Oahspe Study
The Exodus of the Hebrews, Moses and the Pharaohs Part 11
The End of the Osiris Cult
The Ezra bible version of the Exodus is not specific about the fate of Pharaoh, although it is clear about his horses, chariots and horsemen being drowned in the Red Sea. There is no Egyptian account of any Pharaoh perishing in the sea with his army. And according to Oahspe, Pharaoh certainly did not perish in the sea:
Oahspe, Book of the Arc of Bon; 27/20.16.
|| Of Pharaoh and his hosts who were not destroyed in the sea, be it said, they returned home to their places. And not long after that Pharaoh banished God (Osiris) from the earth, declaring himself the Savior of the World and Vice-Gerent of the Holy Ghost.||
This telling information in Oahspe reveals that the Pharaoh of the Exodus brought an end to the traditional practices of the Osiris religion. This change in religious orientation at the end of the Pyramidal age, establishes the historical context of Nu-ghan, the 'Exodus' Pharaoh. That historical context is the beginning of Egypt's New Kingdom and the Expulsion of the Hyksos by Ahmose I.
Ahmose I was the nexus of a significant change in Egyptian religion, when the Osiris cult, which had dominated the Egyptian religion for hundreds of years was abandoned and the cult of Amun began. Amun and then as the syncretized Amun-Re, was to dominate Egyptian religion for hundreds of years in the future. Since Amun and Re already existed within the Egyptian Pantheon, the syncretized Amun-Re was a reinterpretation and reorientation of existing deities.
By tracing the rise and decline of Osiris worship in Egyptian history over a period of 600 years prior to 1550 b.c.e., we find that Oahspe details of events in the lower heavens at the corresponding time are reflected in the changes in the religious orientation and power structures of earthly regions.
During 600 years prior to 1550 b.c.e., Osiris the false, after working to establish the false De'yus (Lord God) for more than 700 years before that, sets about establishing himself in those same regions. His efforts during that period are reflected in the status of Osiris in the Egyptian Pantheon, becoming prominent for hundreds of years. Then, following the loss of territory and dominion caused by the lower heaven rebellion of his allies and generals, and finally his bondage in hell at the close of the cycle of Cpenta-Armij, also comes the end of the Egyptian cult of Osiris.
||2181 BC - 2055 BC: Seventh - Eleventh Dynasties. Long periods of instability due to provincial rules warring for control. Political upheaval and decline in economics, famine prevails. There was a rise in the prominence of Osiris during this time...The Rulers who originated from Herakleopolis during the 9th Dynasty gained control and were in conflict with Theban Princes, later who gained either the diplomatic or military victory over the Herakleopolis Rulers. Mentuhotep II founded the 11th Dynasty creating order once again and prosperity was finally restored to Egypt, thus the Osirian Legend performed a remarkable trend of belief and following. The Royal Court was moved to Thebes during this time.
2055 BC - 1650 BC. The second great era of Egypt with the Golden Age of prosperity and achievement. Amenemhat I was founder of the 12th Dynasty and Itjtawy becomes the new Capital of Egypt. Karnak was established through Osiris and Amun [Aries] was pre-eminent in this era [Spring Equinox marked by Aries replacing Taurus]. Abydos was the most important pilgrim center of trade and political standing..........
1650 BC - 1550 BC. [The Second Intermediate Period which should be considered concurrent with the last 100 years of the Middle Kingdom] The Hyksos [probably powerful nomarchs who inherited their positions, forming minor dynastic lines] ruled and established themselves with a Capital in Avaris [and Tanis] in the Delta (Upper Egypt), while other Indigenous Rulers held other territories. Egypt began to decline again in central power. However the Hyksos did bring in a new era for Egypt as they brought in arts, and culture. This was the first era to see the chariot and advancement in military technology. The horse, lute and lyre came in the 16th Dynasty [chariots and horses were in Egypt before this, at least as early as the 12th dynasty and most likely much earlier].......... The 18th Dynasty was founded under Ahmose I.
