38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Egyptian Jesus Among the Hebrews, August 20, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs (Paperback)
As conspiracy theories go, this is a humdinger. Ellis draws together unlikely bits of flotsam and jetsam of bible and archeological history to develop a compelling tale of a very human motivation for the New Testament. As he would have us consider, Paul's divine Jesus is the puffed up remant of a the story of a very human but ambitious royal exile. As a descendant of Moses (forget David as revisionist history), Jesus was actually a Hyksos king and of the royal bloodline of Egypt. All the references to the Kingdom were actually him speaking of his shadow nation living in Palestine. And since he was Pharoah, he was God. No wonder he referred to himself as the Son of God as his father, also a Pharoah, was also God. No wonder the Romans let the Jews crucify him - he was a seditious rebel ! For those who like alternative views of accepted history, this is a good starter in a four book series by Ellis. Be prepared to wade through details as he tends to make his case by endless lists of facts. But he makes you want to know more.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Original thinking, March 12, 2006
This review is from: Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs (Paperback)
It is nice to see a book that does not simply trot out the same old arguments all pillaged from other books and other authors. If nothing else, readers will find that Ellis' work is highly original and deeply thought provoking. Yes, it is true that his arguments are not entirely proven, but it is also true that he has systematically taken apart the traditional interpretations placed upon the biblical texts.
The central thesis, that the Israelite leaders were actually the Hyksos pharaohs of Egypt, has a distinct ring of truth to it. I, for one, think Ellis is probably right here, but of course this small change changes every aspect of the biblical story.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It only takes one, March 21, 2011
This review is from: Jesus: Last of the Pharaohs (Paperback)
Could there be a more provocative premise? Ellis' book proposes that Jesus was one of a long line of Egyptian pharaohs. If you're going to read this, you have to decide in advance if you're going to give it a fair ear, or if you're going to dismiss the entire idea right from the outset.
I had an open mind, with no vested self-interest, for or against. I wanted to hear what he had to say. As I went along, I realized I was going to have to accept that not everything Ellis said was going to be set on solid ground. But that didn't have to invalidate everything. I came to realize that if he could convince me, beyond reasonable doubt, that even ONE of the biblical patriarchs was actually a pharaoh, then EVERYTHING else we've "learned" suddenly falls flat on its face.
Folks...his analysis of Abraham sold me. Sold! It was the most convincing of all the patriarchs, and one he addressed very early in the book. I was completely sold on Ellis' reasoning, and then he got to the coup de gras: the mambre tree. I almost fell over. He had already convinced me, and then he made that connection. From there on out, I had no choice but to at least give his ideas a fair shake.
Do I think he proved all his ideas? Not at all. Some theories didn't have enough evidence to completely prove anything. But if ONE patriarch can be reasonably be proven to be a pharaoh, doesn't everything else we know suddenly fall flat? And Abraham, the original patriarch for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity...was the most convincing of them all. From there, all bets are off.
This book changed my view of not only history, but present society. Suddenly the whole world looks like a different place to me. If you're open to a life-changing experience, read this book.
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