Top
of Mt. Ararat
Top
of Mt. Ararat
DAGON(No.5) THE UGARITIC SYRIAN FISH-MAN GOD:
North and west of Mesopotamia is the land of Syria and the Mediterranean Sea coast. This is the land of the recent Mid-East conflicts and the center of Biblical prophecies. Along this coast are the geographical locations of Palestine, Phoenicia and Ugarit. The Phoenician and Ugaritic traditions record the events of the Gods and Mankind similar to the Mesopotamian tablets. One of these figures is the mythic God Dagon, the Babylonian Oannes, the half fish and half man god of the sea.(122) In the Syrian Ugaritic Baal Epic his genealogical family tree runs as follows:
DAGON + wives 1)--------2) Ar, 3) Rabb, 4) Yaabdar
BAAL + wives a) Anath, b) Padriya, c) Talliya, d) Arisya ANATH
MATH The Buffalo Wild Ox
In the Ugaritic mythologies, Dagon appears only a few times in a casual manner, somewhat in the background of the other gods. These few references are the only appearance of this god in Canaanite myth. From the few scant verses, Dagon was the god of fertility worshipped in the earliest times along the Euphrates Valley and was known also as the god of Tuttul or modern Tell-el-Biya. He was the grain god and father of Baal-Hadad or Aleyan-Baal the Corn god. In Dagon, 'dag' means "fish". He was also the national god of the Philistines and was venerated at Gaza or Beth-Dagon and at a temple dedicated to him at Ashdod.(I Samuel 5:5) Ancient Phoenicia was also another place of his ancient worship. His icons depict him with half human and half fish features. (I Samuel 5:4) The Phoenician historian Sanchoniatho represents him as Jupiter and Baal and as the brother of Cronus or Molech. He also mentions that he was a Solar-god from the etymology of his name Dagon, which is made up of two words: "Dag" and "On", the first meaning 'fish' and the second meaning 'distress'. Therefore, his name means "The Fish of Affliction, Distress or Trouble." It was also an Egyptian name of the Sun! The word Dagon written by the Hebrews is a misspelling and should be written "Dag-On". The words do not originate in Palestine nor Egypt, but from the Philistines, a member group of the Palli family of Phoenicians and Shepherd Kinds, who seem to have first received it from the early ancestors of Babylonia. The name also appears in one of their ancestral homes of the Indian Caucasus or Meru in the Ava Empire, where the Buddha is still worshipped by the name of Dakpo and Dagun. The name Dag-On was received by them in the sense of a fish similar to the Hindu Vishnu, who Buddha claimed his Incarnation from. Dag-On is the Philistine version of the Matsya "fish" Incarnation of Vishnu, where the form of a man is conjoined with that of a fish, very similar to the Babylonian Oannes or Odacon. According to the composite Egyptian-Babylonian-Phoenician interpretation, the name Dag-On means "the Sun worshipped under the form of a fish". Sanchoniatho also informs us in his history, that another title of Dagon was Siton, obviously an Egyptian-Hebrew compound from "Sid" or "Seth" and "On". Seth was the Egyptian Typhon and Scythian Sat. With respect to Dagon, his form was so precisely that of the Babylonian Oannes and the Hindu Matsya-Vishnu avatar, that one cannot for a moment doubt that they are the same figure.
Dagon's worship was brought into Palestine by the Indo-Scythic Phoenicians, when they migrated westwards from Babylonia through Ethiopia or the Syrian Desert. Oannes was said to have appeared four different times and under one of these manifestations, he bore the name Dacon (Gr. 'Odacon'). It is now obvious, that this Oannes-Dacon is the Syrian Dagon and that all these titles and names clearly identify only one god.
Dagon's name is also well known to the east of Babel, where the word 'On' or 'Om' signifies a fish and where the domes of the temples of Buddha, built in the shape of an egg and a pyramid, are called Daghope and Dogon. These temples obviously represent the Ark of Noah, symbolized by a fish or egg. One of these temples found in Pegu is called the Temple of Dagun, another name of the Buddha. The Buddhists teach that when the god Kiaki awakes, the world is annihilated, but that out of its fragments Dagun will form a new one. This is again, obviously a 'trace-memory' of the history of Noah's re-establishing the new world after the flood. Here, Dagun appears as the Buddhist version of Noah.
The worship of Dagon extended ever further west, for the ancient Irish had also a god called Dagh-dae or Dagh. It is evidently the same as the Siamese Dagun previously discussed; the Tibetan Dak-Po or Dag-Buddha and, of course, the Syrian Dagon. The Irish, like the Syrians, esteemed him the god of fertility and presiding deity over the produce of the land and sea. They reckoned him the teacher of the arts and sciences and their Dia-Teibith or god of the Ark! It is interesting to note that some scholars connect the ancient Irish with the Hebrews and trace them back to the same stock of people. Their languages are said to be similar also. This suggests that, like the Syrians, the ancient Irish obtained their traditions of Dagh-dae from the same myth-pool; Dagh-dae being their version of Dagon-Noah. Many of the identifications are as follows:
Syrian-Ugaritic----------Dagon
Egyptian-----------------Dagon
Egyptian/Hebrew--------Siton
Philistine/Heb./Phoen.----Dagon
Ava Buddhist Siamese---Dagun-Dogon-Dakpo and Daghope
Tibetan------------------Dakpo
Babylonian--------------Oannes(Sennao)
Greek-------------------Odacon and Zeus-Arotrius
Hindu--------------------Matsya Vishnu
Ancient Irish-------------Dagh-dae/Dagh and Dia-Teibith
NU (No.43) THE EGYPTIAN NOAH:
EGYPTIAN TRADITIONS OF A GREAT FLOOD:
In inquiring into the legends and traditions of the Egyptians, we shall find, says Mr. Bryant, that,
...the deluge was the grand epocha of every ancient kingdom. It is to be
observed that when colonies made anywhere a settlement, they ingrafted
their antecedent history upon the subsequent events of the place. And as
in those days they could carry up the genealogy of their princes to the
very source of all; it will be found, under whatever title he may come,
that the first King in every country was Noah. For as he was mentioned
first in the genealogy of their princes he was in after times looked upon
as a real monarch; and represented as a great traveler, a might
conqueror, and sovereign of the whole earth. (123)
Mr. George Faber, in his Pagan Idolatry upon the same subject, also demonstrates the significance of the Egyptian traditions. He explains that the Egyptian mythologies are for the most part,
...built upon memorials of the Deluge: and many of its peculiarities were
probably introduced by the Shepherd Kings of Egypt. On this point the
Egyptians entertained an opinion, that the world was destined to
experience many vicissitudes of destruction and renovation, partly by the
agency of fire, and partly by that of water. The priest who conversed with
