Song of Solomon 1:5-6 From the lips of the Queen of Sheba “I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not gaze at me because I am blackish, because the sun has looked on me.” |
| Cherchel Museum in Algeria |
Herod the Great’s sister, Salome (remember that name), convinced him that her husband and Herod’s favorite
wife had committed adultery when Herod was absent from the palace. Enraged, Herod ordered that his Royal
Jewish wife, Mary, and brother-in-law, Joseph, be executed c. 29 BCE. Mary’s two young sons, Alexander III (born
c. 35 BCE), and Aristobulus IV (born c. 31 BCE), were sent to Rome to be educated – and indoctrinated – by Caesar
Augustus, his wife Livia, and his sister, Octavia (ex-wife/widow of Marc Antony).
Several other “Royal Orphans” preceded the arrival of theses two Jewish princes: Prince Juba II, son of Juba I,
the black King of Numidia (who committed suicide in 46 BCE rather than face the humiliation of defeat at the hands
of Julius Caesar); Princess Cleopatra Selene, Prince Alexander Helios, and Prince Ptolemy Philadelphus (children
of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt, who committed suicide c. 30 BCE). Rather than execute the
offspring of these conquered royal rulers, Caesar Augustus implemented a “re-education curriculum” at his
palace in Rome. His purpose was to create loyal and trustworthy Roman leaders who could be reintroduced into
their native countries to carry out Caesar’s ambitious programs throughout the Roman Empire.
As other wise rulers before him, Caesar Augustus understood the value of royal marriages as a means of
achieving peace among his multi-cultural, multi-religious empire. In 25 BCE Augustus installed Juba II as King over
Numidia, the land previously ruled by his father. Five years later he arranged the marriage of Juba II and Cleopatra
Selene. He awarded Selene a large dowry and made her Queen over the land of Mauretania/Libya with Juba II as
King. According to historians Pliny, Dio Cassius, and Plutarch, Juba II fought alongside Augustus in the battle of
Actium in 31 BCE, defeating Marc Antony, and was made a citizen of Rome. They reported that Juba II and Caesar
Augustus became lifelong friends. Juba was only two or three years old when Augustus took him in; the
"friendship" may well have been equivalent to the love of a father for a son.
Alexander III and Aristobulus IV lived in Rome under Caesar Augustus’ tutelage from c. 23 until c. 12 BCE when
they were old enough to marry. One must wonder how “Jewish” they would have been after ten years in
Augustus’ “re-education program” that included Greek philosophy, with heavy emphasis on the teachings of
Pythagoras and Plato.
Caesar Augustus also arranged the marriage of Alexander III and Princess Glaphyra, daughter of the King of
Cappadocia. As the eldest son with Royal Jewish Hasmonean blood, Alexander was first in line to succeed King
Herod of Judea. This marriage would guarantee peace and cooperation between Cappacodia and Judea for
generations to come.
But then, c. 7 BCE, Salome struck again. She convinced Herod that Alexander and Aristobulus were plotting to
have him killed. As required by his subservient position, Herod petitioned Caesar Augustus, asking that he be
permitted to execute Mary’s two sons, the only remaining Hasmonean heirs. Augustus demanded that Herod
prove Mary’s sons were planning to kill him, not merely planning to flee his wrath. A court of inquiry determined
that there was no evidence of a murder plot, but nonetheless, gave Herod permission to execute Mary’s two sons.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Alexander and Aristobulus were “sent to Sabaste where they were
strangled.” Sabaste is the Greek equivalent of Augustus.
Although interesting to history buffs, the story to this point is of little interest to people in search of “The Historical
Jesus.” But it’s just a few years later, 6 CE, that the situation got really weird and somewhat complicated:
1) Josephus wrote that Princess Glaphyra and Alexander III had either two or three children before Alexander was
executed c. 7 BCE (he reported two in one section, only to report three a few chapters later).
2) Glaphyra and Juba II were married to each other for a brief period of time c. 6 CE. This marriage has confounded
scholars because coins from the time suggest that Cleopatra Selene was still living, no divorce was recorded, and
Roman law prohibited multiple wives.
3) Caesar August ordered a census of the Roman Empire when “Quirinius was Governor of Syria…” (6 CE dated by
Josephus).
