A millennium and a half or so after the Book of the Dead was first compiled, the Greek historian Herodotus (2.42) discussed major Egyptian deities, such as Osiris and Isis, who, during the historian's time, were "worshipped by everyone throughout Egypt," demonstrating the continued massive popularity of the Egyptian religion.[135] Herodotus (2.47) further related that the Egyptians equated Osiris with the Greek god Dionysus, stating, "The only deities to whom the Egyptians consider it proper to sacrifice pigs are Dionysus and the Moon."[136] Regarding these deities, Herodotus editor Marincola notes: "Dionysus is Osiris, the Moon (Selene) is Isis."[137] Herodotus (2.144, 156) also identified Horus as the Greek sun god Apollo.[138] This identification of the hawk-headed Horus with Apollo rates as appropriate, as the latter had been associated with the hawk centuries before in The Odyssey (15.526) by Homer (9th cent.?), who styled the bird "Apollo's swift messenger."[139] Beyond these mentions in his long treatise on Egypt, Herodotus does not spell out any comprehensive myths of Osiris, Isis and Horus. Nevertheless, in book 2, chapter 61, the Greek historian appears to imply that there are mysteries of Osiris that he cannot relate,[140] which may refer to assorted myths, motifs and rituals not readily disclosed to the masses. Later in his book (2.171), while discussing the lake near Athena's temple at Sais, Herodotus clearly raises the mysteries, disclaiming that he will not address them further: It is on this lake that the Egyptians act by night in what they call their Mysteries the Passion of that being whose name I will not speak. All the details of these performances are known to me, but-I will say no more.[141]

Indeed, mysteries are often raised in the Egyptian texts: For example, in the Coffin Texts we find mention of "the private matters of the god...in the secret places" (CT Sp. 1099).[142] Also in the Coffin Texts, opening the windows on "the Ennead" or nine principal gods will allow the Osiris to "see the mysteries which are in them..."[143] The mysteries are also mentioned in numerous places in the Book of the Dead, such as at BD 168, discussing the "gods of the tenth cavern in the Netherworld, who cry aloud and whose mysteries are holy."[144] Around 1360 BCE, Amenhotep/Amenhotpe "son of Hapu" referred in an inscription to his own association with the mysteries of "the transfigurations of Thoth."[145] The "true names" of Egyptian gods likewise represented secrets or hidden "mysteries."[146]

As part of the mysteries appear sacred texts comprising hymns to the sun, categorized by Assman as one of three groups of such writings: "Texts of an esoteric body of knowledge." [147] Included in these sacred sun hymns were the "standard texts" that were "not secret or esoteric." As the German scholar continues, "The sun cult must have had an exoteric side that enabled the lay person to participate in it."[148] In his analysis of the sun hymns from the New Kingdom, Assman sifted through some 500 texts, reflecting the abundance of such sacred writings concerning the Egyptian solar religion. In a chapter entitled, "The Mysteries of the Sun Cult," in describing the "tripartite form" of the New Kingdom solar cult, the professor remarks that the first part comprises "a closely guarded secret cosmology, depicted in royal tombs as 'underworld books' for the use of the king in the afterlife."[149] The second part constitutes a "set of hymns located in countless non-royal tombs, which praise the solar journey in its polytheistic form," while the third form is a "sort of monotheism that regards the sun as the natural manifestation of the uniqueness of god..."[150] Some of these mysteries were likely carried out in sacred areas such as crypts, an indication of a "secret cult."[151] Despite the precautions to preserve them as secrets or mysteries, the hymns of the secret sun cult "did find their way out of this cult into the wider non-priestly circles of the population."[152]

One of the priestly commentators who may have passed along mysteries and secrets was an Egyptian priest of the sun god Re at Heliopolis named Manetho (3rd cent. BCE), who wrote in Greek about the Egyptian gods. Since his works have all been lost or destroyed, we must rely on the descriptions thereof by other ancient writers, including Plutarch (28, 362A) and the Jewish historian of the first century AD/CE, Josephus (Apion 1.16, et al.), the latter of whom informs us that Manetho claimed to have based his work on "Egyptian records," such as oral traditions, "priestly writings" and other documents.[153] In his histories, Manetho styled the gods by their Greek names, also equating Horus with Apollo, for example.[154] Over the centuries, it has been claimed that Manetho was an adept and expert in the Egyptian mysteries. Indeed, Manetho is called by the Christian monk George Syncellus (9th cent. AD/CE) the "High Priest and Scribe of the Mysteries of the Temple,"[155] while Plutarch too related that the Egyptian was the high priest of the mysteries as Heliopolis. Hence, the destruction of his work may have been committed in order to hide these mysteries and their use in the later Christian effort. It may well be that Manetho's work was utilized centuries later by the Assyrian philosopher Iamblichus (c. 245-c. 325 AD/CE), in his extensive discourse on The Mysteries,[156] in which the mystic says about Osiris's center of worship, "The mysteries in Abydos are never disclosed" (VI.7) [157]