Plato on the subject, after discussing a dissolution of the earth by fire, set
forth, as he imagined, under the story of Phaethon, next proceeded to
discourse on its submersion by a great deluge. The gods, now wishing to
purify the earth by water, overwhelmed it with a flood. (Thus) On this
occasion, certain herdsmen and shepherds were saved on the tops of the
mountains: but they who dwelt in the cities, which are situated in our
country, were swept away into the sea by the rising of the rivers. (124)
Mr. Faber discusses other flood legends, synonymous with the Biblical account (125), such as Prometheus, who reigned in Egypt, while the greatest part of mankind were destroyed by a deluge. He says, that they ascribed this flood to the overflowing of the Nile, the sacred river of which they called "The Ocean", and esteemed a symbol of the deluge. This explains their myth of the Ark of Osiris being set afloat upon its waters and their being led to describing the flood of Noah under the image of the overflowing of the Nile River. Mr. Faber continues by comparing Prometheus with Atlas and his legend; with Ouranus, each of which had three offspring; and his with Cronus; who all each had some connection with a flood. His next comparison is with Prometheus and Deucalion, where he suggests, that it is superflous to observe that they were in reality only one person, and that their histories relate to the flood of Noah. In another illustration, Menes or Manes occupies the place of Prometheus. He points out such Biblical 'trace-memories', as his ruling all mankind at one time; his escape from drowning in an inundation; his being saved upon the back of a sacred crocodile, which conveyed him to safety; and that the Egyptians designated it by the name of "Campsa"; an Ark or Chest. "Theba" also signifies an Ark and was used to denote a sacred cow, a hieroglyph in the form of an Ark. Mr. Faber explains that this is the reason that Anubis, whom is synonymous with Cronus-I(or Noah), was represented standing upon a crocodile; and the likeness between Anubis and Menes, and that of the latter especially, were equivalent to the Hindu "Menu-Satyavrata", whom was also preserved in an Ark. He was attended by a sacred Bull figure, and may be identified further with the Cretan "Minos"; the Lydian "Manes"; the German "Mannus", and the ancient Britain "Manu" or "Menwyd".[See Indra-Noah Chapter on Yama]
In a third illustration, Mr. Faber notices the figure hero Phoroneus, who was eminently called "The First" and was claimed to be the son of Inachus, in who's days, likewise, there was thought to have been a flood. He was deemed by many ancient authorities, as the first to bring men together into one place; the grand arranger of nations. The conclusion Faber comes to, is that these Egyptian examples and characteristics..."plainly compel us to identify him with Noah, and to pronounce him the same also as his own mythological father, Inachus."
EGYPTIAN COSMOGONY AND CREATION ACCOUNTS:
The Egyptians retain a fare amount of information of the Noahic Flood in their cosmogony accounts and their versions of the first ages of the world. But, the Egyptians 'compounded' and blended the Creation Proper, with that of the Noahic Flood, as Mr. Faber points out:
We have observed, that pagan accounts of creation generally contain some
strong allusions to the deluge; in a similar manner we shall find, that
pagan accounts of the deluge are frequently marked by references to the
history of the Creation Proper. The cause of this apparent confusion is in
both instances the same. Agreeable to the established doctrine of a
succession of similar worlds, the creation of the ante-diluvian system was
not esteemed a proper creation or a production of something out of
nothing; but was considered only as a new organization of matter
subsequent to a flood which had destroyed a former world, and on the
surface of which the great father floated in profound repose during the
period that intervened between that world and its successor. And,
analogously to such an idea, the re-appearance of the face of the earth,
when the deluge retired into the central abyss, was viewed as the creation
of a new mundane system out of the fragments of a prior system; the
great father with his seven companions having again floated upon the face
of the deep, during the appointed intermediate period, either on a lotus,
or the sacred leaf, or the navicular sea-serpent or the mystic ship.
Hence, as a proper creation was believed to have been preceded by a
flood, which destroyed a former world; and as our present system was
really preceded by a flood; and was in some sort of new production out
of preexisting materials, it is obvious that, according to the philosophy of
paganism, there was no essential difference between the real creation of
the world and its renovation after the deluge. Such being the case, that
heathen cosmogonies and heathen accounts of the flood would be much
intermingled together, is in fact nothing more than what might have been
naturally anticipated. If however, we make due allowances for this
circumstance, we shall still find, that many of the more ancient nations
have preserved almost literal accounts of a universal deluge, which
correspond in a very wonderful manner with the history of it as detailed
by Moses. (126)
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLISM:
For Yahweh is a SUN and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory;
Psalms 84:11
And the Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.
Malachi 4:2
The symbol of the Sun was the most important symbol among the Egyptians (127). Their cosmogonies are permeated with such symbols as the sun, moon, stars and animals. The sun image was to them the prime symbol of life, renewal, regeneration and healing. The sun had values relative to the generation of order out of chaos and was a cure from the pains and sufferings of mortal life; a consolation from the worries and fears of death. The symbolism of the Hebrews, such as in Malachi 4:2 and Psalms 84:11, is synonymous with the Egyptian's winged Sun-Disk. The universality of symbols, such as this one, interchangeable from our age to Noah's, explains why there are so many parallels between the Egyptian and Hebrew cosmogonies. The Hebrews retained much of the Egyptian symbolism from their stay in Egypt during their captivity. The Egyptians obtained theirs from the earlier culture and civilization of Mesopotamia, the era of the Genesis-10 Patriarches. This supports the claim of the Egyptians retaining many 'trace-memories' of Noahic history
In Egyptian mythology the sun symbol is usually associated with some primordial god of creation. I Hebrew tradition it is synonymous with the Lord of the New Creation, symbolized by the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in its wings. (Mal.4:2) There are many other parallels between Egyptian and Hebrew symbolism, but the above is sufficient to illustrate my point.
