age was made a man of in his baptism by John the Baptist."

Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt (787) In addition to all of the correlations we have previously seen, another comparison between the Egyptian and Christian religions concerns significant ages of Horus that correspond to those of Jesus, for example, 12 and 30. In the gospel story it is claimed that, at the age of 12, Jesus wowed the temple elders with his precocious knowledge and wisdom. (Lk 2:42-46) Another age significant to Christ is "about 30 years," when he supposedly was baptized and started his ministry (Lk 3:22-23), dying within a year to three afterwards, depending on which conflicting gospel account one chooses to believe. Like those of Jesus, these same "ages" of 12 and 30 in the life of Horus-recalling, of course, that we are dealing with myths, not real people who actually had lives-correspond to the differences between the child and adult Horuses, naturally, but they also possess both ritual and astrotheological meaning as well.

It is odd that in the authorized (and sanitized) version of the gospel tale-claimed to be a biography of Jesus Christ-no mention is made of his early childhood or of his life between the ages of 12 and 30, when he allegedly began his ministry. Many attempts have been made to pad out this biography, with rumors of Christ's adolescence and early adulthood spent in India, Egypt or Great Britain, and with tales of his childhood recorded in apocryphal texts such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which depicts a nasty and vicious boy Jesus who strikes children dead and causes people to go blind.[970] By the standards of a historian, however, none of these efforts at creating a biography has proved scientifically successful or satisfying. Needless to say, it is beyond peculiar that while no officially sanctioned biography of these "early years" of Jesus exists, in its stead emerges a dreadful account of a cruel, young magician.

It is further disturbing that none of Jesus's alleged immediate followers-two of whom purportedly wrote the gospels accepted as "canonical"-felt any interest in the earthly life of the alleged Lord of the universe prior to his ministry. Indeed, in the gospels we are given a miniscule biographical detail that supposedly casts Christ as a "carpenter." The word for "carpenter," however, appears only once in the gospels in connection with Jesus (Mk 6:3), and this term does not necessarily indicate a carpenter per se. Indeed, the definition of the Greek word used to describe Jesus's occupation, tekton, means not only carpenter but also craftsman, metalworker, builder, artisan, poet, etc.[971] Far from being a set-in-stone biographical fact that Jesus was a carpenter-an erroneous assumption that has made it nonetheless into many movies replete with fictional details-even in ancient times his occupation was variously depicted, such as the legend that Christ was a dyer of fabrics.[972] One would think that the biographers of God's only begotten Son would have more to say about this significant part of his supposed life on Earth. Not only is this one word the only information we possess indicating Christ's earthly vocation as a "carpenter," but there is not a hint of this occupation anywhere else in Jesus's supposed speeches, in which he speaks in parables mostly of "building," as in masonry, rather than anything in carpentry-related terms. Also, in Plato's philosophy, the creator of the cosmos was said to be the tekton or "builder," as in "Grand Architect of the Universe."[973] In this regard, in the Book of the Dead (BD 166), the god Ptah, equated by the Greeks with the forger god Hephaistos, is called the "Master Craftsman,"[974] a title also applied to the "High-Priest of Ptah at Memphis."[975] Moreover, at 1 Cor 3:10, the apostle Paul labels himself the sophos architekton or "wise masterbuilder." Oddly enough, in modern Greek tekton means not carpenter or even stonemason but freemason,[976] as in the secretive brotherhood supposedly behind much of the world's shenanigans, including in the field of religion. In any event, it would seem that Jesus as tekton represents yet another borrowed mythical motif designed to make him appear to be God, in competition with Pagan divinities.

Another interesting factoid that ties Christ to Egypt through masonry appears at Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10 and Luke 20:17, in which Jesus discusses "scriptures," i.e., from the Old Testament, concerning the "stone which the builders rejected," further qualified as "the head of the corner..." (KJV) The word for "stone" here in the original Greek is lithos, which can refer to "stone" or "building stone," among others.[977] The "head of the corner" would be a cornerstone, of course. Indeed, 1 Peter 2:6 cites this passage in the gospels, after the author also quotes "scripture," i.e., a passage from the OT, specifically Isaiah 28:16. That scripture, in fact, discusses the Lord God "laying in Zion" a "stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone..." (RSV) The assumption is, of course, that Jesus is that very "precious cornerstone." The author of Ephesians 2:20 states it outright: "...Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]." (KJV) Here and in 1 Peter, the term in Greek for "cornerstone" or "chief corner" is ai[978] or akrogoniaios, literally meaning "high corner," which sounds like something at the peak of a pyramid or the "capstone." The cornerstone is one of four in a square building, but the "head" of the cornerstones could also be the peak of the pyramid. While the "head of the corner" is ambiguous as to whether or not it is a "chief cornerstone," it would be safe to assume that Jesus Christ is indeed the "chief cornerstone" or peak of a pyramid, rather than one of the four cornerstones at its base. In any event, this scripture is singularly peculiar applied to a human being, even one claimed to be God, but it would be logical if the creators of the story were part of a builders guild attempting to depict their mythical figurehead as the god of the cosmos.

In any event, the lack of an early background for Jesus tends to verify the notion that the original Christ was not a historical personage but a mythical Gnostic concept, as Docetic Gnosticism claimed that, rather than having been born, Jesus emerged fully blown out of the ethers as an adult phantasm. These facts add to the mythical air surrounding the story of Jesus Christ, and we are left with the impression that the tale as found in the New Testament and elsewhere ranks as largely if not entirely fictional, based mainly on the myths of other, preceding cultures from around the Mediterranean and beyond. Indeed, as part of this widespread mythology-which includes a number of mysteries-emerge the notable ages of 12 and 30.

In The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ, Gerald Massey describes the significance of these ages in Egypt: Jesus and Horus at 12 and at 30 years of Age.

