Cat goddess Bastet (Photo: Egypt. Dept. of Antiquities)
A recent archaeological find corroborates the popularity of the Egyptian religion well into the Greek period a few centuries before and up to Christ’s alleged advent. Of course, we already knew that Horus, Isis, Osiris, Anubis and gang were major deities during this era – and long after, based on the intensely Egyptian elements incorporated into Coptic Christianity for centuries into the common era, as well as the writings of ancient authorities and other artifacts such as statuary, etc. Indeed, many mythicists assert that the Egyptian religion was a major – if not the main – influence on the creation of Christianity, contributing numerous aspects of the latter, again as demonstrated in my book Christ in Egypt. Another factoid revealed in this mass of fascinating information is that there were as many as 500,000,000 followers of the Egyptian religion during its long life.
Temple find shows sway of ancient Egyptian religion
CAIRO (Reuters) – Relics in a newly discovered Greek queen’s temple in Alexandria show how Egyptian deities were still revered by Egypt’s later Greek conquerors, archaeologists said on Tuesday.
The temple of Queen Berenike, wife of Ptolemy III, dating back to the 3rd century BC, was discovered along with 600 statues in the Kom el Dikka area of the Mediterranean city, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said.
Alongside those Greek-era finds, a large collection of statues of Bastet, the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection and motherhood, was found along with bronze and ceramic statues of Egyptian deities such as Harpocrates and Ptah, indicating Egyptian religious beliefs remained influential…
As I discuss in CIE (85) Queen Berenike or Berenice is important because her husband Ptolemy III commissioned a tablet or stela for her, now called the Canopus Decree (239 BCE), which established various festivals and provided the most accurate calendar of the ancient world. The stela records the Egyptian celebrations of the Kikellia and procession of Osiris in the month of Choiak/Choiach, which by the turn of the common era occurred at the winter solstice or “Christmas,” with 29 Choiak falling precisely on December 25th.
Moreover, it should be noted that Harpocrates is the baby Horus, who the ancient writer Plutarch said was born of Isis on the winter solstice. Harpocrates was popular for centuries into the common era, his image eventually morphed into a classical Roman style.
Further Reading
Egyptian cat god’s 2,200-year-old temple unearthed in Alexandria
