“Why was Jesus born in a semi-Arabian land & culture and why he had to deliver his sermons in a semi-Arabian tongue?”
By Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
Not necessarily having to be labelled Muslim, I was raised in a land/region with a Muslim Majority population, namely Egypt. Once again, not necessarily having to be branded as Christian, Egypt has one of the most ancient Christian communities whose members are called Copts and their ancient Church the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Although Christianity had practically first appeared in the East (the ancient Levant) in places like Palestine, Syria and of course Egypt. But the truth of the matter is that if we, right now, want to geographically categorize world religions we will have to concede to the following fact; the East is predominantly Muslim, the Far East Buddhist and Hindu while the West is predominantly Christian.
But I have a nagging problem with this geographical distribution, for Jesus Christ was said to have been born in Palestine (a genuine part of the East or what used to be called, and till this day, The Levant)
If God, the omniscient, had undoubtedly foreseen this geographical divide with all the conflict and intolerance that it would surely entail, why then didn’t he simply have his son born in ancient Greece, France or Rome for that matter? Why complicate things?
Once again, not necessarily having to be classified as atheist, why help politicize religion and turn spiritual affairs into drones carrying so called smart missiles?
After all it was the Roman Empire and church that controlled and canonized the literature of the then newly–fledged Christianity. Hence, Rome, as a birthplace for Jesus, would not only have been more convenient, but also would have saved the world many past and future religious wars/crusades. Not to mention the eagerly awaited mother of all battles, the so-called Armageddon.
Why did Jesus – as the story goes – have to be born in Palestine, a part of the Levant, or in other words the heart of the Ancient Near East? It is so enigmatic, for this is a land with an indigenous culture that runs contrary, if not hostile, to the western/Roman culture and more importantly its concept of Jesus. And do I mean by that that people of the Ancient Near East had another, oriental if you like, concept of Jesus? Yes I do.
In the eastern concept/story, Jesus is called Eas’sa the son of Mar’iam. It is a far older story than that of the Roman version of ‘Jesus”. In short it is one of Ancient Arabia’s religious cults and folk stories (topic of a future essay)
Some will argue that the biblical Lord might have had a sort of long run plan to turn the whole world into accepting Jesus as the Son of God and their savior, no matter where he was born. Even if Jesus’ birthplace was in the heart of a genuinely Eastern land that was indeed influenced by ancient Arabian culture and traditions.
Others will argue that when Jesus was born, Palestine was already part of the Roman Empire. Well, I’m quite familiar with this fact, but being occupied by the Romans doesn’t make the people of Palestine, with their genuine eastern culture/traditions more Roman than the British occupation made India (the land of Buddhism and Hinduism) British.
Let’s admit it, the story of Jesus took place on an Eastern land whose Eastern people spoke Aramaic (a mere dialect of the Arabic tongue).
But then, and after few decades the Bibles of the new Christian faith began to pop up not in Palestine, as one would have logically guessed, but the Bibles had appeared in the Western side of the Roman Empire.
And guess in what language? Not in Aramaic, the language Jesus was said to have spoken, but strangely enough in the tongue of the mother of all western languages; Greek.
The story of the nativity is re-enacted all over the western churches/schools around the time of Christmas with people/actors dressed up in ancient Arabian garments and head covers/pieces (The keffiyeh or kufiya – the symbolic head dress of Palestinians still worn till this very moment).
Westerners, with their Roman culture, keep repeating this Christmas re-enactment (ceremonial tradition) dressed in a completely foreign clothing that is undoubtedly Arabian. But the weird thing is that nobody in the Christian west wonders why Jesus had to be born in a semi-Arabian culture and deliver his sermons in a semi-Arabian tongue.
Did God’s plan lack a precise compass, or was Jesus, or better yet “Eas’sa” an Arabian Prophet whose story had somehow been Romanized and romanticized by the then western intellectuals with their Greco-Roman culture?
Some, and rightly so, will bring up the Jewish connection here. They will argue that since Christianity as a theological structure is mainly based on Judaism, Jesus had to be born in the midst of the land of Yehudia/Judaism. In other words, Palestine (according to the mainstream indoctrination).
But is that a correct/valid premise, to begin with? I mean is Palestine really the land of the ancient Israelites and their stories? Did David build his so-called Kingdom and Solomon his so-called temple over the soil of Palestine? Modern Archeologists and historians are in great doubt, if not outright denial, about this hypothesis. Archeologists can’t even validate that what modern-day Jews refer to as the Western Wall is indeed historically related to Herod’s Temple.
