The Ancient of Days

Alice C. Linsley


The Ancient of Days refers to the God and Father of Jesus Christ who delivers the eternal kingdom to his Beloved Son, the divine "Seed" of Genesis 3:15. This first promise of the Bible foretells how the Seed of the Woman will trample the serpent under foot.

The name in Aramaic, as it appears in Daniel, is Atik Yomin, meaning Ancient Days.

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)

This name for God has a parallel in Kabbalistic works of the Middle Ages.

Whenever Judgment looms and the forehead of the Impatient One is revealed, the Forehead of the Ancient of Ancients is revealed; Judgment subsides and is not executed. (Idra Rabba, Zohar 3:136b)

There is a parallel reference in Srimad Bhagavatam 10:16 - which speaks of Krishna (Christ) who is called Hari (Lord or Horus). The text reads: "The Ancient Man danced on the serpent, who still spewed poison from his eyes and hissed loudly in his anger, and he trampled down with his feet whatever head the serpent raised, subduing him calmly as if he were being worshipped with flowers. Kaliya, his umbrella of hoods shattered by the gay dance of death, his limbs broken, vomiting blood copiously from his mouths, remembered the Guru of all who move and are still, the Ancient Man, Narayana, and he surrendered to him in his heart." (Andrew Wilson, Ed. World Scriptures, p. 449)

The Bhagavata Purana is a sacred text of Hinduism. It draws on ancient oral sources but was not inscribed until around 500 A.D. This is well after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ whereby He trampled down death by death and bestowed life on those in the tombs, as recited in the ancient Liturgy.

Of these references, the oldest is found in Daniel which was written between about 500 and 170 B.C.  Daniel 7 continues with this description of the Christ coming to the Ancient of Days.


13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.

14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

Messianic passages such as this have parallels in ancient Horite texts. Consider how Horus, the archetype of Christ, describes himself in the Coffin texts (passage 148):

I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most ancient bird could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my place beyond the powers of Set, the foe of my father Osiris. No other god could do what I have done. I have brought the ways of eternity to the twilight of the morning. I am unique in my flight. My wrath will be turned against the enemy of my father Osiris and I will put him beneath my feet in my name of ‘Red Cloak’. (Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by R.T. Rundle Clark, p. 216)

Note the similarity to the Messianic Psalm 110: The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

Jesus' Horite ancestry is demonstrated through analysis of the distinctive Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern as it is presented in Genesis. He is the Seed of the Woman, the long-expected Immortal Mortal who tramples down death and receives an eternal kingdom.

Related Reading: The Son of God: Jesus Fulills the Horus Myth; The Eyes of Horus Speak of Jesus; Jesus: From Lamb to Ram; The Double Crown of Horus; African Religion Predates Hinduism