In History of the Egyptian Religion, Dr. Cornelius P. Tiele (1830-1902), a professor of the History of Religions at the University of Leiden, likewise comments on the virginity of Neith: ...Neith is distinguished...by being a virgin goddess. This is expressed in the words inscribed on her temple, "My garment no one has lifted up," which is immediately followed by, "The fruit that I have borne is the sun." She is thus the virgin mother of the sun...[699]

In Religious Systems of the World, Dr. Tiele also refers to "Isis the virgin."[700] As Neith gives birth to the sun god Re (and Horus), so too does Isis bring forth the sun god Horus. In reality, Isis is a later form of Neith, and the two are combined as "Isis-Neith" or "Neith-Isis."[701] Budge states that Neith was "identified with Hathor and Isis,"[702] while in Egypt's Place in Universal History Drs. C.C.J. Baron Bunsen and Birch include a section entitled "Isis as Neith," demonstrating the association as well.[703] Concerning this identification of Isis with Neith, whose virginal status long prior to the common era has been attested by a number of sources, Bonwick likewise says of Isis: "She is seen to assume the role of Neith."[704]

The goddess Neith was celebrated at the Egyptian site of Sais, where she had a temple, also dedicated to her alter-ego Isis. Budge further discloses that "at Sais there were several chambers in which the 'Mysteries' of the ancient Virgin Mother-goddess Neith were celebrated."[705] Hence, once more we discover mysteries associated with a virgin mother, this time possibly dating back thousands of years prior to the common era.

According to Plutarch (9, 354C), "In Sais the statue of Athena, whom they believe to be Isis, bore the mysterious inscription: 'I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered.'"[706] As indicated, this writing at Sais finished with the sentence, "The fruit I have produced is the sun." Regarding the Saitic inscription, Thomson states: Proclus, who, as well as Plutarch, has given the inscription over the temple of the Virgin of Sais, the mother of the sun, whom they both say is identical with Minerva [Athena], speaking of the seat of this goddess in the heavens, gives her two places-the one near Aries, or the equinoctial Lamb, whose form the god of light assumes in spring, and other in the celestial Virgin, or in the sign which presides at her birth (Procl. in Tim. p. 43); so that it appears that Isis, the mother of the sun, to whom the temple at Sais was dedicated, was the same that Eratosthenes places in the constellation Virgo, which opened that year. The symbolic representation of the year itself was a woman called Isis, according to Horapollo (vol. I. cap. iii.). It was in honour of this same virgin, the image of the pure and luminous substance, that the celebrated feast of lights (on which Candlemas, or the feast of Lights of the Purification, is founded) and was celebrated.[707]

In his Commentary on Plato's Timaeus, Greek neoplatonist Proclus (c. 412-485 AD/CE) discusses the city of Sais, the founding goddess of which is Neith, whom he likewise says the Egyptians equate with the Greek goddess Athena.[708] In this regard, Dr. Robert Turcan, a professor of Roman History at the Sorbonne, remarks that "Isis-Neith of Sais was an armed goddess likened to Pallas [Athena]."[709]

Proclus's rendering in Greek of the inscription at Sais (21E) is: . . , .[710].

My very literal translation of this inscription is as follows: The present and the future and the past, I am. My undergarment no one has uncovered. The fruit I brought forth, the sun came into being.

Regarding the meaning of the statement about no one uncovering Neith's garment, Wm. Emmette Coleman concludes: The point is this: Does the expression, "lifting the garment"...of Neith refer to her perpetual virginity or to her inscrutability? There is not a shadow of doubt that it refers to the former, and I am confident that every Egyptologist in the world will so decide.[711]

The general interpretation of this inscription is that Neith, one of the most important deities of the Egyptian pantheon, is not only the "Alpha and Omega," so to speak, but also the inviolate begetter of the sun, the Immaculate Virgin and Great Mother. Validating this contention, Dr. John D. Ray, a professor of Egyptology at Cambridge, comments: In Sais in the Delta...there was a virgin goddess who gave birth to the sun at the beginning of time by some form of parthenogenesis.[712]

In addition, in the texts of Esna/Esne appears a hymn to Neith, the "creator of all that exists," which "celebrates the goddess of Sais as an androgynous, primeval, and creator deity, the divine mother of Re..."[713] As the androgynous and primeval creator, the goddess reproduces parthenogenically.

The fact of her ancient association with the famous Greek goddess Athena-herself a chaste and pristine virgin, as indicated by the name of her temple at Athens, the Parthenon-confirms Neith's esteemed virginal status.[714] Nevertheless, Athena-the Parthenos-too is considered "the mother by Hephaistos of Apollo Patroos" as well as the "mother of Erechtheus by Hephaistos but a virgin."[715] Moreover, as professor emeritus at the University of Clermont-Ferrand Dr. Paul Faure asserts, "At Athens, on the Acropolis, the virgin Athena was the mother of Erichtonius," referring to the king of Athens.[716] The discussion of Athena as the mother of Apollo appears in On the Nature of the Gods (III, 22, 23) by Cicero (106-43 BCE)[717]: Since Athena's main sanctuary was called the Parthenon, it is obvious that her virginity was highly prized; yet, in this pre-Christian source, she is also named as the mother of the sun god. Moreover, Athena/Minerva was considered to be a deity of the sea,[718] which would give her the epithet of mare in Latin.

