Bronze Age Populations

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

During the Bronze Age (c.3000 B.C. to 1100 B.C.) ancient states emerged along the Nile, the Indus River, and in the Ancient Near East. These were located in ore rich regions near major water systems where early systems of irrigation developed. This was one of the first regions inhabited by humans outside of Africa and also the region connecting Africa and Eurasia. The region’s location at the crossroads of migratory routes contributes to its importance in understanding populations of the Bible. 

"The Bronze Age was a highly dynamic period involving large-scale population migrations and replacements, responsible for shaping major parts of present-day demographic structure in both Europe and Asia." (Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia | Nature)

Much has been written about the late "Bronze Age Collapse" which occurred in parts of Eurasia and the eastern Mediterranean, but not in the Nile Valley which was rising to prominence as a unified Egyptian empire. Studies of the Ancient Pyramid Texts (2200 B.C.) reveal a sophisticated social structure and vital economy the length of the Nile. The Egyptians had outposts in Arabia, Canaan, Mesopotamia, and as far north as Mount Silpius in Turkey where they built Meroe (IO) on the Orontes.

Meroe on the Orontes was about 2800 miles from the shrine city of Meroe on the Nile. Both were under the control of the ancient sea-faring Egyptians who built sea-worthy ships. Meroe was the farthest outpost of the Egyptian Empire and at its peak the city would have had Amurru.

Amurru is the name of the northernmost district of Egypt's empire, and it included the coastal region from Ugarit to Byblos. The Orontes marked the northern boundary of Amur-ru. Meroe on the Orontes was one of the northern-most Egyptian outposts.

Most late Bronze Age historians focus on the hypothesized "Sea Peoples" that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean between 1200–900 B.C. In this article we will look at earlier developments such as the dispersal of the early Hebrew, the dispersed descendants of Nilotic rulers, and the significance of the Egypt-Mesopotamia-Dilmun trade.


The Dispersed Hebrew

The prestigious Hebrew ruler-priest caste was in the service of the early lords of the earth, great kingdom builders like Nimrod, the son of Kush (Gen. 10). Before Abrham's time they had already dispersed out of the Nile Valley into Arabia, Canaan, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, and the Indus Valley. Their influence extended into regions where they traded, even as far as Southeast Asia. 

The practice of sending away non-ascendant sons also drove the dispersion of the early Hebrew. The pattern is evident in Genesis 25:6 where we are told that Abraham gave gifts to all his other sons and sent them away from his proper heir, Isaac. Wherever the Hebrew went they carried their belief in the High God who had a son known as HR in ancient Egyptian, meaning "Most High One".

Early Horite and Sethite Hebrew maintained shrines along the major rivers and controlled trade on their section of the rivers. Their practice of building twin settlements on opposite sides of the river made it possible to assess tariffs on cargo. The Nilotic twin cities of Nekhen and Nekheb, and the twin cities of Pe and Dep are examples. Pe and Dep merged into the city that the Greeks later called Buto.

Ancient trade routes 

The routes of migration were also early trade routes controlled by regional rulers. The Sumerian rulers had a long-established trade with Dilmun (Bahrain) and with port cities in the Indus valley. Ships sailed southeast on the Tigris or Euphrates to the Persian Gulf, making stops at the port city of Dilmun (Bahrain), passing the Oman Peninsula, and entering the Arabian Sea. From there the ships sailed northeast on the Indus River to Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

As early as 7000 B.C., the island of Bahrain, identified by the Sumerians as Dilmun, served as a major trade depot with its own commercial seal. Ships coming from Dilmun and ports east traveled to the Sumerian cities of Ur, Erech, and Nippur. The city of Eridu, regarded as the oldest Sumerian city, was an important trade center as early as 5000 B.C. 

Thomas Geoffrey Bibby (1917-2001) lead excavations at Dilmun in the 1950s. Bibby discovered artifacts that show that Dilmun was the capital of an independent kingdom and a center of trade between ancient Sumeria and the Indus River Valley. The Bronze Age civilization at Dilmun lasted two thousand years.

Genetic Studies 

The Bronze Age has been the focus of numerous DNA studies (Narasimhan et al., 2019), and anthropological investigation of social hierarchies (Luneau, 2010). The western Iron Age nomads (Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians) are believed to have mixed. This 2018 study found "evidence of a stable shared genetic signature, making the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppe a likely source of western nomadic groups." 

Studies of the DNA of the ancient Egyptians show a closer genetic affinity with ancient people from the Near East and the Levant such as Armenians. This is especially interesting given that the earlier name for the Nile River was Ar, meaning "venerable". The Ar Rulers are evidence of the wide dispersal of kingdom builders who were associated with the Nilotic royal families.  

An international team of scientists from the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany analyzed the DNA of 93 Egyptian mummies dating from approximately 1400 BCE to 400 CE. The evidence from their study reveals a surprising close relation to ancient people of the Near East such as Armenians.

Our analyses reveal that ancient Egyptians shared more ancestry with Near Easterners than present-day Egyptians, who received additional sub-Saharan admixture in more recent times.

We find that ancient Egyptians are most closely related to Neolithic and Bronze Age samples in the Levant, as well as to Neolithic Anatolian and European populations.

A genetics study by Haber et. al (2015) published not so long ago in the Nature’s European Journal of Human Genetics has demonstrated this connection.

We show that Armenians have higher genetic affinity to Neolithic Europeans than other present-day Near Easterners, and that 29% of the Armenian ancestry may originate from an ancestral population best represented by Neolithic Europeans.

Today’s Armenians show genetic affinity to both the ancient Europeans and ancient Egyptians. That there was plenty of contact between ancient Egypt and ancient Armenia is apparent from Egyptian artifacts that were found in ancient Armenian burials.

Consider also this excerpt from a 2015 study:
 

The Armenians show signatures of an origin from a mixture of diverse populations occurring from 3000 to 2000 BCE. This period spans the Bronze Age, characterized by extensive use of metals in farming tools, chariots, and weapons, accompanied by development of the earliest writing systems and the establishment of trade routes and commerce. Many civilizations such as in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus valley grew to prominence. Major population expansions followed, triggered by advances in transportation technology and the pursuit of resources. Our admixture tests show that Armenian genomes carry signals of an extensive population mixture during this period. We note that these mixture dates also coincide with the legendary establishment of Armenia in 2492 BCE. Admixture signals decrease to insignificant levels after 1200 BCE, a time when Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly collapsed, with major cities being destroyed or abandoned and most trade routes disrupted.

