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The theme of the newborn savior being signaled by a star and approached by three ―kings‖ or dignitaries<br />
has multiple mythological meanings, the prominent astrotheological one of which is summarized by<br />
Barbara G. Walker:<br />
Osiris‘s coming was announced by Three Wise Men: the three stars Mintaka, Anilam, and Alnitak<br />
in the belt of Orion, which point directly to Osiris‘s star in the east, Sirius (Sothis), significator of<br />
his birth. 59<br />
Star in the East: To understand the ―Star in the East,‖ one first needs to recognize the significance of the<br />
star Sirius or Sothis, as it is called in Greek. In the words of Dr. Allen:<br />
Sothis (spdt ―Sharp‖). The morning star, Sirius, seen by the Egyptians as a goddess. In Egypt the<br />
star disappears below the horizon once a year for a period of some seventy days; its<br />
reappearance in midsummer marked the beginning of the annual inundation and the Egyptian<br />
year. The star‘s rising was also seen as a harbinger of the sunrise and therefore associated with<br />
Horus in his solar aspect, occasionally specified as Horus in Sothis (hrw jmj spdt), Sothic Horus<br />
(hrw spdtj), or Sharp Horus (hrw spd). 60<br />
The importance to the Egyptians of Sirius/Sothis, as well as the constellation of Orion, is further explained<br />
by Welsh professor Dr. John Gwyn Griffiths:<br />
...Sothis was the harbinger of the annual inundation of the Nile through her appearance with the<br />
rising sun at the time when the inundation was due to begin. The bright star would therefore<br />
naturally become, together with the conjoined constellation of Orion, the sign and symbol of new<br />
vegetation which the Year then beginning would infallibly bring with it…. 61<br />
The above birth sequence with Sirius refers not to the winter solstice (as will be discussed later) but to the<br />
summer solstice, signaling the births of Osiris as the Nile inundation and of Horus the Elder, as well as<br />
the Child who is the daily newborn sun. In winter, the ―Three Kings‖ in the belt of Orion pointed to Sirius at<br />
night before the annual birth of the sun, which is also Horus, as the Child.<br />
Three Kings: Again, the ―Three Kings‖ are the stars in Orion‘s belt: ―Mintaka,‖ ―Anilam‖ and ―Alnitak.‖<br />
These stars, along with Sirius, are tied to the cycles of death and rebirth. In the ancient texts, Osiris is<br />
often identified with Orion and these stars. (Remember, Osiris and Horus overlap and can sometimes be<br />
considered one entity in certain contexts.) As Murdock states, "So interchangeable are Osiris and Horus<br />
that there is even a hybrid god Osiris-Horus or Asar-Heru." 62<br />
Hieroglyph for Osiris-Horus<br />
(Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, I, 87)<br />
In the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (PT 442:819c-822b/P38 63 ) it reads:<br />
―Look, he is come as Orion,‖ (they say). ―Look, Osiris is come as Orion...‖<br />
The sky shall conceive you with Orion, the morning-star shall give you birth with Orion. Live! Live,<br />
as the gods have commanded you live.<br />
With Orion in the eastern arm of the sky shall you go up, with Orion in the western arm of the sky<br />
shall you go down. Sothis, whose places are clean, is the third of you two: she is the one who will<br />
lead you... 64<br />
59 Walker, B., WEMS, 749.<br />
60 Allen, J., 441.<br />
61 Griffiths, OOHC, 157.<br />
62 Murdock, CIE, 56.<br />
63 This numbering method is after that devised by D.M. Murdock in Christ in Egypt. (See Murdock, CIE, p. 36,<br />
footnote 6.)