Was the Assyrian/Babylonian Bel myth in which a god is slain and resurrected a forerunner of the Jesus crucifixion/resurrection myth?

Is it possible that the Jesus myth was assembled from mythical elements found in the Assyrian/Babylonian Bel Myth?

Here are two sets of answers, one from John G. Jackson, and another by me resulting from correspondence with an official, Christopher Walker, of The British Museum.

From Christianity Before Christ by John G. Jackson, American Atheist Press, PO Box 2117, Austin, TX 78768-2117, 1985, pp. 43-46.

Quick Book Report: Various myths are shown to be forerunners of the Jesus myth.

The immediate following chart from is my compilation of Jackson's report citing Arthur Findlay and George R. Goodman:

(A) Arthur Findlay's report of the translation by a Professor H. Zimmern, in German, of an ancient tablet which Jackson reports (citing Findlay) as Babylonian dating back to circa 2000 BC now in the British Museum in which the Babylonian myth of Bel (Baal in Hebrew) is described in a passion play in which (1) Bel is taken prisoner; (2) Bel is tried in a great hall; (3) Bel is smitten; (4) Bel is led away to the Mount (a sacred grove on a hilltop); (5) with Bel are taken two malefactors, one of whom is released; (6) After Bel has gone to the Mount and is executed, the city breaks into tumult; (7) Bel's clothes are carried away; (8) Bel goes down into the Mount and disappears from life; (9) weeping women seek Bel at the Tomb; (10) Bel is brought back to life.

(B) A Bel myth—Jesus myth parallel table created by George R. Goodman and presented in "Easter" in The Freethinker of May 14, 1965.
 

The Bel (Baal) Myth Parallels to the Jesus Myth

The Bel (Baal) Myth	The Jesus Myth
(1) Bel is taken prisoner.	(1) Jesus is taken prisoner.
(2) Bel is tried in a great hall.	(2) Jesus is tried a great hall—the Hall of Justice.
(3) Bel is smitten.	(3) Jesus is scourged.
(4) Bel is led away to the Mount (a sacred grove on a hilltop).	(4) Jesus is led away to Golgotha.
(5) With Bel are taken two malefactors, one of whom is released.	(5) With Jesus two malefactors are led away; Barrabas is released.
(6) After Bel has gone to the Mount and is executed, the city breaks into tumult.	(6) After Jesus is executed, there is an earthquake, the veil of the Temple is rent, the dead rise from their graves and walk among the living.
(7) Bel's clothes are carried away.	(7) Jesus's clothes are carried away after soldiers cast dice for them.
(8) Bel goes down into the Mount and disappears from life.	(8) Jesus disappears from life into the tomb.
(9) Weeping women seek Bel at the Tomb.	(9) Weeping women seek Jesus at the Tomb.
(10) Bel is brought back to life.	(10) Jesus is resurrected—rises from the grave/Tomb.

NOTE: This table is patterned after a table by George R. Goodman presented in "Easter" in The Freethinker of May 14, 1965.

10/12/01: Update: The report by Jackson and the chart shown above has flaws which are addressed in the following report. The tablet referenced by Jackson, Findlay, and Goodman, does in fact exist, but according to Christopher Walker of The British Museum it is Assyrian, not Babylonian, was discovered in the town of Nineveh in Assyria, and dates from 700 B.C., not 2000 B.C., as reported by John Jackson citing Arthur Findlay.

The following report is based upon a photocopy provided to me by Christopher Walker of The British Museum of a translation of the Bel Myth Tablet by S. Langdon, published in 1923.

The Bel myth parallels to the Jesus myth are nevertheless present in the Langdon translation, clearly indicating that regardless of the discovery of the tablet in Nineveh in Assyria, not in Babylonia, and its dating as 700 B.C. and not 2000 B.C. The Bel myth does in fact have mythical elements including death and resurrection which parallel the Jesus myth and thus are forerunners of mythical elements in the Jesus myth.

In Babylonia, the god Bel is also called Marduk. In some writings the two names are linked as Bel-Marduk or Marduk-Bel.

In the Babylonian myth, The Epic of Creation, the god Marduk does not die and is not resurrected.