THE SUN GOD RA:
The Egyptian Sun-god RA is very similar to that of the Biblical Saviour, through the symbolism of "The Stone". This was the idol form in which RA was worshipped. The "Stone of RA", which was also Ra himself, was depicted by a large obelisk stone, topped with a pyramid shaped capstone. The Hebrew parallel to this is seen in "The Pillar to the Lord built in the midst of the Land of Egypt"(Isaiah 19:19-20). According to some commentators, this pillar is the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza in Egypt, which coincidentally, still stands anticipating the addition of a large capstone, a fine parallel of the Lord of Host, the Capstone that the Builders rejected. The Lord Jesus in his discussions with the Apostle Peter types Himself as the stone upon which the Church is to be built, a symbolic illustration of which has a distant parallel in the god RA; also the Stone into which the Spirit of the Sun was supposed to incarnate or enter. The human sacrifices which usually followed the ancient ceremonial tradition, also typifies the working of the Holy Spirit in the sacrificial offering of the Messiah. The Egyptians called this ceremony "The Coming in of the Spirit of the Sun". The Sun principle of the Holy Spirit is symbolized 'rising' in the hearts and minds of the Believers, bringing refreshments and glad tidings of a new life. (See Mal.4:2; Matt.13:43; and Rev.1:16)
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLISM AND THE GOLDEN GIRDLE OF REV.1:13
Egyptian symbolism reveals another parallel between Amen-Ra and the Biblical "King of Kings" through the Egyptian Water god, Nu or Nin and the Christ of Revelation 1:13. The Divine Spirit as Amen-Ra, is like the Holy Spirit of the Christian New Testament through the symbolism of "The Stone". So, Amen-Ra as the Celestial Water god Nu, is like Christ, through the symbolism of the Golden Girdle of Revelation 1:13. Both the Bible and the Egyptian Book of the Dead use this sacred garment symbol of the "Girdle": "...the Son of Man is girder across His breast with a Golden Girdle."(Rev. 1:13) The Scribe Anu in the Egyptian Book of the Dead also wears this golden girdle: "...the girdle of the garments of the God Nu, which giveth light and shineth and belongeth to his breast..."(128)
The Egyptians believed this girdle to be an object of great magical power and an object out of which flowed a guiding light, that would lighten the realm of heaven and point out the way of the true path through the domain of darkness. They believed that to identify one's self with this magical belt, was to be identified with that light and thus be safe in such travels through the Nether World.(129) This magical girdle was a very important and sacred motif to the Egyptians, for they claimed it had some mystical power and "light-force" of divine authority, which gave kingship and ruling power to the possessor over all opposition. It was an object in which authority was concentrated; a portal or vehicular object from which all divine despotism flowed.(130) This power of the sacred object over all oppositional forces may have been of great value, even to those of unjust persuasion, for we see just such a figure in the person of the Biblical Nimrod, the Orion of Greek Myth.(131)
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLISM OF THE ARK:
According Mr. Faber, the Sun was symbolic of the Patriarch Noah; the mystic mariner within the ship, who sails the seas of the celestial realm of heaven. It is also a symbol of the ship itself, for the Sun travels the heavens as would a ship over the earth's oceans.(132) This symbolism of the Sun as a Mariner and a Ship corresponds with the Biblical symbolism of Christ as the believer's "Sun" in Malachi 4:2 and as the Ark or Tabernacle and Refuge of Salvation of the believer. The Egyptian idea of passing through the Darkness of the Nether World, by the power of the divine light of the sacred girdle of Nu, is synonymous with the Lord, the Light and Truth of St. John, who with His Golden Girdle saves the believer from the ravages of Hell, the Dark Realm of Satan.
THE SACRED MOUNTAIN:
The Egyptians also retained 'trace-memories' of the landing of the Ark and the establishment of the new world of Noah. For, the Sun is sometimes shown ruling from the top of a high mountain or sacred hill. Mr. Faber describes this symbolic tradition,
As the Sun is set afloat by the old mythologies in a ship, in the cup
of a lotus flower, or a small erratic island; and as his eventful voyage
is expressly referring to the time of the flood: so we may further observe,
that he is represented as peculiarly delighting to haunt the sacred
mountain, which first raised it's head above the retiring waters, and which
received upon its summit the Ark of him who was preserved from the
general destruction. (133)
Mr. Faber continues by giving other examples of Solar gods ruling from mountain peaks: The Greek Deucalion from Mount Parnassus; the Hindu Siva and his ship the Argha, dwelling in his eight forms on the Cahgarian Peak of Meru or Cailasa; Menu and his seven companions and the Persian Solar god of the Zend-Avesta, from Mount Albordi. The Orphic poets of Egypt and the Brahmens of India maintained that the Sun was born from a cosmic egg that floated upon the ocean. He, the Sun, was tossed about and eventually became self-multiplied into three. Faber thus observes, that the families of Hellas, Hindostan and Peru claimed descent from the Sun and, therefore, styled themselves Heliadae, Suryabans and the Children of the Sun. He was father of the gods and men, and was self-produced. Such names as Sames, Ares, Horus and Helius also denote the Sun as the Greeks translated them. The Assyrians and the Egyptians claimed the Sun as their most ancient sovereign, of which the latter gave him a crocodile for a vehicle, as exemplified by Moses, and the crocodile "Campsa" and his imaginary local flood. Thus, Menes and the Sun are the same. The associated Egyptian crocodile is also a motif of the Ark or ship of Noah.(134)
The Sun symbol is representative of the Biblical Patriarch Noah. These vehicular images represent the survival Ark, while the Sun ruling from the sacred mountain illustrates that Divine 'Solar' Power and principle of government authority invested in Noah for the renewing of the world. Therefore, like the millennial Christ, who is like the Sun rising with healing in its wings and who is a type of second Adam of reconciliation, so Noah himself and his family "were a kind of rising Sun: A sudden burst of creative power and civilizing agency of dazzling brilliance."(135)
Dr. Pilkey, in his Origin Of Nations, suggests that the Solar Principle of government, illustrated in many pagan traditions, is proto-typical of the New Testament magnification of the same pattern as exemplified in the returning of Jesus to the Mountain of Zion, where he is to set foot and commence His new Millennial Kingdom rule. For, he says:
...Future events are the greater counterpart of Noah's Flood; the New
testament magnification of the same pattern. Both events are worldwide in
scope; the Tares (in Matthew 13: 7-45) answer to the Antediluvians;
their offences to the Antediluvian's offences which caused God to grieve
over having created mankind (Genesis 6:6); their lawlessness, to the carnal
"violence" which filled the Antediluvian earth; and their destruction by
fire, to the Antediluvian destruction by water. (And that) in both cases,
the good seed inherit a new world order; and the good seed of the
parable "shine as the Sun" according to the same principle which
dominates the same prophetic truth in Malachi 4:2, and which so
dominates the same pre-Abrahamic religious thought. (136)
Therefore, as Noah ruled from Mount Ararat as the Sun figure of pagan tradition, so similarly, Christ shall rule from Mount Zion as that "Sun", who will rise as the Millennial "Light and Heat" as the ruler with governmental healing in His wings.
