True History

Christianity could never have evolved had its founder not been a real person. All the stories of Christian persecutions are not fabrications but the early Christians could never have fearlessly sacrificed their lives without the memory of a real saviour. Bruno Bauer, BertrandRussell and others have branded Jesusasmythical, but apart from Pilate there is nothing in the gospels that firmly binds JesustoGalilee or 0 AD. St. Paul was a great figure whose letters clearly establish his historicity but the Stoic statement of the Encyclopedia Britannica; ‘There are no reliable sources for Paul’s life outside the New Testament’, only exposes the poverty of mainstream history. For Jesus all we have is memory, writes Bert Ehrman but this rests on a search that omits his name ‘Amen‘. J. D. Crossan captured headlines by stating that the title ‘Son of God’ was used by Augustus before Jesus, and almost put Jesus in the dock but is unaware that Augustus the fake ‘son of god’ was an elder contemporary of Jesus whotried to wipe out Christianity. Erich S. Gruen describes Augustus as an epitome of Justice in the Cambridge Ancient History which is untrue. Echoing Gibbon Nietzsche likened Christianity to a ‘vampire that sucked the blood out of the Roman Empire’ but this is senseless. Sir Ronald Syme, on the other hand, saw through Augustus’ chicanery. H. Galsterer writes in the Cambridge Ancient History that the period between Cicero and Tacitus is “one of the best known in ancient history”, but ironically this is the epoch (0–33 AD?) of Jesuswhose life history is far from being ‘best known’. The stage was set by A. Schweitzer’s empty remark; ‘Jesus can never be known by means of historical research, but his words can inspire people in any age’. 

‘Amen‘ Was The Older Name of Jesus

            Judaism has many facets and the Diaspora Jews far outnumbered the Jews of Palestine. Many of them were in Asia Minor who acknowledged the primacy of Jerusalem. The main gospels are in Greek which was the language of Galatia, not Galilee. Although G. Vermes and others heedlessly stick to Galilee it is plain that Jesus was a Jew of the Diaspora but was active in Galilee. The fact that all the Apostles and Evangelists also appear to be unhistorical, is only due to poor history writing. The Book of Revelation gives the crucial data that ‘Amen’ was a name of Jesus. (Rev. iii.14). This name belongs to the 1st century BC, not 1st century CE. It links Jesus to Amyntas of Galatia , a holy ‘son of god’ and a lamb king at whose centers Paul went to preach. S. Mitchell calls him the greatest local hero of Asia Minor of the 1st century BC. Amyntas of Galatia matches the timeline of Jesus ben Fabus and appears to be the same person. ‘Amen’ seems to have been the older name of Jesus, yet his history is based on searches that rely only on the names Jesus and Christ . B. Ehrman states that there is only memory, no relics, for Jesus and surprisingly this bitter pill is swallowed by all without any circumspection. M. Grant expresses doubts about Jesus’ birthplace Nazareth. At an early stage Jesus ben Fabus was overtaken by a ‘Nazarene Jesus’ who is supposed to have been born about 0CE but who has no archaeological trace.

To be published in February 2019

Amyntas of Galatia Was the True Jesus

           Strabo wrote that Amyntas adored the god Mēnwhose temple at Anioch in Pisidia was his main center and this leads to the face of the Historical Jesus. Jesus’ tomb has been sought at at the Church of the Holy Sepulture in Jerusalem but this is not certain. Jesus taught at Jerusalem and may have been a learned person who knew Greek and Latin. He operated in Judea and Galilee and probably also in Egypt, Asia Minor and India where his relics should be sought. Christianity was influenced by Hellenistic religion but Hellenistic Judaism was more popular among the Diaspora Jews. Mary J. Chaignot wonders why Paul went to Antioch in Pisidia but curiously all the centerswhere Paul preached i.e Antioch-in-Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe etc. were linked to an unknown Amen(tas) of Galatia, a namesake of Jesus. Stephen Mitchell calls him the greatest hero of Asia Minor but the Encyclopedia Britannica does not know him. Paul seems to have followed the footprints of this great hero Amyntas.

            Fortunately, in the ruins of the Pisidian Antioch one comes across a stele that appears to depict Amyntas of Galatia, holding a garland that leads to a bull’s headthat was the symbol of Mēn. The cornstalk on the shoulder alludes to Attis. The grapes also have great religious significance. Amyntas who was a ‘son of god‘ appears to be a missing link in the history of Christianity. Judaism has many facets and the Diaspora Jews far outnumbered the Jews of Palestine and many of them were in Asia Minor who accepted the primacy of Jerusalem. The maingospels are in Greekwhich was thelanguage of Galatia, not Galilee. It is likely that Jesus was aJew of the Diaspora who was active in Galilee.

         Strabo writes that the temple of Mēn at the Pisidian Anioch was destroyed by Augustus, who was mad about his title son of god. This must be related to the fact that Amyntas was not only a namesake of Jesus but was also a ‘son of god’.J. D. Crossan captured headlines by stating that the title ‘Son of God’ was used by Augustus before Jesus, and almost put Jesus in the dock but Amyntas was a ‘son of god’ who was elimiated by Augustus.Sir Ronald Syme saw through Augustus’ chicanery. 
 

