A Book of the Beginnings, Vol.1 [Hardcover]

Gerald Massey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

After enjoying years as a popular journalist and poet, intellectual and freethinker Gerald Massey turned his vast studies in the field of Egyptology into A Book of the Beginnings, a bold statement that the origin of all civilization lays in ancient Egypt. His assertions, radical at the time-indeed, almost a century before the discovery of three-million-year-old human remains in Africa-resonate loudly today, when molecular biology is making corresponding discoveries alongside the still-raging creation-versus-evolution controversy. In Volume I, Massey lays the foundation of the Egypt-centric position through a scholarly comparative analysis of language, names, and mythology-delving not only into our most basic actions of naming and communicating, but also man's beloved, universal myths of death, awakenings, and love. British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 516 pages
• Publisher: Cosimo Classics (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602060827
• ISBN-13: 978-1602060821
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,033,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Research, November 15, 2010

By 

Bertron Hill (Rottenschwil, CH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Book of the Beginnings, Vol.1 (Cosimo Classics: Metaphysics) (Paperback)

I read this book and found it quite interesting especially considering when it was composed. Many questions appeared as to why this form of research was not continued. But we know the answer to that question. :)

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Impenetrable Gobbledy Gook, October 18, 2010

By 

jab2067 "jab2067" (HIGHLAND PARK, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Book of the Beginnings, Vol.1 (Cosimo Classics: Metaphysics) (Paperback)

The Book of the Beginnings Vol. 1 purports to show how all civilization came out of Egypt (Most scholars now agree the first civilization was Sumer.) And the Egyptians were in England prior to Anglo Saxons and thus the language, customs and place names all come from ancient Egyptian. Massey uses Volume 1 to lay the ground work to prove the Christ never lived and was in fact the Egyptian God Horus.

Keep in mind the book was written in 1877 and the author's approach is that whatever he tells you is fact. In addition it is often difficult to know what the author is saying. It sometimes reads like stream of consciousness. Please see the below except from Volume 1 (the author is showing how English words had Egyptian roots):

"It is assumed that the words web, weave, woof, Greek '''', are derived from a Sanskrit root vabh, to spin, whence unavabhi, the spider. And, of course, the v does pass into u, and vabh, vap, and web meet in one meaning. But vabh and web may be and indeed have been derived on two distinct lines. The English web implies an earlier keb. Kab (Eg.) yields the principle of weaving with a shuttle. Kab, to turn, double, turn corner, return, and redouble. The ka are the weavers, those who kab. It is not necessary for our w to come from v. But v implies ph, f, and b, and vab has an equivalent bab. Bae (Eg.) is to turn, go round, circulate, revolve, a collar. The bobbin is still used in babbin or weaving. There is also â â (Eg.), to knit, and these accented a's (the arm sign º) denote earlier f's. Thus to knit was fafa, or faba, as in fabric, worn down to ia. Uab, to spin, is an intermediate for both fab and bab. Now, if we drop both k and b, we have ab (Eg.), to weave. Ab is also to net and tie; abt is linen, the woven. Bab is ab with the article p (b or f) prefixed, whence vabh. And at the origin we have both ka, the weavers, and ab, the weavers, that is, on the principle of word-building enforced by Grimm's Levites. Any number, however, of words in Sanskrit, considered to be roots, are but the worn down forms of words. Further, ka becomes sa (with the signs of the tie and the crocodile's [p.140] tail), and we have the name of sewing and the sewers, following the weavers from the same root-origin. The Egyptian bab signifies going and being round. Bab is a hole, a whirlpool, a whirlwind, a circle, to circle, revolving circularly, anything going in a round. Beads are known as bubu. In English a bob is round; the plum-bob, the shilling, or the baubee, are round. The Scotch bab is the round, as a loop in a garter. The bib is tucked round. The bap is a round cake. Babbart is a name of the hare that doubles round. A bobbin is round, and in machinery it revolves. The bobbin, faggot, is a round bundle of sticks. Bebled is covered all round. To bubble is to bladder round. Boby, a cheese, is made round. Bob is the name of a ball. Bob is a round in ringing bells. To bob the hair is to twist it round. Bubbies (i.e., boobs) are round. The pip is a round spot or seed; the pebble, a round stone. The pipe, a round tube or a cask; the pope's eye, a round of fat in the leg of mutton."