THE IDENTIFICATION OF NOAH IN EGYPTIAN TRADITION:
It is apparent from the preceding correspondences between the Egyptian and Hebrew traditions, that the figures and symbolisms in the pagan cosmogonies relate to the events in Genesis. Especially the events relative to Noah and the Flood. The identification of the Sun with the image of the "First-Father" makes the task of identifying the Patriarch Noah with pagan counterparts much easier.
Mr. Faber establishes a few requisites for the identification of the First-Father Noah, by showing that all the male deities or gods of the ancients associated with creation were just deified hero-men and that some of these gods may possess data pointing to a primordial First-Father figure. He says, that this is attested to by such ancient writers as Hesoid, Hermes Trismegistus, Diodorus and Cecero, which accordingly is substantiated in the personal histories of such mythological figures as Esculapius, Osiris, Thoth, Vulcan and others. These writers point out that these demi-gods or hero-men were the souls of men worshipped later as gods by their posterity; that they were at one time originally sovereigns of these people.(137) Furthermore, concerning the heavenly hosts; the Sun, Moon and the Stars, Mr. Faber suggests that,
The notion that the souls of the hero-gods were either translated to the
celestial bodies or were emanations from them, constituted a very prominent
part of Paganism. (And) Thus, we find it to be a prevailing idea, that
the Sun and the Moon and the Stars were not mere inert matter; but on
the contrary, beings wise, intelligent and actuated by a divine spirit. (For)
Posidonius tells us, that the Stoics supposed each star to be the body of a
deity; and Mr. Austin represents them as maintaining that the stars were
parts of Jupiter or the Sun, that they were all living creatures, and that
they all had rational souls. (And) The reason why the heavenly bodies
were thus deemed living intelligences was their supposed union with the
souls of deceased heroes; and as the Sun was the brightest of these bodies,
it was naturally thought the peculiar residence of the parent and chief of
those hero-gods. (138)
Though the Gentiles were ostensibly polytheists, yet in absolute strictness of speech, "...they worshipped only one great compound deity, who was the reputed parent of the Universe. (For) All their gods ultimately resolve themselves into one single god, who was esteemed the great Father: The ancient mythologists of all nations are thus unanimous in asserting that each of their chief masculine deities is equally the Sun, and hence, they no less explicitly than consistently maintain, that all these deities, though apparently distinct, are fundamentally one and the same."(139)
The next step, is to study the different characters, their attributes and their mythological contexts, to establish which ones specifically represent our Biblical Noah. It is now necessary to study the subject of multiple-naming and name-changing.
EXAMPLES OF NAME CHANGING AND COMPOUNDING IN EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY:
In the study of Egyptian hero-gods, the principle of name changing and compounding becomes apparent. In the case of the Egyptians, the tradition favors non-cognate name changing along with name and attribute adoption through the principle of compounding and matching two or more names.
The Egyptians believed, like the Hebrews, that 'words' were real concrete things. A word or name equaled "power" in the hands of the possessor. This is comparatively similar to the Jewish and Christian principles of the Holy Names of Yahweh and Jesus, where these names are called upon for healing and power. The Egyptians thought that to acquire a word or someone's name, and thus the identities of those persons as well, resulted in the prior owners subjugation, and in many cases, destruction.(140) It was the purpose of the Egyptian theology to equate, for instance, a local deity with one of greater magnitude, in geographical area, age and power in order to give the local deity greater "local" authority. In one case the name of the minor god "Ptah", was affixed in front of that of the major god, Nu, to form the combined name of Ptah-Nu. Other examples of this are the compound names Ra-Atum, Amen-Ra, Osiris-Ankhti, Osiris-Sakri, Osiris-Thoth and Osiris-Un-Nefer.
In Egypt the name was looked upon as a real essential element of the personality. The combination of names accomplished the transfer of the mythological attributes of the greater god to the lesser god as in the above example.(141) An example of this may be seen in Egyptian mythology:
The gods who came into being as Ptah: Ptah, who is upon the Great
Throne...; Ptah-Nu, the Father who begot [or name changed into] Atum;
Ptah-Naunet, the Mother who bore Atum; Ptah the Great, that is the
Heart and Tongue of the Ennead (the Nine Gods); Ptah...who gave birth
to the gods... (142)
The Egyptian principle of name adoption and compounding similarly corresponds to the Hebrew and Mesopotamian principle, even though it is of a different type. The Egyptians, like the Mesopotamians, acquired the names of the other gods for themselves. Whereas, the Hebrews either changed the name altogether or altered the spelling. A totally non-cognate name change may be seen in the personal name change of Jacob to Israel and, according to Rabbinical tradition, Nimrod to Amraphel (143) and Shem to Melchizedec.(144) Therefore, a cognate name change would be Abram to Abraham and, of course, Sarai to Sarah. (145) Another good example is Saul to Paul. Christ exemplifies this tradition in Simon. (John 1:42)
The Book of Jasher, of Rabbinical fame, gives another fine example of name changing in Abrahamic times. As substantiative of this principle, the case of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, applied it to some of his associates: "...and he converted Serak to Shakra; Sharkad to Sharkrura; Zabnac to Zexobim; and Menon to Matzlodin."(146) This tradition of name adoption and changing may also be seen in the earlier Mesopotamian mythologies, as with the figure of Marduk, who adopts his father's name, Ea(147) and who acquires a total of fifty names!(148) It is obvious, that Marduk wanted full sovereignty.
