The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities

 

Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall, eastern interior wall.

"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays." Mal. 4:2

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The veneration of the sun as a symbol of the High God was well developed by 3200 BC, as is evidenced by at least 6 sun temples. Among them were the sun temples of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab, the Userkaf Sun Temple, and the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. The temple of Niuserra had a central sacrificial altar in an open-air courtyard. The altar is composed of a number of alabaster parts. Heliopolis, which means the “City of the Sun,” was one of the oldest cities on the Nile River. It was occupied since the Predynastic Period (c. 6000 – 3000 BC) and predates the emergence of Egypt as a political entity.

By 3000 BC, the veneration of the sun had received royal patronage. Over the centuries, temples, shrines, and royal complexes were dedicated to the sun. The wives and daughters of Hebrew rulers ministered to women at the sun city water shrines. Asenath is an example. She lived at Heliopolis, one of the most prestigious sun cities of the ancient world. In Heliopolitan cosmology the watery realms above and below (the "firmaments") were connected by the massive pillars of the temple of Heliopolis. Heliopolis is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts.

The association of the sun’s radiance with holiness and purity was a common theme in the Ancient Near East. According to the Lukan genealogy, Mary’s husband, Joseph, was the son of a man named Heli (Lk. 3:23). Heli refers to the sun and to righteousness. 

The sun also was associated with divine appointment. When Mary asked how she would conceive, seeing as she was a virgin, the Angel Gabriel explained that she would be divinely overshadowed (Lk. 1:35). This fulfills the expectation of the early Hebrew that a virgin of their ruler-priest caste would conceive miraculously and bring forth the Son of God (Gen. 3:15). That expectation was first portrayed by Hathor, the mother of HR (the Most High One). She is shown on ancient images overshadowed by the sun.

The prevalence of solar imagery in the ancient world is evident in the study of ancient artifacts and sacred texts. The six-prong solar symbol is found on ossuary boxes, tombs, and grave markers from Africa to Europe and the Indus River Valley. It is found on the foreheads of rulers as a sign of divine appointment. This bust, found near Jamaa, Nigeria, shows the solar symbol on the forehead of a chief.

 

Photo credit: Andre Held

Many ancient images show the sun over water. The sun resting directly over the Nile River is a sign of divine blessing upon the waters. This image (called “Aker”) shows the sun resting in the horns and flanked on the east and west by lions, a symbol of royal authority.

 

Fertility and Water Shrines

Because water is universally perceived as a substance necessary for life, women seeking to conceive and deliver healthy children visited water shrines where they prayed and made offerings. Water shrines could be at rivers, lakes, wells, or oases. They might even be a ritual bathhouse such as the mikveh. Even the mikveh is associated with natural water systems. By law, it must be composed of stationary waters and must contain a percentage of water from a natural source such as a lake, river, sea, or rain.

The Jewish actress Abbe Feder endured a harrowing, six-year journey to motherhood. Months of disappointment and repeated miscarriages left her spiritually and emotionally depleted. A Jewish friend suggested that she might find relief by frequenting a mikvah, a ritual bath. Abbe had never considered going to the mikvah as a treatment for infertility, but she tried it and eventually she conceived twins. She does not think of the mikvah as a magical treatment, but she admits that repeated visits brought her relief.

Sacred pools are mentioned in the New Testament as places of healing. Jesus sent "a man blind from birth" to the pool of Siloam to complete his healing (John 9). John 5:2 gives an account of Jesus healing a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. These public bathing places were reserved for men, and women had their own more private locations.

The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinoski observed that women of the Trobriand Islands associated conception with sacred pools. Archaeologists found fertility offerings in Tuscany near hot springs reputed for their restorative powers. These fourth century BC offerings had the shape of newborn babies, wombs, penises, and breasts buried in the mud at the bottom of the pools. The offerings suggest that thermal baths were particularly associated with aid in fertility and the health of infants.

In Gambia (West Africa) women with infertility visit the sacred pools of Katchikaly in Bakau and Folonko in Kartong. They go there to pray, drink the water, or wash themselves with the holy water. The women make offerings of salt, sugar, kola nuts, and white candles to the old ladies who guard the pools. Often the visitors take some of the sacred water with them when they leave.


Water Shrines at the Royal Sun Temples 

Temple women had many responsibilities and privileges. Their duties included weaving, sewing, drawing water, brewing beer, singing, and playing musical instruments such as the sistrum and the tambourine. In the King James Version, the "alamot" are called “damsels” – “The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.” (Ps. 68:25) They also ministered to women who came to the water shrines for purification and healing.