Among other astrotheological attributes, scholars have found in Neith a representation of both the winter solstice and the summer solstice, as well as the sun itself,[719] as was Isis also deemed the sun goddess. The suggestion that Neith-who gives birth to the sun-likewise symbolizes the winter solstice adds to the tradition that the solar Horus was born on that day, as he was on every other day, since in the Book of the Dead Horus says he is born of Neith, further validating the inscription at Sais.

Interestingly, Budge cites both Neith and Isis as among the goddesses who are "names of the Sky, especially at sun-rise and sun-set."[720] That fact would make of Neith also a dawn goddess, and once more the identification of Neith with Isis is indicated. Again, in the myths of other cultures, the "inviolable begetter of the sun" is the dawn, personified as a chaste goddess. Concerning Isis, Budge remarks, "As a nature goddess she is seen standing in the boat of the sun, and she was probably the deity of the dawn."[721] Budge also says, "Isis was the dawn, and Horus her son by Osiris was the sun in his full strength."[722] Lockyer concurs: "Isis represents the Dawn and the Twighlight; she prepares the way for the Sun-god."[723] As we have seen from James Allen, this role is precisely the same as that of Nut, mother of Osiris and Horus.

As yet another example of an Egyptian virgin mother of Horus, in describing how PT 466 and 467 make a "clear distinction" between two of the Horuses, Bleeker discusses the "sky-god Horus" who was the son of Hathor, remarking: It is characteristic of the position of Hathor in the Egyptian pantheon that there is no mention of a father, as is the case with Horus, son of Osiris and Isis. Hathor's motherhood is therefore conceived of as parthenogenesis or as being purely symbolical.[724]

As the "Primeval" (CT Sp. 331),[725] Hathor may also be said to reproduce parthenogenetically, including as the mother of Horus. In this regard, concerning the epithet "Horus who issued from Gold," Faulkner notes at CT Sp. 362 that "the Gold" is "the well-known epithet of Hathor, whose son Ihy is sometimes equated with the young Horus."[726] After discussing the birth of various sons of Hathor, including Ihy and Harsomtus ("Horus who unites the Two Lands"), Bleeker further states, "Even in the latter days of Egyptian culture and religion Hathor retained her independence and virginity. In this respect she can more aptly be compared with Athene, who remained parthenos even though sometimes called mother, than with Aphrodite."[727] As noted, Hathor is identified with Isis, as Isis-Hathor.

"Isis, the Pure Star of Lovers"

In the debate concerning the influence of the Egyptian religion upon Christianity, it is claimed that, because in one version of the myth Isis impregnates herself with Osiris's severed phallus, she cannot be considered a "virgin." In our analysis, it needs to be kept in mind that, in the tale related by Plutarch, we are discussing astrotheological motifs revolving around the sun and moon, not set-in-stone biographies of real people with the relevant body parts. Moreover, concerning the story by Diodorus and Plutarch of Isis inseminating herself with Osiris's replaced phallus, Assman says, "The Egyptian texts, which seldom mention this scene, know nothing of this detail."[728] Hence, this aspect represents a later addition to the myth, as it is absent from the earlier texts. In later times, we find the image of a "bird labeled 'Isis'...atop the phallus, receiving his seed for the conception of Horus" in reliefs from the temple to Osiris at Abydos.[729] In a similar image from Dendera, Isis as the bird merely hovers above Osiris's body-minus the phallus-in order to become pregnant with Horus.[730] Therefore, while some of these images show Osiris with an erect phallus, others do not. Indeed, as it turns out, there are different versions of the myth, and Isis, as we have already seen, has been deemed a "perpetual virgin" regardless of the manner of her impregnation.

According to Assman, the locus classicus or first mention of the impregnation of Isis occurs in the Pyramid Text 366:632a-633b/T 198, which is essentially the same as PT 593:1636a-b/M206 and which is translated by the German Egyptologist thus: "Isis comes to you, rejoicing for love of you, that her seed might issue into her, it being sharp as Sothis. Horus, the sharp one, who comes forth from you in his name 'Horus, who is in Sothis'..."[731] In his translation of T 198, James Allen includes the word "phallus," noting that it comes from the word "sit,"[732] while, like Assman, Egyptologist and theologian Dr. Samuel A.B. Mercer (1879-1969) omits the word "phallus." With the inclusion of the inundation-heralding star Sirius/Sothis in this utterance, the impression is given from the text that it is a description of the Nile (Osiris) overflowing its banks, spreading its "seed" on the land (Isis) in order to create Horus.[733] In this instance, the "phallus" is evidently the star Sirius itself. In this myth, then, we are also not discussing sexual intercourse in the human sense, and Isis's soil remains "virginal" or renewed each year, like the perpetual virginity of Neith previously discussed.

Moreover, there are different versions of the death of Osiris, in one of which Isis cannot find his phallus, such that she must "resort to parthenogenesis in order to conceive and bring forth Horus," as Dr. Curl states.[734] Thus, differing myths led to a variety of beliefs regarding Isis's pregnancy: One evidently later version has Isis using Osiris's phallus, while in others, "Horus's birth was the result of parthenogenesis," as related also by Dr. Bettina L. Knapp, a professor emerita at Hunter College.[735]

Indeed, in his eye-opening comparison of Isis with the Virgin Mary, Budge states that in the Osirian myth it is by "spells, incantations, magical names and words of power" provided to Isis by Thoth that the goddess conceives Horus: By means of them Isis drew seed into herself from Osiris after his death, and conceived Horus... By these spells she, assisted by her son Horus and by Anubis, the divine physician, reconstituted and revivified the body of Osiris, and thus created her son Horus, and recreated Osiris.[736]

In addition, like Jesus, the "Alpha and Omega" who was claimed to have existed from the beginning of time, it was said that "Horus was born of Isis 'before Isis came into being',"[737] such that the goddess certainly did not have a chance to impregnate herself with a phallus! As illustrated here again, the virgin birth is a cosmic mystery.

