ringing true: knights templar and egyptian myth

As we've made our way through Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo, I'll admit, I haven't been the best about using the Internet to corroborate many of the supposed facts that have been important parts of the novel. But, after reading both chapters 52, which were based so completely on Egyptian myth and subsequent histories, I decided it was time to look up some of Reed's historical claims. Quick Wikipedia searches revealed a surprising amount of accuracy between the book and the historical truth.

First, PaPa LaBas' story about Osiris and Set lines up fairly well with something known as the Osiris myth, which underlies most of ancient Egyptian mythology. In it, