The Dendera zodiacs and the myths of Osiris/Horus and Jesus

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
Post Reply
nightshadetwine
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:35 am

The Dendera zodiacs and the myths of Osiris/Horus and Jesus

Post by nightshadetwine »

The Dendera zodiacs as narratives of the myth of Osiris, Isis, and the child Horus by Gyula Priskin
http://www.enim-egyptologie.fr/revue/20 ... 85.swf.pdf

In this paper written by Egyptologist Gyula Priskin he shows how some zodiacs that were found at the temple of Dendera which date to the 1st century BCE portray the myth of the death, resurrection, and birth of Osiris and Horus.

If you read this paper and compare the story these zodiacs are telling to the gospel stories you will notice obvious parallels. Now, I'm not saying that the gospel writers knew about these zodiacs or were directly influenced by them in any way but what I am saying is that the myth of Horus/Osiris and the Gospels are telling a very similar story. The parallels between the two myths are pretty much undeniable.

From the paper:
Thus we shall attack the many boring people who find pleasure in associating the activities of
these gods with the seasonal changes of the atmosphere or with the growth, sowing, and
ploughing of crops, and who say that Osiris is being buried when the corn is sown and hidden in
the earth, and that he lives again and reappears when it begins to sprout. For this reason it is said
that Isis, when she was aware of her being pregnant, put on a protective amulet on the sixth day
of Phaophi, and at the winter solstice gave birth to Harpocrates, imperfect and prematurely born,
amid plants that burgeoned and sprouted before their season (and so they bring to him as
offering the first-fruits of growing lentils); and they are said to celebrate the days of her
confinement after the spring equinox (De Iside et Osiride, ch. 65).

First it is worth noting that Plutarch here associates the annual shift in the path of the sun with
the growing of crops, and of course we know from the Khoiak text and some other
inscriptions in the Osirian chapels that the central activity of the mysteries was the making of
an effigy of Osiris consisting of a paste of soil in which seeds were sown and let to sprout.39
On the level of myth and ritual, Isis ? in her name of Shentayt “the widow”40 ? was the chief
player of the acts to fashion the figurine of Osiris and it was through her assistance that the
main objective of the mysteries, the revival of Osiris, was achieved.
His resurrection made it possible for her to conceive from her husband and this holy union is recorded in the innermost
Osirian chapels on both sides showing Isis descending in the form of a bird on the phallus of
Osiris lying on a bier.42 Plutarch states that these events, and the ensuing birth of their child,
Horus, were also cosmically envisioned as the changes of the seasons around the times of the
autumnal equinox, winter solstice, and spring equinox, and now I will demonstrate that this is
really the story that the Dendera zodiac illustrates...