1550 BC - 1070 BC.Theban God Amun was attributed to the new era of Egypt and prosperity after the expulsion of the Hyksos. Amun syncretises with Re and Amun-Re was now the Eminent Deity. You see much of Amun-Re in the Karnak Temple as well as that of Luxor and the surrounding great Temples built in the times circumscribing these three dynasties.|| Robert Schoch 2007. (retrieved 20 Sept, 07)
Eyptologists consider the 12th Dynasty to be the peak of a golden period of Egyptian Civilization, it is also when the Osiris cult was well established and integrated into Egyptian culture. The characteristics of the Osiris cult involved the Osirian system of dominion of the strong over the weak in a hierarchy which extended from Osiris himself to the Pharaoh and those under the Pharaoh. Osiris worshipers believed the building of temples and pyramids dedicated to Osiris and his accompanying deities, was the Pharaoh's responsibility and insurance of an afterlife. The growth of a wealthy nobility and middle class receiving the material benefits of a large slave workforce which had expanded over the previous 300 years because of the influx of Israelites from wars in the east, the promise of an afterlife came to be extended to any who would exhibit allegiance to Osiris.
Oahspe describes the Osirian order at the time of Moses:
Oahspe, Book of the Arc of Bon; 27/14.9-17.
|| Because the Israelites (Faithists) did not worship the Gods and Lords, but the Great Spirit only, and because they did not resent injury done by another, they had been limited to servitude by the Eguptian laws, which had stood for fifteen hundred years. These laws were called the Sun laws, after the manner of the division of the Osirian system, which was:
The sun is a central power; its accompanying planets are satellites. In like manner the king of Egupt was the Sun King, and his sub‑kings (governors) were satellites. Osiris, the highest angel in heaven, was the Sun God, that is, God of Gods; for all other Gods were his satellites. He revealed certain laws to mortals, and these were Sun laws; and all minor laws were satellites. A Sun law extended over all of Egupt, but a satellite law pertained to the minor affairs of a city or province; but it must conform to the Sun laws....
The sun is a central power; its accompanying planets are satellites. In like manner the king of Egupt was the Sun King, and his sub‑kings (governors) were satellites. Osiris, the highest angel in heaven, was the Sun God, that is, God of Gods; for all other Gods were his satellites. He revealed certain laws to mortals, and these were Sun laws; and all minor laws were satellites. A Sun law extended over all of Egupt, but a satellite law pertained to the minor affairs of a city or province; but it must conform to the Sun laws. For in those days, the spirits of darkness taught that the sun once whirled so fast it cast off its outer extreme, and so, made the earth, moon and stars; and this was the accepted philosophy of the learned Eguptians of that period. Because the worlds run in circles [orbits --Ed.], the circle was the highest measure, or sun measure; and the diameter of the circle was called, the ode, a Fonecean word, signifying short measure. And this name, ode, was applied to the Israelites in satire, as the Anglo‑Saxon word, odious, is used to this day. But the Israelites made sweet songs and called them odes also.
Among the Sun laws were the following, namely: The God of Gods (i.e., Osiris) decrees: Whoever does not bow down to me, shall not partake of me. Behold, mine is the sign of the circle! My enemies shall not receive great learning.
They shall not hold sun places (be employers), but be servants only, all their lives. And these signs shall reveal them:
If they do not worship me, but the Great Spirit;
If they deny that the Creator is in the image of a man;
If they circumcise; and will not serve as soldiers;
Then their possessions are forfeited already; nor shall they possess houses in their own names; nor send their children to the schools; for they shall be servants and the servants of servants forever. ||
Under the Eguptian laws, to worship the Great Spirit, Jehovih, was accounted a sufficient crime of idolatry, meaning the Israelites were not even admitted to the courts to be tried for an offense, but fell under the jurisdiction of the master for whom they labored, and his judgments were beyond appeal.||
And the proclamation of the New Pharaoh, Nu-ghan:
Oahspe, Book of the Arc of Bon, 27/17.2-7.
|| On Nu‑ghan's being crowned he at once issued the following decree: Behold me, I am Pharaoh, King of Egupt, and Ruler of the World. God has raised his voice in my dominions, saying: Hail, Sun King of the corporeal world: Behold, I gave you all the living that are on the face of the earth, and in the waters of the earth, to be yours, to keep forever. And I say to you, what is your own is your own, and you shall have dominion in your own way, for I made all that are alive on the earth to be yours forever!