Jesus ben Fabus, the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple (30 – 24 BC)

 Jesus ben Fabus, the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple during 30-24 BC, appears to be a ghost from the past due to Roman censorship and the deceptions of Josephus. The year 30 BC in which he was appointed was also the year in which John Hyrcanus II is said to have been killed. It is likely that this is linked to Herod’s meeting with Octavian the ‘son of god’ at Rhodes in 30 BC. Who made Jesus ben Fabus the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple? Even if it was suggested by John Hyrcanus II it must have been approved by Herod who is a man of many contradictions. It is extremely important to note that Jesus ben Fabus was deposed in 24 BC which coincides with the fall of Amyntas of Galatia. Was the name of Jesus been Fabus intentionally changed from Amen ben Bagus by Josephus? Amyntas was the son of B(r)ogitarus and Adobogiona and thus can be called Amen ben Bagus or Jesus ben Bagus. Boga was a name of god. Bogitarus was slandered by Cicero but he was a protege of Clodius Pulcher, a mortal enemy of Cicero. Clodius Pulcher sympathized with the lot of slaves and the poor but Cicero denied the rights of the slaves.      

A Beautiful Unknown Stele from Doliche near Antioch

             Another great bastion of gentile Christianity was Antioch in Syria. It was the seat of the Roman governor and has a rich history. In 25 BC when Amyntas of Galatia fell, the Roman pro-consul of Syria was Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus who was a great figure of Roman society. Sir Ronald Syme writes that Messalla and Pollio were the shinning glories of their age. Messalla may have been the Mark of the Gospels whom Bruno Bauer saw as a Roman. Herod the great created history by entertaining great figures such as Mark Antony, Augustus and Marcus Agrippa at Antioch. It was at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch that Messalla had defended Herod. It was at Antioch that Antony had married Cleopatra. Herod also lavishly entertained Marcus Agrippa at

A beautiful stele from Doliche linked to Attis

Antioch. Messala and Pollio fell victims to the Romans. Another prey was Amyntas of Galatia who was greatly adored by the people. A beautiful unidentified stele found at Doliche, about 120 km north east of Antioch appears to be a depiction of Amyntas whose history was censored by the Romans. The herbs and the serpent may be related to healing. The six-pointed star may stand for a Jew. The cornstalks may stand for Attis. The crescent and star were the symbols of Amyntas’ grandfather Deiotarus. The lotus appears to be almost Indian.

Amyntas, Jesus ben Fabus and the Jesus-John Duo of 30 BC

       As E. P. Sanders notes, the Gospels are pericopes which are not arranged in a chronological order.He writes;

“It is best to think that the story of Antipas, Herodias and the execution of John is a ‘flashback’, out of its historical sequence. The story of John’s execution, in fact, is quite obviously a flashback. Josephus refers to it after the event that it is said to have caused. … Consequently, we do not know when Antipas met Herodias, when his former wife fled to her father, and when John was executed.”

This suggests that John Hyrcanus II may have been John the Baptist. Jesus owed his eminence to John the Baptist who is widely recognized as a teacher of righteousness but is not known outside the gospels. R. Eisenman holds that Jesus’ brother James was the ‘Teacher of Righteousness’ and loses track of both Jesus and Paul. Paul calls greets Herodion which seems to be an allusion to Herod the great. Matthew asserts that Jesus was born ‘in the days of Herod the king’. E. P. Sanders warns ; “Even if we accept the general view that Jesus was born late in Herod’s lifetime, we still do not know the precise year.” It is pointless to hold that all the Gospel citations to Herod (~45) pertain to Antipas, who is named only once. If Amyntas was a younger contemporary of Herod the great and Jesus’ history becomes totally different if the citations are taken to refer to to him, not Antipas. If the doubtful association of Pontius Pilate in the life history of Jesus is rejected then his birth can be placed within

Bronze Prutah of Hyrcanus II who may be the same as John the Baptist 

Herod’s lifetime (73BC-4BC). G. Doudna has also asserted that the ‘Teacher of Righteousness’ of the Dead Sea Scrolls was John Hyrcanus II. John the Baptist was a great teacher who is widely thought to have been linked to the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Thus John Hyrcanus II now seems to be the same as John the Baptist. The Gospel duo of Jesus and John now appears to be a flashback of the duo of Jesus ben Fabus and John Hyrcanus II. Matthew’s data that Jesus and Mary had gone to Egypt appears to be a fact of history.