First af all, the reasons for naming Isis as the golden sky and addressing her by the epithet
“divine mother” are now inherently obvious. The celestial identity of her son, Harsiese, the
god of the morning is a controversial issue. The expression nṯr dwȝ is usually translated as the
“Morning Star”, and while in demotic – and some late hieroglyphic – texts it denotes the
planet Venus, in other contexts it can also be interpreted as the herald of the rising sun or
the rising sun itself.153 Here it surely refers to the latter on the dawn of lunar invisibility after
the autumnal equinox.154 The connection between nṯr dwȝ, the Morning Star and Horus’s
conception is also evident in the Edfu myth
So here we have the death and resurrection of Osiris and conception and birth of Horus. Horus is connected to the Morning star which "heralds the rising sun". This reminds me of the star followed by the wise men that heralds the birth of Jesus. Osiris/Horus = Jesus, Isis =Mary.
The circular zodiac accentuates this crucial stage, the period of winter solstice, with the images that are placed in the vicinity of the sign of
Capricorn, the month which follows on the sun’s tropical turning point. As also indicated by
the linear zodiac, three figures are connected with this time of the year...These images derive from the depictions of the three decanal stars or star clusters that belong to Capricorn... since the observation of the risings (or meridional transits) of three decanal stars ? as a matter of fact ? coincided with each of the twelve divisions of the ecliptical band..An entire section below will be devoted to the argument that some of the images standing for the decans along the circumference of the zodiac also narrate symbolically the events of the
birth of Horus, but the three images around Capricorn, with their meaningful allusions, are the
only such stars that were incorporated into the central field of depictions...The images of the decans belonging to Capricorn allude to concepts that are concerned with the sun’s path around the time of the winter solstice... This “weighing” of the decans may be understood
as yet another iconographic device to draw attention to the months between the autumnal and
spring equinox, during which the sun travels from Libra to Taurus and simultaneously the
cosmic mystery of Horus’s conception, prenatal development, and birth unfolds. At the same
time, the concentration of decans next to the zodiacal signs of this period follows naturally
from the fact that some of the decanal images also wish to narrate the story of nativity so they
must stand close to their governing zodiacal sign
The three decanal stars narrate the story of the birth and nativity of Horus. The three decanal stars remind me of the the wise men who follow the star to the birth and nativity of Jesus and give three gifts. The three decanal stars = The wise men who give three gifts.
Immediately above the solar disc a jackal is shown striding forward and it must stand for
Wepwawet, “opener of the ways”. As he is often depicted at the front of processions,
pioneering the way for the king or divine beings,57 his role is entirely concordant with
conception on the one hand, and also with the calendar entries that report the launch of the
ritual activities for Isis on IV Akhet 6...The animal is again a manifestation of Wepwawet,172 and he may once more feature here in his
role of opening the cult activities, all the more so because he is known to have been the
initiator of the Osiris mysteries as early as the Middle Kingdom...Immediately above the solar disc a jackal is shown striding forward and it must stand for Wepwawet, “opener of the ways”. As he is often depicted at the front of processions,
pioneering the way for the king or divine beings,57 his role is entirely concordant with
conception on the one hand, and also with the calendar entries that report the launch of the
ritual activities for Isis on IV Akhet 6... The animal is again a manifestation of Wepwawet,172 and he may once more feature here in his
role of opening the cult activities, all the more so because he is known to have been the initiator of the Osiris mysteries as early as the Middle Kingdom.The presence of Wepwawet both in the central sign of the zodiac corresponding to the death of Osiris and next
to the image marking the conception of Horus (the sign of Libra) thus also pictorially expresses the interrelated nature of the two events.
The iconography of the lion-headed figure, which is identical to that of Wepwawet in the decanal list in the second
eastern strip of the ceiling,246 here may allude to the beginning of the momentous events that
are yet to come.
Wepwawet is in the role of John the Baptist who "prepares the way"(Mark 1, Luke 3) for the king/savior/divine being who goes on to die and resurrect. Both Wepwawet and John the Baptist open and prepare the way to start the "momentous events that are yet to come". Wepwawet = John The Baptist

So we have a very similar if not the same story being told in the myth of Isis/Osiris/Horus and the Gospels. This story at some point seems to have been combined with the zodiac before the Gospels were written. This is probably why so many people see astrological symbolism in the Gospels. The Gospels are telling the same story even if the Gospel writers had no intention of incorporating astrological symbolism into their stories.
nightshadetwine
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:35 am

Re: The Dendera zodiacs and the myths of Osiris/Horus and Jesus

Post by nightshadetwine »

I've come across some more information that supports this. So I'm going to lay it out here.

Jesus = Osiris/Horus/Sun(Re)
Mary = Isis/Neith
Star in the East = Venus/Morning star and/or Sothis/Sirius
Wise men who give three gifts = Three decanal stars
Three gifts of Fankincense, Myrh, Gold = Incense offered to the sun(Re) three times a day

Jesus = Osiris/Horus/Sun(Re) and Mary = Isis/Neith:

I covered the role of Jesus as Osiris and Horus and Mary as Isis in the previous post so I'm now going to show the parallels between the Sun/Re and Jesus and the parallels between Mary and Neith.