Whether of beasts of the field, or fish in the waters, or man on the earth; all the living I created for you, and you shall possess them from everlasting to everlasting. And the life of the living I gave into your keeping; and I said to you: The house of Pharaoh I have created, and it is my house also.
And whoever rules on the throne of this land, the same is my son, and is the possessor while the breath of life is in him. But when he dies, and the throne falls to his successor, the rights and the powers and possessions of your kingdom shall not die nor be set to nothing. But the successor shall be my Pharaoh whom I raised up to my dominions; thus says the Lord.
Now, therefore, I, Pharaoh, who am king and possessor of all the world by commandment of God, and by his son (Osiris), who is dead and risen, being myself God of the earth, into whose hands are bequeathed all the living, am today, yesterday, and forever, the same everlasting king and Lord of all. And I decree to my people, who are mine by virtue of my authority from God, that only by my gracious indulgence has any man or people the right to put one foot before the other, on this my sacred earth.
And whoever goes here or there, except by the sign of the signet of my seal, shall surely be put to death.
And any multitude of my people, who are my servants, whom the God of Gods has given into my hands to do my works, to till my earth, or to build my houses, or dig ditches, or make bricks, or gather harvest, or make cloth, or attend flocks, and to do any works whatsoever, who may design to escape out of Egupt, to go to my enemies, the foreign kings, shall be deemed guilty to death. And if such people start forth, to quit my service, to go out of my holy land, then my loyal slaves shall fall upon them and slay them, right and left, sparing neither man, woman nor child. For thus commands the Lord God, whose son I am. ||
Osiris claimed to be both Tau and Sed (Taurus, the Bull and Aries, the Lamb / Ram) as detailed in Oahspe:
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Oahspe, Book of Saphah; 35/D.54.
|| Tau, a bull, a projector (Panic). Sign of a bull's head and horns. As the prophets interpreted so shall the king Tau (project). His edicts are Tau, bulls. Opposite from Sed (Aries, gentleness). Opposite from cow (receptivity).
Tau, i.e., Osiris, is often confounded with Aries, a God of the lower heavens*. Osiris, being interpreted, is: I am the Light, the Life and the Death. Out of myself I made all that live. The sun I placed in the firmament as a sign of my power. The stars, the moon, and things that do not speak and do not know, are the works of my hand. I am the Tau and the Sed (Taurus and Aries, bull and lamb), the power and wisdom over all and within all. Without me nothing is, nor was, nor ever shall be. (Aribania.)
The spirit of self‑assertion; tyranny; to enslave; to master others by force. Tow (Kii). The self‑assuring man, or spirit. Y'taw (Vede). Tau'baw, a bull, or Ti'taw, I am the T'taw. I am the master at the bridge Chinvat. Without my will none shall rise to Nirvania, my upper heavens. Through my goodwill only shall any man ascend. I am the Judge and Savior of men. On my forehead** rests the sun; the stars are my cattle. In worship of me the stars and the sun plead before me. The horses I have placed over the cows. The moon (Mas) cringes beneath my feet. I am war, I am Thaw, a bull. My bulls shall be the edicts of kings. I will destroy whoever does not worship me (Vede). Toe'phi, the All High Spirit, next to Om, wife of Eolin. Toe'phi is my Savior; he will redeem (Chine). Itaura, Itura (Algonquin). Toe (Ebra). Toe (Hebrew). Toe (Fonece). Wild, unreasonable. Destroyer of liberty.||
* Perhaps this is due to Osiris (the false) having appropriated the characteristics of Sed (Aries) as well as Tau;
** see image i054 Tablet of Tau-ghan-ghad|
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Tau-Ghan-Ghad |
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Bah-Ghan-Ghad |
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Oahspe, Book of Saphah; 35/D.50.
