17. The comparison of Jesus and Horus
In recent years, largely through the use of the Internet and innumerable blogs and other sites, a group which claims that the story of Jesus of Nazareth as told in the Bible and other ancient texts not considered to be part of the biblical canon is a rewriting of the story of Horus. Horus was a god of prehistoric Egypt whose cult of worshipers existed at least into the days of the Roman occupation. Most often he was described as the son of Isis and Osiris, born of a virgin, and began his ministry around the age of thirty. He is said to have travelled with 12 disciples, performed many of the same miracles as did Jesus at a later date, delivered a recitation of his philosophy on a mount, was executed between two thieves, and rose from the dead after three days. The consensus among the believers in the Horus myth, at least the modern recreation of it, is that all of the actions and teachings of Jesus were mere retellings of the life and events of Horus.
The problem with the Horus/Jesus comparison is that there isn’t any truth in it, and that the so-called comparison is an internet myth. While many of the miracles attributed to Jesus do have similar examples from other cultures, there are few which compare directly to Horus. Egyptian beliefs did not ascribe a virgin birth to Horus, nor a baptism at 30 (or any other age), and his known disciples never numbered twelve. Horus did perform miracles, as would be expected of any self-respecting god of his era. But miracle workers, as seen already, were commonplace according to the oral and written accounts of life in the ancient world. And the majority of the Egyptian legends regarding Horus recount that he did not die between thieves. He didn’t die at all, instead becoming merged, as it were, with the sun god Ra, allowing him to be reborn each day at sunrise.