In his summary of Fruhes Christentum im Orient by German theologian Dr. Johannes Leipoldt (1880-1965), French Egyptologist Dr. Jean Leclant (b. 1920) remarks: Bien que Mere d'Horus, Isis est parfois qualifiee de Vierge, tout comme Marie...

Although the Mother of Horus, Isis is sometimes described as "Virgin," like Marie...[738]

Indeed, the original German of Leipoldt further relates: Not only do Isis and Mary share the title "Mother of God." Isis is also known as virgin, although giving life to a son.[739]

After stating that, despite being the mother of Horus, there were times when Isis was depicted as a Virgin, just like Mary, Leclant continues: "The history of Marie and that of Isis have other common points..."[740] He then proceeds to name a number of these correspondences. Leclant further states, "The influence of the personality of Isis on Christianity is understandable better when one knows the trend of the Isiac cult in the Greco-Roman world."[741]

Addressing Leipoldt as "J.L.," Leclant resumes: Christianity has borrowed from ancient Egypt certain religious concepts like psychostasia or judgment of the deceased upon his arrival in the afterlife... But above all, one can consider that the personality of the Madonna borrows much from that of Isis...to the point that J.L. speaks of Isis-Marie...[742]

Confirming this notion, the Russian classicist Dr. Thaddeus von Zielinski (1859-1944), a professor at the University of St. Petersburg, referred to Isis as the "prototypical Virgin, the 'Virgin of the World.'"[743]

In Pan du Desert, in describing a Greek inscription mentioning the name "Parthenios" along with Isis, French archaeologist Andre Bernand, a professor at Ain Chams University, states: "It is possible that Parthenios is a name chosen according to the cult of Isis, the prototype of the virgin-mother."[744]

Furthermore, the director of l'Institut d'Histoire des Christianismes Orientaux at the College de France, Dr. Michel Tardieu, comments that one of the Egyptian magical "formulas of constraint" from the "cryptogram...preserved in the library of the University of Michigan (=PGM 57)," which evidently dates to the early second century AD/CE and which invokes Isis as a "pure virgin."[745] There are many other such instances of scholarship in other languages discussing Isis and/or Isis-Neith as a virgin.[746]

Indeed, in describing the birth of Harpokrates at the winter solstice, Brugsch calls his mother the "Jungfrau Isis-Ceres,"[747] Jungfrau meaning in German "young woman" or "virgin," much like the Hebrew almah. As we have seen, the Greek goddess Ceres or Demeter was considered a virgin as well and was identified with Isis by Diodorus Siculus in the first century before the common era.

Regarding the Egyptian words for "virgin," the editors of the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, including Dr. G. Johannes Botterweck (1917-1981), a professor of Old Testament and Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn, remark: 1. Egypt. The Egyptian words for "girl, virgin," are 'dd.t, rnn.t, and especially Hwn.t. This last word is already attested in the Pyramid Texts, including the expression, "the girl in the eye," i.e., the pupil. It means "girl, virgin," in a general sense, but can also denote the young marriageable woman in particular. The Pyramid Texts speak of "the great virgin" (Hwn.t wr.t) three times (682c, 728a, 2002a, cf. 809c); she is anonymous, appears as the protectress of the king, and is explicitly called his mother once (809c). It is interesting that Isis is addressed as Hwn.t in a sarcophagus oracle that deals with her mysterious pregnancy. In a text in the Abydos Temple of Seti I, Isis herself declares: "I am the great virgin." In the Legend of the Birth of Hatshepsut, Queen Ahmose is characteristically presented to Amon as a virgin (Hwn.t) ... In this context it is to be observed that her husband is called a "young child," which apparently means that the young king was not able to consummate the marriage; thus the queen, although married, is a virgin. Therefore, the sole fatherhood of Amon cannot be doubted....

In the Late Period in particular, goddesses are frequently called "(beautiful) virgins," especially Hathor, Isis, and Nephthys. As a virgin, Hathor also has virgins that wait on her. It is well known that the wives of Amon in Thebes lived in celibacy as consecrated to this god alone. A Ptolemaic papyrus gives an account of cultically motivated virginity. It is expressly said of the two women who played the roles of Isis and Nephthys as mourners that they should be women of a pure body, whose wombs had not been opened. Summarizing, it can be stated that Hwn.t is not used to denote biological virginity, but rather youthful vigor and potential motherhood. However, there are important points of contact in the Egyptian texts and representative art with the Hellenistic idea of Isis parthenos and the virginity of the mother-goddess.[748]

Here we discover in a Christian publication that the Egyptian goddesses Isis, Hathor and Nephthys were commonly called "virgin" in the Late Period (665-323 BCE), meaning that the concept was abundant in worshippers' minds a few centuries before the common era. As concerns the "Great Virgin" in the Pyramid Texts, the average reader might not realize this fact from reading the various translations, which tend to render the particular term hwn.t not as "virgin" but as "girl," "damsel" or the increasingly obscure "lass." For example, Mercer translates PT 389:682c as, "N. is the great mistress (or, damsel)," while PT 412:728a and PT 675:2002a are rendered "the great damsel."[749] Beinlich has Hwn.t as meaning "Madchen," which is one German rendering of the English word "virgin,"[750] as in the case of the Virgin Mary, who is called "Madchen Maria" in German, although the phrase "Jungfrau Maria" is more common. In any event, it is evident that both terms can mean "virgin" in precisely the same manner in which the Virgin Mary is considered.

