Ancient Egypt and Christianity

MS

The idea of connecting ancient Egypt to later religious developments is tempting, but I try to put it out of my head. How does one prove these things? The best known example is the case of the Christian symbol of the virgin and child. The image that closely resembles the canonical Christian one is that of Isis with the child Horus on her lap. Combine this with the fact that veneration of Mary has early roots in Egypt, and we have a possible case of influence, the Christian image taking over for the pagan one.

Osiris is another tempting place to locate connections to Christianity.. though I run the risk of identifying myself with the fringe out there on the Internet (see this site with page on parallels between Osiris and Jesus). Consider the parallels: Osiris is killed unjustly, buried, and rises again on the third day. Not too bad. I’m definitely not the first to see this, and I’ll just point to a passage in Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough:

I agree: “No two divine figures resemble each other more closely.” Even more important than the direct parallels is the way Egyptians identified with Osiris in his death and resurrection and thereby gained their own resurrection. This starts getting close to Christian notions of the headship of Christ. Just as Christ died, was buried, and rose again, so individual Christians united to him by faith go through the same events and receive the same reward. Ancient Egypt can be seen to provide a model and a mechanism by which individuals can unite with the suffering god.

The trinity is another notion I have trouble fathoming except as a relic of ancient Egyptian theological discussions. Here is Erik Hornung citing another Egyptologist trying to get a handle on the way Egyptian gods combine:

The formula Amon-Re does not signify that Amun is subsumed in Re or Re in Amun. Nor does it establish that they are identical; Amun does not equal Re. It observes that Re is in Amun, but remains himself just as much as Amun does, so that both gods can be manifest separately or in other combinations. [Conceptions of God, 91]

Except for the very last phrase about moving to other combinations, this would be a perfect thumbnail description of the Trinity. Each Godhead remains distinct, although at the same time they participate with each other in a union of being. One way to see the Trinity would be as an adaptation of this kind of theological discussion to a monotheistic system in which the union is eternal and there is no way to enter another combination.

Tomorrow I’ll go to my Religion in Ancient Egypt class and try to make clear to the students how ancient Egyptian gods can exasperate because they don’t have the personality and distinctness of Greek mythology. But if you think not of the Greeks, but of the mystery of the Trinity, multiplied by hundreds of god combinations, then you get close to understanding the gods in ancient Egypt.