Later this month, independent scholar Willem McLoud plans to hold a webinar to teach members of Ancient Origins that the Egyptian god Osiris was actually a Mesopotamian king. McLoud is going to base the claim on two papers he published over the past year, in which he argues for a new understanding of ancient history based on the self-aggrandizing “McLoud Chronological Model” of Egyptian history. Basically, he wants to rejigger the Middle Kingdom of Egypt to better fit with his preferred period of Mesopotamian history—questions of more import for Biblical history than anything else, really. But I was amused by the effort to make Osiris into a real human king and a Mesopotamian. That’s because McLoud is unintentionally (or maybe on purpose!) following Hellenistic, Late Antique, and medieval myths that tried to do mostly the same thing. Leon of Pella famously wrote that Osiris was a human king (Augustine, City of God 8.27), a claim that Diodorus Siculus picked up and ran with at excessive length. The notion that the gods were really human kings traces back to Euhemerus, but it found its greatest fluorescence under the early Christians, who wanted to discount the pagan gods.
Late Antique and medieval people didn’t remember much about Osiris beyond the name, but they transferred much of his civilizing hero story to Hermes Trismegistus, perhaps because Diodorus had already indicated that Hermes was the “most honored” by Osiris. It doesn’t matter much. In the eighth century, however, the Arabs and Persians had developed a new story out of these parts. They were located in the Arabian Peninsula and Persia, so they decided that Egyptian civilization was “really” from their neck of the woods. They began to claim that Hermes came out of Babylon and bequeathed civilization to Egypt (al-Nadīm, Kitāb al-Fihrist 7.1, quoting Abū Sahl al-Faḍl ibn Nawbakhtī, Kitāb al-Nahmuṭān). This, in turn, was a myth derived from a highly distorted memory, preserved from Late Antique Greek sources, of the time when the Assyrians conquered Egypt in the seventh century BCE. Here we are all this time later still listening to people use medieval ideas to explain myths that don’t need a rationalizing effort to turn them into (fake) history. That said, this is as good a point as any to mention my new book, The Legends of the Pyramids: Myths and Misconceptions about Ancient Egypt, which is in the process of moving toward publication. The cover design is done, and I am happy to share:
6 Comments
Murgatroyd
6/11/2020 09:42:46 am
Looking forward to reading "Legends of the Pyramids."
Reply
Joe Scales
6/11/2020 10:30:05 am
This title I can't complain about. Good luck with the publication.
Reply
Cliff Clavin
6/11/2020 11:54:18 am
Cue collective sigh of relief from those not wanting to suffer from reading through another long pointless argument.
Reply
Kent
6/11/2020 12:56:25 pm
A dying and reviving god coming from the cradle of agriculture doesn't befront me. Let's argue about whether Santa Claus comes from Norway or Ireland.
Reply
Very promising title! It would be interesting to know whether the book also touches upon Peter Kingsley, "Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic. Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition" 1995.
Reply
warwick nixon
6/28/2020 05:12:12 pm
was reading a poster's lament about you having had the temerity to offer an opinion on something to do with Osiris.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
Enter your email below to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my latest projects, blog posts, and activities, and subscribe to Culture & Curiosities, my Substack newsletter.
Categories
All
Terms & ConditionsPlease read all applicable terms and conditions before posting a comment on this blog. Posting a comment constitutes your agreement to abide by the terms and conditions linked herein.
Archives
February 2025
|