Furthermore, we also discover that at PT 438:809c this "great virgin" is likewise deemed a "mother," clearly a common motif, as further indicated by the Theological Dictionary in its use of the phrase "the virginity of the mother-goddess." Additionally, the "mother" here is that of the king, whom we have seen is identified with Horus. As we shall also see, the king's mother is Isis, here represented as the "Great Virgin." We also discover that Horus's mother does in fact declare herself in the temple of Abydos the "Great Virgin."

The Ptolemaic papyrus raised here is evidently the Bremner-Rhind Papyrus (4th cent. BCE), in which appears the "ritual of the Two Kites" with instructions that include "two women pure in body, virgins...their names inscribed on their upper arms, namely Isis and Nephthys," as related by Dr. Paul F. O'Rourke from the Department of Classical and Ancient Middle Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.[751] Concerning this text and ritual, Dr. O'Rourke further states that the two virginal women "take on active roles as the sisters of Osiris..."[752] This identification of the two virginal women-specifically emphasized as pure of body-as Isis and Nephthys indicates the goddesses themselves were considered by the Egyptians to be spotless virgins as well, regardless of their motherhood status.

Apparently, in order to explain how these various goddesses can remain virgins after becoming mothers, Botterweck, et al., conclude that the virginity indicated by hwn.t is not virginity at all, a distinction seemingly forced that would be unnecessary if the mythological and astrotheological nature of the stories were understood, and this perpetual virginity comprehended as a mystery, as it is within Christianity.[753] Indeed, Jesus's mother, Mary, was said to be a perpetual virgin, explaining why she could give birth yet remain virginal, virtually the same as these other virgin mothers discussed here.

Moreover, the average believer in the Egyptian religion doubtlessly did not engage in the hair-splitting by either the Egyptian priesthood or the modern theologian as concerns the true meaning of parthenos, hwn.t and "virgin." It is likely that these many millions would have perceived the virginity of the Egyptian goddess in much the same way as occurs with the average modern believer in the perpetual virginity of Mary. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the very word used in the New Testament (e.g., Lk 2:7) to describe Mary giving birth to Jesus-, which means, "bring forth, bear; beget"[754]-is likewise used to depict Isis-Neith's begetting of the sun as at Sais, as well as by Plutarch (38, 366C) to portray Isis bearing Horus.

Despite the attempt at redefining the word "virgin," we nonetheless discover from the Theological Dictionary that "there are important points of contact" between the Egyptian Isis and the Hellenized Isis-who is called Isis parthenos, or "Isis the virgin"-as well as "the virginity of the mother-goddess," these concepts obviously serving as very real archetypes. From all of these conclusions, it would thus seem that the idea of parthenogenesis or virgin birth by Egyptian goddesses-specifically those giving birth to a Horus-has been well known among scholars for quite some time.

The Virginal Mystery.

Regardless of the manner of her impregnation, Isis has been asserted to remain a virgin, calling herself the "Great Virgin" and identified in ancient times with virgin goddesses such as Neith, Athena and Kore. We have seen that the Egyptians allegedly told Ptolemy that the tradition of bringing out a virgin-born savior was a "mystery." Another related mystery was the doctrine of "perpetual virginity" or "born-again virginity," so to speak, despite the female's status as wife and mother, as discussed by the Jewish philosopher Caius Julius Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE-c. 50 AD/CE) in his treatise "On the Cherubim" (XIV, 49-50).[755] In this essay, which appears in the very time and place germane to our discussion, Philo speaks of God as the "husband of Wisdom"-in other words, the female entity Sophia, who has been identified with Isis-and then talks about the virtues of virginity, demonstrating the mystery that allows for a "woman" (one who has known man) to become a virgin once again. Indeed, it was believed by both Philo and early Christians that a woman could regain her virginity "through mystical union with God," a stance based on Jewish scripture as at Jeremiah 3:4,[756] which Yonge translates as, "Hast thou not called me as thy house, and thy father, and the husband of thy virginity?"[757] Following his discussion in "On the Cherubim" (XIV, 48) in which he first quotes Jeremiah 3:4, Philo remarks: For the association of men, with a view to the procreation of children, makes virgins women. But when God begins to associate with the soul, he makes that which was previously woman now again virgin.[758]

The first chapter of Jeremiah 3, in fact, discusses a "woman"-allegory for the land-who has played harlot and engaged in "whoredoms." The solution to her "pollution" is the scriptural appeal to God: "My father, the author of my virginity." (Jer 3:4) The Hebrew word translated here as "virginity" is -na'uwr-which Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (H5271) defines as "youth, early life," while the Septuagint renders the term as -parthenias, obviously related to parthenos and indeed meaning "virginity." Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation of the pertinent word in Jeremiah follows suit with virginitatis, which also means "virginity."

From his discussion of the Jeremiah passage almost 2,000 years ago, it is evident that Philo too believed the pertinent word na'uwr to refer to virginity. Indeed, this scripture was interpreted by Philo and others, apparently, to mean that purification "through mystical union with God" could restore a woman's virginity. In essence, a God-focused woman can become a "born-again virgin."