The sun city water shrines were for purification and healing and the work of the Hebrew women was connected to rites of water purification, healing, and prayers for fertility of land, beasts, and women. Asenath probably ministered to women who came to the water shrine at Heliopolis (biblical On).

Royal Sun cities emerged in many parts of the ancient world, especially from the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 BC). The temples were oriented so that the rays of the rising sun would shine through the east-facing entrances. The sun also shone on the purification pools. Today we know that solar radiation can purify water.

The symbol of purity along the Nile River.

Related reading: BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Temple Women; Just Genesis: Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; Philosophers' Corner: The Sun and the Sacred; Temple-Dedicated Daughters of Hebrew Priests; The Prestige of Biblical On; Joseph and Asenath; Sun Cities of the Ancient World

Hebrew at the Ancient Sun Cities

Great Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple aligned with the Milky Way

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The early Hebrew served as temple priests, royal scribes, physicians, and royal craftsmen. Their service at the pillared Sun temples was conditioned by a long-standing tradition received from their ancestors and preserved through a hereditary office. The hereditary transmission of their priestly occupations is a clue that the Hebrew were a caste. Their service at royal temple complexes indicates that they were held in high regard by the early rulers and kingdom builders.

The prestigious royal temple complex of Heliopolis (biblical On) had Hebrew (Abru, Hapiru, 'Apiru) priests. The Harris papyrus speaks of the 'Apriu of Re at Heliopolis. Joseph became affiliated with this royal priest line when he married Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On. Heliopolis is mentioned multiple times in the Old Testament. Isaiah 19:18 says that Heliopolis was one of the five cities in Egypt that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts.

The earliest civilizations were established along the great rivers: the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Orontes, and the Indus. The Hebrew were dispersed throughout these major water systems well before Abraham’s time. The rulers who controlled trade on the great rivers were served by priests at river shrines and temples. Cargo taxes were assessed on ships that navigated these rivers and were collected at the ports of the various royal settlements. Weights and measurements were taken by the assessors. Taxes were levied on grains, oil, livestock, and luxury items such as linen cloth. It was difficult to avoid paying the assessments because a royal city had a twin settlement on the opposite side of the river, creating a maritime blockade. Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) and Nekheb (Elkab) are examples.

Nekhen on the Nile was one of the early Hebrew shrine cities. The temple there is dedicated to Horus. Excavations at Nekhen and Nekheb confirm that these sites had been inhabited permanently from early Predynastic times onwards. In fact, hundreds of ancient settlements existed the length of the Nile Valley. Many are visible as mounds. Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (1831-1892) noted these during her travels in Egypt. From her ship these appeared as “sand hills” and she reported that there were hundreds of them, some quite large.

The larger settlements had pillared temples built at the higher elevations. The Horite and Sethite mounds are described in the Ancient Pyramid Texts. The temple priests collected tributes and taxes, managed grain distribution, and distributed to the needy. The temples also were places of healing, called “Houses of Life.”

The early Hebrew physicians were highly specialized in their medical practice. Each treated only one disease. They used many remedies: oil, herbs, spices, honey, minerals, vapors, moldy bread, clay, and saliva. The healings performed by Jesus show that he was not limited to curing only one ailment and he was not relying on training such as the Hebrew physician-priests received at the Houses of Life.

The Sun Cities

The early temples were "oriented" to the rising Sun, the emblem of the High God. The Sun represented the early Hebrew understanding of the Creator as the source and sustainer of life. The early solar symbolism of the Nilotic priests is evident in the stone relief (shown below). 

Baboons were observed to chatter at the crack of dawn. The shen mark appears over the heads of the baboons. It is the symbol for eternity. The baboons flank an "Imperishable Star," a symbol of eternity and immortality. The dung beetle was observed to navigate by the light of the Milky Way which the Nilotes regarded as the path to the eternal Father Ra. At the bottom is an image of the sun rays shedding light on the Earth. The sun's radiance represents it life-giving and life-sustaining power. This was a common image on ancient monuments.

The first temples appeared between 10,000 and 3000 BC. However, in ancient times the average person rarely went to the temples. These were the precincts of rulers and priests. When a commoner went to the temple, it was to seek guidance and/or healing from the priests who served as mediators between the High God and the community. Some people would go up to the High Places to celebrate important festivals and feasts. The feasts were established and upheld by the king and his royal priests.

Solemn fasts were also declared by the king's royal priests. Fasts were declared for the death of a king, member of the king's family, or a high royal official. Fasting was also an act of contrition. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians fasted as a form of penance, and to deflect what they considered to be divine punishment. Famine, impending war, and natural disasters were regarded as signs of God's wrath.