THE COMMON ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION:
All traditions, religious beliefs and mythology have their origin in one common source and geographical center. From the testimony of Scripture the likely candidate for this center is Mesopotamia. Some 'quack' historians have suggested it to be some sunken-continent called Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean. Others call it Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean. Yet, the Bible is clear that all mankind perished in the Great Flood of Noah and, that prior to the Tower of Babel, all mankind originated from one family of only eight persons. This is a monogenesis of all nations and a mono-mythological origin of all traditions and symbolic thought. Hence, Egypt's similarity with Mesopotamian culture. Egypt was one of Mesopotamia's colonies from which she derived most of her traditions and religious thoughts, legends and stories of hero-gods. Mr. Waddell substantiates this colonial connection in his book 'The Sumerian Origin of Egyptian Civilization' by showing how Menes, the son of Sargon the Great of Mesopotamia, was the first ruler of Egypt!(149,150)
Like the Egyptians the Hebrews have their origin from Mesopotamian culture through Eber or Heber, who, according to the genealogies, is only a few generations away from Noah and the earliest ages of the flood patriarches. This is the reason why their are so many correspondences between Hebrew symbology and the Egyptian and Mesopotamian mythologies.
GENEALOGICAL STUDIES OF THE SUN-GOD RA:
The name of the Egyptian Sun-god RA may be only a title name. Research into Egyptian myths reveal that he was a specific god and that he acquired the names and attributes of all the other prominent gods who reigned before him. By tracing these names and attributes of RA, it will be found that they all point to the god NU, the first-father god of all the gods, the Celestial Water and Sky god of the Egyptians. This RA figure, who is similar to the Mesopotamian god Marduk, will be found to have acquired a multitude of names too, adopted for the purpose of magnifying his divinity and sovereignty.
Amen-Ra, the Sun God and Primeval Celestial Water God Nu:
Ra the Sun-god Ra of the Egyptians, is said to have hidden his true name from his children. That, "...his name is hidden...in his name Amen."(151) This hiding of his true name is even more mysterious to the seeker, for the name is an elusive one. It is said that his names are "...myriad and cannot be told,"(152) for they are "...manifold and innumerable."(153) Although his names may be innumerable, nevertheless, the Egyptians Book of the Dead, in the hymn to Amen-Ra, does reveal a few of these 'hidden' names. In the hymn, he is identified with the god Nu or Nin, the Water and Sky god of Creation: "This holy god (is)(or, is as) Amen-Ra; the first god of primeval times..."(154) "...who at the dawn of primeval time was Atum (as well as) the god Nu,...who possesseth myriads of pairs of eyes."(155) Amen-Ra, an independent god, here usurps and acquires for religious and political purposes, the names, characters and attributes of all the previous gods, especially the Water-god "NU" . Therefore, he is acclaimed the "Ruler of all the gods", "Governor of Punt"; "The King of Heaven", "Sovereign of the Earth", "Stablisher of Creation"; and "The father of all the gods and mankind."(156) RA apparently "claims to be" the god Nu. With the assumption that the name RA is also a title name, it rather seems that the original Sun God, was NU, and that this later Sun-God acquired everything from him. RA ruled on the high ground in the city Khemenu, the City of the Eight Original Gods.(157) An obvious claim only NU could make. In the text this was some time before the "supports" (or, government posts), of Shu (the Sky-god) were created. At this time, the governmental rule of Shu, the son and heir to the Throne of Atum-Nu, was not yet established; but only the Eight Originals, which included NU. It appears that NU at one time was the original Celestial Sun-god, and that he was the first Father and Creator of the World succeeding the Celestial Waters of Primeval Chaos. (158)
Ra, Amen-Ra and the Primeval God Tem or Temu:
Another hidden identification of Ra or Amen-Ra is TEM or Temu. According to the Egyptians, this god "the oldest of the gods", was a divine god and was self-created.(159) He was believed to be the maker of the gods and mankind, just like the god Amen-Ra. Temu was accredited with having created for himself, an abode, which was the great mass of celestial waters called Nu. Therefore, it is through the identification of Temu with these celestial waters (Nu), which he created, that he is identified with Nu. Temu created for himself Nu, 'the waters', and was thus called the Creator, just like Nu and Amen-Ra, and was called by this name through association. Tem/Temu, the God of Heliopolis, once existed by himself as the original Celestial Waters and was therefore, likened to the Celestial Water god Nu. Ra becomes so much like Nu, from adopting his attributes, that it is hard to distinguish them apart.