In discussing the biblical story of the barren, aged wife of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, Philo remarks that God "will not converse with Sarah before all the habits, such as other women have, have left her, and till she has returned into the class of pure virgins."[759] Thus, even though Sarah has obviously engaged in intercourse, she becomes a "born-again virgin" by virtue of her piety. This reasoning was probably also used by Christians maintaining that, even though Jesus is depicted in the New Testament as having siblings (Mt 12:46, 13:55; Mk 3:32; Lk 8:19; Jn 2:12), his mother was considered a "perpetual virgin." Of course, other excuses were proffered as well, such as that these were not really Jesus's "brothers and sisters" but his cousins instead or Joseph's children by his "first wife." Yet, in certain scriptures (Mt 1:24, 25; Lk 2:7) it is implied that after Jesus was born Mary and Joseph engaged in intercourse, so Mary could not possibly be considered a "virgin," regardless of whether or not she gave birth, unless by this same mystical method as outlined by Philo and as applicable to other divine mothers as well centuries before the common era.[760] In the Greek world, this divine "born-again virgin" status was attained "by means of a bath in a sacred river," as in the case of the goddess Hera, wife of Zeus and mother of many.[761] Hence, in this mystery we may also find the answer to the dichotomy of goddesses who give birth, yet remain "virgins."

As we can see, this Jewish writer was retroactively making Jewish heroes the products of virgin births. And Philo's work appeared before Christianity was founded. There is no evidence whatsoever that Philo had any knowledge of Christ, Christians or Christianity, but there is sufficient evidence that the creators of Christianity used Philo's works in their efforts. Why would Philo do such a thing? Is it because there were so many virgin-born Pagan gods and heroes with whom to compete? Is this not a clear instance of doctrine being created to compete with another religion, and would we not be wise to suspect that Christianity constitutes but more of the same?

In addition to the renewal of virginity, the virgin birth itself is also one of "the sacred mysteries" repeatedly discussed by Philo,[762] comprising the "mystic union of the soul as female with God as male."[763] Oxford University professor of Theology Dr. Frederick C. Conybeare (1856-1924) comments that "Philo believed that it was possible for women under exceptional circumstances to conceive and bring forth [through the god] and without human husband."[764] Thus, Philo revealed the notion of a miraculous or virgin birth to have been a mystery, which is likely one reason we do not find it blasted all over the place in ancient writings, although the concept was surely known to many people over the centuries and millennia.

Isis, Mary and Virgo.

As we have seen, the holy mysteries of the virgin birth and virginity restoration/perpetuation existed not only among the Greeks and Jews but also in Egypt, concerning both Neith and Isis, among others. The identification of Isis with the Virgin, in fact, is further made in an ancient Greek text called The Katasterismoi, or Catasterismi, allegedly written by the astronomer Eratosthenes (276-194 BCE), who was for some 50 years the head librarian of the massive Library of Alexandria.[765] Although the original of this text has been lost, an "epitome" credited to Eratosthenes in ancient times has been attributed by modern scholars to an anonymous "Pseudo-Eratosthenes" of the 1st to 2nd centuries AD/CE.[766] In this book, the title of which translates as "Placing Among the Stars," appear discussions of the signs of the zodiac. In his essay on the zodiacal sign of Virgo (ch. 9), under the heading of "Parthenos," the author includes the goddess Isis, among others, such as Demeter, Atagartis and Tyche, as identified with and as the constellation of the Virgin.[767] In Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans, Dr. Theony Condos of the American University of Armenia translates the pertinent passage from the chapter "Virgo" by Pseudo-Eratosthenes thus: Hesiod in the Theogony says this figure is Dike, the daughter of Zeus [Dios] and Themis... Some say it is Demeter because of the sheaf of grain she holds, others say it is Isis, others Atagartis, others Tyche...and for that reason they represent her as headless.[768]

The headlessness of the goddess/constellation is interesting in consideration of the story that Isis too was at some point decapitated.[769] Thus, in ancient times Isis was identified with the constellation of Virgo, the Virgin. In fact, as we know well, much of the myth surrounding Osiris, Isis and Horus is indeed astrological or astrotheological. Hence, in the myth of Isis and Horus appears the theme of the constellation of the Virgin giving birth to the baby sun at the winter solstice, long before the Christian era and likely serving as one source for the nativity story of Jesus Christ.

The fact that the Virgin Mary herself is associated with the constellation of Virgo becomes evident from the placement of her "ascension into heaven," called the "Assumption of the Virgin Mary," on August 15th, representing one of the four greatest religious festivals in France, for one.[770] Christians believe that this date reflects the time when the mortal Mary ascended or was assumed into heaven. However, the fixation on this date of the supposedly mortal Mary's assumption is quite obviously a reflection of an ancient observance of the assumption of the constellation of Virgo during the time when the sun god "absorbs the celestial virgin in his fiery course, and she disappears in the midst of the luminous rays and the glory of her son."[771] Concerning this event, Sir Rev. Jacob Youde William Lloyd (1816-1887) relates: The Roman Calendar of Columella (Col. lii, cap. ii, p. 429) marks the death or disappearance of Virgo on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of September, that is, on the 15th of August; and on this day the ancient Greeks and Romans fix the Assumption of Astraea, who is the same as Isis. At the end of three weeks or thereabouts, the Calendar notes the birth of the virgin Isis, or her release from the solar rays. On the third day before the Ides, that is the 8th of September, it says the middle of Virgo rises, so that the same constellation, which is born on the 8th of September, presides at midnight on the 25th of December over the birth of the sun...[772]

The ancient Roman calendar of Columella dates to around 65 AD/CE and does indeed discuss the assumption of the constellation of Virgo, on the precise date centuries later ascribed to Mary's assumption in the Christian mythos.[773] The Greek goddess Astraea was a daughter of Zeus who, after her ascension into heaven, became Virgo.