However, as S. Langdon stated, as shown below, the Bel myth presented in the writings inscribed upon the Assyrian Bel Myth Tablet found in Nineveh clearly describe a different Bel myth from the Bel (Bel-Marduk/Marduk-Bel) myth presented in The Epic of Creation. Thus, there are two Bel myths; (A) The Bel myth found in The Epic of Creation and (B) The Bel myth found in the Assyrian Bel Myth Tablet.

The fact that the Bel Myth Tablet exists and has writings translated by at least two translators, H. Zimmern and S. Langdon, in which we find mythical elements which are different from the mythical elements found in The Epic of Creation refutes any claims that the Bel myth found on the Bel myth tablet is not authentic.
 
 

From: Christopher B. F. Walker, Keeper
Department of Ancient Near East
The British Museum
London, England
 

The tablet containing references to the Bel myth is in the possession of The British Museum; C. Walker states that it was created circa 700 B.C.E. and was discovered in Nineveh, Assyria.

The following are my notes and paraphrases of Langdon’s text with direct references by means of page numbers to Langdon’s text of comments and information and with direct references by means of Line numbers to Langdon’s translation.

p. 32. The tablet, recovered by Germans from excavations in Assyria, refer to a New Year’s festival celebration performed in Assyria which was very similar to a New Year’s festival celebration performed in Babylon. The Babylonian poem, The Epic of Creation, celebrated the Babylonian god, Marduk, and the Babylonian New Year’s festival celebration therefore celebrated also Marduk; but Assyrians substituted their deity, Assur, in place of Marduk.

In Babylon, Marduk was a solar god who died, descended into the earth, or a lower world, and was resurrected, or returned to the upper world, each year at the spring equinox, when the sun/day/light gained more time and therefore victory over night/darkness.

Marduk is also called Bel (Babylonian) or Baal (Jewish). The Marduk/Bel myth is therefore called the Bel-Marduk or Marduk-Bel myth.

pp. 32-33. Langdon speculates that the Bel-Marduk text and mythology was based upon an older mythology of Tammuz, a god who died yearly, descended into a lower world, and resurrected/returned to the upper world.

p. 33. The tablet discovered in Assyria is the only source for the death and resurrection of Bel-Marduk. Professor H. Zimmern wrote the first interpretation and a list of the parallels to the Jesus myth including an arrest, trial, scourging, crucifixion, and resurrection.

What do I read in Langdon’s translation that supports Zimmern’s contentions?

The translation is not in clear, straightforward English. The grammar is disjointed. There is no linear timeline, and people, things and events are presented and discussed out of their chronological order. There are gaps among the words which disturb the sense of the words, and I assume those gaps are disfigurations of the original tablet wherein the words do not exist or otherwise are not readily translatable.

The translation is presented via Lines of text.

I present therefore my personal paraphrases of the highlights of Langdon’s Lines of translation.

Line 1. Bel is confined in a mountain.
Line 3. Someone unnamed brings Bel from the mountain.
Line 11. A female goes to seek Bel at his  grave.
Line 12. Twins are appointed to guard Bel at the Gate of Esagila.
Line 13. Bel was bound by the gods and caused to perish.
Line 14. The gods caused Bel to descend from the sun and light.
Line 15. Bel is/was wounded.
Line 16. A goddess descends into the mountain for the welfare of Bel.
Line 18. Bel was judged.
Lines 20 and 21. A malefactor (criminal) was slain with Bel.
Line 23. After Bel went to the mountain/lower world, the inhabitants of the city where Bel was slain rioted because of Bel’s death.
Line 29. A female (goddess?), Beltis, of Babylon, looks for Bel, weeps for Bel, says, “O my brother! O my brother!”
Line 30. Bel’s garments were taken from him.
Line 31. Bel’s silver, gold, and jewels were taken from him.
Line 32. There was a garment put upon Bel when he was put into his coffin.
Line 33. Bel was nursed and reared by Ishtar of Nineveh.
Line 34. The hymn, “When On High,” was recited and sung by Bel’s followers during the month of Nisan (the month of April), when he was bound/slain.
Line 36. The high priest says “These benefactions for Asur (Bel/Marduk) I do” and asks, “What is his sin?”
Line 38. [H]e (Bel) comes from within the mountain. (Bel is to be resurrected.)
Line 51. Bel was seized in the Month of Nisan (April).
Line 52. After Bel was taken away (from from the building in which he was tried and judged), water for handwashing was brought to the building.
Line 67. A goddess wails and a woman weeps (for Bel?).