During the first century BCE, the Greek writer Diodorus Siculus likewise related that Osiris was the sun and Isis the moon, remarking that the god was called "many-eyed" because of his rays. In The Antiquities of Egypt (1.11), Diodorus further comments, "Some of the early Greek mythologists call Osiris 'Dionysus' and also, changing the word slightly, 'Sirius'...."[158] Diodorus (1.13) also addresses the five intercalary days added to the end of the old 360-day calendar and identified as the birthdays of the gods "Osiris and Isis, Typhon [Set], Apollo [Horus], and Aphrodite [Nephthys]."[159] In the same book and chapter, the historian further associates Isis with the Greek goddess Demeter or Ceres, the virgin earth mother who gave birth to Persephone or Kore.[160] Lending greater antiquity to Diodorus's assertions, Catholic Church historian Eusebius (c. 260-c. 341 AD/CE) indicated that in chapters 11-13 the Sicilian historian was essentially summarizing the work of Manetho.[161] Giving further credence to Herodotus's comments about Egyptian mysteries, Diodorus (1.20, 23) also refers several times to "sacred rites," "mysteries" and "mystical rites" in association with Egyptian gods, including and especially Osiris and Isis.[162] In fact, after describing inscriptions on two ancient stelae in "Nysa of Arabia" that supposedly marked the deities' graves, Diodorus (1.27) comments: They say that only this much of the writing on the columns is legible and that the rest, the larger part, has been effaced by time. Be that as it may, most writers disagree over the burial place of the two gods. This is because the real facts in the case were handed down in secret tradition by the Egyptian priests, who cared neither to share the truth with the populace, nor to incur the retribution threatened for any who should reveal the mysteries of these gods to the vulgar.[163]

In many locations, the penalty for divulging the mysteries was death, so it is obvious why the Egyptian priests and initiates would shy away from doing so. While these secret rites changed from place to place and era to era, some of the characteristics, myths, motifs, symbols and rituals discussed in this present work undoubtedly constituted Egyptian mysteries not to be revealed to the vulgar masses, which is one reason they are not tidily laid out in an ancient encyclopedia-a point that needs to be emphasized. Paradoxically, at times what are termed "mysteries" are nevertheless made public during festivals that reenacted myths, for instance.[164] Throughout this book, however, it needs to be kept in mind that both phenomena occurred at once, as they do to this day within Christianity as well, which possesses both esoteric and exoteric mysteries.

In any event, the path to a unified myth leads to Greek historian Plutarch, who also refers to the "divine mysteries" ( ) and "Mysteries" ( , ) on a number of occasions (Iside, 3, 352A; Obs. Or., 13, 417A; 14, 417B).[165] In creating his famous treatise on "Isis and Osiris"-in which he recounted the composite myth of the most popular Egyptian gods of the time, stating that Osiris was the sun and Isis the moon-Plutarch was himself evidently compelled to pull together characteristics from numerous sources, including papyri and inscriptions, from a wide era. Thus, prior to Plutarch's time it appears there existed few comprehensive sources for the various myths surrounding these deities. Because Christianity was unknown to Plutarch, he naturally would not have factored it into his analysis by couching his narrative of the myth in Christian terms. We, however, are very aware of the gospel story, as well as the assertion that it too was based largely on the Egyptian mythos and ritual. Hence, in our comparisons we will summarize the Egyptian influence on Christianity in terms of how its successor and borrower-the Christian myth-itself reworked the Egyptian myths and rituals into a composite tale.

Who Is Horus?

Many of the salient and fascinating parallels between the Christian and Egyptian religions revolve in particular around the highly important god Horus, son of the famed god Osiris and goddess Isis, who, again, were said by Herodotus (2.42) five centuries before the common era to be "worshipped by everyone throughout Egypt."[166] The significance of Horus, or "Heru" in the Egyptian, cannot be overestimated, for a variety of reasons, including that he was the morning sun and often the speaker in the mortuary literature, as well as the priest conducting the afterlife rituals, along with the living pharaoh/king, as we shall see. As the great healer who himself is resurrected from the dead, Horus was likewise the patient him or herself in the Egyptian healing rituals, meaning that wherever the Isiac cult was present, so too was Horus, especially in times of healing. Moreover, Horus's worship was not only widespread but also long-lived, spanning from the earliest times of Egyptian religion, well into the common era. As Egyptologist Dr. Edmund S. Meltzer remarks: Horus is one of the earliest attested of the major ancient Egyptian deities, becoming known to us at least as early as the late Predynastic period (Naqada III/Dynasty 0); he was still prominent in the latest temples of the Greco-Roman period, especially at Philae and Edfu, as well as in the Old Coptic and Greco-Egyptian ritual-power, or magical, texts.[167]

The Predynastic period began prior to 5,000 years ago, and Horus's reverence continued for centuries into the common era. Hence, the Egyptian god's worship had been in existence at least 3,000 years before Christ purportedly lived. By the time Christianity was created, Horus's cult was widespread around the Mediterranean, such as in Greece, and he was one of the most popular gods of the Roman Empire.

