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Similarities Between Celts and Egyptians

The EGYPTIANS

The early EGYPTIANS were probably of Azilian-Tardenoisian stock, and their earliest form of mummification (rubbing red oxide of iron over the corpse) was identical to the that practised by the natives of Spain around 12,000 BC. Even the amulets found on Egyptian corpses were similar to ones found on the Spanish Aurignacians (ancestors of the Iberians), and both saw sea-shells as the symbol of life.

DRUIDISM

Druidism was probably of Iberian descent, with the colouring of the Celts emerging in later times.
The doctrine of transmigration of souls (Metempsychosis) - the idea of reincarnation into man and animal - was a major part of their religious outlook.

This idea is also present in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and Osiris is thought by some to be of Iberian, rather than Asiatic, origin. This would mean that the Egyptians and Celts share a common mythological ancestry.

Another indicator that the Celt stronghold of Wales may have carried on traditions of an Osiris-like god from Iberia is the find of an ancient burial site. The Cro-Magnon remains were covered by brick-red micaceous oxide of iron, just like the Aurignacians of Spain and France.

OSIRIS WORSHIP

The worship of Osiris pre-dates the Egyptian kings, and was said to be the son of the Divine Cow, Nut. The western Osiris cult joined with the Asiatic cults of Ra and Amen to become the major god. It is thought by many that the sky-goddess Nut (Hathor) was an import from the northern Mediterranean, as similar deities were worshipped in Spain, Gaul and Britain.

Parallels also have been drawn between Osiris and certain mythical figures from those areas, such as the Celtic deity Lug and the Scottish/Old English character John Barleycorn. The cycle of life and death of the barley plant depicted in the tale of John Barleycorn may be an echo of an Osiris-like figure from the past.
Lug was an all-efficient (or many-skilled) god, and some suspect that he may have been a solar god at an earlier stage. It is possible that he was a later version of the original Iberian god that was also taken to North Africa to become Osiris.

Another figure worth looking at is the legendary Arthur. It has long been theorised that Arthur is the remnant of an ancient Celtic god, one that may have sprung from the same source as Osiris.

Arthur was slain by his evil nephew Mordred, then taken by sisters in a barque to the Isle of Avalon in the Western Sea, to remain neither alive nor dead; Osiris was killed by his brother Set, then ferried in a barque to the rich western land Aalu by Isis and Nephthys.

It could also be that Horus, the son of Osiris, is a parallel to the resurrected Arthur. The Round Table can be seen as representative of the sun, and it is worth noting that both gathered comrades around them to exterminate evil monsters.

Both cultures believed in an island paradise in the west, as well as the existence of an ocean monster. This beast (known as Apep in Egypt, Etin in Scotland and Addane in Wales) could be symbolic of destructive waters.

Arthur’s Companions [origin of in British Celtic myth]

King Loth (Lothian) resembles Llud (Lug or Nud) 'of the Longarm' (Lamfhada), as well as Aten, the Egyptian god whom King Akhen-aten (Tut-ankh-amen’s father) introduced. Both were described as having very long arms - symbolic of the sun’s rays perhaps.

Sir Kay, the seneschal, seems representative of the British god Kai who could walk underwater with a torch in either hand (like Mayan god Itzamna [son of the Sun]).

Lancelot was brought up by the fairy Morgan le Fay, who could be a later version of the Irish goddess Morrigan, the raven, who resembles the Roman fatae (or fays).

Merlin may have something to do with the fact the ancient name of Stonehenge is Plas Myrddin - the Enclosure of Merlin.