Ancient Egypt - A History of Myth, Religion, and Architecture
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The title of Amidst the Gods is a reference to the Christian belief that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and that Mary and Joseph were born in Nazareth. This was then changed in history when Joseph was told that Jesus had been born in Nazareth. The Romans had many difficulties with the religion, mainly because of its rejection of the Roman state religion as a way of life. Despite this, they also did not like the fact that Jesus was crucified, which prompted him to write his gospel in Greek, rather than speaking in Hebrew. Because of this, the name "Amidst the Gods" was given to the place where his last gospel was written. According to popular folklore, this was because the daughter of King Herod was in search of the baby Jesus, who was born in Nazareth and had been hid there for three years.
The sun and moon to mark the eastern sky and the zodiac signs, while the Milky Way marks the western sky and is perpendicular to the sun. The location of the Milky Way along the ecliptic is the reason that the name "Ameno," means "the dawn." The western sky is generally referred to as "Nimbus," and the southern sky as "Cetus." The Milky Way has never been exactly aligned, but changes by degrees each year, as the moon takes about four days to move through the skies.
The book's name, Amidst the Gods, is taken from the Christian New Testament Book of Acts, in which among other things, Jesus was said to have been born among the children of Amidst the Gods. Some believe that the name actually meant "Amen to the Gods," or perhaps "Amen to the Man of Faith." The concept of Amidst was taken from the Egyptians, who believed that the sun moved across the sky at a fixed speed, just as the sun did around the earth. This was why they used the symbol of an eye to signify the sun. The British English translation literally translates to "beside the sun."