Related reading: 

The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies | Nature

Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age | BMC Biology | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

 Ancient Egyptians were closer to Armenians than to Africans; a new genetics study reveals

Genetic evidence for an origin of the Armenians from Bronze Age mixing of multiple populations | European Journal of Human Genetics (nature.com)

 Armenians Have A High Genetic Affinity To Ancient Europeans

A Powerful Nubian Queen

Bust of Queen Tiye wearing the Hathor crown, a sign of divine appointment.

(Berlin Altes Museum)

Queen Tiye was the principal wife of Amenhotep III (ca.1388-1351/50 BC). He reigned for 39 years over a vast empire that extended from the Upper Nile to the Orontes in modern-day Turkey. The Amarna correspondence demonstrates the close diplomatic contact of the Egyptian and Hurrian/Horite royal courts at this time.

Queen Tiye played a public role during Amenhotep's reign. Her name and honorific titles appear on many monuments constructed during his reign and she is commemorated on many scarabs.

Amenhotep III built or rebuilt the temples at Luxor, Memphis, Elkab, and Armant. At Thebes he built a palace complex and a monumental temple on the West Bank of the Nile. The Colossi of Memmon before the entrance to Amenhotep's mortuary complex are still standing. 

Amenhotep III built the Nubian temples of Soleb (Sulb) and Amara West where inscriptions refer to the "Shasu of Yhw" (YHWH). Some speculate that the name of Tiye's father YuYa includes reference to the High God as it appeared on Nubian inscriptions.

He also built shrines and palaces for Queen Tiye, and an artificial lake about a mile long. He announced this on commemorative scarabs, telling the world that it was large enough for Queen Tiye to sail her boat called "The Aten Gleams."

Amenhotep issued a number of scarabs with long inscriptions describing events of his reign. One inscription describes his territory. The southern border of his empire was at the fortified settlement of Karoy in Nubia and the northern border was Naharin in southern Turkey. These inscriptions reveal Tiye's importance in the way her husband's territorial boundaries are given in reference to her and her family.

The so-called "marriage scarabs" record the name of Queen Tiye along with the names of her noble parents. Many royal persons of the Iron Age and before traced their ancestry by double descent. Tiye's father's name was Yuya and her mother's name was Tjuya. 

Tuya and Tjuya also had a son named Anen. Anen carried the titles Chancellor of Lower Egypt, Second Prophet of Amun, sm-priest of Heliopolis (biblical On), and Divine Father. During the New Kingdom (c. 1539–1075 BC) the great temple of Ra at Heliopolis rivaled that of Amon at Thebes, and the Horite Hebrew priesthood of Heliopolis wielded great influence.

In April 2011, a number of artefacts looted from the Cairo Museum were recovered. One of the 10 missing shabtis of Yuya and Tjuya (JE 68984) was returned, as was Tutankhamun's gilded bronze and wooden trumpet (JE 62008).

Zahi Hawass, the former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs of Egypt, considers Amenhotep III the greatest monarch ever to reign over the Two Lands.

Related reading: The Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III; The Private Tomb of Yuya and Tjuya; The Wives' Settlements Mark the Boundaries

Confirmation of Herodotus' Baris

 

4000-year Egyptian ship plank

In Book II of The Histories, Herodotus describes some of his experiences in ancient Egypt and, though once doubted, more and more of his observations have been confirmed. A recent example is the confirmation of Herodotus' detailed description of Egyptian merchant ships.

His description aligns well with the vessel discovered by Franck Goddio and a team from the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine during underwater excavations at Thonis-Heracleion, a sunken city in Aboukir bay, Egypt. Herodotus described a “baris”, an Egyptian trading vessel that is like the wreck discovered at the Thonis-Heracleion site. That hull is about 70% intact and has a crescent-shape made of thick planks joined with tenons.

Herodotus' description has been archaeologically verified with the discovery of this sunken ship.

Here is Herodotus' description of the vessel:

The vessels used in Egypt for the transport of merchandise are made of the Acantha (Thorn), a tree which in its growth is very like the Cyrenaic lotus, and from which there exudes a gum. They cut a quantity of planks about two cubits in length from this tree, and then proceed to their ship-building, arranging the planks like bricks, and attaching them by ties to a number of long stakes or poles till the hull is complete, when they lay the cross-planks on the top from side to side. They give the boats no ribs, but caulk the seams with papyrus on the inside. Each has a single rudder, which is driven straight through the keel. The mast is a piece of acantha-wood, and the sails are made of papyrus. These boats cannot make way against the current unless there is a brisk breeze; they are, therefore, towed up-stream from the shore: down-stream they are managed as follows. There is a raft belonging to each, made of the wood of the tamarisk, fastened together with a wattling of reeds; and also a stone bored through the middle about two talents in weight. The raft is fastened to the vessel by a rope, and allowed to float down the stream in front, while the stone is attached by another rope astern. The result is that the raft, hurried forward by the current, goes rapidly down the river, and drags the “baris” (for so they call this sort of boat) after it; while the stone, which is pulled along in the wake of the vessel, and lies deep in the water, keeps the boat straight. There are a vast number of these vessels in Egypt, and some of them are of many thousand talents’ burthen.

The ship was made of acacia planks held together with long tenon-ribs and fastened with pegs, creating ‘internal ribs’ within the hull. Dr. Damian Robinson (Oxford Maritime Archaeologist) said, “Herodotus describes the boats as having long internal ribs. Nobody really knew what that meant… That structure’s never been seen archaeologically before. Then we discovered this form of construction on this particular boat and it absolutely is what Herodotus has been saying.”

Robinson added: “Where planks are joined together to form the hull, they are usually joined by mortice and tenon joints which fasten one plank to the next. Here we have a completely unique form of construction, which is not seen anywhere else.”

Related reading: The Ancient Egyptians Were Seafaring; Ancient Egyptian Sea Power and the Origin of Martime Forces

Astronomical Ceiling Diagrams

Astronomical ceiling from Senenmet's Tomb at Thebes (18th Dynasty)

Alice C. Linsley

Early Egyptian astronomers observed and recorded the movement of the stars to understand their seasonal effect on the Nile Valley. These astronomers were mainly temple priests who had been keeping records of astronomical cycles and events for many millennia. 

