John The Baptist and the Egyptian Anubis/Wepwawet

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nightshadetwine
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John The Baptist and the Egyptian Anubis/Wepwawet

Post by nightshadetwine »

After reading more about Anubis and Wepwawet I think it's possible that John The Baptist may have been based on these Egyptian gods either directly or indirectly through Judaism. What parts of the Jewish scriptures is John the Baptist based on besides the prophecy in Isaiah? There's either influencing going on or a lot of these religions are just telling very similar stories.

In Luke John's mother is related to Mary the mother of Jesus. Anubis' mother is the sister of Isis who is the mother of Horus.

Plutarch "Isis and Osiris":
For when Isis found out that Osiris loved her sister and had relations with her in mistaking her sister for herself, and when she saw a proof of it in the form of a garland of clover that he had left to Nephthys - she was looking for a baby, because Nephthys abandoned it at once after it had been born for fear of Seth; and when Isis found the baby helped by the dogs which with great difficulties lead her there, she raised him and he became her guard and ally by the name of Anubis.
John the Baptist baptizes and "prepares the way" according to Mathew. He also preaches the coming of the kingdom of heaven and judgement. John baptizes Jesus.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
’”

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Anubis was the god of mummification and Wepwawet was known as the the "opener of the way". Anubis and Wepwawet were very closely connected. Sometimes they were considered to be the same god and sometimes Wepwawet was said to be the son of Anubis. Mummification was a purification ritual which led to rebirth or resurrection. Egyptians identified with Osiris when they were mummified and Christians identified with Jesus when they were baptized. Anubis Mummified Osiris like John baptized Jesus.

Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt By John H. Taylor:
The first stage was the purification of the corpse by washing...According to Egyptian belief, water held important purifying and life giving qualities. Each dawn was a repetition of the original birth of the sun god from the watery chaos of Nun. Hence lustration came to be closely associated with rebirth...A ritual purification was necessary before the dead king could ascend to heaven...The 'hery seshta' was closely linked with the god Anubis, who had mummified Osiris, according to mythology. In the ritualized process of mummification the deceased was identified with Osiris.
Anubis and Wepwawet "opened the way" to Osiris and the judgement.

https://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/anubis.html:
In the Pyramid Texts of Unas, Anubis is associated with the Eye of Horus who acted as a guide to the dead and helped them find Osiris. In other myths Anubis and Wepwawet (Upuaut) led the deceased to the halls of Ma´at where they would be judged.
Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms edited by Miriam Lichtheim:
It also invokes his colleague the god Wep-waut ("Opener of the ways"), who played a prominent part in the annual procession and performance which enacted the life, death, and resurrection of Osiris.
www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/wepwawet.html:
By the Old Kingdom he was popular throughout Egypt, but as Osiris grew in popularity (absorbing both Khentyamentiu and Wepwawet) Anubis took on his funerary role. However, he did not entirely disappear...His name means "the opener of the ways (roads)". This is thought to refer to the paths through the underworld, but may also refer to the choices or paths taken in life as he also seems to have been linked to the power of the living pharaoh. In the "Book of the Dead" and the book of "That Which Is in the Underworld" (Amduat) he leads the deceased through the underworld and guards over them on their perilous journey, but he was also thought to act as a scout for the army, "opening a path" to allow them to proceed...He was generally depicted as a wolf or a man with the head of a wolf. Yet there is some debate as to whether he is in fact a wolf. Unlike Anubis, he is often depicted with a grey or white head, and the Greeks named Thirteenth nome of Upper Egypt Lycopolis (Wolf town) in his honour. Some scholars argue that he was a jackal and others that he was originally a wolf but was merged with Anubis, and so became seen as a jackal-headed god...He was closely associated with Anubis who was originally part of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, and came to be seen as his son.
So we have John who baptizes, "prepares the way", and "makes straight paths" for Jesus and judgement and we have Anubis and Wepwawet who mummifies, "opens the ways", and leads the paths for the deceased to Osiris and judgement. John the Baptist is born to a relative of Mary and Anubis is born to a relative of Isis.

When John baptizes Jesus god says
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
After the deceased(identified with Osiris) is mummified by Anubis(whoever did the mummification ritual was identified with Anubis) he or she enters the netherworld where the gods/god say:

From the "Pyramid Texts" by James P Allen Recitation 6:
Teti[the deceased] is my son whom I have desired, the firstborn on Geb’s throne: He has become content with him and has given him his inheritance before the Big Ennead. All the gods are in arousel, saying:"How happy is Teti that his father Geb is content with him.
Another interesting parallel is that John is portrayed as being kind of "wild", he's out in the wilderness living off locust and honey.

Matthew:
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea...His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
Anubis and Wepwawet were associated with wolves, dogs, and jackals who were known for living out in the wild and the outskirts of town.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubis:
Anubis was depicted in black, a color that symbolized both rebirth and the discoloration of the corpse after embalming. Anubis is associated with Wepwawet (also called Upuaut), another Egyptian god portrayed with a dog's head or in canine form, but with grey or white fur. Historians assume that the two figures were eventually combined...Since Predynastic Egypt, when the dead were buried in shallow graves, "jackals" had been strongly associated with cemeteries because they were scavengers which uncovered human bodies and ate their flesh.[17] In the spirit of "fighting like with like," a "jackal" was chosen to protect the dead, because "a common problem (and cause of concern) must have been the digging up of bodies, shortly after burial, by jackals and other wild dogs which lived on the margins of the cultivation."
So we have John the Baptist in the role of Anubis/Wepwawet and Jesus in the role of Horus/Osiris(who were closely linked, Horus was sometimes said to be Osiris reborn).

John the Baptist:
  • Born to a relative of Mary the mother of Jesus
  • Hangs out in the wilderness
  • Prepares the way and makes straight paths for Jesus and his judgement
  • Baptizes Jesus
Anubis/Wepwawet:
  • Born to a relative of Isis mother of Horus
  • Associated with wolves and jackals who lived on the margins of society
  • Opener of the way and leads through the paths for Osiris and his judgement
  • Mummifies Osiris
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