Parallels suggested between Jesus & Horus
Debates about the validity of the
evidence for the copycat thesis
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Was Horus born of a virgin?:
Acharya S. quotes priest and author Joseph McCabe:
"Whatever we make of the original myth, Isis seems to have
been originally a virgin (or, perhaps, sexless) goddess, and in the later
period of Egyptian religion she was again considered a virgin
goddess, demanding very strict abstinence from her
devotees. It is at this period, apparently, that the birthday of Horus was
annually celebrated, about December 25th, in the temples. As both Macrobius
and the Christian writer [of the "Paschal Chronicle"] say, a figure of Horus
as a baby was laid in a manger, in a scenic reconstruction of a stable, and
a statue of Isis was placed beside it. Horus was, in a sense, the Savior of
mankind. He was their avenger against the powers of darkness; he was the
light of the world. His birth-festival was a real Christmas before Christ.
1,2
Acharya S. mentions a number of other references to
Egyptian virgin births in her essay on Horus. 2
James Frazer writes in The Golden Bough:
3
"The ritual of the nativity, as it appears to have been celebrated in
Syria and Egypt, was remarkable. The celebrants retired into certain inner
shrines, from which at midnight they issued with a loud cry, "The Virgin has
brought forth! The light is waxing!" The Egyptians even represented the
new-born sun by the image of an infant which on his birthday, the winter
solstice, they brought forth and exhibited to his worshippers. No doubt the
Virgin who thus conceived and bore a son on the twenty-fifth of December was
the great Oriental goddess whom the Semites called the Heavenly Virgin or
simply the Heavenly Goddess." 4
On the other hand, Christian theologian Ward Gasque surveyed twenty
contemporary Egyptologists. He asked them about the
relationship whether Horus experienced a
virgin birth. Ten responded; they unanimously agreed that
there is no evidence that Horus was born of a virgin 5
Did Horus have 12 disciples?
Glenn Miller wrote:
"...my research in the academic literature does not surface this fact. I
can find references to four 'disciples'--variously called the semi-divine HERU-SHEMSU ('Followers of Horus'). I can find references to
sixteen human
followers. And I can find reference to an unnumbered group of followers
called mesniu/mesnitu ('blacksmiths') who accompanied Horus in some of his
battles. ... But I cannot find twelve anywhere."
6
Of course, the early Christian movement might have
imported the concept of many disciples from Egypt and changed the number so that the
number of Jesus' disciples matched the number of the tribes of Israel.
Gasque's survey came up empty on the matter
of Horus' disciples as well.
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Was Horus crucified?
If the term "crucified" is defined as a Roman crucifixion, the answer is
definitely no. The Roman Army that occupied Judea at the time of Jesus'
execution had a highly
organized method of executing uppity slaves and insurrectionists. It involved a
flogging, forcing the victim to carry the cross arm to the place of execution,
stripping the victim, tying his or her limbs in place (or rarely nailing them to
the wood beams), waiting for the victim to die a slow, lingering death, and then
throwing the body on a garbage heap for scavengers to eat. The whole procedure
was carefully calculated to terrorize the population.
That type of crucifixion did not exist in ancient Egypt, and thus Horus
was definitely not given a Roman-type execution. However, some sources claim
that he was crucified in the sense of being tied to a tree and allowed to die
from asphyxiation and exposure.
On the other hand, Glen M. Miller writes:
I can find no references to Horus EVER dying, until he later becomes "merged"
with Re the Sun god, after which he 'dies' and is 'reborn' every single day as
the sun rises. And even in this 'death', there is no reference to a tomb
anywhere... 7
Some websites discussing Horus, Yeshua, and the copycat theory:
Unfortunately, reading these information sources can be frustrating. Many of
them contain statements like "Horus was crucified" or "There is no record of
Horus being crucified," or "I have found no evidence for..." The reader is left hanging.
 | Christian websites denying any connection:
 | "Is Jesus a myth from Egypt," Living Sounds, 2007-AUG-12, at:
http://livingsounds.org/ |
| Zeitgeist Analysis, Part 1," Paxton's Blog, 2007-SEP-11, at:
http://paxblog.vox.com/ |
| James Holding, "Walk like an Egyptian," Tektonics Apologetics
Ministries, at:
http://www.tektonics.org/ |
| "Horus: Is Jesus' life story a copy?," Not on your Mama's Religion,
2008-OCT-07, at:
http://www.notyourmamasreligion.com/ |
| "Aren?t there some striking parallels between the Jesus and Horus
stories?," King David 8, at:
http://www.kingdavid8.com/
|
|
| Websites asserting a connection:
| Kersey Graves, "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, Biblia y
Nazarenos, at:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net |
| Peter Joseph, "Zeitgeist, the movie," the Zeitgeist Movement, at:
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
This site has the movie, the Zeitgiest Addendum" movie and various
interviews online. |
| "The Cult of Horus," The Atheist Empire of Liverpool," at:
http://atheistempire.wordpress.com/ |
| "Jesus as a Reincarnation of Horus," Near Death, at:
http://near-death.com/ |
| Rev. Brian J. Kiely, "The Pagan Christ," Unitarian Church of Edmonton,
2004-MAY-16, at:
http://www.uce.ca/ |
|
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Joseph McCabe, "The Story of Religious Controversy," Stratford
Co, (1929). Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Acharya S., "Born of a Virgin on December 25th: Horus, Sun God of Egypt," at:
http://www.truthbeknown.com/
- James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion."
Oxford University Press, (1998). Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Les Carney, "Krishna born of a virgin?," at:
http://www.lescarney.com/
- Tom Harpur, "The Pagan Christ; Recovering the Lost Light," Thomas Allen, (2004), Page 5.
Read reviews or order this book.
- James Patrick Holding, "Comparing Osiris, Horus and Jesus," at:
http://tektonics.org/
- James Holding, "Walk like an Egyptian," Tektonics Apologetics Ministries,
at:
http://www.tektonics.org/
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Copyright © 2004 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance.
Originally written: 2004-APR-25
Latest update: 2009-APR-01
Author: B.A. Robinson
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