Once again, my paraphrases of Langdon’s text.

p. 50. The Assyrian tablet is a commentary on the ritual which was the festival celebration of the death and resurrection of Bel. The ritual itself was never discovered. From the tablet it is not possible to determine if or not the death and resurrection of Bel was an annual event, but since there is the conjecture/speculation/opinion that the Bel-Marduk myth is based upon the myth of the annual death and resurrection of Tammuz there is reason to believe that the Bel-Marduk death and resurrection was an annual event.

p. 51. Additional Assyrian tablets were discovered which suggest that the Bel-Marduk mystic ritual was widely practiced, that the Bel-Marduk cult was widely known, and therefore would have been easily and readily known in Syria and Judea.

My personal interpretations:

From Line 51 we can read that Bel was seized (arrested).

From Line 18 we can read that Bel was judged, and if he was judged then we can assume that he was tried.

From Line 15 we can see that Bel was wounded, therefore scourged.

From Lines 1, 13 and 14 we can see that Bel was bounded/caused to perish by the gods.

From Lines 20 and 21 we can read that a malefactor (criminal) was slain alongside/at the same time as Bel.

From Lines 30 and 31 we can see that Bel’s garments and silver and gold and jewels were taken from him (from his body?).

From Line 23 we can read that because of Bel’s death the people of the city in which he was slain rioted.

From Line 32 we can read that there was a garment put upon Bel’s body and the body was put into a coffin.

From Line 14 we can read that Bel was forced to descend into a lower world.

From Line 11 we can read that Bel was buried in a grave and that a female went to his grave to seek him.

From Lines 3 and 38 we can read that Bel is (to be) resurrected.

From all this we can create a reasonable script that suggests that Bel was arrested, tried, judged, scourged, slain, a criminal (malefactor) was slain alongside him, the people in a nearby city rioted because of his death, his garments/etc. were taken from him, his body wrapped in a garment and put into a coffin which was put into a grave which was guarded by two men (twins), a woman (female, goddess) sought him at his grave, he was descended into the lower world, and he was resurrected.

From what is common knowledge of the Jesus myth of Christianity, we can make a reasonable judgment that there are enough parallels of the JC myth with the Bel myth that we can judge Christianity to be at least in part based upon the Bel myth.

When a newer myth contains much of an older myth and we find no physical evidence which can serve as conclusive proof of the truth of the older myth, then we have good reason to judge that both myths are equally likely to be false.

Judging that the JC myth is based, in part, upon the Bel myth, we can reasonably judge that the parts of the JC myth based upon the Bel myth are not original, and because we have no physical evidence that can serve as proof of the truth of the older Bel myth, then we have good reason to judge that both myths are likely to be false.

We therefore have good reason to judge that those parts of the JC myth that are parallels to the Bel myth are not true.

My grateful thanks to C. Walker of The British Museum for providing a photocopy of the text and translation from Langdon’s book.

[The end of my report.]

10/31/01: Update: the Bel myth inscribed on the Assyrian Bel Myth Tablet presents the parallels of an arrest, trial, judgment, scourging, execution, and resurrection of a god/godman which are the mythical elements found in both the Bel myth and the Jesus myth.

Here is a table summarizing the parallels from the Bel myth found on the Assyrian Bel Myth Tablet with the Jesus myth.
 