The ancient temples were built at high elevations by kings and were under their protection. These were places of worship of the High God whose name was associated with the king's realm. Royal priests (ruler-priests) serving at the temples were organized into orders or guilds: lectors, musicians, guards, prophets/seers, sacrificing priests, physicians, purification priests, etc.

In the ancient Egyptian and Ugaritic languages, the word "piru" meant house, shrine, or temple. The O'piru were east-facing Sun temples located at the center of royal Sun Cities. The Sun was the emblem of the Creator among the servants of the Sun temples. Contrary to popular opinion, the priests did not worship the Sun.

Various castes worked at the O'piru. These included priests, metalworkers, tanners, stone masons, vintners, and guards and warriors. These occupations were in service to the deity and to the king who built the temple. The king often served as the high priest of the temple. A seated statue that shows Ramses II in the leopard skin of a priest was found at the temple that he built near Cairo. The temple was found in a suburb of Cairo called Ain Shams. Shams is the Arabic word for Sun.

There were many groups of priests in the ancient world. The deity to which the temple was dedicated was the deity the priests served. Most priests recognized a High God, though the High God was called by different names: Re (meaning "Father" in ancient Egyptian), Shamash (related to the word for Sun, the emblem of the High God), YHWH, Anu, El, etc.

The Hebrew priests were devotees of the High God and his son Horus. Their prestige derived from recognition of the caste’s great antiquity and piety. The Hebrew were known for their purity of life, sobriety, and devotion to God Father and God Son.

Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

Devotion to Hathor

A temple dedicated to Hathor, the mother of Horus, was discovered at the southwestern edge of Mt. Timna by Professor Beno Rothenberg of Hebrew University. The copper mines at Timna were found at the foothills along the western fringe of the southern Arabah Valley. The smelting works, slag, and flints at this site were found to be identical to those discovered near Beersheba where Abraham spent much of his time.

The metal workers of Timna and Beersheba were kin, and the patroness of their mining and smelting operations was Hathor, the mother of Horus. She was venerated by the Horite and Sethite Hebrew. In his book Timna, Rothenberg concluded that the peoples living in the area were "partners not only in the work but in the worship of Hathor." (Timna, p. 183)

Thousands of ancient images show Hathor "overshadowed" by the Sun, the emblem of the High God. This narrative is proto-Gospel, a foretelling of the Virgin Mary who conceived by divine overshadowing. As the Angel Gabriel explained to her: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most-High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1)

The expectation of the early Hebrew that a woman of their ruler-priest caste would bring forth the Son of God is expressed in Genesis 3:15 and fulfilled in the person of the Virgin Mary. The Hebrew chose marriage partners from their ruler-priest families (caste endogamy). It is certain that Mary was of the ruler-priest caste because even those who hated her admit this in the Talmud. “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.” (Sanhedrin 106a)

Related reading: The Hebrew were a Caste; Horite and Sethite Mounds; Twin Cities of the Ancient World; Sun Cities of the Ancient World; The Dung Beetle and Heavenly Lights

Twin Cities of the Ancient World

Tomb painting at Nekhen on the Nile.

Alice C. Linsley

Ancient royal settlements were built on major waterways on opposite sides of the river. This binary feature has been noted by scholars who refer to the paired settlements as "twin cities" (See, for example, Petr Charvat, "A Tale of Twin Cities: Archaeology and the Sumerian King Lists"). Charvat notes that the compiler(s) of the Sumerian King Lists appear to have regarded Uruk, Ur and Kish to be the three seats of legitimate royal authority in Sumer, and all three began as twin cities.

Twin cities were established along major rivers such the Nile, the Orontes, and the Tigris. The twin Nilotic 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.

The twin cities had shrines, temples, palaces, and treasuries. These edifices of stone were characterized by many columns or pillars. The glyph for pillar looks like the letter i capitalized. Meroe on the Orontes was known as IO and its twin on the opposite side of the river, was called AntIO (Antioch).

The cities were served by royal priests who maintained the shrines and temples and assessed taxes on cargo that moved along the waterways. To ensure that no ships passed the royal cities without paying the required tribute, the rulers built twin cities on opposite sides of the river.

Nekhen and Nekheb (Elkab) were built on opposite sides of the Nile River: Nekhen on the west side, and Nekheb on the east side. The tomb of Horemkhawef in Nekhen and the tomb of Sobeknakht in Nekheb were painted by the same artist. Hormose, the chief priest of Nekhen, requested material goods from the temple at Nekheb for use at the temple at Nekhen. The Greeks called the shrine of Nekhen "Hierakonpolis," which means "city of priests." The Greeks called Nekheb "Eleithyiaspolis," which means "city of the one who aids in childbirth."