4) Jesus was born c. 6 CE, according to Luke, dated by the “census of Quirinius.”
5) Josephus wrote that, “Judas the Galilean” and “Zadok” began their revolt against Herodian rule c. 6 CE and that
Judas “authored” the “fourth philosophy,” a “new sect” of Judaism, at that same time. Luke (in Acts) called that
sect “Nazarenes.” Historians following Church tradition label it “Zealot.”
6) Josephus told the story of a man everyone believed to be the dead Prince Alexander who was taken to Caesar
Augustus (c. 6 CE) to determine if he was legit, or spurious. Alexander lived with Augustus from the age of twelve
until he was past twenty; he should have no trouble recognizing a fraud, if indeed this was one. This Alexander
explained that he and Aristobulus were saved and secreted away, and two other men died in their place at
Sebaste. Augustus agreed the man did look like Alexander, heir to Herod’s throne. But there was one problem: this
Alexander had the hands and physique of a tekton, someone who worked with his hands, such as a silversmith, a
stonemason – or a carpenter.
7) Glaphyra had a strange dream (c. 6 CE) that Josephus judged important enough to report in minute detail:
“…Glaphyra…the daughter of King Archelaus [of Cappadocia], who was married while she was a virgin, to
Alexander, the son of Herod, and brother of Archelaus; but since…Alexander was slain by his father, she was
married to Juba [II], the king of Libya; and when he was dead, and she lived in widowhood in Cappadocia with her
father. Archelaus divorced his former wife…and married her, so great was his affection for Glaphyra; who, during
her marriage to him, saw the following dream: She thought she saw Alexander standing by her, at which she
rejoiced, and embraced him with great affection; but he complained and said, ‘O Glaphyra! You proved that saying
to be true, which assures us that women are not to be trusted. Did you not pledge your faith to me? And were you
not married to me when you were a virgin? And did we not have children between us? Yet have you forgotten the
affection I felt for you, out of a desire of a second husband. Nor were you satisfied with that injury you caused me,
but you have now been so bold as to procure a third husband to lie by you, and in an indecent and imprudent
manner you have entered into my house, and have now married Archelaus, your husband and my brother.
However, I will not forget your former kind affection for me, but will set you free from every such reproachful
action, and cause you to be mine again, as you once were.’ When she had related this to her female companions,
in a few days' time she departed this life.”
Roman Emperior Vespasian assigned Josephus an important task: record the history of the Jews from creation
until the destruction of the second Temple. One must ask, “How important was Glaphyra’s dream to that
designated project?” A dream? How could a dream possibly be of any importance to the History of the Jews? The
answer is, it wasn’t. However, it was important to preserving the identity of the historical Jesus.
Josephus left important information about Alexander and Glaphyra that can be associated with information Luke
and Mark left in their versions of The Jesus Story: Glaphyra was a virgin and her husband, the “resurrected
Alexander” was a tekton.
Luke 1:26-27: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin
engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”
Mark 6:3: “Is not this the tekton, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not
his sisters here with us?”
The Greek word, “Tekton,” is defined in the Greek lexicon as: “1) …a worker in wood, a carpenter, joiner, builder;
(a) a ship’s carpenter or builder; 2) any craftsman, or workman; (a) the art of poetry, maker of songs; 3) a planner,
contriver, plotter; (a) an author.” Judas the Galilean, therefore, was also a tekton - "the author of the fourth
philosophy," a “philosophy” first delivered to the people of Judea in the very same year “Jesus” was born.
8) Juba II and Cleopatra Selene had a “mysterious daughter,” believed to have been named “Cleopatra,” in
addition to two known children, son, Ptolemy and daughter, Drusilla. Therefore, Juba II’s children (including a
mysterious daughter) and Glaphyra’s children (including a mysterious third child) became “siblings” for a brief
period of time, according to Josephus. This brief and unexplained marriage holds a great deal of meaning when
examined carefully alongside portions of Luke’s gospel:
Luke 7:36-8: “One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] to eat with him, and [Jesus]…took his place at table…A woman
of the city…brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet
his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the
ointment.”
