Massey, Gerald
Photograph of Gerald Massey dated 1856
Gerald Massey (29 May 1828 - 29 October 1907) was an English poet and self-styled Egyptologist. He was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England.
[edit] Biography
Massey's parents were poor. When little more than a child, he was made to work hard in a silk factory, which he afterward deserted for the equally laborious occupation of straw plaiting. These early years were rendered gloomy by much distress and deprivation, against which the young man strove with increasing spirit and virility, educating himself in his spare time, and gradually cultivating his innate taste for literary work.
"During the later years of his life, (from about 1870 onwards) Massey became interested increasingly in Egyptology and the similarities that exist between ancient Egyptian mythology and the Gospel stories. He studied the extensive Egyptian records housed in the British Museum, eventually teaching himself to decipher the hieroglyphics." [1]
[edit] Writing career
Massey's first public appearance as a writer was in connection with a journal called the Spirit of Freedom, of which he became editor, and he was only twenty-two when he published his first volume of poems, Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love (1850). These he followed in rapid succession with The Ballad of Babe Christabel (1854), War Waits (1855), Havelock's March (1860), and A Tale of Eternity (1869).
Many years afterward in 1889, Massey collected the best of the contents of these volumes, with additions, into a two-volume edition of his poems called My Lyrical Life. He also published works dealing with Spiritualism, the study of Shakespeare's sonnets (1872 and 1890), and theological speculation.
Massey's poetry has a certain rough and vigorous element of sincerity and strength which easily accounts for its popularity at the time of its production. He treated the theme of Sir Richard Grenville before Tennyson thought of using it, with much force and vitality. Indeed, Tennyson's own praise of Massey's work is still its best eulogy, for the Laureate found in him a poet of fine lyrical impulse, and of a rich half-Oriental imagination. The inspiration of his poetry is essentially British; he was a patriot to the core.
In regards to Egyptology, Massey first published The Book of the Beginnings, followed by The Natural Genesis. His most prolific work is Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World, published shortly before his death.[2] His work, which draws comparisons between the Judeo-Christian religion and the Egyptian religion, is not considered significant in the field of modern Egyptology and is not mentioned in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt or any other work of modern Egyptology.[3]
[edit] Claimed Parallels between Horus and Jesus
One of the more sensational aspects of Massey's writings were the parallels he drew between the Christian god Jesus of Nazareth and the Egyptian god Horus. These comparisons are primarily contained in his book The Natural Genesis. Massey's writings on this subject have influenced various later authors such as: Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Tom Harpur, and Acharya S.[4]
Some of the similarities that Massey claimed existed are that they both
- Were born of virgins on December 25
- Taught in a temple as a child at age 12
- Were teachers who had 12 Disciples
- Were baptized in a river
- Gave a sermon on the mount
- Healed the sick
- Raised men from the dead (El-Asar-Us for Horus, Lazarus for Jesus)
- Died by crucifixion
- Were resurrected three days later.[5]
[edit] See also
- Christ myth theory
- Jesus Christ in comparative mythology
- Godfrey Higgins
- John G. Jackson
- Alvin Boyd Kuhn
- Kersey Graves
[edit] References
- Gerald Massey Collection-Upper Norwood Joint Library
- Massey, Gerald. "Gerald Massey". Classic Encyclopedia World Wide Web edition, based on the 1911 encyclopædia.. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Gerald_Massey. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
- The Leading Religion Writer in Canada ... Does He Know What He's Talking About?
- Parallels between the Lives of Jesus and Horus, an Egyptian God
- Massey, Gerald. The Natural Genesis. Cosimo Classics, 2007.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Massey, Gerald |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
29 May 1828 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
29 October 1907 |
| Place of death |
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