ALSO BY D.M. MURDOCK a.k.a. ACHARYA S

The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold Suns ofGod: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled Who Was Jesus? Hngerprints of1'he Christ

CHRIST IN EGYPT: THE HORUS-JESUS CONNECTION Copyright © 2009 by O.M. Murdock a .k .a. Acharya S Ali rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any mann er whatsoever- electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise-without written permission except for brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information, address Stellar House Publishers, LLC, www.StcllarHousePublishing.com

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Murdock, D.M.f Acharya S Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection. 1. J esus Christ-Historicity 2. Christianity-Origin

Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN: 0-9799631- 1-7 ISBN 13: 978-0-9799631-1-7

Design and layout by D.M. Murdock. Cover art by JimJupiterDesign.com adapted from: Left: Statue of Isis suckling Horus, from the Gregorian Egyp tian Museum in the Vatican, Ita.ly Right: Statue of Virgin Mary suckling Baby Jesus, Venice, Italy.

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Table of Contents Preface vi

Introduction 1 A Word about Ptimary Sources 4 Egyptian Language Translations 7 Cod, Man or Myth? 10 Who Js Gerald Massey? 13 Timeline o[ Destruction 23 The Art o[Mythmaking 24

Horus , Sun of God 28 The Loving, Immortal Father-Mother Sun 29 The Deœa sed as Osjn's 35 O[Mysteties and .Myths 39 Who Ts Homs:> 43 The Many Horuses 48 The Horus-King: "Son o(the Sun" 49 Priest as Honts 51 «A men-Ra. .. Qsiris .. HonJs" 52 Polytheistic Monotheism/ Monism? 56 A Elu jd Eaith 59 The Moon and Morninq Star 60 Homs js Osi ris Rebom 62

Horus versus Set 67 The Astrotheology o[the Passion 69 Who is Set:> 71

Set as Sa

Born on December 25tb 79 Aocieot a nd Modem Voices 83 Hieroglyphic Evidence 93 Calendrjcal Consjderations 95 Monumental Alignments 98 Clockruor ks 702

Win ter Solstice Celebratjons 102

Festjyals o f Osiris 103 Dual Birth days of Horus 106 Fes t jva 1 of Ptah 107 Fcast of Sokar 107

Eerui~oUSi~--------------------------------LLU Christian Sun Worship? 112

The Virgin Isis-Mery 120 The Bel oued Mother o( Cod 124

Loved by the Gods 127 Merry Deities 128 Isis the Loving and Loved 129

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Mery, Miriam and Mary Perpetua! Virqinity

The Paschal Chronicle Son of Nejtb

"Isis. the Pure Star of Lovers" The Virginal Mystery Isis, Mary and Virgo Other Virgin Mothers

Mary is Mery Redux? The Nativity Scene at the Temple o(Luxor

The Amenhotep Birth Cycle The Birth of Pharaoh Ha tshepsut

Christ in Egypt

135 138 138 140

148 154 156 158 164 167 170 172

The_Cbrist Conne.c.tio•n_ ______________ .LL.J.

The God-King as Horus 176 "Soft- Co re Po rn?" 179

The "Immaculate Conception" and "Virgin Birth?" 189 l'ùrther Parallels to the Gospel Story 191 The "Magi" Presenting Gifts? 192

The Star in the East and Three Kings 198 A Sirius Star 200

Orion and the Three Kinqs 203 Ste!/ ar Commonality 207

Horus at the Ages of 12 and 30 210 The $ed EestilJal 2 1 ,<; The Gnostic Horos 218

"Anup the Baptizer" 233 Who js Anuhjs:> 236 The Boat o(the Dead 241 The Living Water 242 The Baptism 244

Horus the Baptist 247 Anubis, the Jackal Lake and House/Ten t of Purifica tion 248

Aquarius the Water-Bearer 253

The Twelve Followers 261 The Eqyptian Zodiac 265 The Book o{Amduat 269 The Book o(Gates 272

The Fou r Brothers 272 The Fjshers of Men 276

The Gnostiç 12 ?77

Serapis and the Twelve 278

Performing Miracles, Walking on Water, Healing the Sick and Raising the Dead 285

The Bread o[Li(e 288

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Table of Conte nts

The Lord o[ Wine and the Sacred Meal Commanding the Waters The Raising of Osiris

"The Truth, The Light and The Good Shepherd" Lord o[Truth and Good Shepherd Sin Bearer and Redeemer Osiris the Cbzisf;> Horus the Anointed and Beloved Son o[the Father Horus the Word/"Iusa," the Coming Son and Savior

