Sunday, July 2, 2017

Sun of Righteousness


5/18/16
“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.” Malachi 4:2 Bible
I came across this passage today and it caught my attention. I first noticed the capitalization of Sun of Righteousness. A friend who is an attorney brought to my awareness to pay attention when you see capitol letters in a sentence, they signify something and are not to be used lightly. So I took the passage to refer to a person, place, or thing. So I wondered who or what is the "Sun of Righteousness"it is worded in a way Egyptian titles have been translated, so who or what could this have been to them?

The healing in the wings was a dead giveaway for me that this title had an earlier history in Egypt and that would be the best place to find more meaning on its usage. So hear I go on my quest to find out what the ancient scribes may have really been talking about.

7/2/2017
Sun of Righteousness also can mean "Sun of Justice" or in Egypt "Ra-n-mat Ra", the sun, Maat the scales of justice.

Pyramidion for the Black Pyramid, Dashur, Egypt
Pyramid of Hawara, Black Pyramid, Imenemhat Qanefer,
Amenemhat is Mighty & Perfect

I found this image in "Master Plan of the Pyramid of Cheops: Meaning, shape and size better understood" By Hans-Joachim Trumpp (2014). It shows the image in hieroglyphs of the words Ra-n-Maat with the wings overtop and the solar disk. It also shows the symbol for son of Ra in context of "child of", not solar disk. But even this symbol includes the solar disk. This to me connects the term son we use to denote male child of with the sun disk itself. I wonder if this translation of the same symbol could have caused confusion among ancient scribes in interpreting the meaning of the sun disk symbol in reference to son of and sun (Ra).  

This was etched in stone for Amenemhet III. This image is of the Pyramidion, pyramid capstone, from the pyramid of Pharaoh Amenemhet III (1840-1795 BCE) at Dahshur, Egypt, Middle Kingdom (12th dynasty). So who exactly was Amenemhet III? He presided over the building of at least 2 pyramids, The Black Pyramid of Dashur and The Pyramid of Hawara in the Fayum, as well as what the Greeks called the legendary labyrinth. His father was Sesostris III. Amenemhat III's throne name, Nimaatre, means "Belonging to the Justice of Re."
Pharaoh Amenemhat III, From the Pantheon of Rome; Ludovisi Collection
Discovered in Rome

Portrait of Amenemhat III at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek of Copenhagen

Amenemhat III, Egyptian Museum in Cairo
The passage I referenced is from the Book of Malachi. It is the last book in the Old Testament, before the New Testament. Malachi or  מַלְאָכִי‎‎, Malʾaḫi, Mál'akhî, My Messenger. This book was written sometime around 515BC. Some websites speculate that Amenemhet IV is Moses of the Bible. Malachi 4:4 mentions Moses. This book is ancient and connected to the people of Kemet (Egypt). It may very well have been using a title of something or someone known among the ancients. The author may be have calling on the reader to recall the "Sun of Rightousness" and the "wings" associated with this historical teaching. The word used in Hebrew was "Kanaph". Kanaph has several meanings: wing, extremity (skirt, corner of a garment), winged, border, corner, feathered, and ends or to be hidden from view, cornered, thrust aside. Provided are the counts of the usage of this term in the Holy bible.

Numbers 15:38 states that they put upon the fringe of the borders(H3670, H3671) a ribband of blue. Tekhelet is a blue dye mentioned in the bible. 

Hezekiah's reign during the 8th century BC has winged solar disk on hebrew seals connected to the royal house of the Kingdom of Judah.

"Hezekiah's royal seals feature two downward-pointing wings and six rays emanating from the central sun disk, and some are flanked on either side with the Egyptian ankh ("key of life") symbol."  Deutsch, Robert (July–August 2002). "Lasting Impressions: New bullae reveal Egyptian-style emblems on Judah’s royal seals". Biblical Archaeology Review. 28 (4): 42–51. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
The tragedy of today is that The Black Pyramid is not sturdy and made of mudbrick. Water from the Nile has seeped into the walls and the entire pyramid is sinking into the ground and cracked. Since the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 there has been looting at this site. It is am important part of African history, biblical history, and world history.