Moreover, they can’t even confirm that the foundation of the so-called first Temple lies underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque. Still the Israelis keep on digging under the Muslim Holy shrine, unabashed and undeterred, ever since they had militarily occupied Eastern Jerusalem back in 1967. Over 50 years of their frantic digging has practically yielded zero-evidence that Palestine was indeed the historical land of the Israelites and their stories.
If that what the status quo is, then we are back to the Jewish connection once again. But this time not only are we examining its relation to the geography of Palestine, but to Jesus himself, whom the Jews – quite frankly- till this very moment don’t see/ recognize him as their “Messiah”.
If archeologically and historically Palestine cannot be validated as the land of the Ancient Israelites and their first Temple, and the world Jews don’t accept Jesus as their Messiah, then why was Jesus said to have been born there?
If the Jewish first Temple was never built in Palestine, then what was Jesus, a supposedly physical embodiment of a Jewish prophecy, doing in the absolutely wrong place and temple? Why did God have his son born in the wrong place?
Maybe that explains why Paul, the man who invented (Roman) Christianity, turned his back on Palestine and Arabia and headed to the west and north. Paul did not proselytize in Arabia, which deep in its desert and valleys he had spent three awakening years. And no Arabia in this ancient context doesn’t by any means include the Sinai Peninsula (where Moses is allegedly said to have had his little chat with the God of the Israelites)
Having finished his mysterious sojourn in Arabia, Paul embarked on his mission of spreading the news about a new prophet, a Messiah with a (tailored) message that could very well suit the culture and political agenda of the ancient western world.
Paul, after “burying the dead” of his former theology, began preaching to westerners the story of the Arabian Eas’sa – but with a very, very clever Roman twist.
For more read Dr. Ashraf Ezzat’s book “Egypt Knew no Pharaohs nor Israelites“
For more articles and videos by Ashraf Ezzat visit his website
The author is an Egyptian, born in Cairo and based in Alexandria. Ashraf Ezzat joined the staff of Veterans Today in 2009.
Graduated from the faculty of Medicine at Alexandria University but keen not to be entirely consumed by the medical profession, Dr. Ezzat invests a lot of his time in research, documentary filmmaking, and writing. He is a regular guest lecturer at the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the national museum of Cairo.
History of the ancient Near East and specifically of Ancient Egypt has long been of special interest to him.
In his writings, Ashraf Ezzat approaches ancient history not as some tales from the remote times but as a contributing factor in our existing life; and to him, history is as relevant and vibrant as the current moment.
In his research and writings, Dr. Ezzat is always on a quest trying to find out why the ancient wisdom & spirituality had been obstructed and diminished whereas the Judeo-Christian teachings and faith took hold and prospered.
Dr. Ezzat has written extensively in Arabic tackling many issues and topics in the field of Egyptology and comparative religion.
He is the author of Egypt knew neither Pharaoh nor Moses, a kindle book published in 2015 and available on amazon.
He writes regularly at many well-known online websites such as Dissident Voice and What Really Happened.
Dr. Ezzat is also an independent documentary filmmaker. His debut film was back in 2011 The Annals of Egypt Revolution and in 2012 he made Tale of Osiris a short animation for children.
In 2013 his short film, The Pyramids: Egyptian Genesis
The following documentaries were screened at many international film festivals in Europe.
In 2020 the documentary film: SEA OF LOVE: Transforming Journey to Egypt (Documentary)
In 2021 Egyptian Mountain of the Dead (Documentary)
Dr. Ezzat is working now on his upcoming documentary “Egypt knew neither Pharaoh nor Moses”.
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Tourism was big business; lots of shrouds were out there. Wanna buy a relic?
Can’t say where Jesus was born; but he was created in Nicea about 325 AD.
Interesting question.
Jesus was an Essene, a type of Jew. His parents were Essenes. He was trained an educated by Essenes. They also supported him in wide-spread travel as part of his education before his public ministry. Yes, he was raised in a Jewish tradition but there were also Egyptian, Persian, and Hindu influences. Varying conceptions of God existed long before Christianity arose and Judaism before it. They did not arise in a vacuum.
Why the Middle East? Perhaps because it was the center of the geographic world at the time, a major crossroads, and had the potential for the greatest impact. Although we mainly hear about the apostles that went West spreading Christianity in to the Roman Empire, apostles also went East as far as India and possibly as far as China.