The first Horus was the child, who always remained a child. In Egypt the boy or girl wore the Horus-lock of childhood until twelve years of age. Thus childhood ended about the twelfth year. But although adultship was then entered upon by the Sherau ["adult son"], and the transformation of the boy into manhood began, the full adultship was not attained until thirty years of age.... The god up to twelve years was Horus the son of Isis, the mother's child. The virile Horus, the adult of thirty years, was representative of the Fatherhood, and this Horus is the anointed son of Osiris. These two characters of Horus the child and Horus the adult of thirty years are reproduced in the two phases to which the life of Jesus is limited in the gospels.[979]

The rite of passage at 12 years old may have constituted one of the mysteries that were not necessarily to be divulged to the masses, the remnants of which can be found in the Jewish mitzvah rituals. The Bar Mitzvah-which may have its roots in Egypt, as do other Jewish rituals, including circumcision[980]-celebrates the 13th birthday of the boy, who at this point is considered a man. Thus, the boy at twelve years remains a child but not after that point. The female version of the ritual, the Bat Mitzvah, occurs when the girl turns twelve, the difference based on the perception of when puberty begins. In addition, in some areas the Catholic Communion has also been set to be given at the age of 12.[981] Regarding the Egyptian ritual and its migration into Christianity, Massey comments: "So was it with the gnostic Jesus. The long lock of Horus, the sign of childhood, was worn by him until he attained the age of twelve years, when he was changed into a man."[982]

In BD 18, the speaker discusses the "Great Hoeing in Tattu," to which Renouf appends a note referring to a little child with the sidelock who is supposed to "scatter the seed in the field of Osiris."[983] Per the previous discussion, the upper age limit of Horus in this passage would be 12, at which point it could be said he is "working in his Father's house," as was claimed of Jesus as well when he was 12.

In the Egyptian story of Khamuas/Khamois found on Papyrus DCIV of the British Museum appears an interesting tale about Sa-Asar, Si-Osiris or Senosiris-the "son of Osiris"-who "grew rapidly in wisdom and knowledge of magic." The tale continues: "When Si-Osiris was twelve years old he was wiser than the wisest of the scribes."[984] This story includes fantastical elements-such as a visit to the underworld-that indicate it is not historical but may well revolve around Horus, son of Osiris. Thus, in Egypt we find a similar tale as in the gospel about the "son of God" who is 12 years old and is precocious in intelligence and knowledge, besting the elders and scribes.[985]

In addition to these facts of Egyptian age-related traditions exist astrotheological meanings for the 12 and 30. In the first place, Horus was commonly viewed as the rising sun, during which time, it could be said, "He dwelt on earth as mortal Horus in the house of Seb (earth) until he was twelve years of age."[986] In the solar mythos, the "age" of 12 refers to the sun at high noon, the twelfth hour of the day, when the "God Sun" is doing his "heavenly father's work" in the "temple" or "tabernacle" of the "most high." In the Egyptian myth, the child Horus-the rising sun-becomes Re at the "age" of 12 noon, when he moves into his "Father's house," in other words, that of Re and/or Osiris, who are interchangeable, as we have seen.[987] Indeed, while the sun gods or solar epithets are interchangeable in and of themselves, in certain texts, as we have seen, Re is specifically named as Horus's father;[988] hence, the relationship here is doubly appropriate. The fact of Horus attaining so quickly to such maturity certainly may impress his elders, the older suns, as he literally becomes them. To put it another way, Horus is the sun from the time it arrives on the horizon until 12 noon, at which point he becomes Re, the father of the gods and the "father of Horus" as well.[989] It could thus be said that Horus does his father's work in the temple at the age of 12.

In The Dawn of Astronomy, Lockyer describes this process of Horus becoming Re at the hour or "age" of 12: We have the form of Harpocrates at its rising, the child sun-god being generally represented by the figure of a hawk. When in human form, we notice the presence of a side lock of hair. The god Ra symbolises, it is said, the sun in his noontide strength; while for the time of sunset we have various names, chiefly Osiris, Tum, or Atmu, the dying sun represented by a mummy and typifying old age. The hours of the day were also personified, the twelve changes during the twelve hours being mythically connected with the sun's daily movement across the sky.[990]

The various "phases" of the sun's journey were given different personalities, while remaining one entity. Hence, Horus the Child wears the side lock until 12 noon when he becomes the adult Re.

The 12/30 motif further represents, of course, the 12 signs of the zodiac dividing the circle into sections of 30 degrees each, as well as the 12 months of the year of 30 days each, the latter concept noted in the fifth century BCE by Herodotus (2.4) regarding Egypt: The Egyptians...were the first to discover the solar year, and to portion out its course into twelve parts. They obtained this knowledge from the stars.... (To my mind they contrive their year much more cleverly than the Greeks, for these last every other year intercalate a whole month, but the Egyptians, dividing the year into twelve months of thirty days each, add every year a space of five days besides...)[991]

Herodotus goes on to state that the Egyptians "first brought into use the names of the twelve gods, which the Greeks adopted from them," possibly associating these gods with the months.

Moreover, when Osiris dies at 28-around the same age legend holds Jesus begins his ministry, not too long after which he too dies violently-the number represents the days in a lunation, the end of which signals the death of the soli-lunar god. Again, the "30" also constitutes the number of days in a month. In either event, this number would signify the movement of the sun into another month or sign, representing a sort of death and rebirth, much like the death and resurrection of Jesus around the age of 30. As Massey says, "Horus as the man of thirty years is initiated in the final mystery of the resurrection. So was it with the gnostic Jesus."[992]

The Sed Festival.

Like Jesus, not only is Osiris associated with the "age" of "about 30," but so too is Horus in a very concrete, enduring and blatant fashion, in addition to obvious solar mythology and astrotheology. In this regard, in ancient Egypt there existed a celebration called the "Sed festival," which typically was supposed to take place every 30 years, yet which evidently also had been celebrated in 12-year intervals, once again demonstrating a 12/30 formula. As James Allen relates, the Sed Festival was "traditionally celebrated in the thirtieth year of a king's reign, designed to renew his vitality and power."[993] Indeed, Hornung calls it "the royal ceremony of rejuvenation."[994] The Sed Festival is very old, evidently dating to over 5,000 years ago based on a representation of it on the mace-heads of the Egyptian king Narmer.[995]