The traditions of the Egyptians suggest this identification in their mythological accounts of the gods. Everything that existed from Creation had their origin in this Chaos called Nu, according to the Temu-Nu Egyptian identification equation. The Scribe Ani, in the Egyptian Book of the dead, identifies this god Temu with the Sun-god Ra, as originally descending from Nu and as being a type of Nu himself. Ani formulates this through the identification equation of Ra as the god Khepera, where Khepera is identified with the god Temu. Ani declares, in his chapter, that the god Khepera was said to be, "...Khepera in the Morning, Ra at Mid-Day, and Temu in the Evening."(160) This identification is established in another of his declarations: "Thou [Amen-Ra] art Temu, the maker of being,...[and] Thou [Amen-Ra] art Khepera in thy boat; and when thou sendest forth the word, the gods come into being."(161) The Book of the dead shows that the Egyptians retained this traditional identification of Amen-Ra with Temu and with Nu, through the compound name of "Temu-Ra".(162)
Ra, Amen-Ra and the God Atum or Atmu, and Nebertcher:
Heliopolis, an early cult center in Egypt, also produced a cosmogony which taught that Atum/Atmu raised up out of Nu, the Primeval Waters of Creation and produced the world. He later became identified with Ra, the Sun-god, because of his emergence from out of this Nu and because of his association with the rising Sun and its dispelling of the darkness of Chaos. In the Book of the Knowing the Evolutions of Ra, a chapter most suggestive of our central theme, it is mentioned that the god Nebertcher raised up out of the Nu just like the previously discussed Atum/Atmu and the god Ra in the aspect and character of Khepera. Nothing is said to have existed except this figure Khepera. It is now evident from the Heliopolean cosmogony, that the gods Atum(Atmu), Ra, Nebertcher and Khepera are all separate identities referring to a more ancient god.(153) The Nesi-Khensu papyrus, in the Book of the dead, substantiates this by listing some of Amen-Ra's attributes and hidden names. He was the one "...who at the dawn of primeval time was Atmu...and Amen-Ra...and Khepera."(164) The chapter of The Evolutions of Ra rightly associates and identifies these three gods, as we have mentioned. It states that,
This is the Book of the Knowing the Evolutions of Ra, the Sun god and
the overthrowing of the evil Apep. These are the words of Nebertcher in
which he spoke, after he had come into being.[165] In the beginning, 'I
am he, who came into being in the form [name, aspect, person?] of
Khepera.' (166)
These words cannot be plainer. Ra claims himself the same as Atum/Atmu, Nebertcher and Khepera; for Ra claims that he is "...Ra at Mid-Day and Khepera in the Morning."(167) Therefore, he also claims to be the Celestial Water god Nu.
RA and the Beetle God Khepera:
Egyptian tradition shows, through the compound name equation, Temu-Khepera (168), that Amen-Ra, who I have found to be associated with Tem or Temu, is also identified with the Beetle god Khepera. This is proved through their association of Ra with Temu: "(For) Thou (Amen-Ra) art Temu..."(169) In this passage the minor or local god Tem takes on all the attributes and name of the older god Khepera.(170) Therefore, as Temu acquired the attributes and name from Khepera, so Ra (Amen-Ra), our Temu, also acquired them from the Beetle god. This seems to be the case, for the cult of the Beetle god is far older than the Solar cult of Ra of Heliopolis.(171) This synthesis of the gods is likely the result of some hereditary or genetic factor as traditionally held by the Egyptians. The following passage suggests such a conclusion: "For, the germs of every other god were in him(the Scribe Ani)."(172) This tradition of taking all the "germs" (attributes, personalities, rulership) of all the older gods, as in the case with Ani, may well have been a traditional one within the ranks of the Egyptian elite, especially the so-called gods. Final verification of Ra claiming to be Khepera and Ani's justification in adopting the god's "germs" is derived from the fact that the Book of the dead proclaims that "Thou (Amen-Ra) art [like?] Khepera in thy boat."(173)
Khepera the Beetle God and the Water God Nu:
To the Egyptians the Beetle God Khepera was the most ancient Creator god of Primeval times; which seems to be a bit contradictory. But, nevertheless, he was believed to be the keeper and guardian and the 'egg-pusher' of the Cosmic Egg, which contained all the "germs" of life. Khepera, just like a dung-roller beetle, was said to roll the Sun across the sky as a real beetle rolls a dung-ball across the ground. For, the Egyptians believed that,
The ball of matter, containing all potential life, was compared to the
Sun's globe, which contained the germs of all life, and (that) the beetle,
with its ball of matter and eggs, was (therefore) regarded as the symbol of
the great Khepera. (174)
He is viewed as the Creator. He holds, protects and is the keeper of the egg of germs and of all life. Now, the problem of creatorship arises, when it is observed, that the Egyptians also held Nu as the Creator too! He also contained all the germs of all living things.(175) The question now arises, whether the Egyptians believed in more than one Creator. The answer is probably, no they did not. It seems that they believed that the Creatorship was transferred and handed down to each successive reigning god. For, Khepera was a later version or type of the god Nu, through the above principle of being the cosmic egg-pusher and guardian of the germs of all life forms. The parallel correspondence of the two as Creator seems to infer this. The statement found in the Book of the dead, in the Chapter, "The Book of Knowing How Ra Came Into Being", further suggests this correspondence. It is mentioned by Nebertcher, the god of the Universe, that "...the god Khepera, who from the first to the last, was regarded as a form of Nu, the Creator."(176) That Khepera is (as) Nu is supported through the symbolism of the Beetle, an Egyptian insect regarded as a symbol of Incarnation and by the Scarab of which denoted "an only-begotten-one". Both are acclaimed to be the first-father and Creator, and with no apparent mentioning of any parents!
The God Ptah and the Primeval Khepera-Nu:
The identity of the Creator god Nu-Khepera is also found in the figure Ptah, a late pre-dynastic god of Memphis. As Poseidon, Ptah is the third from Nu down the dynastic list. Ptah was looked upon as the Creator god of the Universe, just like the earlier Atum/Atmu-Temu and the famed Amen-Ra.(177) He was called the "Black-Smith" god because of his creativeness and "The Chief of the Hammer".(178) He has adopted all the primeval Creator attributes of all the previous first-father gods. The compound names Ptah-Nu, and Ptah-Temu found in Egyptian tradition affirm this position of a single Creator god. No two first-father creator gods ever claimed this position at the same time. There was always one, until the position was passed down and adopted by a succeeding god. Ptah appears much akin to these other primeval gods: Nu, Temu, Khepera, Amen-Ra, Atum, etc. Almost all of his characteristics and attributes of Creatorship are the same as his predecessors. Through his triple compound name Ptah-Seker-Asar, Ptah had the form of Osiris, but was depicted as a small squat pygmy type of person with a large bald head, thick lips and a beetle emblem mounted on his head.(179) This emblem establishes his identity as the new Incarnation of the original Creator god.(180) In his other compound name Ptah-Tatenn, Ptah seems to usurp the attributes and identity of Tatenn; even the attributes and identities of Ra, Kheper-ta and Nu, as observed in the compound name Ptah-Nu.(181)
Ptah, in his adoption names, Ptah-Tatenn, Ptah-Nu, Ptah-Seker-Asar seems to claim all the attributes of all the pervious gods before him. He is thus styled after the other god's nicknames, "The Babe", "The Aged One", "The Exalted One", and "The Hidden One".(182) Therefore, Ptah, the Black-Smith, like our other creator gods, could perform certain creative miracles as tradition states: "Ptah...performed the operation of the opening of the mouth...on the gods...(and thus)...he raised them up from inertness and gave them (all) life." Ptah claimed for himself, all the attributes of creatorship, to be the creator of all living things and ruler over all of them.(183)
Ptah is shown in the following Memphite myth to usurp all political and religious authority, creatorship and supremacy, through his establishing, anachronistically, the primeval and sacred hill of Memphis; and the Eight Primeval Gods. This claim is the exact same claim made by the god Ra of Khemenu! This cosmogony presents the same sacred octad pantheon (i.e. group of eight gods) of former creators, through personified zoomorphic forms. It uses four-frog forms to illustrate the four original male gods and four snake-faced females to illustrate the consorts. In the Myth of Ptah, the Egyptians saw their god Ptah, "...in the primeval waters of creation; wherein, Ptah is seeking a place to rest his tired feet. For he had grown too old and tired to continue his procession." But, the Myth continues to say, that,
He found that a place to lay his feet, was to be found at Heliopolis.