In reality, a number of the mythical motifs regarding Horus and other Egyptian deities startlingly resemble characteristics and events attributed to Jesus Christ, indicating that the gospel story is neither original nor historical. As may have been expected, many of these correspondences are not widely and neatly found in encyclopedia entries and textbooks, so they have often been dismissed without adequate study and with extreme prejudice. In my previous work, The Christ Conspiracy, I presented various aspects of the Horus myth out of the hundreds brought to light by Gerald Massey and others. Some of these comparisons are as follows: * Horus was born on "December 25th" (winter solstice) in a manger.

* He was of royal descent, and his mother was the "virgin Isis-Mery."

* Horus's birth was announced by a star in the East and attended by three "wise men."

* At age 12, he was a child teacher in the Temple, and at 30, he was baptized.

* Horus was baptized by "Anup the Baptizer," who was decapitated.

* The Egyptian god had 12 companions, helpers or disciples.

* Horus performed miracles, exorcised demons and raised Osiris from the dead.

* The god walked on water.

* Horus was "crucified" between two "thieves."

* He (or Osiris) was buried for three days in a tomb and resurrected.

* Horus/Osiris was also the "Way, the Truth, the Life," "Messiah," the "Son of Man," the "Good Shepherd," the "Lamb of God," the "Word made flesh," the "Word of Truth," etc.

* Horus's personal epithet was "Iusa," the "ever-becoming son" of the Father. He was called "Holy Child," as well as "the Anointed One," while Osiris was the KRST.

* Horus battled with the "evil one," Set/Seth.

* Horus was to reign for one thousand years.[168]

As we can see, these features of the Horus myth are virtually identical to major elements in the story of Jesus Christ, as found in the New Testament and in Christian tradition. When reading this synopsis of the Horus myth, one needs to keep in mind that it is our contention that snippets of the myths of various gods-the "essential parts of the myth," as Cooper puts it-were pulled out of context and woven together to create the gospel story. Again, one does not find the Horus myth as above outlined in an ancient Egyptian encyclopedia, such that the creators of the Jesus story merely scratched out the Egyptian names and inserted the Christian ones. Those who have been attempting to explain the creation of the Christ myth have been compelled to back-engineer the story in order to analyze its components and concepts. In other words, in explaining the various mythical motifs used in the gospel story, some have recounted the tale utilizing the original god or gods, in a gospel-like manner in order to express those components.

Hence, although the myth of Horus, for example, was not told in this condensed manner, such storytelling is useful to convey quickly and readily that the germane aspects of the Christian myth and ritual were found in Egypt, long predating the common era. Such is how mythmaking is accomplished, and those who created the Christian myth out of bits and pieces of pre-Christian writings and rituals engaged in the same process as well. As we have seen, this type of synopsis constitutes the same manner by which scholars create narratives of myths for encyclopedia entries and textbooks-another point that cannot be overemphasized. Also, as noted, this process of summarization did in fact occur to some extent with the Egyptian myths, as they were congealed and formalized over a period of centuries to millennia. In other words, the stories of Osiris, Isis and Horus, for example, were increasingly woven into a narrative over the centuries, as we have seen in the works of Plutarch, for example.

Since so many claims of Egyptian influence on Christianity thus involve the god Horus (and/or his father/brother, Osiris), investigating his identity becomes critical to our quest. Mainstream sources often list Horus only as a "sky god" with a hawk or falcon's head, the eyes of whom are correctly related as representing the sun and moon. We have already seen, however, that Horus of the Horizon or Horakhty is a solar deity and the morning sun, part of the combined Re-Horakhty, whose name Egyptologist Dr. Rudolf Anthes renders, "Re, the heavenly Horus of the horizon in which he appears as the sun."[169] Indeed, the fact of Horus himself symbolizing the sun was understood centuries prior to the common era by ancient writers such as Herodotus, Manetho and Diodorus, who equated him with the sun god Apollo. In the text The Hieroglyphica, attributed to the aptly named Horapollo (5th century AD/CE), one of the last priests of the Egyptian religion, the author equates Horus with the sun and states (1.17) that "the Sun is called Horus because he has power over the Hours."[170] Like Homer in The Odyssey describing the bird as "Apollo's swift messenger," Horapollo too discusses the hawk as a symbol of the sun: "And since the sun is the lord of sight, they draw him sometimes in the shape of a hawk."[171]

Also depicted in the shape of a hawk is the main sun god Re/Ra, with whom Horus is likewise identified. In this regard, there exist hieroglyphs not only for the combined solar god Horus-Ra but also that could represent either Horus or Ra, including one of a hawk inside a sun disc, demonstrating the interchangeability of these two gods, as well as Horus's unquestionably solar nature. Adding to this solar identity is Horus's epithet as "son of Ra" as well.[172] Indeed, in many Coffin Texts, Horus is called "first-born of Re."[173]