Plato wrote that Nilotic scribes had been keeping astronomical records for 10,000 years. He should know since he studied with a priest in Memphis for 13 years, and knew about Earth's Great Year. This is the time of between 25,000 and 28,000 years that it takes for Earth to complete the cycle of axial precession. This precession was known to Plato who defined the "perfect year" as the return of the celestial bodies (planets) and the diurnal rotation of the fixed stars to their original positions. The ancients understood much more about the natural world than we moderns recognize.

By 4245 BC, the priests of the Upper Nile had established a calendar based on the appearance of the star Sirius. Apparently, they had been tracking this star and connecting it to seasonal changes and agriculture for thousands of years. The priest Manetho reported in his history (c.241 BC) that Nilotic Africans had been “star-gazing” as early as 40,000 years ago.

The ancient Nilotic astronomers observed that 36 groups of stars (small constellations) rise in a consecuative order on the eastern horizon every 24 hours. Each decan rises for 10 days. This gave them the formula of 36 X 10 = 360 days, with the calendar broken into 12 months of 30 days each.

By the time of the New Kingdom, each decan was regarded as a divine power related to the High God whose emblem was the Sun. The solar orb (shown above) appears over their heads to identify them with the Creator. These figures have descriptive names in ancient Egyptian, many of them with the Horus designation: Hor/Her/Hery, refering to the realm of the High God.The word Horus means "Most High One." In the Pyramid Texts Horus recognizes his Father in the deceased righteous king. In the priest's prayer he says, "Horus is a soul and he recognizes his Father in you..." (Utterance 423)

The astronomical ceiling paintings at Abydos and Dendera are different, making it difficult to interpret the meanings. Perhaps these represent different cultic interpretations or different ways of representing the solar year. In 1973, Otto Neugebauer suggested that the complexity of Egyptian calendars "represents the peaceful coexistence of different methods of defining time moments and time intervals in different ways on different occasions." (Current Anthropology Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 389-449)

Senenmet was Queen Hatshepsut’s architect and chancellor. His tomb was built close to the Million Year Temple of his mistress.The four walls of Senenmet's tomb are decorated with utterances from the Ancient Pyramid Texts that mention the "imperishable stars." The imperishable stars reside with the Father in heaven. Utterance 667 of the Pyramid Texts makes this clear: "Oh Horus, this hour of the morning, of this third day is come, when thou surely passeth on to heaven, together with the stars, the imperishable stars."

The astronomical ceiling contains the oldest known Egyptian celestial diagram. The diagram is divided into northern and southern sections. The northern section mentions the 12 months of the civil calendar and has representations of the northern constellations. The southern section includes lists of decans and the planets visible to ancient Egyptians with the naked eye. Mars is absent because it was the planet of Horus, the son of Ra. Horus was not regarded as a lesser assisting power/deity. The Egyptians called Mars Her Deshur, meaning "Horus of the Horizon." 

The north-south axis represents the hope of resurrection, as is evident from the Pyramid Texts. In his resurrection body the deified one is to "traverse the Mound of Horus of the Southerners" and "traverse the Mound of Horus of the Northerners" (PT Utterances 536 and 553). The risen ruler restores his settlements and cities, and opens doors to the Westerners, Easterners, Northerners, and Southerners (PT Utterance 587). He is to "betake himself to the Mansion of Horus which is in the firmament" (PT Utterance 539).

Some have supposed that the diagram is a monumental papyrus scheme prepared for the construction of a water clock or clepsydra. The clepsydra had been used for thousands of years by the Nilotic priest astronomers to measure the passage of time.

Related reading: Who Laid the Foundations of Science?; The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative; Horite Mounds; Early Resurrection Texts; Righteous Rulers and the Resurrection; Aboriginal Star Maps

Moses and the "Kushite" Bride

Alice C. Linsley

If Moses married according to the pattern of his Horim, he would have had two wives. Other Hebrew rulers with two wives include Lamech, Terah, Abraham, Esau, Jacob, Amram, Elkanah (Samuel's father), Ashur (1 Chron. 4:5), Mered (1 Chron. 4); Joash (2 Chron. 24:1–3), and Shaharaim of Moab (1 Chron. 8:8). Caleb fathered children by his wives Azubah and Jerioth (1 Chron. 2:18).

Moses' first wife would have been a half-sister, a daughter of Amram. She is described as his "Kushite" bride in Numbers 12:1. It seems probable that this wife remained in Egypt with Amram because we have very little information about her. In Exodus, the focus shifts to Zipporah, Moses' Midianite cousin.

Ishara (Ušḫara) is a Hittite word said to mean "promise" or "binding oath." The Hittites are related to Heth of Kiriath Arba (Hebron) where Sarah lived. Though a place rather than a person, Hebron is listed as a "son" of Kohath in 1 Chronicles 23:12.

Ishara is a woman's name and is related to the name Ishtar. According to Stol and Wiggermann, although Ishtar was a goddess of love, Ishara was the figure to whom women turned to bare sons (Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean Setting, p. 79).

In 1 Chronicles 23:18, Ishar is named as a chief, as is the woman Anah in Genesis 36. (See diagram below.) Among the Horite Hebrew, women served as chiefs. The right to rule depended on one’s rank and authority more than one’s gender. Rank and authority were determined by the antiquity of the clan and its reputation. According to Genesis 36:31, the Horites “are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.” Jeremiah notes that the rulers of Edom and Teman of Edom were renowned for their wisdom (Jer. 49:7).

Genesis 36 mentions that Esau the Elder married a Hittite woman. Her name is Adah, the daughter of Elon. In this same diagram, we see Anah, daughter of Zibeon, listed as a Horite chief. Anah's daughter Oholibamah married Esau the Younger.

1 Chronicles 23:18 says that Ishara's son was Shelomith. The name is problematic because there are eight people by that name in the Old Testament, 5 men and 3 women. If Shelomith is the name of another son born to Amram (and Ishara?), his name identifies him as a member of a ruling family. In the ancient Akkadian language, shal means rule or reign, and mit refers to a mace. 

The names Shelomith and Shulamit share the same consonants: Sh-l-m-t. The name Shulamit appears in the Song of Songs where she is described as "dark as the tents of Kedar."