(And) he desired for himself, gods, in order to cause light [government?] to
exist, so he caused to exist and to come into being The Eight oiginal
Octad Pantheon of gods].making them fourfrog-faced gods and four
snake-faced goddesses; [as paired together] Nun[Nu] and Naunet, Heh
and Hahet, Ket and Keket, and last Niu and Nit, as he had named
them in a former time[probably as an earlier creator god] and so, they
were united with the eight to complete ten names. (184)
All these gods and goddesses in the last part of the myth are shown coming out of the Primeval Chaos of Waters of Creation, of which we have previously identified as Nu. This myth is a trace-memory of the tradition contained in genesis. It incorporates the typology of eight beings, four male and four female. It emphasizes the importance of two of them by a double statement. It includes the flood waters, but mysteriously leaves out the Ark of Noah. But, nevertheless, it types the myth very close to the genesis account of Noah and his family. From the above, Ptah is a later version or re-incarnation (duplicate?) of the original Creator god, Nu, the Egyptian version of Noah.
Nu as Nin and his consort Nan:
Nin or Nen, according to the Egyptians, was the equivalent to the watery abyss and was also considered the god of the Celestial Waters of creation, from which all life began.(185) Nan, the consort of Nin, possessed both the attributes (genders) of her own and her consort. Nin and Nan were the parents of all the living. Nau was also considered to be the consort of Nut, the wife of Nu, who is identified as our Nin or Nau.(186) It is interesting to note, that Nau is cognate with the Biblical Hebrew name of Noah, through the differentiation of vowels o,a,u,uh, as in Nau. Nan or Nut also had the form and name of "Neheb-Kau", who was worshipped in the form of a huge serpent, just like Vishnu's consort Shesha.(187) She was the counterpart goddess of the serpent god Nau, who is Nu. Nau or Kau was the great goddess serpent worshipped in the Temple of Henen-su.
Nau, the serpent is the white goddess Seche or Sheshu, the wife
of Indra-Vishnu, the leader of the Maruts, also the Biblical Noah. (188) She was the mother of the Indian god Brahma, son of Vishnu-narayana(Indra). Nau's consort Nau-Nin was also called the Serpent god "Nau-shesma" and was viewed as having Seven Heads! This is similar to the typology of Hebrew Numerical tradition, where Noah is the "head" of Seven members of the Ark. Therefore, we may say, as Captain, Noah had Seven other heads.
The Egyptians retained certain "trace-memories" of the Noahic Flood. They made great claims and formed corresponding ideas to the overflowing of the Nile River. To them, this overflowing was a symbolic reenactment of the great flood of Noah. The "Featival of the Ploughing of the Earth" and of "Heheb-Kau", are memorials of the Noahic Flood. The festival in honor of Heheb-Kau was celebrative of the subsidence of the waters of the inundation of the Nile as traditionally claimed by the Nile dwellers.(189) The festival of Ploughing the Earth relates to the first agricultural efforts of Noah's family, celebrative through his wife's botanical and agricultural knowledge. Many ancient tribes and cultures give such agricultural duties to the females of the tribe, whereas, the males take responsibilities favoring hunting and gathering and city building. The Egyptians and thus, the Noahic family, were no different.
CONCLUDING COSMOGONY AND INTERPRETATION:
To sum up the whole Egyptian Creation account, the first act of creation consisted of 1) the formation of an egg in the Primeval waters--Noah's Ark emerging; 2) Ra the Sun god emerges from out of this Primeval Water, who is the immediate cause of all life on Earth--the Patriarch Noah; And, 3) the appearance of the Primeval Spirit embodying itself in its most brilliant form as the rising Sun--the principle of Solar Divine Christ-like government. Then, finally, 4) all the terrestrial creatures according to Maat--the Ark animals. (190)
The whole work of Creation or Noahic renovation had been conceived as such and planned in the mind of Khepera-Nu.(191) He was the personified Primeval Waters of Creation, the god who formed and designed the material part of Temu/Atmu, creator of all the gods and men. He was, therefore, the "Father of the Gods" and the producer of the Great Company of the Original Eight.(192) This was Noah the designer of the new post-Flood world and the Captain of the survival family. This Nu was "The Divine Form Who Dwelled in the forms of all the Gods"; the Prince who advanced at this appointed hour to vivify that which came forth from his potter's wheel. He was the one who made the Cosmic Egg which contained the Sun and who "formed man on his potter's wheel" (or, Made the Ark which would contain the New Dispensation of Human Government). He was "The Aged One who renewed his youth [survived the Flood] and who possessed myriads of pairs of eyes"(193), which means the symbolism representing the multitudes of descendents that were to be born. He was the god from "whose divine plans the earth came into being"; "who made the Kings to rule" and "whose duty was the Solar Disk." He was the god Khepera, the god Amen-Ra, the Lord of Heaven and Earth and the King of the Gods.(194)
The god Nu-Nin, in the figure of Amen-Ra, Khepera, Temu and Ptah was the Creator of all things. Here, Noah is accredited with being the originator and creator of all that was to become extant in the New World:
"I [Nu] am Temu, when he [I, Nu] existed alone [with Seven others] in [ and as originally] Nu, [and as later, under the title of Solar King] Ra, in his risings, in his beginnings, ruling what he [I,Nu,Temu,Ra] had made."