In The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt, Jane Sellers further explains the purpose of the Sed Festival: "The Sed Festival is believed to have been celebrated by the ruling Pharaoh to commemorate the anniversary of his coronation and often, but not always, occurred in the thirtieth year of his rule."[996] Sellers further describes an inscription found at a temple at Bubastis regarding the goddess Bast: "She gives Sed-Festivals of twelve years each."[997] In "The Egyptian Sed-Festival Rites," Egyptologist Dr. Eric P. Uphill (b. 1929) concludes, "The reference to twelve-year festivals is very interesting and bears out [Egyptologist Alexandre] Moret's doubts as to the exclusiveness of the thirty year period."[998]

Records indicate that the Sed festival took place not necessarily in the 30th year of the king or pharaoh's rule but at various other times as well: "...Prof. Petrie does point out and prove the astronomical reference to Sed, as a festival occurring regularly at periods of thirty years, and not in the thirtieth year of a king's reign..."[999] Frankfort concurs in showing that the Sed festival did not occur every thirty years of the reign of the king, but adds, nevertheless, that in the text of the Rosetta Stone the festival remains associated with a 30-year period: The Rosetta Stone, which calls the king ["lord of the 30-year festival"], proves the existence of a tradition connecting the festival with a thirty-year period... [1000]

The Sed is also called the "pre-eminent festival of divine kingship,"[1001] the "great festival of thirty years," and the "king's ceremonial."[1002] The celebration was apparently often associated with Horus: At the Sed festival of the king Osorkon, for example, it was proclaimed, "Horus appears,"[1003] reflecting the identification of the ruler with the god. Indeed, from the texts it is obvious that the living king/pharaoh is Horus, as previously demonstrated.

The astronomical theories regarding the 30-year period celebrated by the Sed festival are summarized thus: According to one view, it was based on the observation of Saturn's period of revolution round the sun, which is, roughly speaking, thirty years, or, more exactly, twenty-nine years and one hundred and seventy-four days. According to another view, the thirty years' period had reference to Sirius, the star of Isis. We have seen that on account of the vague character of the old Egyptian year the heliacal rising of Sirius shifted its place gradually through every month of the calendar.[1004]

The shifting of the heliacal rising of Sirius or Sothis through every month was a result of the wandering or vague Egyptian year, one such cycle of 1460 years called a "Sothic year." The celebration of "Saturn's return" represents a "renewal of kingship"[1005] and a type of rebirth, renewal or resurrection of Horus at 30 years.

Also, the Sed festival appears to be associated with a water-purification rite "connected to the hst vase," which involved "the water libation as an offering, water in general and Nile water as the source of life and guarantor of fertility in particular."[1006] In this regard, Kemp discusses an enormous T-shaped basin for "pure ritual water" dug evidently as part of the Sed festival at the site of Malkata.[1007] This fact of a water-purification associated with the 30-year renewal of the Horus-king is important to keep in mind, as it constitutes a kind of baptism at that "age."

Concerning the Sed festival and its relationship to "Osiris" (Horus) and the number 30, in The Paganism in Our Christianity, Egyptologist and Christian apologist Sir Arthur Weigall concludes: At this festival the Pharaoh was made manifest as an incarnation of Osiris, and hence there may have been some tradition that Osiris was incarnated or chosen to be Lord of mankind exactly thirty years before he attained his earthly throne as Pharaoh. ...the idea perhaps passed thus into Christian minds that the manifestation of Jesus at His baptism occurred, like a Pharaoh's Sed-festival, exactly thirty years after His divine appointment, or birth in this case...[1008]

Because the king/pharaoh becomes "the Osiris" upon his death, it is obvious why he would be identified with the god, although it is more appropriate for the living king/pharaoh to be called Horus. Thus, it would be Horus as the subject of the Egyptian tradition. In any event, the correlation between the Egyptian and Christian religions vis-a-vis the renewal or "baptism" at 30 was not lost on Weigall. As Horus is the savior reborn as an adult at 30, it could be said that he begins his "ministry" at this time, as was likewise said of Jesus.

In this important Sed festival there exists significant emphasis on boundaries and limits as well, with markers set up to outline a "ritual field," as Cambridge Egyptologist Dr. Toby A.H. Wilkinson remarks: At Saqqara these markers are arranged in pairs; on other Early Dynastic representations, such as the Narmer macehead and the ebony label of Den, they appear in sets of three. Oriented on a north-south axis, they clearly symbolise the territorial limits of the king's realm, the "field" between them representing the whole of Egypt... Clad in the tight-fitting Sed-festival robe, wearing the red, white or double crown, and carrying a flail in one hand and baton-like object in the other, the king ran or strode between the two sets of markers, reasserting his claim to the land of Egypt.[1009]

This focus on boundary-marking needs to be kept in mind, as the Greek word for "boundary" or "limit" is Horos, pronounced the same as the Greek word for Horus, which is transliterated also as Horos-a fact that did not escape the notice of ancient writers, evidently including the later Gnostics of Alexandria when they went about creating their Judeo-Greco-Egyptian amalgamation of religions. Indeed, it is obvious from his epithet "of the Two Horizons" that Horus represented boundaries, such that a connection between Horos the god and Horos the boundary would be evident and logical. In any event, this grandiose 30-year festival with its symbolic life-renewal, "baptism" and marking of royal boundaries must have been well known to the Egyptian people beginning many centuries prior and continuing right up to the common era.

With constant Sed festivals celebrating the king/pharaoh as Horus representing the "lord of the 30-year period," it seems obvious that the god was thoroughly associated in the minds of Egyptians with an "age" of 30 years, so much so that anyone attempting to usurp this old and well-established religion would need to emphasize this essential rite-of-passage age as well. The same can be said of the important "age" of 12 as applied to Horus as well.

The Gnostic Horos.