The Assyrian-Babylonian Bel Myth Parallels to the Christian Jesus Myth

The Assyrian-Babylonian Bel Myth	The Jesus Myth
1. The Arrest of Bel [In the Month of Nisan-- April]	1. The Arrest of Jesus [In the Month of April]
2. The Trial of Bel	2. The Trial of Jesus
3. A Priest/Judge Asks "What is his sin?"	3. Pilate Asks "What evil has he done?" [St. Matthew 27:23]
4. The Judgment Against Bel	4. The Judgment Against Jesus
5. Water Is Brought to the Building for the Washing of Hands	5. Pilate Washes His Hands [St. Matthew 27:24]
6. The Scourging of Bel	6. The Scourging of Jesus
7. A Criminal Condemned to Die with Bel Is Released	7. Criminals Are Condemned to Die with Jesus; Barrabas Is Released
8. Bel is Led Away to the Mount (a sacred grove on a hilltop) [See Note 1 below]	8. Jesus is Led Away to Golgotha (a hill called The Skull) [See Note 1 below]
9. Bel is Executed [Bel is "Bound/Caused to Perish"—Most likely Crucified]	9. Jesus is Executed/Crucified [See Note 2 below]
10. A Commotion: A Riot Begins in a Nearby City	10. A Commotion: An Earthquake, the Renting of the Veil of the Temple, The Dead Rise, and Walk and Talk with the Living
11. Bel's Clothes Are Taken Away	11. Jesus' Clothes Are Taken Away
12. A Burial Garment Is Put Onto Bel's Body	12. Jesus' Body Is Wrapped in a Burial Garment
13. Bel Is Taken to a Tomb	13. Jesus Is Taken to a Tomb
14. Bel Goes Down into a Mountain/Descends into the Underworld	14. Jesus Descends into Hell [See Note 3 below]
15. Women/Goddesses Seek Bel at the Tomb	15. Women Seek Jesus at the Tomb
16. Bel Is Resurrected	16. Jesus Is Resurrected

Note 1: In a reply on the SecWeb, ...

See http://www.infidels.org/electronic/forum/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=000601

See also http://www.infidels.org/electronic/forum/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=000879&p=2

... an individual who identifies himself as "Kosh" pointed out that both the Bel myth and the Jesus myth had a "HILL for the KILL"!!!

Note 2: What was the chronological sequence of the execution of Jesus?

The standard Christian Bible Mark/Matthew/Luke/John death of Jesus chronological sequence is thus: J is executed by crucifixion, in which (1) J is hung on a cross and (2) dies.

There are two passages in Acts which contradict this chronological sequence:

Acts 5:30: The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree [emphasis added].

Acts 10:39: And we were witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree [emphasis added]

Notice that the sequences in Acts is thus: (1) Jesus is slain/dies/is dead; (2) Jesus is hung upon a tree.

The sequence of execution/death by crucifixion is not the same as the sequence of execution/death by some unknown method and then being hung upon a tree.

Question: Why would anyone execute condemned man/woman and then hang the now dead body upon a tree or cross?

Answer: To publicly humilate the condemned man/woman (dogs were allowed to eat the corpses) and to serve notice of the consequences of their actions to other potential traitors/criminals/terrorists.

There is a serious Christian Bible contradiction herein.

The focus in this discussion is the chronological sequence contradictions.

If the writer(s) of Acts (said to be Luke, the same as in St. Luke?) simply intended to convey the sequence of execution by crucifixion, as found in the Mark/Matthew/Luke/John gospels, then why did they not give the correct sequence instead of the sequence of execution by some unknown means and then being hung upon a tree?

And if Luke wrote both St. Luke and Acts, then why did he contradict himself by writing the execution by crucifixion sequence in St. Luke and the execution then hanging upon a tree sequence in Acts?

Note 3: The descent of Jesus into Hell is specifically stated in The Apostle's Creed:
 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; henceforth he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. [Emphasis added.]

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

1 Peter 3:18:

“... being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.”

Acts 2:31:

“... his soul was not left in hell.”

John G. Jackson, in Christianity Before Christ [American Atheist Press, PO Box 2117, Austin, TX 78768-2117, 1985, pp. 43-46.], cites Gerald Massey in Ancient Egypt: Light of the World, Vol. II, p. 757 [London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1907], as providing information concerning the mythical elements of an annunciation, an immaculate conception, a virgin birth, and an adoration as presented as consecutive engravings on the inner walls of Temple of Luxor, in Luxor, Egypt, from the time of King Amenhotep III (1538-1501 B.C.).

The engravings are presented as four scenes in consecutive order describing the birth of the Egyptian god, Horus.

Citing Jackson citing Massey, we have the following four scenes:

1. The Annuncation

The god Thoth announces to a virgin, Isis, the impending birth of her son, Horus.

2. The Immaculate Conception

The god Kneph (Holy Ghost) and the goddess Hathor hold crosses, a cross being an Egyptian sign of life, to the head and nostrils of Isis and mystically impregnate her.