Discussing this sacred merger, in his opus, History of Egypt, renowned Egyptologist Sir Dr. Gaston Maspero (1846-1916), a head of the Antiquities Service at Cairo and the original developer and director of the Cairo Museum, remarks: Horus the Sun, and Ra, the Sun-God of Heliopolis, had so permeated each other that none could say where the one began and the other ended. One by one all the functions of Ra had been usurped by Horus, and all the designations of Horus had been appropriated by Ra. The sun was styled Harmakhuiti [Harmakhis], the Horus of the two mountains-that is, the Horus who comes forth from the mountain of the east in the morning, and retires at evening into the mountain of the west; or Hartima, Horus the Pikeman, that Horus whose lance spears the hippopotamus or the serpent of the celestial river; or Harnubi, the Golden Horus, the great golden sparrow-hawk with mottled plumage, who puts all other birds to flight; and these titles were indifferently applied to each of the feudal gods who represented the sun.[174]

And again Dr. Maspero states: When the celestial Horus was confounded with Ra, and became the sun..., he naturally also became the sun of the two horizons, the sun by day, and the sun by night.[175]

Regarding Horus's solar role, as well as the Egyptian custom of naming, personifying and deifying different aspects of the sun, along with rolling them together as one, James Allen remarks: The sun...can be seen not only as the physical source of heat and light (Re) but also as the governing force of nature (Horus), whose appearance at dawn from the Akhet makes all life possible-a perception embodied in the combined god Re-Harakhti (Re, Horus of the Akhet). The tendency to syncretism is visible in all periods of Egyptian history.[176]

Horus therefore represents the sun as the governor of nature, the "Lord of lords," as it were. The "Akhet" is the "region between the day and night skies," or the horizons, into which the sun sets and rises, before and after entering the Duat, Djat, Dat or Tuat, the nightly "netherworld."[177] As can be seen, Horus at the dawn is so important as to make "all life possible," much like Jesus, who is the source of eternal life. Indeed, Horus himself is "universal and eternal."[178]

In ancient Egyptian writings such as the Pyramid Texts, in which he is called the "Lord of the Sky,"[179] along with other solar epithets such as "He Whose Face is Seen," "He Whose Hair is Parted," and "He Whose Two Plumes are Long,"[180] Horus's function as a sun god or aspect of the sun is repeatedly emphasized, although this singularly pertinent fact is seldom found in encyclopedias and textbooks, leaving us to wonder why he would be thus diminished.

In the Coffin Texts as well is Horus's role as (morning) sun god made clear, such as in the following elegantly rendered scripture from CT Sp. 255: ...I will appear as Horus who ascends in gold from upon the lips of the horizon...[181]

In CT Sp. 326, Horus is even called "Lord of the sunlight."[182] Concerning Horus's solar nature, James Allen also relates: Horus was the power of kingship. To the Egyptians this was as much a force of nature as those embodied in the other gods. It was manifest in two natural phenomena: the sun, the most powerful force in nature; and the pharaoh, the most powerful force in human society. Horus's role as the king of nature is probably the origin of his name: hrw seems to mean "the one above" or "the one far off"... This is apparently a reference to the sun, which is "above" and "far off" in the sky, like the falcon with which Horus is regularly associated...[183]

Thus, again, Horus symbolizes the ruling-power aspect of the sun, the "King of kings," much like Jesus. Even Horus's very name may signify the sun, and the hawk or falcon, by which he is identified, likewise represents a solar symbol by virtue of how high it flies. In summary, Dr. Meltzer remarks, "Horus the falcon was predominantly a sky god and a sun god."[184]

Furthermore, regarding the Horus epithets in the Pyramid Texts from Saqqara/Sakkara, Allen states that the "solar element in Horus clearly predominates," while the "less common epithets of Horus are likewise largely celestial, as is his habitat."[185] Therefore, in his many epithets, attributes and deeds, Horus ranks as astrotheological overall.

The Many Horuses.

Over the millennia during which the Egyptian religion was popular, there appeared a number of Horuses or Horus epithets, one of whom, Horus the Elder, also called Heru-Ur or Haroeris, was the brother of Osiris and Isis, and two of whom were named as the son(s) of Osiris and Isis. In addition, there are several other Horuses or Horus epithets. For example, we have already seen the epithets of "Horakhty" or "Harmakhis," i.e., Horus of the "rising and setting sun"[186]; and "Hartima," the latter being a sort of "fisher," as he spears the "serpent of the celestial river." In The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, Sir Dr. John G. Wilkinson (1797-1875), the "Father of British Egyptology," describes the various Horuses and demonstrates the solar nature of the epithet previously seen as "Harnubi": "Her-Nub [@r nbw], 'the Golden Horus,' is primarily the god of the morning sun, manifesting himself in the golden glory of the dawn."[187]