In order for this unnamed woman to “stand behind him at his feet,” Jesus must have been reclining; customs of
the time tell us he would have been reclining on a couch. The ointment was Spikenard, fragrant and expensive,
usually available only to kings. It was the same “nard” the Queen of Sheba used to anoint King Solomon:
Song of Solomon 1:12: “While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance.”
Song of Solomon 2:4: “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his intention toward me was love.”
In his story of the crucifixion, Luke described other scenes that can be associated with the Song of Solomon:
Luke 23:55-56: “The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb…Then they
returned, and prepared spices and ointments.”
Luke 24:1-2: “…on the first day of the week…they came to the tomb, taking spices that they had prepared. They
found the stone rolled away…they did not find the body.”
Song of Solomon 6:1-2: “Where has your beloved gone…? My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of
spices, to pasture his flock in the garden and to gather lilies.”
Solomon’s song to the Queen of Sheba (Song of Solomon 4:9-10): “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my
bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How sweet is your
love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!”
Luke identified “the woman” with the spices who went to look for her beloved in the tomb:
Luke 24:10: “Now it was Mary Magdalene, Io Anna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them
who told this to the apostles.”
For two thousand years it has been assumed that Luke identified a new disciple never before mentioned at Luke 8:
3 and 24:10: He called her Jo Anna. Anna or Ania is a Syrian name that means goddess. In the Greek language, Jo
is written, Io. Io was a mythological Greek goddess loved by Zeus. According to legend she settled in Egypt and
became the first Queen of Egypt. Io was also known as both a moon goddess and a water goddess and was
associated with the other “great mother goddess-queens,” Isis, Artemis, Aphrodite, Astarte, etc. With Zeus she
had a son, Epaphos. Epaphos had a daughter, Libya, the “goddess-ancestor” of all the people who lived in the land
that bears her name – the land Augustus awarded to Cleopatra Selene and Juba II.
“Jo Anna” (Greek: Io Anna) was not the name of a brand new, never-before-heard-of disciple but a descriptive
term Luke applied to Mary Magdalene. What Luke wrote was, “Now it was Mary Magdalene, Egyptian Goddess and
Great Mother-Goddess; Mary the mother of James, and the other women …”
Luke 7:50: “Your faith has saved [Greek: Sozo] you; go in peace.” These words from Jesus to the woman who
anointed him end Chapter 7 and are immediately followed by the opening verses of Chapter 8.
Luke 8:1-3: “Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages preaching and bringing the good news of the
kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed (Greek: qerapeuo) of
evil (Greek: poneros) spirits (Greek: pneuma) and infirmities (Greek: asqeneia): Mary, called Magdalene, from
whom seven (Greek: hepta; Hebrew: Sheba) demons (Greek: daimonions) had gone out, Io Anna…”
“Mary Magdalene, Io Anna,” was first introduced by Luke at 8:3, just three verses after Jesus’ last words to the
Woman who anointed him with oil. Luke’s exact words are of immense importance; therefore, the key words in
the original Greek, and their Hebrew equivalent, must be examined:
Greek: Sozo: translated as saved also means, “to make well, heal, restore to health, rescue.”
Hebrew: Yasha: to be liberated, be saved, be delivered.
Luke 7:50: “Your faith has liberated you,” or “Your faith has set you free,” are as valid as the version found in most
English Bibles.
Greek: Qerapeuo: translated as healed also means “to serve or to do service.”
Hebrew: apr: purified, healed of national hurts, healed of individual distress.
Greek: Poneros: translated as evil also means, “full of labors, annoyances, hardships.”
Hebrew: no equivalent in OT Hebrew lexicon.
Greek: Pneuma: translated as spirits is used in biblical texts to refer to the third person of the triune God: Father,
Son, Pneuma.
Hebrew: xwr: wind, breath, mind, spirit; vigor; courage; energy of life; manifest in the Shekinah glory; third person
of the triune God, coequal, coeternal with the Father and Son.
Greek: Asqeneia: translated as infirmities also means “to understand; to do things great and glorious, to bear
trials and troubles.”
Hebrew: no equivalent in OT Hebrew lexicon.
Greek: Hepta: translated as seven.
Hebrew: Sheba. The root of the name of the Number Seven means perfect, complete, or satisfied.
Greek: Daimonion: translated as demons also means “deity, divinity, a spirit inferior to God but superior to men.”
Hebrew: no equivalent in OT Hebrew lexicon.
