One ancient name for Osiris was Asar. The Egyptians regularly expressed their reverence by placing the definitive article "the" before the names of their gods. Just as Christians say, or should say "The Christ", the Egyptians said "The Osiris", but that was the equivalent of saying "Lord Osiris". When the Hebrews took up the name of the Osiris, or Lord Osiris, they used the Herbew word for lord, "el-" hence El-Asar. Later on, the Romans, speaking Latin, of course, took El-Asar and added the "us" ending use for most male names. The result was El-Asar-us. In time, the initial "e" wore off, as linguists describe it, and the "s" in Asar changed to "z", its constant companion in language. Thus, we have Lazarus.

In Hebrew we know there was no J either, so Jesus was originally spelled Yeshua. But the "ua" ending in Yeshua's name, when transliterated into Greek, is feminine singular, which dosen't present a male savior. What most people do not understand is that the "us" ending to Jesus's name was set up to denote male gender. The "ous" and the "us" ending in the Greek name is Iesous and the Latin name Iesus also denotes the masculine singular. Where did the name Jesus originate? Simply put, it was derived from the Latin Ieusus, which was derived from the Greek Iesous, which in turn was derived from the Egyptian Iusa. "Jesus" had Egyptian roots.


* The Egyptian goddess Isis came closer to becoming the central deity of a worldwide religion than any other traditional god or goddess of the ancient Mediterranean world. In Christianity, Jesus' mother Mary was credited with many of the beneficent qualities of Isis , particularly mercy and the special intercessory role for those who were her devotees.


* The chief god of the Syro-Palestinian pantheon was 'El. In time, his name became the generic word for any god. Many biblical names reflect this change, such as Michael, which in Hebrew means, "who is like God."


* Roman imperial soldiers were especially devoted to the god Mithras, who was born on December 25, the same date that later tradition assigned to the birth of Jesus. According to some accounts, Mithras was also born in the presence of shepherds.


* Perhaps the best-known example of cross-cultural influence among ancient religions is the account of the universal flood, which appears in the celebrated story of Noah in the Hebrew Bible, and also in Mesopotamian and Greek versions. Notably, in all these accounts, the survivors' first impulse after making landfall is to offer worship.