Understandably, these many Horuses have been confused in both ancient and modern times. As Budge relates: Heru or Horus, the sun-god, was originally a totally distinct god from Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, but from the earliest times it seems that the two gods were confounded, and that the attributes of the one were ascribed to the other; the fight which Horus the sun-god waged against night and darkness was also at a very early period identified with the combat between Horus, the son of Isis, and his brother Set.[188]

Regarding the confounding of supposedly different Horuses, Dutch Egyptologist Dr. Henri Frankfort (1897-1954) adds: It is therefore a mistake to separate "Horus, the Great God, Lord of Heaven," from "Horus, son of Osiris," or to explain their identity as due to syncretism in comparatively late times. The two gods "Horus" whose titles we have set side by side are, in reality, one and the same. Their identity is also confirmed by an important pyramid text which addresses the king as follows: "Thou art Horus, son of Osiris, the eldest god, son of Hathor."[189]

Adding to these opinions as to the many Horuses, Meltzer states: Egyptologists...often speak of distinct, sometimes originally distinct, Horuses or Horus-gods. Combinations, identifications, and differentiations were, however, possible for Horus, and they are complementary rather than antithetical. A judicious examination of the various Horuses and the sources relating to them supports the possibility that the roles in question are closely interrelated, and so they may be understood as different aspects, or facets, of the same divine persona.[190]

Hence, the different Horuses could be considered "facets of the same divine persona." In his dissertation on Horus in the Pyramid Texts, Egyptologist Dr. Thomas George Allen of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago therefore discusses the "group of Horuses" as one entity.[191] As we can see, in constructing a composite myth about Horus, we have many entities, qualities, characteristics and aspects from which to choose.

The Horus-King: "Son of the Sun"

In addition his other "facets," Horus as the living king is another important aspect within the Egyptian religion, and the god's solar role was also expressed in the adoption of the important "Horus names" by kings and pharaohs. In this regard, Cooper remarks: The Egyptian kings, who by a magnificently conceived political fiction were themselves incarnations of the Deity, generally assumed also the name and offices of Horus the Sun in one of their two cartouches, which was called the Horus title, and which was, in fact, their proper name. This cartouche was always preceded by the hieroglyphics signifying Son of the Sun...[192]

In the same vein and demonstrating the connection again between Horus and Re, Egyptologist Dr. Robert Brier (b. 1943), a senior research fellow at Long Island University, states: "Six of the Fifth Dynasty's nine pharaohs incorporate Ra in their names, and all follow them with, the phrase 'Son of the Sun.'"[193] As we have seen, Horus too was called the "son of Re," i.e., the "son of the sun." This epithet is important to remember, as it is claimed that throughout the ages numerous luminaries belonged to a group or groups by the same title, "Sons of the Sun."

During a long period of Egyptian history-in fact, "throughout the existence of Pharaonic Egypt"[194]-the king or pharaoh, the son of the sun, was thus identified as Horus and was given a "Horus name." In this regard, Dr. Rudolf Anthes (1896-1985), a curator of the Egyptian Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, says that "the denotation 'Horus' introduced the name of virtually every king since the beginning of the First Dynasty."[195] And Dr. Frankfort remarks: Each king, at death, becomes Osiris..., just as each king, in life, appears "on the throne of Horus"; each king is Horus...[196]

Indeed, as related by Dr. Murnane, Horus is "the primary divine identity of the pharaoh."[197] The solid connection between Horus and the Egyptian king is explained further by Frankfort: It is well in keeping with the theory of kingship, which is set forth in the Memphite Theology and which remained valid throughout the existence of Pharaonic Egypt, that the king is commonly referred to as Horus. Sometimes the name is qualified-"Horus who is in the castle"-but there is no doubt that the divinity of Pharaoh was specifically conceived as sharing of essentials with the god Horus...[198]

Frankfort also states: "Pharaoh, then, is an incarnation of Horus the Great(est) God, Lord of Heaven."[199] Hornung likewise describes the close relationship between the king/pharaoh, Horus and Osiris: "The extensive textual evidence of the Middle and New kingdoms suggests that at his accession Pharaoh took on the role of Horus, and at his death he took on the role of Osiris, adopting the attributes of these gods without being identical with them."[200] As separate entities, the three are obviously not identical or even necessarily equal; however, the king certainly shares in Osiris's and Horus's attributes and epithets.