St. Paul Was the Great Asinius Pollio

         The problem of the historicity of Jesus cannot be solved without unraveling the identity of of St. Paul who is second only to Jesus in Christianity. He was a multifaceted genius who can be matched by just one other historical figure, namely, Asinius Pollio. Ronald Syme was unaware of the pitfalls of false chronology but described Asinius Pollio as the ‘shinning glory’ of the age. Christopher Pelling writes with insight (“Cambridge Ancient History”, v.X ),

“At the beginning, there was a case for a quinquevirate, for Plancus and Pollio had played no less crucial a role than Lepidus in the maneuv(e)rings of mid -43. But Lepidus was included, Plancus and Pollio were not; and Lepidus owed that less to his army than to his clan and connexions. In 43 these seemed to matter; a few years later they were irrelevant, and so was he. Money too was a new, incalculable factor. In 44-43 the promises made to troops reached new heights; and there was certainly money around – money of Caesar himself; money from the dead dictator’s friends, men like Balbus and Matius;

Asinus Pollio was the great Paul and Matius cannot but remind one of St. Mathew, who was a tax collector and a very rich man. Paul greets Herodion and Asinius Pollio was once a close friend of Herod. Crossan rightly paints Paul as a dedicated successor of Jesus who promoted Jesus’ vision of a Kingdom of God on earth against the concept of world peace under Roman hegemony but fails to imagine that Jesus Amen could have been a king of India. Asinius Pollio was inspired by the Hellenistic and Buddhistic ideal of the Brotherhood of Man and the same is true of Paul who disapproved of the priests as mediators between God and humans.

Iśa Amen of Iśauria

          Paul first went to preach in Galatia and the first Christian Council was also held in this area.This is strongly hints that Amyntas of Galatiawas the true Jesus. His palace at Iśauria reveals his name Iśa. Jesus the holy messiah must have beenlinked to a holy shrine but this was not the Jerusalem temple. Another holy center was Ephesus but Amyntas was the son of Adobogiona, the chief priestess of the Pessinus temple (Piscis = fish, Jesus’ early symbol), which was the holiest in the Roman world. The Historical Jesus may have been known as Amen in his day but about early 1st century AD, he was overtaken by a ‘Nazarene Jesus’ due to Pontius Pilate who is an impostor in Jesus’ life history.

Jesus Christ At the Crossroads of History

Zeus Temple at Olba in Iśauria which may have been visited by the Jesus of History

       Jesus may have been born in Iśauria/Bithynia near holy Pessinus and Nicaea, not in a Galilean backyard. Just as Buddhism spread through the Silk-road, Christianity’s rapid rise was also due to its origin near the famous Susa-Sardis Royal Road, which ran from Persia to the shores of the Mediterranean. There are many gospel references that apparently echo Galilean city-names but names often hallucinate. Archaeologists have not found any relic of Jesus in Judea or Galilee due to the ignorance of Jesus name Amen and wrong chronology. Significantly, Asia Minor was called ‘das Christliche Land’ by the great A. von Harnack. As Amyntas’ ‘death’ (or crucifixion) took place in 26/25 B.C. this entails that the commonly accepted birth-date of Jesus, i.e. 0 AD, is false.

Jesus The Messenger of Love and Amity and Jesus the Healer

        Due to the geographical and chronological misconceptions Amyntas is ignored in the literature. B. M. Levick has a fleeting glimpse of Amyntas the martyr and writes in the Cambridge Ancient Historythat he “had lost his life carrying out the duties of his position” but misses the true Jesus. The Encyclopedia Britannica also does not know him. But A. R. Meadows writes with rare insight;

“Amyntas’ coinage is extraordinary, indeed I think unique in the world of Hellenistic rulers.”

    Amyntas’ coins reveal a great stress on the Caduceus symbol (both obverse and reverse) which stands for Jesus the messenger of Love. It was a symbol of Hermes and is associated with peace and amity.

Bust of Hermes and Caduceus on a coin of Amyntas

          It is very likely that the Caduceus also symbolizes Jesus the healer. There are many references in the gospels of Jesus being a great healer (Mark 1:2-28). This is usually looked down upon as exaggeration as there are some miraculous episodes. A. N. Wilson’s portrayal of Jesus as a Galilean holy man, surrounded by miracle workers and exorcists who taught in the tradition of the Hasidim fits the Galilean scenario but is a travesty of the facts. Jesus’ fame as a great healer is a Mithradatic trait; Mithradates-VI Eupator, an ancestor of Amyntas, was the greatest medical scientist of his age whose expertise must have passed on to Jesus Amyntas. Justin Martyr of Nabulus who became a Christian in 132 AD at Ephesus denied that theAsclepius myth was a source for Jesus the healer but this skirts the truth as Pergamon was a centre of both Asclepius and Mithradates VI Eupator. A similar symbol was the Asclepius staff with a coiled snake, which was a symbol for medicine. The Caduceus is not only the emblem of the U.S. Army Medical Corps it is also used by the civilian medical institutions. The Encyclopedia Britannica denies its link with medicine and relates it to the magic wand of Hermes but this is a hasty interpretation that ignores the reality in Asia Minor. But that the Encyclopedia Britannica is wrong can also be seen from that in Homer’s OdysseyHermes informs Odysseus that his companions have been turned into animals by the magical powers of Circe and advises him to protect himself by chewing a magical herb. Amyntas also depicted Artemis but this may have been the Asiatic Artemis of Ephesus who was mainly a nourisher goddess like Cybele of Pessinus.