Subsequent Muslim and Mongol invasions probably erased much of the influence in the East. And there doesn’t appear to have been any major champions there, the equivalent of Emperor Constantine in the West.
What a load of bollocks. The shroud was painted by a man’s hand wielding a brush sometime during the Renaissance, 1500 years after the supposed life of christ. I’ve seen it in the flesh and it’s not even a particularly good painting.
The “church” has put forth , bread from the last supper, fingers of ‘saints” in glass tubes to show they are not decomposing, and all sorts of fraud and fakery. It is laughable to the point of embarrassment. It is endless, and predictable, that the church will continue to provide “objects” of divine production. All part of the theater.
You did not research back far enough Dr. Ezzat. Try going back before the Arabs invasion of Egypt to when Africans were the original people, then ask your question. Instead of putting an Arabian mask on what has already been whitewashed. I am afraid the white man has beaten you to this history also. But the originals pictures that lay in the British museum does not lie. Did we consult with the African universities that speak of quite a different history. No? I thought not. Only this “fake news” as Trump would call it! Nothing will be set straight until the white man and now the Arabs can give the true indigenous cultures their rightful place at the seat of history. Otherwise, we continue to perpetuate THE LIES.
John Henrik Clarke. He was a authentic historian.
Khalid, Truth is our army and to get there, and as You said Jihad inside Your own head, or as I said the approximately same thing, Jesus can save me, mainly from myself. Easy words to say, but hard and stony pathway to walk.
Khalid, as You know, at the times of lie and deception telling the Truth is the most revolutionary act. And adding to that turning around the tables of money counterfeiters the death penalty is inevitable. Today proves that 100% correct. The only way to avoid that is to change the side on Pharisees one.
What would be the effect on Christianity, Islam, and Judaism if they found out Abraham was not real, and is just an archetype used to explain observations in pursuit of theology ?
Jesus? You do know that his name was Yeshua, right?
oh for crying out loud.
The “priesthood” of nearly every culture, keep certain secrets. The reason for this, depends on the culture. In China for instance, having the secrets in the family secures the future, and like many other cultures the benevolent reason is to ensure the heritage and survival of the knowledge. The main reason, the core and substance of why we don’t hear from elders who carry secrets is universal (and there is global consensus on this ) is because if visitors obtain the knowledge, they will take it, change it, and make it so it belongs to them.
This is very heavily frowned upon and most elders would be expelled from their positions immediately.
The Bible is exactly a case of stolen information contained in story form, changed and made into a new history. The way we know this, is irrefutable and provable. Even scholars from Tel Aviv will say the OT is not their history and they have no idea where it came from. That is not the case everywhere, .. and the future brings a rude awakening for the thieves, because while they have the text, they cannot discuss the contents other than in falsely superfluous and meaningless ways. It is the living example of why secrets of profound meaning are not shared.
Mo, not secrets as in hush hush, but secret as in what is a cultures history and knowledge belongs to them, and they may or may not share the inner most knowledge. For instance, Deuteronomy 14 has the animals by name , in numerical order that perfectly matches a calendar that by today’s knowledge was and is only kept by Central America. Another is the law against selling the stone used to grind corn because it has a soul. These are tribally specific and and only found in one place. Another is Genesis 18 3 “visitors”, a feast, etc etc matches perfectly with I-Ching # 5 which would be the correct time for that chapter. These things are kept from the laity. Churches and cultures have no requirement to share their secrets, and Rome (this includes all of christianity) has a billion. My comments on this are not for students. That book is multi-cultural and it is easily proven. Follow how the Pope has given authority to Chinese gov. The Chinese would not publicly embarrass the pope, they might say, it will be our secret if you cooperate. These things are normal. If you knew the 36 decans and the 20 days, you would puke at what is put forth as history. Of that I am certain.
Khalid, the core of comparative theology cannot be understood without calendars and cycles. The visible changes though intangible to a degree can be proven by a variety of ways. Different cultures keep their observations to themselves, including Islam. When was the last time, the Tertons had a press release ? The men and women in positions of theological influence in their culture or homeland, have political considerations that prevent this for the most part anyway. That is my experience. I am not anti-religion, I am vehemently opposed to them interfering in civics and governance of the people in the US. The Kavanaugh hearing is a glaring example of why, or the wars in the ME. The pope took the Mayan Codices and renamed them the Borgia codex, and refuses to return them to the Maya, and was asked in person.
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