The fact that the "ages" of 12 and 30 in the Egyptian mythology and astrotheology are significant is evidenced by the focus on these numbers within the peculiar religion of Gnosticism, particularly as found at Alexandria. Regarding the origins of Gnosticism, Gnostic text expert Jean Doresse relates: There have been broadly two hypotheses about the origin of Gnosticism. Many historians have thought that this religion was merely a heresy that arose and developed within Christianity; but this theory has the defect of being hardly compatible with the facts-such as, for example, the existence of a Gnostic sect like that of the Mandeans with their essentially anti-Christian attitude. That is why other historians, seeing that there are some myths of characteristically Gnostic content which were equally well developed in both Judaism and Islam, have supposed that these various doctrines were all derived from the same stock of myth and imagery inherited from some identical source before the beginning of our era. To find this source they have looked to Egypt, to Babylonia and Persia, sometimes even to India.[1010]

In other words, the evidence reveals a form of Gnosticism independent of Christianity that utilized myths from Egypt, Babylon, Persia and India. Regarding the presence of both Egyptian and Jewish themes within Gnosticism, Doresse remarks: We were able to note, in our survey of the authentic Gnostic writings (particularly in the case of the Pistis-Sophia), that Biblical elements were associated with several Egyptian figures, some of infernal beings; but there was also, for instance, that fantastic opening of the heavens through which the Saviour and his disciples behold the ships of the sun and the moon, which belongs to a mystic conception inherited from the most ancient Pharaonic beliefs... One can clearly discern, in all this magical, alchemical, astrological literature, a competition between two rival currents of thought, one Judaizing and the other Egyptianizing.[1011]

Hence, in Gnosticism we have an apparent link between the Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Jewish and Indian cultures, with the Jewish and Egyptian battling for dominance. It is to Egyptian Gnosticism in particular that we must thus turn for our analysis of the correspondences between Egyptian faith and Christianity, which is evidently largely the result of the dynamics between the Jewish and Egyptian religions.

The Gnostic-Christian movement that sprang up in Alexandria was led by a man named Valentinus (d. 161 AD/CE?), a famous Egyptian Gnostic-Christian leader educated in that city. The Encyclopedia Britannica calls Valentinus the "most prominent leader of the Gnostic movement," also relating that he was considered for a long time to be a member of the "orthodox" church.[1012] Indeed, labeling Valentinus "a preacher of 30 gods," Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315-c. 386) indignantly objected to the fact that the Alexandrian leader was called a "Christian." Prior to his status as a Gnostic "heretic," Valentinus was thus a fervent member of orthodox Christianity, although, because the received Church history remains rife with difficulties, including the lack of evidence for the existence of an apostolic lineage-or even the apostles themselves-as well as fraud and forgery, it is difficult to determine precisely what "orthodox" meant at the time Valentinus was alive. In any event, the evidence indicates that the Gnostic movement preceded orthodox Christianity. It was the Gnostic movement that bridged between the old mythology and the new "history," which, we contend, turns out to be fiction. It was the Gnostic movement that popularized many of the mysteries, although cloaking them still in bizarre and incomprehensible language and concepts, and it is to the Gnostic movement that we may look for inferences of correlations between Paganism and Christianity. In this case, if we investigate Gnosticism as it emanated out of Egypt, in particular Alexandria, we find an odd but relatively clear indication of the relationship between the 12/30 and "Horus," which would represent the continuation of the ages-old correspondences between these numbers and the god already explored.

In order to sort out this messy mystery, we will need to examine the second century, when most of the Christian efforts began to take shape and hold, with things really heating up at the end of that period. It was, in fact, during the latter half to last quarter of the second century that the New Testament canon came into existence. Around 180, early Church father Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, France (Lugdunum of Gaul)-who from his writings appears to have been initiated into Gnosticism-first compiled the four canonical gospels into the "New Covenant," as it was often called, and gave them the names of Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Until the end of the second century, there is no clear evidence that any of the four canonical gospels as we have them even existed.[1013]

At that point, Irenaeus had his hands full of "heresy," including Docetic denials that Christ had even come in the flesh-such individuals said by Joseph Campbell to be in "that boat" with those who "began to link the Christian myth to pagan analogues."[1014] Among these groups of "heretics" Irenaeus took on were the followers of Valentinus, the Gnostic Valentinians. One of the Valentinian subsects was that of the Marcosians, followers of Marcus (fl. c. 175 AD/CE), a disciple of Valentinus. Not only did Valentinus possess a substantial following but so too did Marcus or Mark as he would be called in English.[1015]

In any event, it seems that Irenaeus's protracted skirmish with the Marcosians, who evidently had settled near the bishop in Lyons, exposed the Church father to Egyptian doctrines, which he fought with a fury, even to the extent of developing his own Judaized Egyptian mythology to battle them. Such may be one of the reasons why Irenaeus is the principal defender-and, some say, composer-of the Gospel of John,[1016] which is a highly Egyptian text. Hence, Irenaeus himself may not have made it to Egypt, but Egypt certainly came to him, and he was quite familiar with the doctrines of the Egyptian Gnostics, as well as, apparently, regular Egyptian mythology to a lesser degree.

As priests had done for millennia with many objects and elements, such as the sun, moon, stars, planets, wind, water, etc., the Gnostic effort focused on personifying various perceived powers and factors that influence life on Earth. In some ways, this Gnostic personification and reverence of natural bodies, elements and powers represent the essence of astrotheology. The personified and astrotheological ideology constituting the "Theory of the Marcosians" is described by Irenaeus in Against Heresies (4:17): ...They next reckon up ten powers in the following manner:-There are seven globular bodies, which they also call heavens; then that globular body which contains these, which also they name the eighth heaven; and in addition to these, the sun and moon. These, being ten in number, they declare to be types of the invisible Decad, which proceeded from Logos and Zoe. As to the Duodecad, it is indicated by the zodiacal circle, as it is called; for they affirm that the twelve signs do most manifestly shadow forth the Duodecad, the daughter of Anthropos and Ecclesia. And since the highest heaven, beating upon the very sphere [of the seventh heaven], has been linked with the most rapid precession of the whole system, as a check, and balancing that system with its own gravity, so that it completes a cycle from sign to sign in thirty years,-they say that this is an image of Horus, encircling their thirty-named mother. And then, again, as the moon travels through her allotted space of heaven in thirty days, they hold, that by these days she expresses the number of the thirty aeons. The sun also, who runs through his orbit in twelve months, and then returns to the same point in the circle, makes the Duodecad manifest by these twelve months; and the days, as being measured by the twelve hours, as a type of the invisible Duodecad. Moreover, they declare that the hour, which is the twelfth part of the day, is composed of thirty parts, in order to set forth the image of the Triacontad. Also the circumference of the zodiacal circle itself contains three hundred and sixty degrees (for each of its signs comprises thirty); and thus also they affirm, that by means of this circle an image is preserved of that connection which exists between the twelve and the thirty. Still further, asserting that the earth is divided into twelve zones...[1017]