The Caduceus symbol.  Courtesy Encyclopedia Britannica

     Herodotus associated Hermes with the Egyptian city of Hermopolis. Plutarch and Diodorus also stressed Hermes’ links with Egypt. According to the Alexandrian sources (c.150 BC), Hermes was the teacher of all secret wisdom and the source of religious and esoteric knowledge and ecstasy.  Like Minand Shiva, Hermes was also depicted as ithyphallic.

       The Caduceus symbol was also used earlier by Julius Caesar whose wife Cleopatra (and Mark Antony) has been slandered by Roman writers and Shakespeare. Arab accounts indicate that she wrote texts on medicine and was famous as a healer. That Mark Antony used the same symbol may also have been due to Cleopatra. Augustus’ use of the symbol was an instance of fraudulent impersonation of Amyntas. D. Salzmann remarks that the representation of the god Mēn in Antioch in Pisidia definitely bespeaks deliberate Augustan propaganda. Claudius also copied the Caduceus symbol from Augustus’ coins.

A Precious Christian Relic in The Baltimore Museum

        The great respect for Adobogiona in antiquity is indicated by a colossal marble head from Dorylaeum dated to the period of Tiberius. D. M. Robinson  assigns the bust (0.565 m) to Adobogiona, queen mother of Deiotarus Philadelphus who ruled Paphlagonia (36-31 B.C.),

A marble-head of the holy Mother of Jesus Amen.   Courtesy Prof. T. Banchich

but as Dorylaeum was very near Pessinus (~ 100 km), it probably depicts Amyntas’ mother Adobogiona. Finds from Pergamon also reveal the adoration for Adobogiona and Brogitarus before the birth of Christianity. T. Derks and N. Roymans write ;

The bust of Adobogiona, the daughter of Deiotaros I and wife of Brogitarus, belonging to her honorific statue in Pergamon, which must be dated between 63 and 58 B.C., shows an individual and consciously non-Greek portrait in contrast to the Greek costume and headdress…

Jesus, son of Adobogiona, was a legitimate ‘son of god‘, but this was the root cause of his clash with Augustus, another ‘son of god’ and led to his fall. That Augustus gave an order to melt silver statues (including those of himself) was to liquidate the statuettes of Adobogiona.

Christianity, Platonism and A Prayer Jesus May Have Whispered

        The association of Christianity with Platonism is well known. Bertrand Russell writes, ‘what appears as Platonism is, when analysed, found to be in essence Pythagoreanism’.

                 Pythagorean mystics celebrating sunrise by Fyodor Bronnikov

      The bust of Hermes on the coins of Jesus Amyntas is of great significance. R. Valantasis writes in the book “Prayer from Alexander to Constantine” that the Hermetic prayers formed a part of a cultic liturgy comprising a prayer, a ritual embrace and a sacred bloodless meal. A  Hermetic prayer found at Nag Hammadi about sixty years ago which is dated to the second century AD, runs as follows:

We give You thanks!
Every soul and heart is stretched out to you.
O name which cannot be troubled, honoured by the name ‘God’ and praised by the name ‘Father’.
Your fatherly good-will, affection and love (extends) to everyone and to everything.
And any teaching there may be that is sweet and plain bestows upon us mind, discourse, (and) perception. 
Mind (is bestowed) so that we may understand You;
discourse, so that we may interpret You;
perception, so that we may know You. 
We rejoice since we have received light from Your knowledge.
We rejoice since You have shown us yourself. 
We rejoice because while we were in (the) body, You have made us gods through Your knowledge.
The thanksgiving of the one who reaches to You is one thing: that we know You.
We have known You, O noetic light.
O life of life, we have known You.
O womb of every sowing, we have known You.
O womb pregnant with the form of the Father, we have known You.
O eternal continuance of the Father who begets, we have greeted Your goodness.
There is one wish that we ask: we wish to be preserved in knowledge.
And there is one protection that we wish: that we do not slip in this kind of life.

The clear Christian traits in the prayer need no elaboration. Strabo wrote that Amyntas was a follower of the god Mēn. Information about Mēn is available from an ancient inscription found at Smyrna (ISmyrna 753) near Ephesus which had a large Jewish population. Mēn was often associated with a cultic trapeza or table which cannot but remind one of the Last Supper. The Eucharist also reminds one of Attis of Pessinus who was associated with a sacramental meal of bread and wine.

        L. L. Thompson writes that the god Mēn was linked to Pythag-oreanism. Pythagoras himself was from Samos which was about 50 miles from Smyrna. The Church of Smyrna is one of the seven early churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. It is said to have been founded by St. Paul who preached there but this is denied by the history of Amyntas. The early Churches at Lystra, Derbe etc. were all centers of Amyntas and the same has to be the true of Smyrna, which was called a Greek city. Platonism is a far cry from the tradition of Galilee.

St. Peter and the Trail of Jesus From Rome To Pessinus

       Although mainstream writers routinely chant stale old formulae, F. Carotta, has brilliantly taken Christian history closer to Rome. This frees Jesus from the dank Galilean setting which is akin to Nepal which is said to beGotama’s birthplace, but where his relics have not been found. But the Gospels did not grow from the Julius Caesar myth as Carotta states. Curiously, aRomanmonument,theSt. Peter’s Basilica, has a scent of history. St. Paul also appears to be a Roman. Who really was Peter and why was he in Rome, of all places? Was he a fisherman or fish-trader? The Encyclopedia Britannica states;

“The problems surrounding the residence, martyrdom, and burial of Peter are among the most complicated of all those encountered in the study of the New Testament and the early church.”