John D. Ray, Reflections of Osiris: Lives from Ancient Egypt
In Sais in the Delta, for example, there was a virgin goddess[Neith] who gave birth to the sun[Re] at the beginning of time by some form of parthenogenesis.
Olaf Kaper, The Egyptian God Tutu
Neith was a creator goddess, and she did not need a partner in order to conceive and give birth.
The Great Goddesses of Egypt By Barbara S. Lesko
Indeed, thoughout her history Neith has no obvious husband, and that is why she was thought to be able to produce her children without male assistance...No male partner is portrayed for Neith and thus some, like C.J. Bleeker, regard her as a virgin mother goddess.
https://www.ancient.eu/Neith/">https:// ... .eu/Neith/
Her identification as the most powerful creative force in the universe is noted by Plutarch (c. 50 - 120 CE) who writes that the temple of Neith at Sais held this inscription: "I Am All That Has Been, That Is, and That Will Be. No Mortal Has Yet Been Able to Lift the Veil that Covers Me".
Plutarch Isis and Osiris, 9
In Saïs the statue of Athena, whom they believe to be Isis, bore the inscription: "I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered."
Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible By Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst
A further step in this process of expansion is reached in the Late Period, when Isis and Neith merge. Isis then transcends the border of sex and assumes the character of a male-female primeval deity beyond creation and differentiation...In her newly acquired identity of Neith, she inherits the characteristics of the "cosmic god" of Ramesside theology: a god who is One and All, hidden and manifest, transcendent and immanent, who created the world by transforming him/herself into the world and who preserves the world and each individual being by his/her will, planning and order.
So the Sun, sometimes referred to as Re and sometimes as Re-Horakhty(Horus), is born to the virgin Neith who became associated with Isis. So we have the myth of the sun being born to a virgin. There's obvious parallels here to Mary giving birth to Jesus.

Star in the east = Venus/Morning Star and/or Sothis/Sirius:

I covered the parallel between the star in the east and Venus/morning star in the previous post so here I will show the parallels between the star in the east and Sothis/Sirius.

The Dendera zodiacs as narratives of the myth of Osiris, Isis, and the child Horus by Gyula Priski
Thus in fact the zodiac records two different celestial phenomena that harbinger the
conception of Horus in two different, though also somehow related mythical stories. One is
the sight of the new moon after the autumnal equinox, while the other is tied to the heliacal
rising of Sopdet (the star Sirius, Greek Sothis) represented by the recumbent cow in a barque
placed next to the circumference of the zodiac (i.e. the horizon), behind Sah (the constellation
Orion as Osiris), and another sign whose role will be explained in the next section. It is a
well-known fact that the reappearance of the star Sirius in the sky at dawn in mid-July
coincided with the time when the Nile began to flood. Egyptian sources link up the heliacal
rising of Sirius with the inundation from very early on,122 and this close relationship is also
expressed in the zodiac by the figures of Satet and Anuket appearing behind Sopdet.123 In
turn, the connection between the flooding Nile and the procreation of Horus is established by
the depiction of Isis nursing her child in the wake of the two goddesses.
Osiris: Death and Afterlife of a God Bojana Mojsov
a prehistoric palette...made around 3500 BC, illustrates the rising of the star Sirius in midsummer (figure 1.1). The brightest of all the fixed stars, Sirius appears on the eastern horizon just before sunrise about the time of the summer solstice.
Plutarch (De Iside et Osiride, ch. 38)
Of the stars, they consider Sirius belongs to Isis because it brings water (i.e. the inundation), and
they also honour the Lion (the constellation) and adorn the doors of temples with lions’ jaws,
since the Nile overflows when first the sun comes near to the Lion [Aratus, Phaen. 151]. Just as
they view the Nile as the efflux of Osiris, thus they hold the earth to be the body of Isis, and
they do not mean the whole earth, but as much as the Nile goes over, fructifying it and uniting
with it; and from this union they make Horus be procreated.
Maria R. Guasch, "Scientific research on Archaeological Residues from Ancient Egyptian Wines" in Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists: Volume 1
The grape harvest started just before the summer flooding season (Akhet) which occured in the middle of July. The reappearance of the star sothis in the sky (about 18th of July) announced that soon the Nile flooding, which would give great fertility to the land was going
to arrive. For this reason, ancient Egyptians related the grape harvest and the new season's winemaking with the Nile Flooding. At these
times the Nile water acquired a reddish colour due to the ferrous alluvium of the Blue Nile and the Atbara rivers coming from the Ethiopian
land. The Nile flood was related to the resurrection of the god Osiris who, according to mythology was found dead in the Nile after being
killed by his brother Seth. The blood of Osiris was related with the new season's wine. Wine symbolism is first documented in the Pyramid Texts>
of the Fifth Dynasty. Osiris was the first god to return to life and like him Egyptians had to be resurrected after death in order to progress
to the safterlife. As can be seen in the Theban tomb of Sennefer, the tomb ceiling has been decorated with a painted vine symbolizing the
rebirth of the dead. The grapes and the vine were considered the symbol of resurrection.
Notice all the parallels between Jesus and Osiris in the above quote.