In this pithy paragraph from an important Church father we thus find "Horus," the 12 and the 30 all neatly connected, along with a mass of astrotheological ideation. For example, in this Valentinian/ Marcosian Gnostic system appear the "Seven Heavens," an old concept from other mythologies, including the Babylonian and Jewish.[1018] "Zoe" is life personified, while the "Logos," or Word personified, heavily promoted as Jesus in the Gospel of John, originated long before the common era and was symbolized by the sun. In the 4th-5th centuries BCE, the Greek philosopher Plato essentially equated the sun with reason, another definition of "logos," saying that "reason cannot discern the things of the ideal world without the light of truth," the latter being that which emanates from the sun, ideas replicated in the works of Alexandrian-Jewish philosopher Philo.[1019] In any event, Plato's point is that those who stumble around in darkness rely upon opinion, while those who are in the light use reason.

Furthermore, in "On Dreams" (De Somniis), ch. 15, Philo remarks of Moses's discussion of the sun in Genesis: "But according to the third signification, when he speaks of the sun, he means the divine word..." The "fourth signification of the sun," according to Philo, "is the God and ruler of the universe himself."[1020] These astrotheological notions explained by a famed Jewish philosopher rank as highly significant.

Moreover, it is important to bear in mind that Philo is basically aligning Judaism with Greek thought dating back centuries before the common era, and that he was a very wealthy and influential individual whose voluminous books were widely distributed and read by many people, beginning within his lifetime. In addition, Philo lived and wrote before Christianity took root. Indeed, it is evident that, because of his widely distributed works covering numerous religious and spiritual concepts that are clearly present in the later Christian effort, Philo is a major key to unlocking Christian origins. Not only were Philo and his family wealthy, but they were also therefore naturally well connected: When the Roman politician and emperor-to-be Vespasian (9-79 AD/CE) visited Egypt, he was accompanied also by Philo's rich nephew, who was the prefect of Egypt at that time-in fact, this very wealthy nephew spent a significant amount of time with Vespasian and Titus, even serving as a commander during the Jewish war, in which Titus destroyed Jerusalem! This type of alliance was at the genesis of Christianity, as we shall see.

In any case, concerning the logos and the sun, John Fellows concludes, "Logos is the same as Osiris, the sun, considered as the Demiurgus, the maker of the world, under the direction of the Supreme Being."[1021] Hence, we see a smooth transition developing between the logos, the sun, Osiris, Horus and Jesus.

The "highest heaven" in the Alexandrian Gnostic system as summarized by Irenaeus "completes a cycle from sign to sign in thirty years," which sounds like the period of the Sed festival, while "Duodecad" constitutes a body of 12, as in the zodiac and months of the year. "Anthropos" means "Man," as in the species, but stands for the "Supreme God" as well,[1022] while "Ecclesia" is Church personified. The "thirty-named mother" who is also the moon doubtlessly represents the Gnostic rendition of Isis, called elsewhere "Sophia," or personified Wisdom. As Witt says regarding Isis, "She could be the personification of Wisdom (Sophia) and Philosophy."[1023] In discussing the apocryphal biblical text the "Wisdom of Solomon," Mojsov opines that the author must be of the Alexandrian school of thought who "introduced Sophia or Wisdom as the intermediary between the god of the Old Testament and his people..."[1024] Concerning Wisdom personified, Mojsov also states: The similarity of Sophia to Isis also points to an Egyptian inspiration. In Christianity, the role of Sophia was taken over by Mary.[1025]

Like the "thirty names," the "Triacontad" or "Thirty," including as "Aeons"-a word typically meaning ages-symbolize days in the month. The "Twelve," of course, constitute the months of the year, the signs of the zodiac and the hours of the day and night each, a figure, naturally, is based on the equal length of day and night at the equinoxes. As we can see, in the Gnosticism of Alexandria, the 12/30 motif is abundant, as is its relationship to both "Isis" and "Horus," the latter of whom is also associated with Horos, as the Logos, by way of the solar significance of both.

Interestingly, elsewhere in Against Heresies (1:3.2), Irenaeus remarks upon the number twelve as the age of the Lord while teaching in the temple, equating it with the "Aeons," of which there are 12 and which have likewise been identified with the signs of the zodiac: The production, again, of the Duodecad of the aeons, is indicated by the fact that the Lord was twelve years of age when He disputed with the teachers of the law, and by the election of the apostles, for of these there were twelve.[1026]

We can thus see also that the association of the "age" of 12 with a Gnostic and astrotheological concept occurred early in Christian history, even by such an orthodox Church father as Irenaeus. In Irenaeus's writings also occurs a rebuttal of those who had attempted to associate Jesus's baptism at 30 with the 30 Aeons, in a treatise entitled, "The thirty aeons are not typified by the fact that Christ was baptized in His thirtieth year: He did not suffer in the twelfth month after His baptism, but was more than fifty years old when He died." In this polemic, Irenaeus rails against these notions in language so Gnostic that it is apparent he himself received education and indoctrination in that peculiar and mysterious system. In this paragraph too we have a reflection of the 12/30 formula, as applied to Jesus in ancient times, such that the Church father needed to refute it. We also see that Irenaeus argues an age of "more than fifty" at which Jesus supposedly suffered his passion, contradicting the synoptic gospels and received Christian tradition but evidently interpreting the gospel of John (8:57), in which the evangelist places Jesus as "not yet fifty years old," to indicate that Jesus was over 50 at his death.