      In the new scenario St. Peter turns outto be Publius Petronius whose house in Rome is mentioned by Tacitus as a famous social hub. This may be the true background of the famous St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.The famous Roman Code of Law promulgated by Publius Petronius, the Lex Petronia, prevented a master from sending his slave to the beasts in the amphitheater without authorization. Though the Wikipedia dates it to 61 AD, this is certainly false. A better guess is late 1st century B.C. (Dict. of Greek and Roman Aniquities ed. W. Smith) and this makes Publius Petronius a contemporary of Amyntas. Was he the same as PubliusPetroniusTurpilianus, the moneyer of Agustus? Some sources refer to a Petronius who was a governor of Bithynia, the land of Amyntas.

      A famous mural of Sol Invictus at St. Peter’s Basilica which is widely seen as a representation ofJesus Christ reveals the link of Jesus with Amyntas and Pessinus. This corresponds to a silver disk

A silver disk of Sol (3rd Cent. AD) from Pessinus and Jesus in the St. Peter’s Basilica 

from Pessinus dating from third century AD which also depicts Sol Invictus with a similar two-horse chariot. Sol Invictus corresponds to the Greek Helios and the Indo-Iranian Mithra/Mitra, the god of light. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states;

Besides, the Sol Invictus had been adopted by the Christians in a Christian sense, as demonstrated in the Christ as Apollo-Helios in a mausoleum (c. 250) discovered beneath St. Peter’s in the Vatican.” Indeed “…from the beginning of the 3rd century “Sun of Justice” appears as a title of Christ.    

 A Saviour Behind the Earliest Christian Centers

        The oldest Christian centers, mentioned by St. Paul, were at Lystra, Derbe, Antioch in Pisidia etc. but it is uncanny that all thesewerecentersofAmyntas which leaves no room for doubting that he was the founder of Christianity. He was pitted against the most brutal dictator of history, Augustus, who wanted the title ‘son of god‘ for himself and ruthlessly eliminated not only Amyntas, but also Cleopatra’s son Caesarionwho wasanother legitimate ‘son of god‘.

A Coin of Jesus in India (Amyntas Nikator). Courtesy O. Bopearachchi

Amyntas is cited by all the ancient writers and his face on his coins from India and Galatia bears astriking similarity to the face of Jesus known from later pictures.

Jesus the ‘Lamb’ of Strabo and Jesus the Fish

       The Jews usually had only one name, claims the Encyclopedia Britannica but this is disproved by Rev. iii.14 which shows that, Amen was a name of Jesus. He was depicted by the symbol of the fishin the

early era which appears to be linked to the fact that in the Sumerian, Indian and many ancient cultures Min‘ was the word for ‘fish‘. As ‘A’ was often an honorific ‘Min’ may have become ‘Amen’ or Amyntas.

       Jesus is often called a lamb and Strabo writes that Amyntas was the owner of 300flocks of sheep. This is a strong confirmation of that Amyntas was Jesus as Strabo’s other data on Amyntas also largely agree with the Gospels. The Indiancoins of Amyntas suggest that he had survived crucifixionand gone to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

St. Mark, Another Shining Glory of the 1st Century B.C.

        F. Carotta’s path-breaking suggestion that the gospel of Mark was first written in Latinhas been pooh-poohed by unwary scholars but is indeed true. St. Mark appears to have been the great Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus whom Ronald Syme described as another’shining glory’of his age.Messalla Corvinus was a Roman governor of Syria who was initially a great admirer of Augustus but turned against him about 25 B.C. which is the year of ‘crucifixion’ in the present sch-eme. He was a great literary figure who could have been the first writer of the Gospels.

       The end of Messalla Corvinus came is not known but it is possible that he was killed by Augustus. Another person who may have contri-buted to the gospel of Mark may be Marcus Lollius who became the governor of Amyntas’ territory after its annexation by Augustus. He was also a trusted friend of Augustus who suddenly fell out of favour and was killed. Messalla Corvinus may have brought Asinius Pollio to the Christiani fold. This may be the crux of Paul’s vision at Damascus.

St. Thomas was Deitarus Philadelphus and Hermaeus Soter

       Even a cursory look at the coins of Hermaeus Soter reveals that he was a Christian saint, but due to the imprudence of historians, it remains unknown that Hermaeus Soter was St. Thomas. Just as Jesus and St. Thomas are ‘twins‘, in the gospels, Hermaeus Soter and Amyntas Nikatorare ‘twins‘ in the coins. St Thomas, is a great literary figure but has no archaeological trace. This reminds one of Diodotus-I Soter who has many coins but no inscriptions and who was the same as the great Asoka who has many inscriptions but no coins. Herameus Soter must have been the same as St. Thomas.