||Sed (Panic), the sign Aries, or, in English, letter T. The sign of wisdom; of gentleness. Sed, a lamb (Kii). A man's nose and eyebrows. The man who wins by love, gentleness. A'sed (Poit). Ahed (Fonece). Aheb (Ebra). Aheb (Hebrew). And Sed rose up on the third day after the creation of the world and stood above the sun. The Great Spirit, E‑O‑Ih, said: This is My Son. You can behold the corporeal sun at high noon, but My Son Sed stands above this. All who are gentle and good he draws to My kingdom, Nirvania. Do not do to another what you would not desire done to you, or you shall not behold My Son Sed, who stands at My right hand. The earth is mine, says Sed; by love I will redeem it. Ay'sed (Vede). A sheep with a woman's face; symbol of love. Gently, or gentleness. Let or Leat (Ebra), or as a lamb speaks. A'nah (Hebrew). Ba'ba (Chine). Hy'sed (Vede). Sed (Aribania). A name signifying gentleness and wisdom. Written sign of a lamb or of the nose and eyebrows of man. A symbol of stars and zodiac. Let this be the season to bring together male and female. They shall go to the altar and consult the voices of the stars through My prophets. Whoever has Sed in him returns good for evil (Chine).[But there also arose those with seemingly mild ways who sought to rule man by guile and appeal; but always harboring an iron fist inside a velvet glove.]||
The temples at Karnak which remain today are built on ancient temple sites dating back to the Old Kingdom. The temple of Amun (Aries), which was built at the start of the 12th Dynasty, indicates that the aspects of Tau (Taurus) and Sed (Aries) were personified within the cult of Osiris. During of the New Kingdom, Amun (Aries) was syncretized with Re as Amun-Re. In the New Kingdom Amun also underwent a transformation to a war god, when the so called Expulsion of the Hyksos was attributed to him. The new aspect of Amun-Re as war god now reflected the attributes of Taurus.
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The ruins of the great Temple of Amun at Karnak in Southern Egypt. Karnak is located north-east of ancient Thebes. The remains standing at Karnak today are largely the result of the explosion in building activity on the site following the establishment of the New Kingdom circa 1550 BCE. Amun, patron God of the Theban princes, became the beneficiary of the spoils of war.
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Karnak is designed with its predominant axis as east west. From 2000 to 1000 b.c.e. it would have aligned toward the mid-winter sun. Furthermore, in tracing the time when the first Amun temple at Karnak was built, it is found that if it were built according to the zodiac positions, then it would align with the time Aries replaced Taurus at sunrise, that is when "Aries is Supreme" (Amenemhat), and this is 1754 b.c.e. which is 237 years later than when Egyptologists believe it was built. This is also in accordance with the revised dates of the Middle Dynasty when the false period of the 2nd Intermediate period is accounted for.
|| The
evolution of Karnak is certainly reflected and connected to the change of
constellation marking the Spring Equinox. Before the rise of Amun in the 12th
dynasty, the god Monthu was the principal deity worshiped at Karnak. Monthu was
a war god, and a sky god, a bull connected to thunder. Monthu was the patron
God of the Kings of the 11th dynasty who bore his name, such as Monthuhotep. As
a bull god, it is important to note that Monthu was predominant at Thebes
during the age of Taurus, Taurus of course being the constellation identified
with the bull. The change in constellation marking the spring equinox
(precessional effect) occurs when Aries replaces Taurus. Aries associated with
the Ram, which just happens to be Amun's sacred manifestation.
So, as Taurus gives way to Aries, the Ram replaces the bull, the Monthuhoteps
are replaced, as Thebes and Egypt's rulers, by kings who follow Amun with his
sacred ram. The First King of the 12th dynasty was named Amenemhat, which means
"Amun is supreme". At this point in time, it is worth mentioning that
Amun absorbs much of Mouthus attributes, as he'd already done with the god Min
during the First Intermediate period. Amun's nature is now associated with sky
phenomena such as Min's thunderbolt, Min's meteors and Monthus's fertility and
bull associations.
