"Myth-making Man" did not create the Gods in his own image. The primary
divinities of Egypt, such as Sut, Sebek, and Shu, three of the earliest,
were represented in the likeness of the Hippopotamus, the Crocodile, and
the Lion; whilst Hapi was imaged as an Ape, Anup as a Jackal, Ptah as a
Beetle, Taht as an Ibis, Seb as a Goose. So it was the Goddesses. They
are the likenesses of powers that were super-human, not human.... A huge
mistake has hitherto been made in assuming that the Myth-Makers began by
fashioning the Nature-Powers in their own human likeness. --from "Sign
Language and Mythology as Primitive Modes of Representation" It goes
unappreciated by modern Egyptologists, but it is embraced by those who
savor the concept of a "hidden history" of humanity, and those who
approach all human knowledge from the perspective of the esoteric.
Gerard Massey's massive Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World--first
published in 1907 and the crowning achievement of the self-taught
scholar--redefines the roots of Christianity via Egypt, proposing that
Egyptian mythology was the basis for Jewish and Christian beliefs. Here,
Cosimo proudly presents Book 1 of Ancient Egypt, in which Massey argues
that "primitive man" found no human agency in the phenomena of the
natural world, which led to a woeful misinterpretation of Egyptian
hieroglyphics by the Greeks and Romans as well as a misunderstanding of
the essence of Egyptian mythology. As a consequence, Massey contends, a
deep fount of wisdom of the ancients has been lost, and he goes on to
reveal how it can be rediscovered. Peculiar and profound, this work will
intrigue and delight readers of history, religion, and mythology.
British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry,
spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known
works are in the realm of Egyptology, including A Book of the Beginnings
and The Natural Genesis.