3. The Birth of the Child God

The mother, Isis, sits on a midwife's stool, and the newly born infant, Horus, is held by attendants.

4. The Adoration

The infant Horus receives homage from gods and Three Kings, the Magi, who offer him gifts.

Jackson cites Samuel Sharpe in Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity [London: J. R. Smith, 1879, p. 19.] thus:

       In this [set of engravings] we have the Annunciation, the Conception, the Birth, and [the] Adoration as described in the first
       and second chapter of Luke's Gospel ...

Critics should remember that the scenes described are literally carved in stone on the walls of the Temple at Luxor circa 1538-1501 BCE and stand as an original source of mythical elements of the Horus myth.

Here is a table presenting the Egyptian mythical element parallels to the Jesus mythical elements.
 

The Egyptian Horus Myth Parallels to the Christian Jesus Myth

The Egyptian Horus Myth	The Jesus Myth
1. The Annunciation of the Birth of Horus	1. The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus
2. The Immaculate Conception     [Impregnation of a Virgin by God(s)]	2. The Immaculate Conception     [Impregnation of a Virgin by God]
3. The Birth of Horus	3. The Birth of Jesus
4. The Adoration of Horus by Three Kings/Magi Bearing Gifts	4. The Adoration of Jesus by Three Kings/Magi Bearing Gifts

The Egyptian Horus myth mystical elements of annuncation, immaculate impregnation, birth, and adoration are similar to the mythical elements of the early life of Jesus found in the Jesus myth.

Jackson, in Christianity Before Christ, pp. 96-109, describes the Egyptian Horus myth as connected to the Egyptian Osiris myth:

The mythology and symbolism relative to Osiris and Horus is rather complicated ... In ancient Egypt the kings were gods; the living king was the Horus and the dead king was the Osiris.

Osiris, after his death, became a king in the underworld ... and from his dead body his successor, Horus, is conceived. But every dead king is Osiris and every living king Horus. Thus Osiris and Horus are really the same, Horus being the living form of Osiris, an Osiris the dead form of Horus. There is thus a succession of men who are killed, become gods, and are succeeded by their posthumous sons. ... (A. M. Hocart, Social Origins, London, Watts and Co., 1954, pp. 79-82.)

Again, critics should remember that the Osiris myth resurrection scenes described are literally carved in stone on the walls of the Temple of Osiris at Denderah and the Temple of Isis at Philae and stand as original sources of mythical elements of the Osiris myth.

We herein have an ancient Egyptian mythical element of a death and resurrection and a parallel to the death and resurrection mythical element in the Jesus myth.
 
 

The Egyptian Osiris Myth Parallels to the Christian Jesus Myth

1. Osiris is Killed (Death of Osiris)	1. Jesus is Killed (Death of Jesus)
2. Osiris is Resurrected	2. Jesus is Resurrected

Jackson, pp. 113-114, states that the English expert on Egyptology, Gerald Massey, listed in an appendix to his book, Ancient Egypt: Light of the World, 200 Egyptian parallels to the Jesus myth.

Jackson, p. 114, cites Albert Churchward, a follower of Massey, as offering the Egyptian Horus mythical element parallels to the Jesus myth contained in the following table:
 
 

The Egyptian Osiris Myth Parallels to the Christian Jesus Myth

1. Horus was the son of Seb, an earthly father	1. Jesus was the son of Joseph, an earthly father
2. Horus stayed with his mother until the age of twelve	2. Jesus stayed with his mother until the age of twelve
3. Between the ages of twelve to thirty there is no record of the life of Horus	3. Between the ages of twelve to thirty there is no record of the life of Jesus in the Gospels (Matthew/Mark/Luke/John/Acts)
4. At age thirty, Horus was baptized by Anup	4. At age thirty, Jesus was baptized by John
5. By his baptism Horus was transformed into the beloved and only begotten Son of the Father, the Holy Spirit, represented by a bird	5. By his baptism Jesus was transformed into the beloved and only begotten Son of the Father, the Holy Spirit, represented by a dove/bird

From a stone tablet discovered in Nineveh, Assyria, and dated 700 B.C., now housed in The British Museum, and referred to by British Museum officials as the Marduk's Ordeal Tablet (thanks to British Museum official Christopher Walker for this information and photocopies of translations by S. Langdon and S. A. Pallis of the Marduk's Ordeal Tablet), and by me as The Assyrian Bel Myth Tablet, we get a version of the Assyrian Babylonian Bel (Bel-Marduk or Marduk-Bel) myth in which the god Bel is arrested, tried, judged, scourged, executed, and resurrected and thus are similar to the mythical elements of the last days of the life of Jesus found in the Jesus myth.