The dispute that arose over Moses' Kushite wife appears to be connected to the ruling house in Egypt which was served by Horite and Sethite priests. Though marriage to a half-sister was customary among the biblical Hebrew, it is likely that the Kushite bride was viewed as compromising Moses' authority among the clans of Jacob who were leaving Egypt.

Related reading: Hebrew Rulers With Two Wives; Kushite Wives; The Pattern of Two Wives; Identifying the Status of Two Wives; Moses's Horite Hebrew Family; The Kushite Marriage Pattern Drove Kushite Expansion Out of Africa; Amram's Children; Why Zipporah Circumcised Her Son

The Urheimat of the Canaanite Y

Minoan horns or feathers (c.1700 BC) Both horns and feathers speak of divine judgement.

Alice C. Linsley

Biblical Anthropology involves research into the origin and development of the scripts of biblical populations such as the Sumerians, the Proto-Saharans, the Egyptians, and the Canaanites. The German word for the primitive homeland of the language is "urheimat" and the discovery of the urheimat requires linguistic, genetic, anthropological, and archaeological research.

Genetic, archaeological and linguistic studies of Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations point to the urheimat in the Nile Valley before 6000 BC when the Sahara was wet and sustained herds. There were subsequent migrations along the Nile Valley into Kenya and Tanzania, and westward to the Chad Basin, Noah's homeland. Nilotes also moved into Canaan and Mesopotamia.

The linguists Peter T. Daniels and William Bright note in the Preface to the work they edited that the oldest known scripts are those of the ancient Near East. They state, "At the root of the single tree of all the scripts that serve the rest of the world is the Canaanite." (The World's Writing Systems, p. xxxvi)

The cattle-herding Proto-Saharans and the later Egyptians had similar imagery to represent the presence of the High God. For the Nilo-Saharans the long horns of the bull were viewed as a cradle for the Sun, the emblem of the High God. Among the Egyptians, this was conveyed by two upright, parallel feathers which constituted the letter Y, a solar symbol. 

Hathor wearing the double solar crown. Relief found at the Hathor Temple at Dendura.

Hathor

Among the Horite Hebrew divine appointment was symbolized by the overshadowing of the Sun. On ancient murals Hathor is shown overshadowed as a sign of her divine appointment to bring forth Horus, the son of Re. 

When she asked how she was to conceive the Messiah, the Virgin Mary was told that she would be "overshadowed" (Luke 1:35). In Christian art this is conveyed by images of the Holy Spirit hovering over Mary's head in the form of a dove.

The biblical texts indicate a link between the Sun cradled in the bull's horns and the parallel feathers and the Canaanite Y. The Y designates a divinely appointed ruler or priest, which is why it appears in the Hebrew names of many biblical persons: Yaqtan (Joktan); Yishmael (Ishmael); Yishbak; Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yehuda (Judah); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yeroboam (Jeroboam), Josedech (Yosedech) and his son Yeshua (Joshua) who wore the double crown (Zechariah 6:11). 

The Y-shaped headdress of the Somali nomads is called barki and refers to the sun's blessing upon the wearer. The word corresponds to the Hebrew word birka.

The Y symbol was associated with the horns of the cow, the animal totem of Hathor, the mother of Horus, called the "son" of God. Images of Hathor show her with the sun cradled in the horns. This solar symbolism for the High God is why cows were venerated in the ancient world.

Hathor was the patroness of metal workers. A Canaanite temple dedicated to Hathor was discovered at the southwestern edge of Mt. Timnah by Professor Beno Rothenberg of Hebrew University. Timnah is the site of the oldest copper mines in the ancient Near East.

The Y symbol is found in the "Canaanite" alphabet shown in the center of the chart below. Hebrew was one of the languages that developed from the Canaanite. However, the oldest known Semitic language is Akkadian. Tha Akkadian reflects the linguistic worldview of the Afro-Asiatics.

The symbolism of the Y involves the wider solar symbolism of Abraham's ancestors who regarded the sun as the Creator's emblem. These archaic ancestors apparently hoped for life after death through the agency of a great ruler. The ruler would come of the ruler-priest line and his name would bear the initial Y as a sign of his divine appointment.

The ancient Nilo-Saharans, the Egyptians, and the Canaanites regarded the Sun as the emblem of the Creator and believed that the sun's rays inseminate the earth and give life. Today we know from science that there would be no life on earth without the Sun.

Looking again at the chart above, note a close connection between the ancient Egyptian and the North Cushitic Beja. The Beja (Arabic: البجا‎) live in parts of Sudan, Egypt and the Horn of Africa. Their name comes from the ancient Egyptian word for meteroric iron - bja (metal from heaven), and they were/are metalworkers. Beja corresponds to the Sanskrit word bija, meaning semen or seed.

Hathor with ankh

We also know, as did these ancient peoples, that there is a relationship between solar events and the winds on earth. This is expressed in the Egyptian ankh. In ancient Nile monuments Hathor is often shown holding an ankh to someone's lips, offering them the animating Breath of Life or the Ruach (Wind/Breath) of God.

The Agadez Cross (left) is crafted by the Inadan smiths of Niger and symbolizes the same sense of divine blessing and appointment. It is equivalent to the Canaanite Y and to the Egyptian ankh. All three are solar symbols.

This common solar symbolism suggests that the scripts and cultural perceptions of the Nilo-Saharans, the ancient Egyptians, the Canaanites, and the Mesopotamians share a point of origin, probably the Nile Valley. This also appears to be the point of origin of Messianic expectation long before the emergence of Judaism.


Related reading: The Canaanite Y and the Phaistos Disk; Boats and Cows of the Nilo-Saharans; A Tent for the Sun; Iron Seeds From Heaven; The Aleph as Ox Head; Celestial Symbols that Speak of God; The Virgin Mary's Horite Ancestry; Who is Jesus?; Who Were the Wise Men?; The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative

Iron Seeds from Heaven

Alice C. Linsley


Nature reports on the a study of 3,300 year old meteoritic iron beads found in Gerzah, a prehistoric cemetery about 40 miles south of Cairo.The Gerzeh bead (top) has nickel-rich areas, 

colored blue on a virtual model (bottom), indicating a meteoritic origin. (Read more here.

At el Gerzah in northern Egypt around 300 graves were discovered in 1911-1912. Tombs 67 and 133 contained a total of nine iron beads. Analysis of the beads indicates that they were formed from surface iron deposited by meteorites.

