The ancient cultures had names for the Sun disc: Aten (Egyptian), Helios (Greek) and Sol (Roman), which differed from the names of the Solar deities, which were Ra, Apollo and Mithra. Recently there has been renewed discussion about the portrayal of Jesus as belonging to the lineage of Solar deities. I am from a Christian background and will not contribute to any endeavour to detract from the mission of Jesus Christ. I have observed the ways in which Christianity (the religion, not the Christ) borrowed from the Solar tradition (especially that of Mithra).

The latest controversy springs from a book about a Lost Gospel based on an ancient vellum manuscript called The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor, archived in the rare books section of the British Library in London. It was acquired in 1847 from a trader who claimed it came from the St. Macarius Monastery in Egypt. At least 1,450 years old, the chronicle is written in Syriac, a later form of Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke. The Lost Gospel is a chapter from that book, called the Story of Joseph and Aseneth. This story chronicles the union of the Biblical Joseph and Aseneth, daughter of the Egyptian priest of On (Heliopolis). [Ref Genesis 41:45] This form of typology, in which Old Testament personages are said to represent or foreshadow the emergence of New Testament figures, was commonly adopted by Gnostic writers. Aseneth and Joseph are described in language more appropriate to Mary Magdalene and Jesus, and engage in rituals that have nothing to do with biblical Judaism and far more to do with Christianity. The connection, if correct, connects them to the Sun and its deities.

The city of On (a Hebrew name) was also known by the Greek name of Heliopolis, ‘The City of the Sun.’ It was established by the Solar deity Ra, and was located 10 miles from modern Cairo. The Helipolitan community of Ra peaked during the Fifth Dynasty (2480–2340 BC) and continued well into the third century BC. The ‘High Priest of On’ held the title of ‘Greatest of Seers.’ When Joseph married into this family, he joined a social class befitting a national leader. (For more about this lost Gospel, see: See article: http://www.timesofisrael.com/lost-gospel-depicts-a-married-political-activist-rabbi-jesus/)

The assumption that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were foreshadowed by Joseph and Aseneth not only connects them to the City of the Sun, but also to all the various Solar images (see a couple below) relating to this ancient couple. After the Pharaoh appointed Joseph as Vizier, the second most powerful man in Egypt, Joseph and Aseneth came to be seen as representatives of Helios and Artemis (Sun and Moon). Another theory suggests that Joseph is the historical character Amenhotep-Huy, Vizier of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, father of the monotheistic Pharaoh Akhenaten. (See:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_%28patriarch%29)