Critics should remember that the mythical elements of the Bel-Marduk myth are literally carved in stone on Marduk's Ordeal Tablet/Assyrian Bel Myth Tablet which stands as an original source of mythical elements of the Bel-Marduk myth.

Here is a table presenting the combination of Egyptian and Assyrian/Babylonian myth parallels to the Christian Jesus myth.
 

The Egyptian Horus-Osiris/Assyrian-Babylonian Bel-Marduk Myth Parallels to the Christian Jesus Myth

The Egyptian Horus-Osiris Myth and The Assyrian-Babylonian Bel-Marduk Myth	The Jesus Myth
1. The Annunciation of the Birth of Horus	1. The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus
2. The Immaculate Conception/Impregnation of a Virgin by God(s)	2. The Immaculate Conception/Impregnation of a Virgin by God
3. The Birth of Horus	3. The Birth of Jesus
4. The Adoration of Horus by Three Kings/Magi Bearing Gifts	4. The Adoration of Jesus by Three Kings/Magi Bearing Gifts
5. Horus was the son of Seb, an earthly father	5. Jesus was the son of Joseph, an earthly father
6. Horus stayed with his mother until the age of twelve	6. Jesus stayed with his mother until the age of twelve
7. Between the ages of twelve to thirty there is no record of the life of Horus	7. Between the ages of twelve to thirty there is no record of the life of Jesus in the Gospels (Matthew/Mark/Luke/John/Acts)
8. At age thirty, Horus was baptized by Anup	8. At age thirty, Jesus was baptized by John
9. By his baptism Horus was transformed into the beloved and only begotten Son of the Father, the Holy Spirit, represented by a bird	9. By his baptism Jesus was transformed into the beloved and only begotten Son of the Father, the Holy Spirit, represented by a dove/bird
10. The Arrest of Bel	10. The Arrest of Jesus
11. The Trial of Bel	11. The Trial of Jesus
12. A Priest/Judge Asks "What is his sin?"	12. Pilate Asks "What evil has he done?" [St. Matthew 27:23]
13. The Judgment Against Bel	13. The Judgment Against Jesus
14. Water Is Brought to the Building for the Washing of Hands	14. Pilate Washes His Hands [St. Matthew 27:24]
15. The Scourging of Bel	15. The Scourging of Jesus
16. A Criminal Condemned to Die with Bel Is Released	16. Criminals Are Condemned to Die with Jesus; Barrabas Is Released
17. Bel is Led Away to the Mount (a sacred grove on a hilltop)	17. Jesus is Led Away to Golgotha (a hill called The Skull)
18. Bel is Executed [Bel is "Bound/Caused to Perish"—Most likely Crucified]-Osiris is Executed/Killed.	18. Jesus is Executed/Crucified
19. A Commotion: A Riot Begins in a Nearby City	19. A Commotion: An Earthquake, the Renting of the Veil of the Temple, The Dead Rise, and Walk and Talk with the Living
20. Bel's Clothes Are Taken Away	20. Jesus' Clothes Are Taken Away
21. A Burial Garment Is Put Onto Bel's Body	21. Jesus' Body Is Wrapped in a Burial Garment
22. Bel Is Taken to a Tomb	22. Jesus Is Taken to a Tomb
23. Bel Goes Down into a Mountain/into the Underworld	23. Jesus Descends into Hell (The Apostle's Creed)
24. Women/Goddesses Seek Bel at the Tomb	24. Women Seek Jesus at the Tomb
25. Bel Is Resurrected/Osiris is Resurrected	25. Jesus Is Resurrected

With this many parallels to the Jesus myth found in Egyptian/Assyrian-Babylonian myths—25 in all, the chances are excellent that the Jesus myth is a copycat Christ myth.