Wise men who give three gifts = Three decanal stars:

Already covered this in last post.

Three gifts of Fankincense, Myrh, Gold = Incense offered to the sun(Re) three times a day:

Incense was offered to the sun(Re) three times a day. Two of these incense were fankincence and myrh. Interesting.

The Story of Petese Son of Petetum and Seven other Good and Bad Stories by Kim Ryholt
She acted according to everything which he had commanded [to her]. She put myrrh, frankincense, and kyphi, [on the brazier], and she
said: ...I pray that Re will rescue you with the remedies which you are making. Re spoke with her. He answered her...
Story of Petese, Col. 5 27-30

Plutarch states that incense was offered to the sun three times a day; frankincense in the morning, myrrh at noon, and kyphi at sunset.<br/>
It can hardly be a coincidence that it is the burning of exactly these three substances that are used to cure Petese.
The archaelogy and Art of Ancient Egypt by Katherine Eaton
In the Hall of Barques.. the king's holding three censers as he burns incence in front of Amun-Re's barque.
The Libyan Anarchy: Inscriptions From Egypt's Third Intermediate Period by Robert K. Ritner
His Majesty gave to the estate of Amon-Re, King of the Gods:
His majesty fashioned a censing statue... its shrine and censer of hammered fine gold
Bubastis Temple Inscriptions: Atum Temple

As his monument for Amon-Re, Lord of Gematon, he made:...1 gold incense measure,
1 gold incense burner
Kawa Stela III 15
So the sun god was said to be born of a virgin and was also offered incense three times a day. Not only that, but on the journey through the underworld the sun god goes on he is baptized, transfigured, dies, and resurrects. It's the same story being told.

Then in the story of Osiris, Isis, and Horus you have death and resurrection, the rising of Sirius connected to the conception/birth of Horus, three decanal stars connected to the birth/conception of Horus, the "opener of the way", etc.
nightshadetwine
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:35 am

Re: The Dendera zodiacs and the myths of Osiris/Horus and Jesus

Post by nightshadetwine »

Another thing to add to all this is the resurrection of the moon.

Plutarch, Moralia, 368B
The Apis, they say, is the animate image of Osiris,250 and he comes into being when a fructifying light thrusts forth from the moon and
falls upon a cow in her breeding-season.251 Wherefore there are many things in the Apis that resemble features of the moon, his bright
parts being darkened by the shadowy. Moreover, at the time of the new moon in the month of Phamenoth they celebrate a festival to
which they give the name of "Osiris's coming to the Moon," and this marks the beginning of the spring. Thus they make the power of
Osiris to be fixed in the Moon, and say that Isis, since she is generation, is associated with him.
So they have a celebration for Osiris during the time of the new moon.