The Shu Theology The Lord o[Light and Lamb o[God

Was Horus " Cmcified?" The Pre-Christian Cross and Cruci{i.x Shu in Cruci[orm Horus o[the Cross

Outstretched Arms as the Sign of the Cross Osiris and Djed Pillar Set "Cruci[ied" The "Divine Man" Cruci(ied in Space Astrotheology of the Cross The Dl!O Thieues? The Mystery of the Cross

Burial for Three Days, Resurrection and Ascension The Resun·ection Machine

Lord o[Etemity The Passion Play of Osiris Three Da ys in the Tomb The Descent jnto the l fnden norld

"Easter"- The Resurrection o[Sprinq Horus and Osiris at the Vernal Equinox

The "Ascension into Heaven• Spiritual or Bodily Resurrection?

The Word "Resurrection" The Dying and Rising Debate Osiris as the Life Force in the Material World

Bodil!! Necessity The Canaanite Connection Jewish or Greek?

The Glorified Body Horus as the Resurrection The Egyptian Heaven and Hell "The House of a Thousand Years"

The Phoenix/Benu Bird Osiris, Horu s and the Benu .Jesu s a nd the p hoen ix

iii

291 293 297

309 310 3 12 313

3 19 321 324 329

335 336 343 343 346 350 352 353 356 .357 364

376 .378 378 381 382 385 389 395 398 402 403 404 407 409 411 414 415 417 419 420 421 424 425

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iv

Th e Astr otheological Millennium Conclusion

The Alexandrian Roots of Chrlstianity The Therapeuts The Proto-Christians? La/œ Mareotis The Hybridizing Emperor? The Library of Alexandria Philo of Alexandria The Hermetic Writings

The Poimandres The Gnostics

Th e Pistis Sophia Egypto-Christian Texts

Marcion and the Gospel of the Lord The Gospel of John

The Mcmphitc Thcology Who Wrote John?

Conclusion

A "Unique Divine Revelation?" Gods Tru/y Walked the Earth? The " fioms Christian CIQS$" Dismissed? Dangerous Endeavors and Occupational Hazards "Nolo Comprehendere" Blotting Out the Sun Mysterious Omissions Mutable Mythology Well Known in Egypt? Which Came F'irst?

Bibliography

Index

Christ in Egypt

427 427

431 433 449 456 457 464 466 469 475 478

484 486 486 488 493 494

498 499 500 501 503 508 509 512 514 515 517

522

561

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Mediterranean Sea

Rooetta A!exandrla 13o1o

Lé~tis Saïs Buslrls

.Bubastis Heiopolls/On

,

•

• Giza

Saqqara Memphlil'\, Lower Egypt

Sinai

· Oxyrhynehus

Hermopolis

Nobla .

Nag H:unrna:ll Abydos 1 • Oendero

DM" Bohari Th b v.,..,or,.~ . e es VWf~d .... a.-M · ,,. Karnak

Lu•or Es ne .. Hierakonpolis

Upper •Edfu

Egypl Kom Ombo/Ombos

v · Abu Simbel /.._

\ Kush

Napa~a .F ./"') ._,1 Jebel Barka! \

oo,..._..._.,so.,..,._,.~ J Meroe

Canaan

Jerusalom

•

Preface

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

Joseph Campbell, An Open Life (77)

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

This book is the result of decades of study of the world 's religions and mythologies, focusing on comparative religion with the intention of showing from where Christianity in particular likely devised many of its most cherished beliefs. My previous books on the subjects of comparative religion, mythology and Christian origins indude: The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold; Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled; and Who Was Jesus? Fîngerprints of The Christ. 1 continue this ongoing investigation with the fascinating land of the pharaohs not only because that nation was ·extremely influential in the world into which Christianity was hom, but also becausc it posscsses so much material prescrvcd from the centuries of destruction- rouch of it qui te deliberate--that it is to Egypt we may look for solid, primary-source proof of our premisc.

It should be noted, however, that 1 did not originally set out to prove a thesis established a priori but that, having been engaged in this field for so many years and, having b een raised a Christian and knowing that faith very weil, I have been struck over the decades by the profound and relevant resemblances between it and pre-Christian and non-Christian religions, and it has become clear that Egypt was the fount of much of this religious and spiritual knowledgc.

In this groundbreaking effort, 1 have u sed the latest and best technology to search far and wide through a massive amount of material across severa! languages, beginning with the ancient primary sources and extending in to the modern era. In order to demonstrate a solid case, 1 have been compelled to do extensive and

l Budgc, GE, 1, xvi.