Nekhen is called the Falcon City, as the falcon was the animal totem of Horus, the son of God Father, Re. (Re in ancient Egyptian means "father.") Votive offerings at the Nekhen temple were ten times larger than the normal mace heads and bowls found elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine. Horite Hebrew priests placed invocations to Horus at the summit of the fortress as the sun rose.

Nekhen was a major city on the Nile, with an estimated population of between 15,000 and 10,000. It was a bustling city with markets, breweries and fishing. The city stretched nearly 3 miles along the edge of the Nile floodplain. At Nekhen we find evidence of an advanced civilization in the Nile Valley before the emergence of Egypt. These features include city building, written communication, hierarchical social structure, ritual burial, ship building, river trade, and complex religious expressions.

Renée Friedman, who has direct knowledge of the excavations at Nekhen, has written that the "evidence of industrial production, temples, masks, mummies, and funerary architecture as early as 3500 B.C. is placing Hierakonpolis at the forefront of traditions and practices that would come to typify Egyptian culture centuries later. These discoveries may have knocked Narmer and his palette off their historical pedestal, but they confirm the central role the city played in the long development of Egyptian civilization. It is little wonder that for millennia the deified early kings of Hierakonpolis, called the Souls of Nekhen, were honored guests at the coronations and funerals of all pharaohs."

Nekhen and Nekheb are the oldest known Horite Hebrew shrine cities, dating to about 3600 BC. The Nekhen News (p. 7) reports, "The vast majority of hair samples discovered at Nekhen were cynotrichous (Caucasian) in type as opposed to heliotrichous (Negroid)."

One of the more intriguing discoveries at Nekhen was the recovery of an almost complete beard in association with the redheaded man in Burial no. 79. The facial hair of the man in Burial no. 79 had been trimmed with a sharp blade. The presence of long wavy natural red hair and a full beard suggests that this individual may be of the same ethnicity as the red haired Ur-David mummy (1900 BC) buried in a pyramid in the Tarum Valley of China. There may also be a relationship to the red-haired Amurru (Amorites?) who lived at the northern border of Egypt's ancient empire.

Another set of twin cities in Turkey

The map above shows the location of Antioch/Hatay on the Orontes. Ancient Antioch (in Syria) was situated at the edge of a large, fertile plain between Mount Silpius and the left bank of the Orontes where it cut through to the Mediterranean. Today Mount Silpius is visible from almost any point in modern Antioch.

Antioch's location was designated Anti-Meroe. Meroe (IO) and Anti-Meroe (ant-IO) were twin cities. Meroe was an ancient Egyptian settlement on Mount Silpius. On ancient maps the location of Antioch is designated Anti-Meroe, meaning opposite Meroe.

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. When the fortress at Meroe was build, around 4000 years ago, the north pole star was seen near Alpha Draconis in the constellation of Draco. The Orontes came to be called the Draco by some whose livelihoods depended on that river.

The Orontes was the chief river of the Levant and had sufficient depth for sail boats to come up the river from the Mediterranean.

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.

It is interesting that the Amurru are described as having the same physical traits as the mummified ruler buried of Nekhen (burial 79). According to the Assyriologist Archibald Sayce: "The Amorites… were a tall, handsome people, with white skins, blue eyes and reddish hair..." (The Hittites, 1889). Tomb No. 34 at Thebes, belonging to the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1550-c. 1292), illustrates a bearded Amorite chief with fair skin and red-brown hair.

The shrine city of Meroe was called IO. Many shrine cities were identified with the I (i) which presents a pillar. The pillar symbol is found in the names of other ancient shrine cities such as Ianna and Iunu. 

The royal city of Heliopolis on the Nile was called “Iunu” (iunu) which means "place of pillars." In the book of Genesis this city is called On. Joseph married the daughter of the priest of On. Here is the hieroglyph for the shrine city of On/iunu on the Nile:

Meroe on the Orontes was a high place about 1600 years before Antioch (Antakya, Hatay) became a Greek city in 307 BC. Antioch is probably older than 307 BC since the Greeks tended to build on earlier sites. Antioch became the more important city, with 500,000 inhabitants by the 2nd century AD. It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus Messiah were first called "Christians."