Moreover, like the deceased as Osiris, the king is called in the texts the "Horus NN,"[201] the "NN," of course, standing for the pharaoh's name. The deceased king is likened to Horus in the Coffin Texts as well, as at CT Sp. 53, in which the Osiris is exhorted to "see your beauty, having appeared as Horus..."[202] Despite any distinctions, so sound is this identification of the king with Horus that, when the ruler died an official would declare, "The Falcon has flown up to heaven," reflecting "the role of the king as a manifestation of Horus."[203]

The equation of Horus with the king in Egypt is extremely old, dating to some 5,000 years ago, based on its appearance on a famous artifact called the Narmer Palette, from the dawn of Egypt as a political entity.[204] Also, in a later hymn to Osiris in the temple of Isis at site of Philae, "the king is Horus himself,"[205] demonstrating that this tradition continued well into the Ptolemaic period. This long-lived association is so complete that the term "Horus-king" has been utilized to describe the pharaohs.[206]

In addition, because of his role as father of Horus, Osiris could likewise be deemed the father of the pharaoh or king as well: "Osiris [is] the father of the mythical son Horus...at the same time, he is also father of the living king, the living Horus..."[207]

Horus-and Osiris-as the king represents one of the main purposes of the Egyptian religion: "...it was the king's transition from Horus into Osiris which confirmed his existence as an eternal being."[208] In reality, as Dr. Anthes says, "The deceased king, according to the Pyramid Texts, is sometimes Osiris...and sometimes Horus..."[209]

As an example of how the king may be endowed with Horus's attributes, Dr. Louis V. abkar (1914-1994), a professor of Egyptology at Brandeis University, mentions "Ptolemy II, who, as a living Horus, is associated with 'his mother' Isis and participates in her triumph over Seth."[210]

These germane facts need to be kept in mind throughout this exploration in order for us to maintain a clear picture of the importance of this god, as well as to understand how characteristics and experiences of the king/pharaoh could be perceived as those of "Horus," possibly used in the later Christian mythmaking effort.

Priest as Horus.

As noted, the officiating priest at a funeral would likewise impersonate Horus, a fact that adds to the "confounding" of Horuses. As Griffiths remarks, "One of the officiating priests, probably the sem-priest, assumes the role of Horus, the Beloved Son of Osiris..."[211] To reiterate, per T. George Allen, "The king is here regularly called Osiris,"[212] and the priest's services for the deceased "symbolized those of Horus for his father Osiris."[213] In other words, Horus is the priest resurrecting the deceased as his father, Osiris; hence, the speaker in the Pyramid Texts is frequently Horus as well. In the Coffin Texts too, at CT Sp. 45, for example, the priest speaks as Horus, while the speaker at CT Sp. 46 referring to "Followers of the Lord of the Horizon" is also the deceased as Horus.[214] Again, we find in CT Sp. 62 that the speaker is the Horus-priest,[215] and so on, through almost 1,200 spells, in many of which Horus serves as priest.

Regarding the role of Horus (or the priest) in various Pyramid Texts, Allen further remarks: ... Horus is...called upon to aid the dead king, not only by such offices as the myth assigned him on behalf of Osiris, but in many purely solar connections, especially noticeable in the sections on purification, ascent, deification, and rule.[216]

Thus, Horus serves a godly and priestly role in assisting the deceased to become the risen Osiris, providing purification, for example, which is a solar attribute. It is important to note that the term "purify" can also connote "baptize,"[217] meaning that, like Jesus, who at Matthew 3:11 is said to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, Horus not only purifies also baptizes, a subject explored in detail later.

In yet another aspect of the merging of entities, such as gods with each other or, here, gods with humans, Allen states that "the deceased king's own person" was "often identified with Horus" and "became identified likewise with the magic Horus-eye."[218] The Horus eye "was further identified with the sun, and, like Horus himself, endowed with human form."[219] The fact of the king and priest both being identified with and as Horus constitutes yet another extremely germane fact that needs to be kept in mind, as do the solar attributes of Horus. These facts of syncretism represent another reason we do not find various attributes of "Horus" in encyclopedia entries, as they may be ascribed to "different" Horuses. Nonetheless, these attributes are relevant to the investigation of what was influential upon Christianity, because they were held to be "sacred" and part of Egyptian religion to be copied and emulated.

"Amen-Ra-Osiris-Horus"

Adding to this mythical melange, we have seen that Horus is essentially solar in nature, having even been identified with the main Egyptian sun god Re/Ra, as well as the Greek sun god Apollo, along with possessing many solar attributes, including as the morning and rising sun, born again each day. In his Guide to the Egyptian rooms at the British Museum, Budge summarizes the Egyptian solar mythology, revealing that the many separate personas are all aspects of the one sun: The Sun has countless names, Ptah, Tmu, Ra, Horus, Khnemu, Sebek, Amen, etc.; and some of them, such as Osiris and Seker, are names of the Sun after he has set, or, in mythological language, has died and been buried.... All gods, as such, were absolutely equal in their might and in their divinity; but, mythologically, Osiris might be said to be slain by his brother Set, the personification of Night, who, in his turn, was overthrown by Horus (the rising sun), the heir of Osiris.[220]

Confirming this observation, Hornung states that "in the New Kingdom, Amun, Ptah, Osiris, Khnum, and most of the other great gods and even goddesses of Egypt can be understood as solar deities."[221] In discussing the multiple faces of the sun god, Griffiths notes a comparison to Christianity: A text of the Ramesside era...refers to the triple positions of these gods during the course of day: "I am Khepri in the morning, Re in the afternoon, Atum in the evening." Three forms or modes of the sun god are implied-an example, thus of a modalistic trinity, comparable to the later Christian concept.[222]

This "trinity" or triad is one of a number with Egyptian deities, as we will continue to see here. Another such Egyptian triad/trinity appears on a papyrus from the 19th Dynasty (1292-1182 BCE) called the "Leiden Hymn to Amun": All gods are three: Amun, Re, and Ptah, who have no equal.