       A crucial clue comes from the monogram of Deiotarus in one of Hermaeus’ coins which indicates that he was not only a scion of the house of Deiotarus, he was in fact Deiotarus Philadelphus. This is said to be a mint-mark of Kapisa but this is not true.

Deiotarus’ monogram in Hermaeus’ coin.    Courtesy O. Bopearachchi

       R. C. Senior has recently pushed back the date of Gondophares Soter to 20-10 B.C. This has a cascading effect on Christian history; for Gondophares was converted to Christianity by St. Thomas.

Hermaeus’ coins are similar to those of the Christian Gondophernes

Christianity and Buddhism both grew from the crucibleofMitraism. Amyntas was linked to the Cult of Magna Mater which had a great impact in Rome but Amyntas and Hermaeus were influenced by the Cults of Mēn, Attis and Zeus-Mitra/Mithra.

St. Matthew, St. Luke and St. Barnabas

        The ‘sinner’ St. Matthew was clearly Matius cited by Cicero. “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” says St Matthew ( 22:21). It is difficult not to see the similarity of ethos in Matius’ letters. Like Matius St. Mathew was a tax-collector and a rich man. St. Luke may have been and the priest-king Lycomedes. Mithradates, Pharnaces, Pharnabazus etc were timeless names. Thus St. Barnabas may have been Darius, son of Pharnaces II who was also called Pharnaces or Pharnabazus. He may have been the same as Barabbas the prisoner who was set free before Jesus’ crucifixion.

Virgin Mary, the Great Mother of Pessinus and  Attis

        The radiant figure of Virgin Mary has no place in Judaism of Galilee but comes alive in Epheseus-Pessinus. Thechief priestess of Pessinus Adobogiona was the daughter of the Celtic King Deiotarus and her eminence is proven by that she and her husband werehonoured in antiquity by a group of people who can be seen as the first Christians. Pessinus was also the seat of Attis, who was born of a virgin like Jesus, and is also depicted as sitting on hismother’s lap. This is the background of Jesus’ miraculous birth which has counterparts in the Pali legends. Attis was fed by a goat and was brought up among shepherds.  

Chronology and Geography – the Two Eyes of History

     Geographical and chronological errors devastate history. Bithynia and Isauria can be seen as the echoes of Bethlehem andIsa. Part of the OT pertains to Galilee-Judea but as the great E.A. Speiser not-ed, the Book of Genesis does not. The NT is totally different in spirit but to know the true Jesus it is essential to replace Galilee by Galatia. A close associate of Jesus was Mary Magdalene but no one knows where Magadan (Mat 15:39) or Magdala was. Magadan echoes distant Magadha but the biblical Magadan may have been in the Pontus region near Galatia ruled by the Mithradatic kings who were from Magadha. The archaeologists have found almost nothing in Nazareth. The name is not mentioned in the OT or other rabbinic texts. The gospel of John first refers to it but he had strong links with Epheseus and his Nazareth could have been Nagara not far from Epheseus. The author of Revelations mentions Patmos which is near Epheseus. Another Nagara was Alexandria Kapisa, the capital of Amyntas Nikator.

      Epheseus was ruled by the Seleucids who were close to the Mau-ryas but came under the Romans after Attalus. It was often hostile to the Romans. In 88 B.C. the Ephesians welcomed Mithridates VI Eupator as savior and 80,000 Romans are said to have been killed. This shows the link of Jesus Amyntas, who was a client king of the Romans, but was related to Mithradates Chrestus, with Epheseus.

      Gospel Chronology is widely suspected; Guignebert pointed to an error of +15 years, but if one ventures a little farther back, Jesus, St. Paul, St. Mark, St. Thomas and many other associates magically appear as radiant historical figures. Iśa Amen, the Jesus of history, was from Asia Minor. The only way of shaking offtheJinxthat has dogged Christianity for ages is to scrap the birth-date of0AD.

   Fortunately, just one amendment, namely ‘15th year of Augustus’ 2nd Triumvirate, 43 B.C.) in place of ‘15th year of Tiberius’ in Luke 3.1 as the beginning of the ministry (~28 B.C.) of John the Baptist brings Jesus face to face with history. Tiberius is named only once in the gospels (Luke 3.1) which is an error for Augustus. Many other citatio-ns to Caesar are without any further qualification and are wishfully assigned to Tiberius. John was arrested shortly afterwards and Jesus’ own ministry may have started about 26 B.C. when he was about 30 years old. Accepting the gospel data that Jesus lived for 33 years this takes his birth to about 59/58 B.C. and crucifixion to 26/25 B.C. and in one stroke solves the problems of his historicity.

Amyntas, a Personification of Attis

     1st century Christianity was very different from the 4th century creed, and had pagan features. The Montanists were Christians and some Attis worshipers, who justifiably saw Amyntas as an embodiment of Attis, were early Christians. Phrygia (Pessinus) was the home of both Attis and Amyntas. Christianity took hold in Rome long before Constantine. Thus Claudius, who adored Attis, can be seen as an

early Christian. The Christians he punished may have belonged to a rival sect. The Greeks disliked the Mithraic bull slaughter and also had a horror of the emasculated Attis. Amyntas, a Hellenized Jew, may have had a similar view. As his head-dress reveals, Attis was a solar deity who was identified with the moon god Mēn. Amyntas followed the deity Mēn Askaēnos which was linked to Attis. It may not be idle to presume that if he could meet the flesh-and-blood Jesus, Constantine would probably have killed him for being a ‘pagan’.