Related reading: The Shrine City of Nekhen; Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant; The Ancient Egyptians Were Seafaring; Sun Cities of the Ancient World; Phillip John Turner, SETH –  A Misrepresented God in the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon?; The Sethites and the Red Hippo

Sun Cities of the Ancient World

Great Hypostyle Hall within the Karnak temple complex

Alice C. Linsley

The Sun Cities of the ancient world extended from the Nile Valley to Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. These were royal complexes with a temple dedicated to the High God whose symbol was the Sun. 

Head of Userkaf, recovered from his sun temple.

The sun cities were built near rivers and lakes and on elevated sites to avoid flooding. At the center of these royal cities were the temple, the palace, housing for priests, and quarters for the royal guard. The temple typically was aligned to the solar arc and was called O'piru, which means "house of the Sun."

Six Nilotic kings are known for having built sun temples in Egypt. The temple of Nyuserre has a central sacrificial altar in an open-air courtyard. The altar is composed of a number of alabaster parts.

Some of the priests who served at the ancient sun cities were called 'apiru, ha'piru or ha'biru. The English word Hebrew is a variant of Ha'biru and likely is derived from the Akkadian word abru which means priest. (Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language.) 

Abraham is called "Hebrew" in Genesis 14:13. The Harris papyrus speaks of 'apriu of Re at Heliopolis, a very prestigious sun city. Plato, who studied under a Horite priest at Memphis for thirteen years, wrote "Tell me of the God of On, which was, is and shall be. 

Heliopolis (biblical On) is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. 

The people who lived at On called it Iunu, which means "place of pillars." There were many pillars bearing inscriptions to the high king, prayers to the High God and to his son Horus. Some pillars depicted great victories in war, the details of treaties, and dedications. Isaiah 19:19 refers to a pillar erected in Egypt as a sign that the Lord will send the Egyptians a savior.

It was common for pillars to be inscribed in memory of holy ancestors, as stained-glass windows in churches are dedicated to "pillars" of the congregation. The entrance pillars of Solomon's temple were called Boaz and Joktan. Boaz was Solomon's holy ancestor on his father's side and Joktan was a holy ancestor on his mother's side.

John Ogutu notes that in his Nilotic Luo language, "O'mbiru, obiru refers to a small house built like a shrine or as a symbol among the Luo. A man who died before he could build his house would have the mourners erect one before his burial." The O'piru was a place where loved ones were memorialized.

According to Genesis 41:45, Joseph married into the royal priest family of Heliopolis. Study of the Heliopolitan cosmogony makes it apparent that Heliopolis was conceived as the sacred center of the primeval ocean, called Nun. The many pillars of the temple symbolized the connection between the waters below and the waters above (Gen. 1:7). Seeing as "he was a son of Nun" (Num. 11:28), Joshua likely belonged to a Horite Hebrew clan associated with On. 

The Prestige of Biblical On

Biblical On was perhaps the most prestigious shrine city of the ancient world. It was the geodetic center of Egypt. On was known for the purity of life of its priests. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.” 

The Horite and Sethite priests purified themselves before entering their temples. The purification involved fasting, abstinence from sexual relations and alcohol, ritual bathing, and an intense period of prayer. Korah, Moses' half-brother, was a priest according to Numbers 16:17,18. His name means "shaved one." Shaving was part of the purification ritual.

Note that Jerusalem is near the center of the triangle of shrine cities.

Heliopolis means "city of the Sun" and there were other such cities dedicated to the Creator whose emblem was the sun. The shrine city of Baalbek in Lebanon, with its massive stones, aligned to On (see map above). The pyramids at Giza, Abusir and Saqqara were aligned to the obelisk at On. 

King Tut established another Heliopolis at Thebes. The temple of Thebes was called "Heliopolis of the South." Thebes was the spiritual center of Upper Egypt and rivaled the importance of Heliopolis in the North.

Tutankhamun's cartouche bears the words heqa-iunu-shema, which is usually rendered "Ruler of On of the South." Heqa refers to the sceptre or shepherd's crook of the Egyptian rulers. Shema or ta-shema refers to Upper Egypt, the narrow valley extending south of Memphis to Abu on the First Cataract in Nubia. King Tut's sacred center was Thebes, between Memphis and Abu.

Herodotus reported that it took nine days to sail from Heliopolis to Thebes, Tutankhamun's shrine city. By relocating his court to Thebes, Tutankhamun was attempting to regain the glory of his forefathers at a time of Egypt's decline.

Related reading: Horite and Sethite Mounds, Ancient Sun Temple Discovered in Cairo Suburb; The Unveiling of Joseph; The Shrine City of Nekhen; Solar Symbolism of the Proto-Gospel