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Preface vü

exhaustive research in the pertinent ancient languages, such as Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Coptic, while 1 have also utilized authorities in modern languages such as German and French.

Not only have 1 provided much important and interesting information dircctly addrcssing the striking comparisons bctwcen the Egyptian and Christian religions, but also 1 have exposed on severa! occasions various biases, censorship and other behaviors that have impacted mainstream knowledge over the centuries, allowing for certain revelations to come to light in English here possibly for the first tim e in his tory.

ln ordcr to set the stage for the various p remises of each chapte r, 1 have included quotations at the beginnings thereof, at times both modern and ancient. Mer th us providing a summary of the premise, in each chapter 1 delve into the appropriate primary sources to whatever extent possible. ln my analysis of the ancient Egyptian t e:'(ts, 1 consulted and cross-referenced as many translations as 1 could find, and 1 attempted to defer to the most modern renditions as often as possibl e. Ail of t his wor k was accomplished as truly independent scholarship, without funding from any g roup , organization or institution , as has been the case with ali of my past endeavors as well.

The result is that Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection comprises nearly 600 p ages with aJmost 2,400 footnotes and c itations from more than 900 books, journals and assorted other sources from experts in germane fields of study from different time periods beginning in antiquity up to the most modern Egyptologist s , in order to create a consensus of opinion sincc the topic is so contentious. ln this regard, brief biographical m a terial is also included for many of these authorities, so that readers may be assured of the individual's credentiaJs. The broad scope of these sources dating from thousands of years ago to the most modern research means there can be no dismissive argument based on either a Jack of primary sour ces or because the authorities cited are "ou tdated."

Yet, for ali this erudition, 1 have hopefully succeeded in making Christ in Egypt as readily accessible to the average reader as possible, so that the book can be enjoyed by ali who wish to know the hidden history of the ot·igins of religious ideology. Sorne of the matet'ia l may strike sorne readers as difficult and/or tedious, but 1 hope it will be understood that, in consideration of the controversiaJ nature of this issue, it was necessary to be as thorough as possible·. This book is therefore not meant to be a "quick read." Rather, it is intended as a reference book providing knowledge for years to come.

In comparison to other literature on the subject, the present book might be considered the most complete and scientific study of the Egyptian influence on Christianity ever produced in English. Each major contention and many minor ones have been carefully cited

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viii Christ in Egypt

with an eye to as exacting accuracy as is possible, and every effort h as been made to doublecheck particularly controversial facts. My intent has always been to restore the proper milieu of the eras in question, resurrecting cultures that have been t he object of disinformation and disdain. In creating this opus, 1 cxpcrienccd great delight at a number of significant features that came to light, and 1 offer this unusual but intriguing research in the spirit in which it was intended: To wit, to demonstrate that mankind's most cherished and fervently held religious beliefs are rooted firmly in human creation based on natural phenomena, without the necd for supernatural gcnesis but nonetheless e}>."traordinarily marvelous and meaningful.

D.M. Murdock aka Acharya S February 2009

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Introduction

"Out of Egypt have l called my son."

The Gospel of Matthew (2 : 15)

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

Saint Augustine, Retractiones (1: 13) "The Religion proclaimed by him to Ali Nations was neither New nor Strange.•

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

"Christianity represents the last term of (the( invasion of oriental ideas into the West. lt did not falllike a thunderbolt in the midst of a s urprised and alarmed old world. lt bad its period of incubation, and, whilc it was secking the definitive form of its dogmas, the problems for which it was pursuing the solutions preoccupied the thoughts in Greece, in Asia, in Egypt. There were in the air stray ideas that combined themselves in ali sorts of proportions."!

Dr. Louis Mênard, Hennes Trismégiste (ix)

"There can be no doubt th a t the oldest Egyptian wr itings contain sorne vestiges of primeval faith. Egyptians in very remote ru·eas believed in the immortality of man, with reward or punishment in the future state. They believed in the existence of good and evil powers in this !ife, and were not without a sen se of persona! responsibility ... " Rev. Dr. W.H. Rule, The Horus Myth and Its Relation to Christianity (66)

Over the centuries, it has been the contention of numerous scholars and researchers of comparative religion and mythology that one of the major influences on the Christian faith was that of ancient Egypt. Although we today may find the ancient Egyptian religion bizarre and am using, with ali its peculiarities, including god s and goddesses in the forms of many kinds of animals, the truth is that the Egyptians themselves took their faith very seriously, so much so that, a s with religions of today, murder in its name was n ot unknown. One need only look to the cautionary tale of the notorious monotheistic pharaoh Amenhotep IV, aka Akhenaten, for an example of how sincerely the Egyptians and their priesthoods upheld their religion. Indeed, many Egyptians- and especially their priests- were a s devout in their own religion as are the most pious among us today. And this faith was not isolated or fleeting: The Egyptian religion was