Since both tombs are securely dated to Naqada IIC–IIIA, c 3400–3100 BC (Adams, 1990: 25; Stevenson, 2009: 11–31), the beads predate the emergence of iron smelting by nearly 2000 years, and other known meteoritic iron artifacts by 500 years or more (Yalçın 1999).

The news has led to much speculation about prehistoric religion in the Nile Valley. Joyce Tyldesley, an Egyptologist at the University of Manchester, said, “The sky was very important to the ancient Egyptians.” Tyldesley, a co-author of the paper, goes on to make this unsubstantiated claim: “Something that falls from the sky is going to be considered as a gift from the gods.”

She is correct about the importance of the sky among prehistoric Nilotes and Afro-Arabians. However, she is unjustified in her claim that they were polytheists. This is an assumption, not a substantiated fact.

Campbell Price, a curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum, emphasizes that nothing is known for certain about the Egyptians’ religious beliefs before the advent of writing. Price is correct on this point. He then suggests that the significance of the iron beads might be understood in light of later Egyptian beliefs. He points out that during the time of the pharaohs, the gods were believed to have bones made of iron. This is referenced throughout the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid and Coffin Texts. Here Price slips into the same error as Joyce Tyldesley. They interpret prehistoric Nilotic religion through the lens of dynastic religion which blended elements from many traditions (syncretism).

It is exactly at his point where Biblical Anthropology can provide valuable insight by exploring antecedents, that is, pushing back the veil of time. Let us consider what is known and verified.

The ancient Egyptian rulers accessorized with meteorites. The material was associated with divine power, that is, power than comes down from heaven. King Tut's dagger had a tip made of meteoritic iron. The dagger had a gold sheath.

Commonly, iron artifacts are found in the graves of rulers. Diane Johnson says, "Iron was very strongly associated with royalty and power." The ancient Egyptians had a hieroglyphic sign for “iron of the sky" by the 13th century BC. 

Images from Nekhen, a 5800 year-old Horite shrine city, shown ruler-priests carrying flails and crooks and wearing iron beads around their necks. The flail and crook were the symbols of authority for the Pharaohs as the knob stick was a symbol of the authority of other rulers.

Given this information it is logical to conclude the religious context of those who wore these beads is reflected in the religion at Nekhen. At Nekhen in Sudan votive offerings were ten times larger than the normal mace heads and bowls found elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine. Horite priests placed invocations to Horus at the summit of the fortress as the sun rose.

Horus was regraded as the Seed of Ra, conceived by Hathor when she was overshadowed by the Sun. The Sun was the emblem of Ra, the supreme creator. For the prehistoric Nilotes, the Sun was the source of insemination and the iron beads were called beja (bija in Sanskrit), meaning seed or semen. In other words, there is no evidence of polytheism at Nekhen or any other Horite site. Horus was the Lord of all the divine powers or lesser deities. This is called henotheism. Henotheism is a conception of the heavenly realm as a pyramid or hierarchy with a supreme God served by lesser ranked divine powers, angelic beings, or subordinate deities.

Hathor's totem was a cow and she is shown at Nile shrines holding her infant in a manger. Here we have elements of the Proto-Gospel and evidence that Messianic expectation is based on the Edenic Promise (Gen. 3:15) made to Abraham's Proto-Saharan and Nilotic ancestors. 

Aspects of the prehistoric Nilotic solar symbolism are found in the Bible and in historical texts. Psalm 92:2 describes the Lord as “a sun and a shield.” The Victory Tablet of Amenhotep III describes Horus as “The Good God, Golden [Horus], Shining in the chariot, like the rising of the sun; great in strength, strong in might…” (Tablet of Victory of Amenhotep III, J.H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, p. 854).

Blood and the Impulse to Immortality

Nobles were buried with red ocher at Nekhen. Red ocher symbolized blood and the hope of bodily resurrection. Abraham's Horite ancestors believed in the resurrection of the body and awaited a deified king who would rise from the grave and deliver his people from death. Horus was said to die and rise on the third day as the sun rises. 

Oh Horus, this hour of the morning, of this third day is come, when thou surely passeth on to heaven, together with the stars, the imperishable stars. (Utterance 667)

Horus was the guardian of the ancient Egyptian and Kushite kings from as early as 4000 B.C. The kings were perceived to be the representatives on earth of the Ruler of the universe, the “sons” of God. From the earliest Dynastic Period, the king's name was written in the rectangular device called a serekh, which depicted a falcon perched on a palace façade. Horus as guardian and deity was manifest within the palaces and the shrines as the king himself. The king’s “horus name” was associated with gold and the sun which is the meaning of the title “Golden Horus” in which a falcon appears on the hieroglyphic sign for gold.

Horus was sometimes shown with the sun as his right eye and the moon as his left. This reflects the binary distinctions that characterize prehistoric Nilotic religion. With the right eye Horus sees all things. His left eye is shown blood red, having been injured in combat. To gain salvation for his people, Horus sacrifices one eye.

Belief in bodily resurrection

Nekhen was a Horite shrine city dedicated to Horus whose totem was the falcon or hawk. Early dynastic Egypt adopted the Horite religion and never practiced cremation, as in the religions that seek to escape physical existence (samsara).

The oldest known painted tomb (Tomb 100) with plaster walls. It dates to between 3500 and 3200 BC. Pillared chapels also have been discovered. The pillar or benben was a symbol of resurrection. Benben is formed by the redoubling of the root bn, meaning to "swell forth" as the sun swells on the eastern horizon. The ancient Egyptian word for the rising sun is wbn.

Benben have been found from Nigeria to India, the length of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion, which is older than the Vedic Age.

Recently discovered tombs of officials from the 4th Dynasty were surmounted by conical mounds or benben. These tombs, along with the royal tombs at Giza, indicate that the ancient rulers hoped to rise from the place of death as the sun rises.

The sema sign of ancient Egyptian rulers (shown right) is a type of benben and expressed the hope of bodily resurrection.

Likewise, the vav sign among Horite ruler-priests (Yaqtan, Yisbak, Yismael, Yacob, Yosef, Yeshua, etc.) also indicated the hope of bodily resurrection.

Circumcision

The largest flint knives, dating to ca. 3200 BC. These were for ritual use, including circumcision. The name Ne-Khen relates to the practice of circumcision. The Egyptian word for phallus was khenen (hnn). It is related to khenty, meaning "before" or "in front."