Some scholars maintain that it is Amenemhat I who began building
"Ipet-Sut", others that was his successor Senwosret I, certainly the
first occurrence of the name "Ipet-Sut" is from the reign of
Senwosret I. On balance, I think it is quite likely that Amenemhat began the
works at "Ipet-Sut" and Senwosret added to the Temple considerably
more shrines. This scenario would fit well with the sequence of events
concerning the change from Taurus to Aries, the rise of Amun and his new patron
kings. The 12th dynasty came to power in 1991 BCE and closed around 1783 BCE
[REVISED DATE according to Oahspe Study: 1761 to 1553 BCE].
In 2150 BCE, Aries the ram coincided with the first stars of Taurus the bull,
displacing Taurus gradually as the equinoctial marker. By 1754 BCE, the bright
star Hamal in Aries was rising with the Sun on the vernal equinox at Karnak.
Certainly the early centuries of Aries as the spring equinox marker sits
remarkably well with Amun's rise in prestige. So, thus the rise of Amun is no
coincidence, but can be seen as result of the change of constellation marking
the vernal equinox.........
Karnak's
prominent main axis celebrates the union of divine and earthly power. This main
east-west axis was once thought by Lockyner to be orientated westerly towards
the setting Sun on the Midwinter solstice. The research of Gerald Hawkins suggested
that in fact, the orientation was eastwards and that this line in 2000 BCE-1000
BCE would have indicated the Midwinter sunrise. This dating of Hawkins fits in
well with the Middle Kingdom axis, which the New Kingdom axis certainly
follows. Although this means that Karnak's main axis is solar in that it is
concerned with the solar motion and the turning point of the year, the victory
of light over darkness, we can rest assured that other alignments are built
into Karnaks fabric.
The foundation ritual of the Temple bears this out, and strongly suggests that stellar alignments exist throughout Ipet-Sut.. These rituals involved the marking out of the temple boundaries, by the king or his high priests accompanied by spells, and the chanting of sacred prayers. We know that the ceremony was carried out at night under the stars, and the constellations of Ursa Major, Orion and the new Moon were used in the setting out procedures. We have noted that Karnak's lineage is perhaps most ancient, the high probability of an archaic shrine, and the tantalising remnants of the Old Kingdom temple. || (retrieved 3 March, 08)
The Osirian cult was also evident in Abydos, another ancient site from the time of the Old Kingdom:
Abydos: A Focus of Osiris Worship:
|| From Dynasty 12 onwards the annual Mystery Plays were enacted by priests at the cult center of Osiris at Abydos. In these were acted out the events in the life and death of Osiris, it was an occasion of great rejoicing, not only for the priests but also for pilgrims who used to travel from many miles around to participate. Some of the rites were held outside of the temple precinct while others, the most sacred ones, were enacted in the most secluded parts of the temple. At this point Abydos held a unique position as a center of pilgrimage. Many people arranged to be buried there, or to have their mummies transported there before being taken back to be entombed. It was also common to have a stele set up there. As it was believed that this was the burial place of Osiris, it was desirable to associate oneself with Abydos in some way, to ensure resurrection. But the exact location of the first cult place of Osiris is yet uncertain. Right behind the 19th Dynasty temple built by Sethi I at Abydos lies a large and unexplained building, which is called the 'Osireion'. This was thought to be the burial place of Osiris.|| (retrieved 24 Sept. 07)
With the loss of the Israelite slaves, and suffering the effects of multiple plagues prior to the Exodus of the Hebrews, the Egyptian economy of Ahmose 1 could no longer support the ostentations of the Osirian cult. The new cult of Amun would find wealth and glory in conquest and plunder of its neighbors and begin a new era of Warrior Kings of the New Kingdom. Part 12 traces the rise of the cult of Amun-Re, whose consort is Mut---the new Egyptian identities of Baal and Ashtaroth.
All Oahspe references are from the Standard Edition Oahspe of 2007
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Part 12 - The Rise of Amun-Re and Mut - Baal and Ashtaroth