The Scribe Ani in the Book of the Dead, helps with the interpretation of these verses, written by the God Thoth. He says,
"This is Ra in his beginnings [when he was] ruling what he had made. In the beginning was Ra, rising on the Throne of Sovereignty [over] what he had made. When the pillars [or, the foundations of civilized government] of Shu did not exist,...he was on [ruled over] the high ground [hill] of Khemenu [Heliopolis, the City of the Eight--Ararat]. Behold, there were given to him "The Enert Ones"["The Children of revolt"--The rebel Hamites, those against Nu-Temu-Ra] in Khemenu. 195)
The following cosmogony is another excellent source of Noahic "trace-memories". This is the 'Knowing the Evolutions of Ra' chapter, taken from the Book of the Dead. I have paraphrased it and added interpretations in brackets for easier reading and understanding. This account seems to reflect, in an archaic symbolism, the history of Noah's family from the landing of the Ark on Ararat, to the final fall and destruction at the Tower of babel and the foiling of the rebel Hamite's plans:
This is the Book of Knowing the Evolutions of Ra, the Sun god [The history of Noah in the Egyptian forms of Nu, Khepera,etc] and the overthrowing of the evil Apep [Noah's cursing of Canaan]. These are the words of Nebertcher [Nu, Noah], in which he spoke, after he had come into being, into the new beginning [Noah's words-plans-designs and his first appearing from the Ark and his claiming the new land]. "I am he who came into being in the form of Khepera; I am he, the creator [establisher] of all that came [survived] into being [out of the Ark] after my own coming into new beginning; all that came into being came from the authority of my mouth. Nothing existed before me: Not heaven, earth, plants, animals, etc.[Anachronistic for the destruction of the Antediluvian World]. I raised up all these things from out of and since the Chaos of Primeval Waters, Nu [The Noahic Flood]. I first found no place to take a stand, so I formed a charm in my heart, and devised a foundation [plan] in Maat [my mind], and thus made [formulated] every attribute. I was alone [in this decision, since I was the final authority] for I had not yet spit [appointed] the form of Shu and Tefnut [Egyptian versions of survivors] into being [called them to help in this commission] but mine. I had union with my clenched hand [my plans in thought, put to application]; I joined myself in an embrace with my shadow [I, like a woman, gave birth to my ideas through constructive intercourse]; I poured seed into my mouth [my thoughts became words, then deeds]; and I sent forth my issue, Shu and Tefnut. I said (then), "They make my eye weak, because for a long time, they proceeded from me, after I became from one god, three gods, from out of myself, and after I came into being into this earth. [Noah's supremacy included the other three son's submission]. We (I) raised up Shu and Tefnut, from out of this Nu ["My first two family members were commissioned] wherein they were [from in the Ark], where from they brought to me my eye in their train. After I had united my members [family], I therefore wept over them and from my tears came into being, mankind; and it (mankind) raged against me [later apostatized under Hamite rebellion] after (they) came and found that I had made [some controversial decision] another its [their] place [viewpoint]. I was then forced to endow it [them] with the power [some compromise?] which I had made. Having, therefore, made its place [granted them some authority and land], to approach [confront] my face [person, position], afterwards therefore it [they] ruleth this earth, to its whole extent [took over and defeated Noah's system]. (But) fall [they did] in their seasons [at the Tower of Babel] upon their plans [own deeds].-- [See Appendix-II for further monograph on Nu]
CONCLUSIONS:
Nu or Nin and the attributes he rightfully possessed may be seen hidden within other names of later reigning gods. If it is supposed that they are only independent personalities, then euhemeristically, these gods are only deified hero-men. But, if they are 'different' names for only one god, it still reveals that these names possess all the primary attributes and characteristics of the one original primeval Celestial Water and Sky god. These names contain the traditions and memories of this original god, the first god coming out of Chaos and the renovator of the present world system. The above discussions have shown this in the equations of Amen-Ra and Atum as Nu; in the sections of the day motif of "morning" , "mid-day" and "evening" and in the gods Khepera, Ra and Temu, and by the compound identification adoptions of Temu-Ra, Tem-Khepers, Ptah-Nu and Ptah-Temu, as well as with Khepera as a form of Nu. The expression "a form of" betrays the secret of the principles of multiple name changes, adoption, and the mystery of the hidden name of Amen-Ra.
A LIST OF MULTIPLE NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH CREATORSHIP MENTIONED IN THE TEXTS:
Amen-Ra-Atum
Atum-Nu
Ptah-Nu
Amen-Ra
Amen-Ra-Nu
Temu-Ra
Khepera-Nu
Ra-Khepera
Nebertcher-Khepera
Tem-Khepera
Amen-Ra-Temu
Ptah-Temu
CLAIMS FOR NU'S ATTRIBUTES, KINGSHIP AND ORDERS OF SUPERIORITY AND DESCENT:
NU KHEPERA RA TEMU
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Khepera-Nu Ra-Khepera Amen-Ra Amen-Ra-Temu
Atum-Nu Nebertcher-Khepera Temu-Ra Ptah-Temu
Ptah-Nu Temu-Khepera
Amen-Ra-Nu
ORDER OF CLAIMS AND OF KINGSHIP SUPERIORITY AND PROCESSION OF RULERSHIP:
1. Nu
2. Khepera and Atum
3. Temu, Nebertcher and Ra
4. Ptah and Ra
CORRESPONDING BIBLICAL IDENTIFICATIONS:
1. Nu-----------------Noah
2. Ra-----------------Shem
3. Khepera-----------Ham
4. Temu--------------Canaan
5. Ptah---------------Sidon
6. Atum--------------?
7. Nebertcher--------?
NEXT PAGE