Tel Gezer relief (12th century BC)

Both males and females were circumcised, as is still the custom in Sudan. This reflects the binary framework of Nilo-Saharan thought. Male circumcision was seen as enhancement of maleness by the removal of the flabby foreskin. Female circumcision was seen enhancement of femaleness by the removal of the penis-like clitoris.

Flint or obsidian knives were used to perform circumcisions. These often had edges sharper than modern surgical steel. Flint workshops have been found throughout the Negev, suggesting that even after the production of iron tools, the flint knife was preferred for circumcision. Infection was less of a risk given the high saline composition of the flint.

A binary worldview

The prehistoric Nilotic worldview was binary, not dualistic. In a binary view one of the entities in a binary set is regarded on the basis of empirical observation to be superior in some way to the other. The sun is greater than the moon because it is the source of light whereas the moon's light is reflugent. Males are larger and stronger than females. The binary view pertains to gender, the distinction between heaven/sky and earth, and even to living organisms such as trees.

In Genesis 12:6 we read that Abraham sought guidance from the “moreh” or prophet when he pitched his tent at the Moreh’s Oak. Male prophets sat under firm upright trees such as oaks. These represent the masculine principle. Female prophets sat under soft trees with more fluid motion such as date nut palms. These trees are called "tamars" and they represent the feminine principle. Judges 4:4-6 says, “Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment."

Genesis 12 places the Moreh’s Oak at the sacred center between Ai and Bethel, on an east-west axis. Deborah's Palm was between Bethel and Ramah, on a north-south axis. Note the reversal of cardinal points and gender associations. This is typical of the binary system of the prehistoric Nilo-Saharans.

Related reading: The Sun and the Sacred; The Sun and the Moon in Genesis; The Origins of Christianity; Gerzah, a prehistoric Egyptian meteroite; Circumcision and Binary Distinctions; Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; Ancient Egyptians accessorized with meteorites; The meteoritic origin of Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade

Ancient Egyptian Lexicon

Alice C. Linsley


The Egyptian writing system was a combination of phonetic and ideographic signs. Over different periods signs were drawn from different cultural experiences: Nubia, Kushite, etc.

Egyptian has both biconsonantal and triconsonantal signs.

Egyptian words are built of roots and affixes (prefixes, infixes and suffixes). Where a noun is immediately followed by another noun, the first noun serves as a descriptor (as in the English: police man, baby food). A particularly interesting suffix is -itti, indicating to a ruler or person of high social rank such as a royal official. This appears as a title in Leviticus 16 in reference to the man who is to escort the scapegoat (the azaz-el) to the wilderness.

Many adjective-noun phrases are bound constructions in which the two words cannot be separated. This is often employed in the description of individuals (as in English: smooth talker). In Middle Egyptian such phrases specify either a good or bad character trait or quality.

Ancient Egyptian has nisba-adjectives, some of which are derived from propositions. The term "nisba" (meaning “relative”) is taken from Arabic grammar (’ismu-nisbati). In Egyptian nisba-adjectives are identified by the −j ending. Colors often have the nisba marker: blue - khesbedj; green - wadj

In Middle Egyptian the phrase jw wn speaks of existence - there is/there are (like the word "hay" in Spanish). The phrase nn wn speaks of nonexistence - there is not/are not ("no hay..." in Spanish).

As in other Semitic languages, the verb is a basic component of Egyptian verbal phrases. In verbal sentences, the normal word order is: Verb + Subject + object and/or adverb or adverbial phrase.

Many words represent a complex of related meanings (polysemy). The word ˁnḫ is an example. It means live, and it represents the ankh with its solar handle. The Sun was the emblem of the Creator Ra ("Ani" in Akkadian) and his son Horus ("Enki" in Akkadian). Horus is the Greek for the Egyptian HR, meaning Most-High One. Among the Nilotes, God Father and God Son are associated with the Sun. 

Ancient Egyptians designated male and female gender by pictograms of kneeling men and women. Hieroglyphs which describe something feminine have a final -t (hmt, nbt, nfrt, mwt, sit, etc.) Neb (NB) means "Lord" and Nebt (NBT) means "Lady."

Because there are no vowels, words and names can easily be confused. Consider these names: Satwesrut (daughter of a mortuary priest named Heqanakht) and Senwosret, a pharaoh who was a devotee of Wosret, a Theban goddess.

What follows is list of Egyptian words, roots, and affixes arranged alphabetically (English alphabet). Not being an expert, there are likely errors, but I hope that it will be helpful to students of Biblical Anthropology. I also suggest possible connections to African and Semitic words.


Lexicon

A

ab - heart, to purify

af - flesh
aha - to fight

akhet - the horizon
akh/ - spirit (similar to Hebrew ruach/breath)

aakh- to be useful

akhu - fire (Igbo- oku) Also may refer to the divine spark that gives life.

ankh - life

anochi - I alone, first person singular (cf. Akkadian anaku - royal first person)

An-tiu Sett - the dwellers in the Eastern Desert as far north as Canaan.
An-ti Set - a man of the Nubian Desert
anx - beetle

Ar - ancient name for the Nile River (likely related to the Sumerian ar - venerable, praiseworthy, and possibly related to the Arabic arsh, meaning throne.)

ari nefer - to perform a sacred task

ari khet - to sacrifice

ash - invocation

as - affiliation with, belonging to (As-Neith means "one belonging to Neith.)

ateb - land, region, royal holding

B
ba - ram; body/flesh (Horus as Khnum is the only deity shown with a ram's head and human body.)
baar - sea

baty - the north (cf: suten-baty – south and north)
bbbb (reduplication) - to pierce, to kill

beka - to shine, to illumine

beka-t - morning light

benben-t - pyramid, obelisk, pillar or mound; something rising from the ground.

bnbn - swelling

benra-t - a date palm/tamar

bes - leopard (best - female leopard)

bd - month
bdt - gourd, bed of gourds
bity - king/ king's presence in palace
brk - to bless/blessing (cf. Hebrew barak means to bless/kneel and berakah means blessing.)
bt - bee

bu - place, condition
bw - ivory

D
dd - say, speak, stability

deshr - red
dhwty - scribe  (cf. Tahuti - a writer of signs; another name for Thoth)
didi - red fruit
djeser - holy, sacred

djew - mountain

djrt - hand (cf. djrt-ntr – hand of God)
dmi - town

dpt - ship

dpwt - ships
dr - to sift

dwa - tomorrow

E
eb - I want

edjo - cobra

F
feh - to go away (Yoruba feh - to blow away)