Can it be only a coincidence that one of the words Luke used in this first introduction to “Mary Magdalene, Io
(Greek Goddess) Anna (Syrian Goddess) was “Sheba,” another word that means “Goddess-Queen”? It was the
Queen of Sheba who “starred” in the love story, “Song of Solomon,” with King Solomon. Is it just coincidence that
in Ethiopia the “Great Goddess who came to earth from the skies and dwelt in the sacred black stone” was called
“Shayba” or “Sheba” by the Arabic-Aramaean people? Or that this “Great Goddess” had dark skin?
Luke 8:1-3, using alternative words to translate, reveals surprising news about Mary Magdalene:
“Soon afterward Jesus went on through cities and villages preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom
of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who served him and suffered hardships. These
women understood Jesus’ words [and for that reason were chosen by him] to do great and glorious things and to
bear the trials and troubles to come. Mary, called Magdalene, Sheba, and Io Anna, the spirit of the Feminine Deity,
Shekinah – the third person of the triune God: Father, Mother, Holy Child.”
According to Luke, re-translated using acceptable, alternative words, Mary Magdalene was the earthly
representation of the feminine Deity, the Great Goddess Mother in the triune, co-equal and co-eternal with the
Father God and their Holy Child to be. Every word in italics is included in the Greek and/or Hebrew bible lexicon and
available to the translators who chose the words that have misled Christians for two thousand years.
Josephus reported that Juba II married Glaphyra c. 6 CE, even though Cleopatra Selene was still alive in 6 CE. He
reported that Glaphyra was free to marry Archelaus a short time later, still c. 6 CE, because Juba II was dead;
Juba II didn’t die until c. 23 CE. Why would Josephus leave such confusing and erroneous information? Perhaps it
was important for Juba II’s mysterious daughter and Glaphyra’s mysterious child to become siblings. If the Queen
of Sheba was to be associated with Mary Magdalene, the Goddess-Bride, she had to also be the Sister of the God-
Groom.
King Solomon sings to the Queen of Sheba (Song of Solomon 4:9-10): “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my
bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How sweet is your
love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!”
In the sixth century BCE the land called Sheba had a name change, thanks to Cambyses; it became the land of
Meroe. Its queens were called Kandakes and ruled Meroe until c. 20 BCE. They were also referred to as Magda,
meaning “great.”
Acts 8:27: “…an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Kandake, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her
treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship…”
“Ethiopia” means “burnt faces.” Kandakes ruled lands populated by the black race. This scene in Acts was dated
after Jesus’ death and at least five decades after “Kandakes” ceased ruling the land called Meroe. Luke’s “error”
however, provides another important clue: the dark-skinned “great Goddess-Queen of the land of Meroe” was
called Meroe Magda. The gospel writers called her Mary Magdalene.
According to Luke and Josephus, combined and decoded, Jesus the Nazarene was the son of Alexander III and
Princess Glaphyra; he was the grandson of King Herod and Jewish Hasmonean Princess, Mariamme/Mary.
Mary Magda-lene was the daughter of Juba II, a black-skinned King, and Cleopatra Selene, Queen of
Mauretania/Libya; she was the grand daughter of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt.
Caesar Augustus chose these children of Royal Orphans he had nurtured and educated in his palace to portray
the combined Jewish Messiah/Egyptian “dying and resurrected” God and his dark-skinned sister-bride, the Great
Mother Goddess, Mero-Magda, known also as Isis, Astarte, Io, Anna, and Sheba. Augustus hoped to blend the
Jewish and Egyptian religions to achieve a peaceful solution to one of the problems generated by Herod’s
extermination of the Jewish Hasmonean High Priest-Kings. He would reinstate the Ptolemy descendants to the
leadership role in Egypt; he would reinstate the line of Zadok priests (that preceded the Hasmoneans) with the
Hasmonean blood of the descendants of Mariamme. It could have succeeded, probably would have succeeded,
had it not been for the most successful infiltrator of all time: Saul, grandson of Salome, aka Paul of Tarsus.
Salome finally won. It would be her grandson, not Herod and Mariamme’s, who would create the “new world
religion.” The Goddess would be buried another two thousand years!
| In Search of the Historical Jesus by Gott |