Other Virgin Mothers.

As previously demonstrated, Neith and Isis are not the only pre-Christian and non-Christian virgin mothers, and their offspring are not the sole products of a virgin or miraculous birth. In yet another instance of an Egyptian virgin birth, the bull god Apis was said to be born from a virgin cow,[774] with Apis identified with Osiris and Hathor also a virgin "cow mother." Even the sun god Re/Ra is depicted in the texts as being a product of "virgin birth," being self-created: "I am Ra who came into being of himself..."[775] Speaking of Re and parthenogenesis, Dr. David Adams Leeming, a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, says, "The sun god Re was the father of certain Egyptian pharaohs, whose virgin mothers conceived through contact with the 'breath' of heavenly fire."[776]

Regarding the virgin birth, Dr. Leeming further comments: The point would seem to be that, in the context of myth and religion, the term virgin birth is rightly applied to any miraculous conception and birth. That is, whether or not the mother is technically a virgin is of secondary importance to the fact that she conceives and/or gives birth by some means other than the ordinary. The virgin birth story is ultimately not the story of a physiological quirk; it is the story of divinity entering the human experience by the only doorway available to it.[777]

Leeming continues with an extensive survey of virgin births worldwide that are quite independent of Christianity.

Concerning the commonality of the pre-Christian divine birth, Dr. Conybeare remarks: The idea of a woman being made pregnant by the impact of light is common in ancient thought. Thus Plutarch, De Iside 368 D, speaks of Isis as being filled and impregnated by the Sun... The legend of Danae conceiving by Zeus through a shower of gold is similar.[778]

Indeed, Plutarch (43, 368D) does specifically state that Isis, the moon, is impregnated by the sun, which he has elsewhere identified as Osiris: For this reason they also call the Moon the mother of the world, and they think that she has a nature both male and female, as she is receptive and made pregnant by the Sun....[779]

The Greek myth of the virgin Danae being impregnated by Zeus as a "golden shower"-essentially sunlight, which could be deemed the "breath of heavenly fire"-and giving birth to the divine son, Perseus, is referred to by the Christian apologist Justin Martyr (100-165 AD/CE), in his comparison of Christianity with pre-Christian myth. In Dialogue with Trypho (66), in his defense of Christ's virgin birth, Justin says: ...in the fables of those who are called Greeks, it is written that Perseus was begotten of Danae, who was a virgin; he who was called among Zeus having descended on her in the form of a golden shower.[780]

In chapter 22 of his First Apology, Justin reiterates the comparison between Christ's birth and that of Perseus: And if we even affirm that He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you accept of Perseus.[781]

In this same regard, ancient skeptic Celsus (2nd cent. AD/CE) remarked; "Clearly the Christians have used the myths of the Danae and the Melanippe, or of the Auge and the Antiope in fabricating the story of Jesus' virgin birth."[782]

In chapter 54 of the same Apology, Justin basically accuses the "heathens" of plagiarizing the Old Testament "prophecy" at Isaiah 7:14: ...And when they heard it said by the other prophet Isaiah, that He should be born of a virgin, and by His own means ascend into heaven, they pretended that Perseus was spoken of.[783]

This scripture at Isaiah 7:14 refers to a "maiden" giving birth to one named "God is with us" or Emmanuel who has been interpreted in Christian tradition to be a "virgin," i.e., Mary, bringing forth Jesus. Indeed, the author of the gospel of Matthew (1:23) copies this passage in the Septuagint verbatim. Furthermore, the argument about the "prophecy" at Isaiah 7:14 is specious, because the original Hebrew term for "maiden" is almah, which means "young woman" but not necessarily a virgin. As noted, the Hebrew term for "virgin" is bethulah. This example provides an important instance where facts have been twisted by fervent Christian proselytizers in attempts to validate their faith.

In Trypho (70), Justin comes up with the infamous Christian excuse for the existence of these various themes in pre-Christian mythology-"the devil got there first!": "...And when I hear, Trypho," said I, "that Perseus was begotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent counterfeited also this."[784]

Thus, as we can see, in order to explain the presence of the virgin birth in so-called Pagan mythology, Justin, along with other Church fathers, argued both that the Pagans plagiarized the Old Testament and that the devil, knowing Christ would be born of a virgin, planted the idea in the heads of the pre-Christians. Nowhere does this early Church father suggest that the Pagans plagiarized from Christianity, and it is quite evident that the virgin-birth motif is pre-Christian and therefore neither unique nor any more "historical" with Christianity than these other, mythical nativities. Of course, centuries later the author of the Paschal Chronicle came up with a different but more sophisticated excuse for the pre-Christian virgin birth of the divine savior as having been "prophesied" by Jeremiah and imitated out of piety before it happened.