The word "Horus" in Irenaeus's discourse on the Marcosians, in which he relates that "they say that this is an image of Horus, encircling their thirty-named mother," is often translated as "Limit," after the Greek word Horos or . The term for the god Horus used by Plutarch (38, 366A) and other Greek writers was in fact -Horos.[1027] While pronounced the same, the two words are spelled differently in Greek, the term for "limit" or "boundary" starting with the Greek letter omicron (""), while the Egyptian god's name begins with an omega ("").[1028]

Nevertheless, the word for "hour" or "limited time" is -hora-beginning with an omega, which would indicate that all three terms are cognates, especially since Horus himself has been identified with time, having been said to be the originator of 12 hours or /hores in the Greek, a word claimed by Horapollo to come from Horus's name.[1029] Plutarch (38, 366A) also noted the correspondence between Hora and Horus, remarking: "The all-conserving and fostering Hora, that is the seasonable tempering of the surrounding air, is Horus..."[1030] Plutarch's word "Hora" is the same as that above, referring to a time period as well as a season or climate. Furthermore, the past tense of the ancient Greek verb "to limit"--is , with an omega, the same as in the name Horus.

As we have seen, the Horus-king was associated with "limits" and "boundaries" during the Sed festival, but he was also linked with these factors even in Egyptian mythology: A limit is posed to Seth, "the enemy of boundaries": sometimes his share is the sky and sometimes the sedge country or the papyrus country, and sometimes the red land. He has to be separated from Horus to prevent further disasters.[1031]

Horus's nemesis, Set, the "enemy of boundaries," is to be limited-Set is the enemy of boundaries or horos, as is the word "boundary" in Greek. Horos also means "limit," which Set is to undergo. Horos himself is the dividing line that separates Set from him. In the sun hymns too we find an echo of the discussion of the limits of creation being "subjected to" Re's "beloved son": "As Re you penetrate to its limits, And subject them to your beloved son..."[1032] Basically, this hymn says that Re penetrates the whole of creation to its limits, while Horus is "subjected to" either the sun's rays or creation's limits. In CT Sp. 1035, the "paths of Osiris" are "in the limit of the sky."[1033] Also, in CT Sp. 1075, the speaker-apparently as Horus-proclaims," I am he who limited the flood, "[1034] while in CT Sp. 1184 appears another reference to him "who limited the flood," in a context that indicates the speaker is identified with Horus.[1035] Horus is thus "the Limiter." The Egyptian Horus myth full of Horos may well have served at least partially as a prototype for the Gnostic myth.

As we may have expected, according to Doresse, the Gnostic Seth also was "originally an Egyptian god."[1036] Doresse further states: ...We can read, in Plutarch's treatise on Isis and Osiris ( 30-33 and 49-50), an exegesis of the mythical relations between Seth and Osiris, derived from sources which seem to have been quite authentically Egyptian, in which we find what is almost a Gnostic dualism.[1037]

With all these facts, and with the previously determined knowledge and popularity of Horus, we have good reason to believe that the Alexandrian Gnostics deliberately based their system on Egyptian mythology, using the Greek terminology for the gods and, as notoriously fond of word-play, being well aware of the double meaning of the term horos. Indeed, it would appear that the Alexandrian Gnostics were likewise well aware of Plutarch's association of hora and Horus when they created the character of Horos, evidently based on both. The Encyclopedia Britannica lends credence to this hypothesis, stating: "A figure entirely peculiar to Valentinian Gnosticism is that of Horos (the Limiter). The name is perhaps an echo of the Egyptian Horus."[1038]

In this regard, A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines defines "Horus" thus: HORUS (). According to the doctrine of Valentinus, as described by Irenaeus...the youngest Aeon Sophia, in her passion to comprehend the Father of all, runs the danger of being absorbed into his essence, from which she is saved by coming into contact with the limiting power , whose function it is to strengthen all things outside the ineffable Greatness, by confining each to its appointed place. According to this version Horus was a previously existing power; but according to another, and apparently a later account, Horus is an Aeon only generated on this occasion at the request of all the Aeons, who implored the Father to avert a danger that threatened to affect them all.[1039]

In a lengthy entry consistently using the term Horus-while insisting that it had nothing to do with the Egyptian god, perhaps protesting too much-this dictionary goes on to explain that in the version by Church father Hippolytus (d. c. 236) the Aeon Horus is called by his "primary title," Stauros, meaning "cross." Hence, in ancient times-during the second century, precisely when Christianity was finding its footing-there existed in Egypt the concept of Horus as the Cross personified.

This same concept can be found in Tertullian's work Against the Valentinians (chap. 9): But when Sophia, straining after impossible aims, was disappointed of her hope, she is both overcome with difficulty, and racked with affection. Thus she was all but swallowed up by reason of the charm and toil (of her research), and dissolved into the remnant of his substance; nor would there have been any other alternative for her than perdition, if she had not by good luck fallen in with Horus (Limit). He too had considerable power. He is the foundation of the great universe, and, externally, the guardian thereof. To him they give the additional names of Crux (Cross), and Lytrotes (Redeemer,) and Carpistes (Emancipator).[1040]

The antiquity of Horos and Stauros as pre-Christian philosophical concepts can be demonstrated by the discussion of them as "the limit" and "the intersection" in Plato's Timaeus (35 A-36 D).[1041] Doresse discusses this Platonic passage: ...Plato imagines the creation by the Demiurge of the circles of "the same" and of "the other"-i.e., of the celestial equator and of the ecliptic intersecting in the form of a cross. Taking over this notion, the Gnostics saw this imaginary cross, traced upon the celestial vault which is the utmost bound of our eyesight, as "the limit" separating the higher universe from the material world in which we are confined. A Christian interpretation of this idea, analogous to that which Valentinus develops, is already to be found in the Apology of St. Justin (I. 60) who puts it this way-"Plato with a cross upon the universe."[1042]

Doresse calls the theme of the Cross and the Limit "one of the most classic Gnostic doctrines,"[1043] reflecting the influence of the Alexandrian movement upon Gnosticism. This "Horos and the Cross" motif was evidently popular yet constituted a mystery, about which we shall see more later.

In discussing the random mix-up of Horos/Horus the Egyptian god and Horos/Horus the Gnostic Limit, the fact will remain that a speaker of Greek would hear virtually the same sound when either word was spoken. This fact could not have failed to be noticed-or, indeed, to be used in a deliberate contrivance-by the Greek-speaking creators of Valentinian Gnosticism. It could thus be asserted logically and reasonably that the Alexandrian Gnostic creation was intentionally based on the highly popular Egyptian religion and mythology.