He who hides his names as Amun, he is Re in appearance, his body is Ptah.[223]

Regarding the Egyptian and Christian trinities and scriptural parallels, Morenz is prompted to conclude, "The multifarious links between Egypt and Judaeo-Christian scriptures and trinitarian theology can already be traced with some degree of plausibility."[224] In his discussion of "Egyptian trinities," as he terms them, Morenz includes a section addressing the idea of "unity in plurality."[225] The German scholar also points out that a "trinity" can likewise be created out of the "primordial One" and "the first pair of gods to be begotten."[226] Regarding the motif of the trinity, Morenz further states: ...thus three gods are combined and treated as a single being, addressed in the singular. In this way the spiritual force of Egyptian religion shows a direct link with Christian theology.[227]

Various of these "triplets" or other groupings often symbolize aspects of the one sun, as likewise described by Hornung in his definition of "Sun god": Many Egyptian gods can be the sun god, especially Re, Atum, Amun, and manifestations of Horus. Even Osiris appears as the night form of the sun god in the New Kingdom. It is often not defined which particular sun god is meant in a given instance.[228]

Hornung also cites the text the "Litany of Re, first inscribed in tombs around 1500 B.C., which invokes the sun god, as in a litany, in 'all his forms.'"[229] He further explains that, while these forms are specific to the underworld, "part of the pantheon...is thus turned into a set of differentiated manifestations of a single sun god."[230] Hornung next describes this "Great Litany" as a text "wherein the sun god is invoked seventy-five times in various names and forms..."[231] The various forms of Re in this text include the deities Atum, Tefnut, Geb/Seb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Nun and many others.[232] So fused are these manifestations of the sun god-these individual gods, as they were-that "Litany of Ra" translator Dr. Naville was led to declare: The importance of this text consists in this, that it gives us an idea of the esoteric doctrine of the Egyptian priests, which was clearly pantheistic, and which certainly differed from the polytheistic worship of the common people.[233]

While Hornung evinces that the Egyptian religion could never be pantheistic, as it did not view the entirety of creation as divine,[234] Naville is undoubtedly correct that the Egyptian priesthood explored concepts within its esoteric mysteries that differed from what was taught exoterically, as Hornung himself addresses in The Secret Lore of Egypt. Moreover, the pantheism evident in Egypt is expressed by Morenz thus: "...Egyptian society, and the individuals who comprise it, cannot escape from God, but encounter him everywhere."[235] Here Morenz is compelled to speak of God in "Christian" terminology, giving the concept a monotheistic interpretation as well.[236]

Regarding the confusion between gods within Egyptian mythology in general, Brigham Young University professor Dr. Hugh W. Nibley (1910-2005) states: Over a century ago Edouard Naville observed "that there is nothing harder than to recognize the distinctive marks of each individual deity" in an Egyptian picture, for while "every divinity has specific emblems which are like ideograms of his particular qualities," these are swapped around with a total indifference toward the individual gods, the distinctions between them having become almost expunged by the process of equating, equalizing, interpenetrating, as names, forms, powers all become confused in a common basic nature which is the mark of the Egyptian gods.[237]

In discussing the Book of the Dead, the same phenomenon is explained by Renouf: In reading this and almost every chapter of the Book of the Dead, it is absolutely necessary to bear in mind that different divine names do not necessarily imply different personalities. A name expresses but one attribute of a person or thing, and one person having several attributes may have several names. It is not implied in this chapter that the Sun is the Nile or the Inundation, but that the same invisible force which is manifested in the solar phenomena is that which produces the inundation; He is the Inundator. But he has many other names and titles.

In this chapter [64], as in others before it, the speaker at one time talks in terms identifying him with some divinity, and at another as a simple mortal petitioning some favour.[238]

In the Book of the Dead, the deceased is made to take a variety of roles, demonstrating the interchangeability of the characters in these recitations, utterances or spells. For example, in BD 69, the dead king is made to say, "...I am Horus the Elder on the Day of Accession, I am Anubis of Sepa, I am the Lord of All, I am Osiris."[239] The unity of divine and mortal personalities is also recognizable in the Coffin Texts, as at CT Sp. 485, in which the deceased says, "...I am Horus and Thoth, I am Osiris and Atum."[240] In this regard, the fusion of the deceased and the many deities-not a few of whom possess solar attributes-also needs to be kept in mind as we attempt to outline the Egyptian mythos and ritual.