Virgil’s Messiah and an ‘Accident of Dates’

      The vacuity of the present chronology of Jesus can be seen from a careful study of the poets Virgil and Ovid. Forty years before the supposed year of birth, Virgil, probably influenced by the prophesy of the Magi, speaks of a child who will bring back the Golden Age, banish sin, and restore peace. Unaware of the chronological trap, scholars have inverted plain logic and have turned Virgil into a Prophet. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church calls this an ‘accident of dates’ which is totally unwarranted. Virgil brackets Amyntas together with Apollo which shows his great respect for him. That he did not publish the Aeneid may be due to the passages of praise for Augustus he was forced to include.

The Mysterious Banishment of Ovid

       A more definitive warning comes from the mysterious banishment of Ovid. The Encyclopedia Britannica makes a dubious prophecy – ‘The reasons for Ovid’s exile will never be fully known’, and states;

Of the many explanations that have been offered of this mysterious indiscretion, the most probable is that he had become an involuntary accomplice in the adultery of Augustus’ granddaughter, the younger Julia, who also was banished at the same time. In 2 BC her mother, the elder Julia, had similarly been banished for immorality, and the Ars amatoria had appeared while this scandal was still fresh in the public mind. These coincidences, together with the tone of Ovid’s reference to his offense, suggest that he behaved in some way that was damaging both to Augustus’ program of moral reform and to the honour of the imperial family.

This is a lame dialectic. Tacitus wrote that Augustus was a crook and R. Syme wrote that he gave orders to vilify Julius Caesar which Ovid disobeyed. The ‘sexual offences’ may have been wicked ploys. His sexual liaisons with Maecenas’ wife Terentia are well known, and Cali-gula accused him of intercourse with his daughter Julia. Why were the law courts and the Senate sidetracked in order to banish Ovid? Why was Silanus let off? That he also executed Julia’s religiouslyinclinedhusbandPaullus and his grandson Postumus at the same time points to a Palace revolt favouring Amyntas. F. Norwood writes that Julia’s incarceration was not due to adultery but her role in the ‘conspiracy’ of Paullus against Augustus. Paullus was linked to the Arval Brother-hood which had a group of twelve priests reminiscent of Jesus’ twelve brethren. Augustus revived their practices to enforcehis own cultwhich was probably resented by Paullus and this may be the crux of his ‘conspiracy’. Tacitus writes that Postumus was not guilty.

The First Christian Circle of History

     The first Christian circle seems to have been formed around Ovid. The ‘unauthorized’ religion which PomponiaGraecina, the wife of A. Plautius, was tried for practicing, during the reign of Claudius, is kno-wn to be Christianity. Ovid and Julia the younger may have engaged in a similar worship of a despised  ‘son of god’. It is more than likely that Pomponia’s father P. Pomponius Graecinushad Christian leanings. That he was a friend of Ovid, shows that the poet was one of the earliest admirers of Jesus Amen. It is likely, though not certain, that Sextus Pompeius and Junius Gallio to whom also Ovid turned for help from Pontus, had similar Christian sympathies. Syme writes that Passi-enus Blandus who was a preceptor of Tiberius was the first Roman knight who became a teacher. Seneca groups Passienus with great orators such as Asinius Pollio and Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus. Next in his opinion came the set of four which included Junius Gallio. Seneca also had glowing praise for Asinius Gallus, who according to him was overshadowed only by Asinius Poliio, his father. This Junius Gallio may have been linked to St. Paul at Corinth. Everett Ferguson links Paul to another JuniusGallio of the Claudian era inscription (~51 AD) which seems to be a mistake.

Augustus – the Wicked ‘Son of God’

     St. Mark and St. Luke were contemporaries who could not err on chronology. The finger of suspicion points to the Roman dictator Augustus who madly desired to be remembered as a god and ruined Amyntas who had a divine aspect. Tacitus wrote,

‘No honour was left for the gods, when Augustus chose to be himself worshipped with temples and statues, like those of the deities, and with flamens and priests.’

He also referred to widespread tampering of history by Roman rulers, the worst being Augustus. His cajoling the historians and producing false wills had a devastating effect. As R. Syme noted, the Res Gest-ae was aimed at suppressing true history. The bilingual inscription at Ancyra has been hailed as the ‘Queen of inscriptions’ by Mommsen who overlooked that these were at the centers of Amyntas to stifle Christian history. Augustus asked Roman writers to vilify Julius Caesar, his ‘father’. This propaganda duped Shakespeare who disparaged Julius Caesar, a forerunner of Christ. Augustus grabbed Amyntas’ land, dest-royed his temple at Antioch and installed his own cult. This  impersonation by a false ‘son of god’ derailed history. Horace warned of the dangers to the life of Asinius Pollio (St. Paul) who gave shelter to the historian Timagenes who was hounded by Augustus.He may even have encouraged fake gospel writers. The Wikipedia states blindly,

“He also wanted to relate to and connect with the concerns of the plebs and lay people. He achieved this through various means of generosity and a cutting back of lavish excess. In the year 29 BC, Augustus paid 400 sesterces each to 250,000 citizens, 1,000 sesterces each to 120,000 veterans in the colonies, and spent 700 million sesterces in purchasing land for his soldiers to settle upon. He also restored 82 different temples to display his care for the Roman pantheon of deities. In 28 BC, he melted down 80 silver statues erected in his likeness and in honor of him, an attempt of his to appear frugal and modest.”