The characteristics and epithets ascribed to "Horos the Limit" need to be kept in mind, as they appear to be reflective of more or less esoteric knowledge-mysteries-also associated with the Egyptian god Horus. Based on what we have already discovered concerning the motifs from Egyptian religion evidently copied into Christianity, we have reason to suspect that there are more, including the determination of the god Horus as the "foundation of the great universe," as well as his association or identification with the Cross. Other epithets such as "Redeemer" or Emancipator" would likewise be appropriate for Horus the sun god. Furthermore, by the way in which Sophia is demoted and usurped in her power by Horos, it would appear that this Gnostic effort was also meant to denigrate Isis and the Goddess in general by promoting a male divinity in her stead, i.e., Horos/Horus.

The identification of the Egyptian myth with the Valentinian one is plainly laid out by Dr. Michel Tardieu, director of l'Institut d'Histoire des Christianismes Orientaux at the College de France: The Egyptian myth in its Greek reinterpretation of the wanderings and tears of Isis, who is searching for her twin brother and lover Osiris (Plutarch, Moralia, 356a-358b), served as the starting point for the Valentinian myth of the wanderings and tears of Sophia, abandoned to the sorrows of this world, "a supplicant to the Father," because she has lost the unity of her origin and suffers from love of her twin... The child of Isis, Horus (=Harpocrates), "debased by matter through the bodily element" (Moralia 373b3-4), corresponds to the deformed offspring of the Valentinian Sophia, and is described as "substance disorganized and without form"... Just as Isis is called "the seeking of Osiris,"... Sophia is "the seeking of the Father,"...[1044]

Concerning Sophia's deformed offspring, professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School Dr. Karen L. King remarks: It also reflects parthenogenic activity on the part of the gods and goddesses. Hera's jealousy over Zeus's production of Athena leads to the birth of Hephaesto. According to one version of the myth, she throws him out of heaven because of his deformity.[1045]

Hence, again we find a discussion of "parthenogenesis" or virgin birth.

As we can see, it is the opinion of Dr. Tardieu that Valentinian Gnosticism was based in significant part on the Egyptian religion and mythology, filtered through the Greek mind via Plutarch. This point is singularly important, as it provides a smooth link between various Egyptian concepts and those found in the later orthodox Christianity.

As a further comparison, in section 27 (361D), Plutarch speaks of Isis's "manifold deeds of wisdom,"[1046] the latter term being sophia in Greek. Later (41, 367E), Plutarch states, "In fact, the actions of the moon are like actions of reason and perfect wisdom."[1047] The word for "reason" is logos, while the term for "wisdom," of course, is sophia. Plutarch (52, 372D) further relates that "there are those who declare that Isis is none other than the Moon."[1048] Hence, it could be said that "Isis's actions are like those of Logos and Sophia," a very Gnostic sounding statement.

Expert on "Gnosticism" Dr. Michael A. Williams, chairman of the Department of Comparative Religion at the University of Washington, likewise analyzes the equation of Sophia with Isis in Plutarch, tracing inferences of the association to Philo: ...Plutarch also equates Isis with the "receptacle" of Plato's Timaeus (49A, etc.), that is to say, with matter, and as such she receives the imprints of the Logos, Osiris (372E-373B). Isis seems to bear features similar to those of Wisdom or Sophia as found in Philo's writings, and this results in "an entity which is on the one hand fallen and imperfect, though filled with longing for completion by the logos of God, while on the other being the cause of our creation and the vehicle by which we can come to know God," which means that for Plutarch Isis plays a role analogous to the gnostic Sophia.[1049]

As we shall see, Philo's development of the Word bears a striking resemblance to Jesus as the Logos in the gospel of John, which by all evidence was written long after the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher lived.

Regarding the connection between the Egyptian religion, Gnosticism and Christianity, Dr. Bishai states: ...the Copts of Egypt during the early Christian centuries were known for their massive production of Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. This characteristic of the early Copts should not be surprising to us in light of the evidence of gnostic influence on the early Coptic Christian thought. The gnostics were literate people and well acquainted with ancient religions and mythology. As Christianity was spreading in Egypt, a group of these gnostic Christians apparently made an effort to tie old Egyptian myths to Christian beliefs.[1050]

Bishai next reminds us of the assertion by Egyptologist Bleeker that "a number of gnostic conceptions go back to ancient Egyptian religious thought." In this same regard, Witt provides further, archaeological evidence: The fusion of Horus with Judaeo-Christian features can be exemplified on Gnostic gems from Egypt. On one of these the deity Iao (to be connected no doubt with the Iah of the Pentateuch) is seen standing on a crocodile....

In the theology and art of Gnosticism Horus and Christ could easily be blended. One of the Gnostic sects indeed labelled itself "Carpocratian" and in general they propounded cosmologies in terms of "Aeons", the final and perfect Aeon being Jesus Christ. Those who bore the name Peratae in their astrological theories recognized the rule of Isis and Osiris over the hours, which Horus as the God of Time created. The Valentinian Gnostics can plausibly be said to have evolved a doctrine in which Isis fulfils the role of Sophia and Horus/Harpocrates that of Logos. As to the term Aeon, we learn from Epiphanius, who produced his massive anti-heretical treatise at the end of the fourth century, that among the pagans at Alexandria Horus/Harpocrates was the Aeon par excellence. Aeon/Horus was born of the Virgin Isis on 6 January. Clearly in the Gnosticism which fringed Christian orthodoxy Horus and Christ could merge.[1051]

In this pithy paragraph from a well-respected, modern scholar emerge a number of intriguing assertions that validate previous observations made here. Firstly, we discover there are archaeological artifacts from Egypt that demonstrate the Gnostic merging of Horus with Jesus. Secondly, we read that Sophia is Isis, and Horus is the Logos/Word, in the Alexandrian Gnostic system. But he could also be Horos, in his similar function as concerns time. We have already seen how the pertinent part of Epiphanius's work in which he discusses the virgin birth of "Aion" was edited out of the Migne Greek edition-here Witt contends that Epiphanius was referring to the virgin birth of Horus and that the Valentinians had incorporated Horus the Egyptian god into their system. We would add to Witt's final assessment that it was not only within the "fringe" Gnostic movement that Horus and Christ could merge but that within Orthodox Christianity as well did Horus serve as a prototype for the Jesus character.