' Translation mine. ' l'he original ~'t-ench of Ménard is: "l..e christianisme représente le dernie.- te1·uw de c<~ttc invasion des idées olicntalc-s e n Occident. Tl n'est pas toml}{~

comme un coup de roudœ au milieu du vieux monde sw·pris et ell'arê. Il a eu sa për·iodc d1ucubation_. ct~ pcudant qu'îl chc l'chalt la fonnc défiultivc:: de ses dogmes, les pro blêmes dont il poursuivait la solution préoccupaient aussi les esprits en Grèce, en Asie;, en ~:gyp tc. li y avai t d(ms l'tùr· d<.:s idôcs CITanfcs qui sc combiJtaicnL c;n toute sorte de proportions ... (Ménard, ix· x.)

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2 Christ in Egypt

exceedingly widespread and possessed an antiquity unparalleled in the known world at the time. As the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484-c. 425 BCB1) wrote in his Histories (2.37) almost 2,500 years ago, the Egyptians were "religious to excess, beyond any other nation in the world.'"l Concurring with this assessmcnt, rcnowncd Egyptologist Dr. Jan Assman (b. 1938), a professor of Egyptology at the University of Konstanz, remarks:

ln ancient Egypt, mottuary religion was not simply one ru·ea of cultural praxis, runong others, such as the cult of the gods, economy, law, politics, literature, ru1d so forth. Rather, in this case, we are dealing with a cen ter of cultural consciousness, one that radiated out into many-we might almost say, into a.ll-others areas of ancient Egyptian culture.3

ln Egyptian Religion, Egyptologist Dr. Siegfried Morenz (1914-1970), a director of the Iustitute of Egyptology at the University of Leipzig, Iikewise describes religion as the "matrix of culture• and "womb of culture,• especially as found in Egypt.1

Over its vast !ife of severa! millennia, hundreds of millions of people engaged in the Egyptian religion, with its major themes and motifs weil known and highly respected. In fact, it has been estimated that sorne 500 million Egyptians were mummified during the time of the pharaohs, indicating there were at !east half a billion followers of the Egyptian religion during that era.s Hence, any comp·eting faith would be hard-pressed to overturn this deep and abiding reverence for the Egyptian religion and its gods, and would need to incorporate as much of the Egyptian mythos and ritual into itself as was possible. The fact is that such devoutly religious people do not easily and

1 ln dating notations, ac."' mcans "circa" or "around;" while "b." is the ahbreviation for ~(born" and ""d." mean:> "died." The nbhreviulion •n." rnt.:n.ns "nourh;hcd," repre:$enung the time during which o ntle r was in power or any other indîv;duo.l was active in hisjhcr occt•P~•1ion .... ac &" is cquivalcnl 10 .. ac~ and rncans "8cforc the Colllmon ~ra," white "ce!t equnls .. AD" but means .. Common Ern." 0 llerodo1usjde Selincout1, 99. ' Assman, DSAE, 2·3. 1 Morenz, 13. • See wl'he Pvramids and the Cities of the Pharnohs.• This figure o:pparentJiy co mes from calculalions donc by Bgyplologist Or. George f~. Oliddon (1809· 1875) us foUows: "Let us caU tbe period of muo:n:uiJjcation 3,000 years, which would be greotly be low the mark. The average: population of Egypt d1.11ing the tirnc pmba bly ;unounled to fove millions> which died otl' CVCl)' gcnerolion of thirty·Uuec years. \Ve have, then> by a sirnplt pn1oess of c;ak11lation. 450 millions of rnummics for the 3,000 years; ln11. as tl1c timc wos probobly more thon 3,000 ycars, the numbcr or mummics might be estima.tcd iu round uumbe rs a t flvc hu11drcd millious." (Gilddou, 73.) This mind boggllng number of half a bill.ion appears impossible at ürst; however, it works out to only 167,000 01· :;o people dying per year over a J>C I"iod of 3,000 yea.1-s, so il' is in reo.lity raU1er plausible. lt should be kept in mind thot not ali Egyptians could aiiord to be mummificd by human nlcthods~ many of the poorcr c lasses wouJd bury Utcit dcad a t the edge of the desert in orde r t.o nllow for natural mummification to occur. (r~edford, 233.) Ncvc1thclc~s. one may rcnsonably presume l_hat cvt;n the poorc~L of tJ1c dcccuscd wcrc a.tTordcd somc sort of burinl titual.

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