In The Virgin Goddess: Studies in the Pagan and Christian Roots of Mariology, Dr. Stephen Benko, a professor of Religion and Philosophy at Temple University and a professed Christian, discusses the apocryphal text regarding Christ's childhood called the Protevangelium. In his analysis of this Christian text, Dr. Benko suggests that the author was influenced by the widespread cult of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, concluding, "Apparently the author's aim was to elevate Mary to the level of the great virgin-mother goddesses of the Greco-Roman world."[785] Like Binsbergen's matter-of-fact statements regarding parthenogenesis, Benko's comments indicate that the existence of pre-Christian, virgin-mother goddesses and their influence upon Christianity represents a foregone conclusion within the world of academia. Indeed, in A Feminist Companion to Mariology, Dr. John W. Van den Hengel, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at St. Paul University, Ottawa, remarks: "Few theologians doubt, in the words of Stephen Benko, that the development of early doctrines concerning Mary is 'rooted in popular piety that was motivated by pagan precedents, more precisely by the worship of Cybele.'"[786]

As we have seen, the Greek goddess Hera, wife of the amorous Zeus, was said to restore her virginity each year by bathing in a river. In Virgin Mother Crone, Donna Wilshire states that Hera "is specifically said to have conceived Her children parthenogenically."[787] Regarding Hera, Wilshire further states that "'Parthenia' is one of Her titles that translates as 'Virgin,' meaning 'belonging to Herself,'..."[788] Dr. Theodora Hadzisteliou Price likewise asserts that such mother goddesses as Hera and Athena were called "Parthenos," with Hera annually bathing to renew her virginity.[789]

In this regard, Dr. Price also says in her analysis of the ancient Greek nursing deities that the "concept of virgin-birth of Gods and heroes is very common."[790] In reality, the Greeks "would not accept a new god unless he was born by the visitation of God to a virgin."[791] In her study of the "nursing goddess," or Kourotrophos, Price also says that "it is not surprising that the Kourotrophos, originally the Goddess of fertility of plants, animals and men, is in many cases a virgin and mother."[792]

As another example of a virgin-born Greek hero, Conybeare relates that the famous Greek mystic Plato (428/427-348/347 BCE), upon whose work significant aspects of Christianity appear to have been founded, was also thought to have been the product of a virgin birth: ...Plato was himself believed to have been a born of a virgin mother, who conceived him by the god Apollo. Such a myth grew up quite naturally about Plato...[793]

Indeed, in his apology for Christ's nativity, Origen (Contra Celsus 1.37) raises the issue of Plato's purported virgin birth from the union of his mother and the god Apollo,[794] as does Jerome in his Against Jovinianus (Adv. Jov. 1.42).[795]

In the same regard, Forlong states: The legend of virgin birth was at least as old as the 2nd century a.c. among Christians; but Buddha, Zoroaster, Plato, Alexander, and even Tartar emperors and Pharaohs, were called the children of virgins by some god, as well as Christ.[796]

In Heroes and Heroines of Fiction, William S. Walsh likewise discusses the virgin-birth motif found in the non-Christian world: Virgin-mothers. Long before the time of Christ, parthenogenesis, or reproduction by a virgin, was as familiar to ancient Greek, Egyptian and Oriental legend as it is to modern biology. ...Buddha was only one of many Oriental heroes whose mother was a virgin. The Egyptian Horus was conceived by Isis without the direct intervention of a male. Isis has been identified with the Greek Demeter, and Demeter also was a virgin, even when she bore a child, Persephone or Proserpine.[797]

As we have seen, the Greek earth mother Demeter/Ceres, who gave birth to the season goddess Persephone/Kore, was also said to be a virgin, equated with Virgo by Pseudo-Eratosthenes, for one, as well as with Isis by Diodorus. As Theodora Price likewise states, "Demeter, the mother par excellence of the Greek religion, who gave birth to Kore, perhaps to Iakchos, even to Artemis according to one tradition...is also a virgin."[798] Regarding the virginal status of Demeter, in its entry on the "Virgin Birth," the authoritative Christian publication The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge reports: Nowhere, perhaps, has comparative religion discovered a more impressive instance of virgin birth than in the Eleusinian Mysteries. The supreme moment of the solemn celebration of these rites was marked by the marriage of the sacred mother and the birth of the sacred child. The mother was Brimo, a maiden, a goddess of the underworld, the Thessalian Kore or Demeter, the goddess of the fruits of the cultivated earth.... Thus at the very heart and culmination of the ceremonies at this sacred shrine in ancient Greece, centuries before its appearance in the Septuagint, the dogma had been created, "A virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son."[799]

As we have also seen, Epiphanius asserted that Kore herself was the virgin mother of the sun, brought out at the winter solstice. Also, the presence of the virgin-mother theme in the Septuagint or Greek Old Testament at Isaiah 7:14 might prove the motif's pre-Christian existence, if it were certain the relevant texts from the Septuagint ("LXX") had actually been translated before the creation of the Christ character. Indeed, despite Christian tradition that the entire LXX was created centuries before the common era, there remains a debate about whether or not the Greek books of the prophets were forged well into the common era to conform to Christian doctrine and demonstrate it to be "biblical." If it is contended that the book of Isaiah was translated into Greek along with the Torah two to three centuries before the common era-with the term parthenos to describe the mother-we therefore possess a pre-Christian mention of the virgin birth that could have been used as a blueprint for Christ's nativity. If, however, it is admitted that this part of the LXX was translated after Christ's purported advent, then we have a clearcut instance of dishonesty and forgery on the part of early Christians, as has been the case with the many forged or "apocryphal" Christian gospels, letters and so on.[800]

Not only does this entry from Schaff-Herzog validate the claim that there were other, pre-Christian virgin births, but it also supports the contention that this motif of parthenogenesis constituted a mystery, part of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries, for example. Indeed, concerning the "double goddess of Eleusis," the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, Dr. Faure relates that she is "both virgin and mother" who gives birth to "the child she conceived by the supreme god..."[801]

This fact of the virgin birth representing a mystery was also verified by Philo, long before the virgin birth of Jesus Christ could be found in the historical/literary record, and, we contend, is one of the reasons it is not widely known today, although it was well enough acknowledged in ancient times. In the same manner, Isis likewise possessed her mysteries, evidently including her own perpetual virginity.