The relationship between Isis and Osiris is also reflected in the doctrine of the "Gnostics of Irenaeus," who held that Sophia and Christos were brother and sister.[1052] Another occurrence of the incorporation of Egyptian mythology into Gnosticism happened with the god Khnum, Kneph or Kem-atef, who was reworked into the gnostic Chnubis, a serpent with a lion's head surrounded by a halo or "crown of thorns," which surely represents another astrotheological/solar motif.[1053] One more analogy may be found in the goddess Nut, whose body arches across the sky and who "prefigures that episode in the Gnostic cosmologies where Sophia, striving to extricate herself from the abyss of matter into which she has fallen, creates the firmament in a similar manner."[1054]

One Gnostic group, the Peratae-whom Doresse says were "very specially addicted to astrology"[1055]-overtly incorporated Osiris, Isis and Horus into their ideology, possibly even as the central focus, although, naturally, they attempted to usurp the Egyptian religion by disparaging its followers, calling them "the ignorant," for example, for deeming the "ruler of the twelve hours of the night" Osiris, when in fact his name was Soclan.[1056] Doresse avers that "Soclan" is in reality the god Sokar, who is identified with Osiris. Doresse likewise recognizes in the Peratae's position an acknowledgement of Isis and Osiris as "rulers of the hours of the day and of the night, represented respectively by the Day Star (Sothis, i.e., Sirius) and by the constellation of Osiris."[1057] These Peratae were associated in the Philosophumena (V) by Church father Hippolytus with both astrology and the Greek Mysteries, and Doresse finds in their ideology other allusions to classical Greek mythology as well.[1058] Concerning the Gnostic reliance on Egyptian mythology as found in the Gnostic texts discovered at Chenoboskion, Egypt, Doresse further remarks: ...the hell of our Coptic writings retains not only the Egyptian name of Amente (that is, the Occident), but also its population of fantastic demons. Finally, the passwords and the seals that our sectaries thought would give their souls safe conduct through the planetary spaces are much the same in spirit as the formulas by which the deceased Egyptian had always had to protect himself, since the days of the Pyramid texts until the latest of the Books of the Dead.[1059]

Thus, according to Doresse the Gnostic-Christian Coptic texts are clearly influenced by Egyptian religion, a logical conclusion. The word "Amente" or "Amenta," etc., was "originally the place where the sun set," which was subsequently deemed "Hades" by the Copts.[1060]

From the abundant evidence, including texts and archaeological artifacts, it seems obvious that the Alexandrian Gnostic creators of this myth were well aware of what they were doing and that they were intentionally rewriting the Egyptian mythology, attributing Greek meanings to the translated names of the deities. In any event, the ancient 12/30 theme is quite apparent within Gnosticism, as is its relationship to Egyptian mythology, via the Gnostic interpretation. It is further evident the Gnostics were attempting to preserve hidden, esoteric and difficult-to-understand knowledge-gnosis meaning "knowledge"-in their bizarre creations, including information regarding the Egyptian god Horus that may have been available to initiates but not necessarily to the public at large.

From these Gnostic endeavors and the concerted effort by early Church fathers to debunk them it is obvious that the numbers 12 and 30 were highly significant in rituals and mysteries around the Mediterranean during and preceding the period when Christianity truly began to be formulated. The origin of this reverence for these numbers-and the mystics among us, including such luminaries as Plato and Philo, whose philosophies were unquestionably incorporated into both Gnostic and Orthodox Christianity, have always been fascinated by so-called sacred numbers-likely lies mainly with the 12 months of the year divided into 30 days each, to equal 360 days, as well as the same division concerning the degrees of a circle, especially as regards that of the zodiac.[1061] It is further evident that these two numbers were associated with Horus, as ages or periods involved in rites of passage, in festivals, in both, or for some other reason. In any event, it has been proved that Horus was associated with the important "ages" of 12 and 30, like Jesus, but long prior to the Christian era.

"Anup the Baptizer"

"For washing is the channel through which [the heathen] are initiated into some sacred rites-of some notorious Isis or Mithras. The gods themselves likewise they honour by washings."

Tertullian, On Baptism, V (9) "How natural and expressive the symbolism of exterior washing to indicate interior purification was recognized to be, is plain from the practice also of the heathen systems of religion. The use of lustral water is found among the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Hindus, and others."

Catholic Encyclopedia, "Baptism" (II, 260) "Baptism is a very ancient rite pertaining to heathen religions, whether of Asia, Africa, Europe or America. It was one of the Egyptian rites in the mysteries."

James Bonwick, Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought (416) "The Egyptian baptismal rite has its origins in the Heliopolitan worship of the sun early in the Pyramid Age. The Egyptians believed that each morning the sun passed through the waters of the ocean before being reborn, emerging purified and revitalized. The ritual baptism of the pharaoh each morning symbolized this event and renewed life and vigor of the recipient."

Dr. Richard A. Gabriel, Gods of the Fathers (184) "...all religious ceremonies of Pharaonic times, whether performed on behalf of a deity, a deceased noble, or the living king, were prefaced by some act of ritual cleansing..."

Sir Dr. Alan H. Gardiner, "The Baptism of Pharaoh," The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 36 (3) One parallel between the Horus and Jesus myths which causes much controversy is the contention that Horus was "baptized" by a character named "Anup the Baptizer," corresponding to the baptism of Jesus by "John the Baptist." This comparison between Anup and John has been extrapolated for a variety of reasons, including the many other correlations between the Egyptian and Christian religions, which need to be kept squarely in mind. In this regard, "Christian" terminology has been utilized to describe what was found in the ancient Egyptian texts and monuments, as well as elsewhere around the Roman Empire during the era. Moreover, one must also remember that the Egyptian gods-particularly Isis-were highly popular around the Roman Empire by the time Christianity was created. With this famed goddess Isis came her entourage, including one of her most faithful attendants, the mysterious god Anubis, also called "Anup" or "Anpu."