As another example of the tendency towards syncretism, in addition to Horus-Ra is the sun god Amen-"the hidden god"-combined with the sun god Re/Ra as "Amen-Ra," etc., reflecting their interchangeability. "Osiris-Ra" or "Ra-Osiris" is yet another dual god addressed in the texts.[241] So interchangeable are Osiris and Horus that there is even a hybrid god Osiris-Horus or Asar-Heru.[242] Indeed, the two are so close that one sees discussion of the "Horus-Osiris king," referring to the pharaoh, who is both Osiris and his son, such as by Anthes, who repeatedly refers to "Horus-Osiris" as a single entity.[243]

In any event, as the sun progresses through the day and night, "he" becomes a number of characters-or changes his epithets and characteristics, as it were, as he merges with other gods-beginning with the rising sun, Horus, who at noon becomes Re, who at sunset becomes Tmu or Atum, who at midnight becomes Osiris, who becomes Horus at sunrise, and so on. As Hornung says, "...in his role as the sun god Re, Horus is 'tomorrow,' whereas Osiris is 'yesterday'..."[244] Archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Karol Myliwiec, director of the Polish Academy of Science, also describes Atum's role as a sun god: "Atum's solar associations are with the sunset and the nightly journey of the sun, when he appears with a ram's head or, sometimes, as a tired old man walking with a stick."[245] At some point, these gods are in effect all one, as are their adversaries.

Polytheistic Monotheism/Monism?

Many of the gods in the Egyptian pantheon fuse together in the syncretism previously discussed, for the reason, it has been averred, that the Egyptian mysteries long ago taught monotheism, with one overarching god whose numerous "members"-assorted gods and goddesses-expanded and merged with each other. Concerning this development, Assman remarks that "most polytheisms known to the history of religion are complex in the sense that they reckon-or better, live-with a divine realm beyond which there is a 'god' or 'highest being' who created the world and its deities."[246] Although it is widely believed that monotheism was essentially introduced by the pharaoh Akhenaten/Amenhotep IV (d. c. 1334 BCE), the consensus of earlier Egyptologists was that monotheism and polytheism existed "side by side" at least as early as the 5th Dynasty, around 2500 BCE.[247] We would venture that such concepts may have been devised much earlier in humankind's long history, possibly tens of thousands of years previously. In any case, regarding the confusion and confounding of gods, following his famous brother, Champollion-Figeac was prompted to write, "The Egyptian religion is a pure monotheism, which manifested itself externally by a symbolic polytheism."[248] Yet, whether or not Egyptian religion was essentially monotheistic has been the subject of much debate.

Concerning the sacred fusion of Egyptian gods, James Allen comments: Although the Egyptians recognized most natural and social phenomena as separate divine forces, they also realized that many of these were interrelated and could also be understood as different aspects of a single divine force. That realization is expressed in the practice known as "syncretism," the combining of several gods into one.[249]

As is the case in other religions and mythologies, such as the Indian, the Egyptian faith at times has appeared to represent a sort of "polytheistic monotheism" or "polytheistic monism" that ascribes divinity to a vast proportion of creation, while maintaining the cosmos to be one. Hence, in the Egyptian texts we find prayers to one god or goddess that include the names or epithets of many other gods or goddesses.

As concerns the debate as to whether or not the structure could be deemed "monotheistic," Hornung asserts that "one must note that Egyptian religion, which retained its plurality of gods to the end, never became a monotheistic faith, even in its most 'philosophically' tinged utterances."[250] In recounting this debate, in The Gods of Egypt, Dr. Claude Traunecker of Universite des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg remarks: In 1971, Erik Hornung published a definitive work on the divine world of Egypt, and it has enjoyed a rather large consensus. Since 1975, Jan Assman, a specialist in solar hymns, has published a series of studies in which he has relaunched the debate concerning the apparent contradiction between a largely polytheistic divine realm and the concept of a single deity...[251]

The cases for the varying perspectives will not be rehashed here.[252] Despite any finer points of understanding, the Egyptian religion was no more monolithic than is the Indian, in which basically anything goes, from monotheism to polytheism.[253] The determination of which came first, polytheism or monotheism, does not concern us here, although it is wise to keep in mind that the multiplicity of deities frequently resolve to the One, especially as concerns an original creator. For example, the Coffin Texts repeatedly refer to the "primeval god" or the "Primeval One," who is "superior to the primeval gods" (CT Sp. 39)[254] and who is "older than the gods" (CT Sp. 317).[255]

This spiritual oneness is also exemplified in CT Sp. 858, in which Osiris is invoked to "take your son" and "put him within yourself."[256] And at CT Sp. 949, the speaker says, "I know you, I know your names, I live as you, I come into being as you...."[257] Concerning the concept of oneness within the Egyptian faith, Assman remarks, "Time and again the Egyptian sources predicate the oneness/singleness/ uniqueness of a god."[258] Indeed, the great God Sun is "the One Alone with many arms."[259]