There are signs of Hellenistic influence on Augustus in his early years and he allowed Asinius Pollio to restore the old edifice of Atrium Liberatatis and turn it into a library. But after 28 B.C. when Amyntas probably assumed a religious role he turned agai-nst him. G. Stanton of Cambridge writes that in the early post-Easter period, the Gospels were heard against the backdrop of a rival set of ‘gospels’ concerning the imperial cult of Augustus. He also notes the earliest criticisms of Jesus and claims concerning his resurrection. He places Paul in Antioch in Pisidia yet fails to realize that this was a great centre of Jesus Amen whose temple of Mēn Askaēnos was destroyed by Augustus who installed his own cult there.

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and Pontus Polemo

        The crucifixion of Jesuspresents a myriad of problems. There is no corroboration of the episode from history. The Koran (Surah 4:157-158) reflects the uncertainties surrounding the episode. Crucifixion was usually reserved for the laity but nothing was beyond Augustus who had banished Ovid and decimated his own family in the blind pursuit of self-glorification. His annexation of Amyntas’ territory and hasty destruction of his temple in the Pisidian Antioch turns him into a likely conspirator. J. D. Crossan brands the gospel’s imputation of the blame for Jesus’ ‘death’ on the Jews as the ‘longest lie’ but this epithet should be reserved for the date of 0AD of Jesus’ birth. Also if the Jews are exonerated, the Romans remain as the only candidates for Jesus’ killers but Crossan does not have the equipment to pursue them. He denies the historicity of the gospels and calls them ‘prophecyhistoricized’, i.e. written by later authors who looked back at the Old Testament and other early data  and then projected those prophesies on whatever historical episodes they could find. This is not wholly untrue but it is absurd to dismiss the gospels as nothing but useless fabrications.

        There are mysterious underground shelters at Derinkuyu in modern Turkey where about 20,000 people could once have lived. The shelters could have been used for military purposes and it is stunning to note that this area was once controlled by the fierce Homonadeis who brought about the fall of Amyntas. A modern commentator has this on Derenkuyu;

“To this day, no one is certain how it was created and what its original purpose was…. Scholars believe Derinkuyu was the hiding place for the first Christians who were escaping from the persecution of the Roman empire. Some things discovered in these underground settlements belong to the Middle Byzantine Period, between the 5th and the 10th centuries A.D. It is speculated that number of underground settlements, generally used for taking refuge and for religious purposes, increased during this era.”

Not only the ‘Christians who were escaping from the persecution of the Roman empire’ the downfall of Christ himself may have been linked to Derinkuyu. Strabo hints at a conspiracy behind the demise of Amyntas. Was Derinkuyu controlled by Polemo of Pontus in the 1st century B.C.? He may have acted as an agent of Augustus. The sister of Barnabas, a relative of Christ was Queen Dynamis who was close to Augustus and may have trappedAmyntas to bring about his fall in 26/25 B.C. This treachery may have been unknown even to Asinius Pollio for some time. Augustus fell seriously ill after 25 B.C. and started stressing his title ‘son of god’ which may be a reaction. Messalla Corvinus turned against him after 25 B.C. It is possible that C. Gallus’ curious death was linked to Amyntas’ fall. The only indication comes from Strabo who gives two versions of Amyntas’ fall. The later version which mentions the treachery of a woman seems to be true. Augustus mentions in the Res Gestae that the gates of the god Janus Geminus were kept closed in 25 B.C. but keeps mum on his annexation of Asia-Minor. Dynamis’ husband was Polemo of Pontus who may be the Pontius Pilate of the gospels. Cilicia and the Olba area was first awrded to Polemo-I but after he was shifted to Pontusby Antony, Amyntas became the ruler. It is not impossible that under Augustus Polemo of Pontusgot the upper hand and turned the table on Amyntas.

St. Thomas’ Conversion of Kujula to Christianity or Yavugasa Dharma

       The fact that the Kushan king Kujula Kadphises (34 – 20 B.C.) put Hermaeus’ bust on his coins has baffled all the experts. Bachhof-ersaw it as plain economic expediency which is shallow. This in fact proves that Kuzula was converted to Christianity or Yavugasa Dhar-ma by Hermaeus who was St. Thomas. This explains why Christianity came to Armenia before Rome. Kujula may have failed to get Augustus’ support for his Christian sympathies. Augustus wanted to wipe out the legacy of Jesus Amen. Was Tigranes III the same as Vima Taktu and did he meet Augustus who mentions the Indians in the Res Gestae?