On the Primeval Ocean by Mark J. Smith
The full moon is connected with the body of Osiris, which was dismembered into fourteen parts by Seth and subsequently made whole again.
Osiris may be said to enter the sound eye in two distinct but related senses. According to the Egyptian vien, on each of the fourteen successive
days during the period of the moon's waxing, a different divinity was thought to merge with that celestial body and restore one of it's missing
parts. These divinities constitute the Greater and Lesser Enneads which are said to have been created and equipped by Isis for the benefit of the
sound eye in the passing from P. BM 10208 cited three paragraphs above. The parts or components which they supply are called dbh.w, a term used
indifferently of the constituent elements of the moon and those of the body of Osiris. The work of these deities is completed by Thoth on the fifteenth day of the lunar month. At this time, restored to a state of wholeness through their actions, Osiris may be said to enter the sound eye

In astronomical terms, full moon day is when the sun and the moon are in opposition. The Egyptians referred to this as the 'union of the two bulls'.
They believed that, on the day in question, the rays of the two celestial bodies mingled together. More specifically, the greater light of the sun
was thought to enter and illuminate the moon. Thus, texts speak of the latter as receiving the former or being supplied with it's rays. The moon is
said to be illuminated by the sun, or the rays of the latter to pervade the former.

This belief is given visual expression in Egyptian paintings and reliefs which show the disk of the full moon with the right, or solar eye, representing
the sun's light, inside it. In the Later Period, Osiris was frequently identified with the sun as well as with the moon. There is a marked emphasis upon
this solar aspect in the texts and representations concerned with his entry into the sound eye when the moon is full. It is a solar deity, therefore, as
well as in his capacity as a resurrected god, that Osiris can be said to enter the eye on the fifteenth day of the lunar month.
So the Full moon is related to the resurrection of Osiris.

Notice in the quote by Plutarch he says that Osiris took the form of the Apis bull. This bull is born to a cow impregnated by the moonlight. This cow is a virgin.

Death and afterlife in Ancient Egypt John H Taylor
Apis was believed to be incarnate in a bull, born to a virgin cow which was supposed to have been impregnated by Ptah through the agency
of fire from heaven (perhaps a bolt of lightning)
Egyptian Antiquities by Abdel H. Zayed
Said to be the calf of a virgin cow, engendered by a flash of lightning, Apis was distinguished by special markings on his black hide.
Theophrastus of Eresus: Sources on biology edited by Robert W. Sharples, Pamela M. Huby, William Wall Fortenbaugh
It may not be irrelevant that the Apis calf was identified by the Greeks with Epaphus, the child of Io who combines human and bovine forms. Epaphus was named from his being fathered by Zeus "with a touch"- only. The touch of Zeus' hand is indeed a different matter from impregnation by celestial light; but it may be noted that Plutarch, referring to gods begetting children on mortal women, refers to them doing so not as a mortal man would but "through other touchings", haphai, and shortly afterwards refers to Apis being produced by the touch, epaphe, of the moon.
Plutarch, Moralia 362D
Most of the priests say that Osiris and Apis are conjoined into one, thus explaining to us and informing us that we must regard Apis
as the bodily image of the soul of Osiris.
The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs by Jan Assmann
The Ptolemies placed the animal cult at the very inmost heart of Egyptian relgions. Every cult had a triangular base:

Cosmic/solar manifestation (Re form) e.g, Apis-Osiris
Living incarnation (animal form) e.g., Apis bull
Transfigured immortalization (mummy as Osiris figure) e.g., Osiris-Apis
So Osiris, in the form of the Apis bull, is born to a virgin cow impregnated by the moon. His death and resurrection is also associated with the moon.

The death and resurrection of the virgin born Jesus happens around the time of passover which is during the full moon in the spring.
Post Reply