In our analysis of the divine, miraculous and virgin birth, we could become involved into a long digression concerning the terms virgo and virgo intacta, but, despite the quibbling, we would still need to establish that the average worshipper likewise perceived these theological subtleties. Indeed, the discussion becomes moot when we factor in this propensity towards renewed or "born again" virginity, as found in the mysteries.

Mary is Mery Redux?

The similarities between the Egyptian and Christian mothers of God do not end with their names or perpetual virginity. Like the Virgin Mary turned away from an inn while with child, the pregnant Isis too is refused a "night's lodging."[802] Also like Mary, who flees with the baby Jesus into Egypt to escape the tyrant Herod, Isis must flee with the baby Horus to another part of Egypt to escape the tyrant Set.[803]

Like Jesus, Isis is imbued with the ability to raise the dead, first resurrecting Osiris, and then, after Set as a scorpion stings the baby Horus to death, resurrecting her son as well.[804] Isis is also depicted as the healing deity, likewise saving the life of the sun god Re, when he too was poisoned.[805] Of Isis's healing abilities, Budge remarks, "The great Codices of the Book of the Dead written under the XVIIIth [18th] dynasty prove that the blood of Isis was believed to possess great magical protective powers."[806] Thus, Isis's magical blood is like that of Christ, which is perceived by Christians to heal and wash away their sins. In addition, as Christians do with the Virgin Mary, Isis's female worshippers petitioned her to make them fertile and able to conceive.[807] Isis's titles were many, including many similar epithets to those of Mary: "Divine Lady," "Greatest of gods and goddesses," "Queen of the gods," "Lady of heaven," "Holy one of heaven," "Great goddess of the Other World," "Mother of Horus," "Mother of the God," "Lady of Life," "Lady of joy and gladness" and "Queen of heaven."[808]

As we have seen, Budge was one of the first to address and develop extensively the correspondences between Mary and Isis, while many others have balked at the task, for various reasons. Indeed, of the transparent usurpation of the Egyptian religion by Christians, the British Egyptologist boldly concludes: It has often been said and written that the cult of Isis and Horus and the worship of Mary the Virgin and the Child are one and the same thing...[809]

With all these facts in mind, the insistence that Christianity sprang up in a vacuum as a unique and new "divine revelation" appears unsustainable, to say the least.

Nevertheless, Budge, a pious Christian, attempts to delineate the two cults, based on the contention that Mary was not a goddess but a "real person." However, we think the apologist does protest too much and that it is obvious the Christian myth was designed to take over the Egyptian one, with the mythical Virgin Mary composed in order to usurp the highly popular Isis.

Oddly, in the face of his protests Budge continues to make strong comparisons between Isis and Mary, even relating that, according to early Christian belief, Mary too had "raised the dead and worked other miracles," a contention that continues to this day by her devoted believers, who flock to such places as Lourdes and Medjugorje, to petition the Virgin for healing. And the parallels persist: Osiris, more than Horus, resembles Jesus in respect of His murder by the Jews. Isis bewailed Osiris in the shrines of Egypt, as Mary bewailed her Son at Golgotha. The seven scorpion-goddesses who attended Isis seem to have their counterpart in the seven maidens who were associated with Mary in weaving the Veil of the Temple....[810]

At this point, Budge tries again to differentiate the two stories, all the while assuming the Judeo-Christian tale to be "historical." In reality, the differences are slim and to be expected if Jewish priests were merely weaving Egyptian myths together with their own scriptures, which is precisely what we contend was done in the creation of the Christ and Virgin Mary characters, as well as Christianity as a whole. These peculiar attributes of Mary are not found in the canonical gospels, it should be noted, but come from the apocryphal or "hidden" texts concerning her alleged life.

As yet another example of how the Egyptian religion was copied to become "Christian revelation" emerges a "little work" of magical writings called the "Lefafa Sedek," or "Bandlet of Righteousness." In the Lefafa Sedek, the Christian author claims the booklet constitutes a "divine revelation" dictated to Jesus and passed along firstly to the Virgin Mary and then to the archangel Michael, who revealed its contents to the apostles. Concerning this book, Budge remarks, "The Lefafa Sedek is constructed on the same plan as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and is a veritable Ethiopian Book of the Dead. But the author, who was a Christian, substitutes God for Ra, Christ for Thoth, and the Virgin Mary for Isis."[811]

Like the Book of the Dead, this Christian booklet "Bandlet of Righteousness" was written on strips of linen and wrapped around dead bodies. Thus, we possess a cut-and-dry case of Christians copying the Egyptian religion, which, again, we assert was done with the gospel story itself and many other aspects of Christianity.