H
h - to stand up or arise

ha - spirit, after, behind
hakhem or hakim - keeper of received wisdom

hat - moment in time (Bantu hatua – point time/space, pace walk/step, period of time)
hb - festival

hdmw - footstool
hedj - radiant, white, silver, bright

hekau - magician/ lector priests

henâ - together with
hen - eternal
ḥeq - chief, ruler
hesy - favored

het - front (cf. akhet – horizon)

her / hr - over, above, upon

hh- hot breath
hika - evil (Yoruba ika - evil) 
hir - praise

Hr - the One on high, Most High One (Horus with Father Râ)

horiwo - head

hpr - to come into being, to become

hprr - that which comes into being

hpry - deity with a scarab beetle for a head
hpw - law

hm - servant
hm ntr - prophets
hmt - woman

hmz - sit, recline
hnn - phallus, pronounced khenen (the kh is a guttural as in Hanukkah)

ḫnrt - prison
htm - to seal

htr - horse

htrwy - horses, pair of horses
hu - the spoken word, the authoritative word that resides with the high king.
hwtw - enclosures
hy - gladness, happiness

I

i - to be
iaru - reeds

iban - ebony

ibw - shelter, refuge

imy-wnwt - hour/sky watcher

imn - create
imw - woe
imy - who is in, which is in
imyw - interior, inside of
imytw - in the middle, in the midst of
ink - first person singular pronoun
inw - tribute
i’nw - it is
i’pw - it is
iri - enact
irtiu - blue (also khesbedj - blue)

ir.t - eye (cf. Yoruba iri – to see)
ir.t rʿ - the eye of Ra (referring to the sun, the symbol of the High God)
irty - evil-doer

iru - appearance 

isw - weeds/reeds

iterw - the river, referring to the Nile River

iti - grain

ity - sovereign

iw - to come; is/are
iwnw (Iunu) - place of pillars (such as at Heliopolis, Biblical On)
iwn - pillar

iwnn - sanctuary

iwnt - bow

iwnyt - pillared hall

J

jb (jib) - heart

jw wn - there is, there are

K
ka - spirit, life force, or deified ruler (As a Hittite suffix, ka refers to a place: Ida-ka, "forest place")
kar - shrine or temple (kar-nak - place of rituals)

kenit (khenet) - yellow
kham - cheating

khat - body
khau - sieve

khem (kem) – black

khenti - red earth, red ocher

khenty - before, in front of

khenen (hnn) – penis/phallus
khepesh - thigh
kheper - scarab beetle

khesbedj (also irtiu) – blue
khry - master, head man, leader

km - to end, to complete/fulfill, to carry out order (cf. Bantu koma – strength, force, power, lion)
kwa - east

ky - baboon, specifically the Papio hamadryas.

M
mau - to see

mds - slicher, cutter

me - unto, against
medu ntr - divine script, divine speech, hierogylphics
men - to establish

mer - love
mery/myr - beloved
mes/mose - born

m - in, with, by, at the time of

M as prefix - from 
mhn - coiled serpent (a solar image)
mhwt - clans
mm - among

mnmnt - herd

mnh - be excellent, effective

‘m - mother (cf. Northern Arabian ‘m - mother)
mo - water
mr - chisel (cf. Hebrew mr - spoken)

mr’t - woman

mdju ntjr - words of God (cf. djrt ntr - hand of God)
mj - like, according to, as well as

mw or nwy - water (mu)

N

n - and
nak - ritual (such as circumcision and the removal of front teeth)
nakht - strong
nbt - lady

nbw - gold
ng - cattle
nedjem - sweet
nefer/nofir - good, pleasant, well, beautiful
netjer - God. deity, divine
 ˁnḫ - live, ankh
nhh - eternity, to become as a star
nhn - shrine, Nekhen (City of Horus on the Nile)

nhp - awake from sleep or repose of death.

niwty - belonging to a town

nmhf - green stone
Nnu - Noah

nt - watery region, basin, springs, waters

ntjw - ancestors, those who were

ntr /ntjr – deified king (tr - blood, pure)
ntr anx - deified

ns - tongue

nst - throne/seat

nsw- king

nsw bit - king of Upper and Lower Nile (Egypt)
nu - fragile
nub - gold
nut - sky, waters above

nxb - sign for Upper Egypt/sedge

nxn - Onn (Iunu - place of pillars); the Sun City of biblical On (Gen. 41:45)
nwh - to intoxicate or be drunk
nwy - water

O
osa - tide

P
pd - duck, bird
phty - strength, power

pr - house or temple
pr-nfr - good house or house of rejuvenation

pr pn - this house

prt - grain or seed

prw - houses (cf. O-piru - Sun House, shrine or temple)
psd- nine
pshai - prophet
pt - sky

Q

qes - bone

qma - bulrushes

 ‘qw - rations, salaries

R
R - Eye of Horus

Râ pw - It is Râ (Ra it is); or He is Râ
rahbo - vast

re - father of
rmt - person, human
rmy.t - tear

rn - calf

rnp - colt

ro - to talk (Yoruba ro – to think and Yoruba oro – word)
rsw - to make happy

rwd/rudj - ball, sphere, the Earth

S

sa - man/protection/son
sah - ennobled, mummified body
saakh - to illuminate, make bright
sba - star (may also mean door)
sbg - planet Mercury

sdemet - eye paint
sekhem - power

sen/sn - granary/brother (snt - sister)
ser - prince or chief
setep - chosen

shamsh - Sun (Arabic - shams; Hebrew - shemesh)
shesep (also hedj) - white
sheut (šwt) - shadow (origins of Hebrew "sheol")
s-shr, ssr, scr - linen
shni - to dwell
shu - wind
shwr - insult, reproach, disgrace
si - son (The name Sihathor means "Son of Hathor.")
si-Re - Son of Re (also sometimes sa-Re)

sit - female, third person/she (daughter?)
srh/serekh - that which brings understanding
sr.t - proclamation/pronouncement
ssr - corn/flax
ssn - lotus plant
sm - herb, plant
smr - companion
snb/seneb - to be healthy (Bantu simba – health)

sntr - incense/to cense (This word contains the NTR word for God.)
snw - high social rank
sut - wheat, grain (grain beverage?)

sutn - the south (cf. suten-baty – south and north)
su - reed

swḥt - egg
swnw - doctor or physician
swnw nsw - physician of the king (wr swnw - chief of physicians)

T

ta - land of

tàkïo ra - to be drunk or to become drunk
taw - bread
tbb - crush, smash, shatter
tbw - sole of foot

tches - self

tef - father

tep - head

tesem - hunting dog
tm - universe/totality/complete (Atum)
tm - verb of negation
tn - rise up, resurrection

tr - pure, blood (Related: Hebrew thr - to be pure; Hausa/Hahm toro - clean; the Amarigna (Ethiopia) anatara - pure; Tamil tiru - holy, and proto-Dravidian tor - blood. In some Kushitic languages mtoro means rain and toro refers to God.)

trw - seasons

tst - horns, animal with horns
twn - to gore

twr - to purify
twt - done, to be complete

U
-un(u) - we (cf. Hebrew plural masculine we - anu)

uat neter - the sacred way/road; the processional path of the deity

uat-Heru - the path of HR/Horus

userit - woman of distinction, wealth, high status, prestige
urshu - soldiers on watch (There may be a connection to Edomite Shasu.)

W
wabau - healer

wab - pure
wab sxmt (wab sekhmet) - physician priest
w'b.t - purification/place of purification

wadj - green
wd.t - decree
wakhz - wound

warih - moon
was - dominion

wbn - rising sun (cf. bnbn – stone pillars, mounds, swelling)
wen - to exist, to be
wer - great
wgs - cut open, gut (as fish); pluck feathers

wi - mummy
wmt - lintel
wnm - food
wrh - to anoint

wrq - green
wryt - great ones

wti - embalmer

X

xmt - three, thrice

xrw - enemy

xwi - protect

xw - protection

Y

yhy - Oho!

ym - sea (yam - sea in Hebrew)

Z

zaw - guardian
zhn - reed boats
zw - be harmful, dangerous
znbw - battlements
znt - hostile

References:

E.A. Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary
Rainer Hannig, Grosses Handworterbuch Agyptisch-Deutsch
Raymond O. Faulkner, Middle Egyptian
Raymond O Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts
Daniel L. Selden, Hieroglyphic Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Literature of the Middle Kingdom

Related reading: The Pronunciation of Ancient Egyptian; An Outline of Comparative Egypto-Semitic Morphology; Gardiner's Transliteration; Budge's Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary

Exploring Hosea 11:1 - "Out of Egypt"

Alice C. Linsley


“Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” Hosea 11:1

The Rabbis insist that this verse pertains to the Jews who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership. In their view the people called "Israel" is clearly meant as is evident from the previous line: "When Israel was a child I loved him."  Here we find the parallelism typical of Hebrew poetry: Israel as a child and Israel as a "son."

Jesus' earliest disciples believed that Hosea 11:1 pertains to Jesus, who they believed to be “the Son of God” (John 3:16; Mat. 2:15). He was taken by Joseph to Egypt to escape Herod's attempt to kill the infant in Bethlehem who the sages from the East had come to worship. The Evangelist John makes numerous connections between the Horus myth and Jesus (John 3:14,15; John 12:24). Doubtless the Evangelist had in mind the story of Horus being visited by ruler-priests bearing gifts. 

So we have two very different understandings of Hosea 11:1. The Jewish interpretation insists that the "son" is Israel while the Christian interpretation sees Jesus as the fulfillment of Messianic expectation going back to Abraham's Horite ancestors. Let's explore which of these arguments is the more persuasive.


Biblical precedent for calling Israel God's "son"

Israel is called God’s “son” only in Hosea 11:1. Elsewhere in the Old Testament Israel is called a flock, a nation of priests, a stiff-necked people, and a harlot. To understand the Hosea reference we must consider it in the context of the entire book. The theme of the book is the prophet’s condemnation of false worship which is likened to harlotry. Israel is said to be God’s son who has turned away from his Father. Here Israel is portrayed as God’s loved son, his beloved (ruhamah, cf Hosea 1:6-8) who God declares He will no longer love (Hosea 9:15).

The rabbis are right that Hosea 11:1 speaks of God’s love for Israel and Israel’s failure to reciprocate that love. That is the very theme of the book of Hosea.


Precedent for viewing Jesus as God's Son

Why then would Jesus’ disciples, especially John and Matthew, believe that Hosea 11:1 pertains to Jesus? They apparently concluded that Jesus fulfilled the expectation that “the Woman” would bring forth “the Seed” who would make the curse void, crush the head of the serpent, and restore Paradise (Gen. 3:15). This was the central expectation of the Horite religion of Abraham and his ancestors. John and Matthew clearly knew this and placing Hosea 11:1 alongside this belief, they concluded that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Edenic Promise.

Why would they believe this?

The most obvious answer is that Jesus told them. This is certainly the case in His preparation of his Disciples for his passion. He told them, “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain, but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.” (John 12:23, 24)

This is a direct allusion to the Nilotic myth concerning Osirus, who is said to “be one” with his son Horus. Abraham’s Horite people were devotees of Horus. They were ethnically Kushite and the oldest known centers of Horus worship have been found in ancient Kush (Sudan and the Upper Nile Valley).

The Kushites and Egyptians observed the death of Horus (Osirus) in a 5-day festival. The first 3 days were marked by solemnity (as Plutarch noted in Isis and Osiris, 69). The last 2 days were a time of feasting and rejoicing. Horus is said to have died on the 17th of Athyr. His death was commemorated by the planting of grain. On the third day, the 19th of Athyr, there was a celebration of Horus’ rising to life. It is no coincidence that Jesus alludes to the ancient Horite myth when describing his passion and resurrection. He is a direct descendant of the Horite ruler-priests lines which exclusively intermarried and he was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the ruler-priest line of Matthew (Mattai/Mattan). This was the line of Joseph of Hari-mathea, a voting member of the Sanhedrin. He and Nicodemus, another member of the Sanhedrin, buried Jesus’ body. They knew from first-hand experience that Jesus was dead and at great personal cost, they believed that He rose from the grave and gave testimony to the Resurrection of the Son of God.


Related reading:  The Bosom of Abraham; Who Were the Horites?; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology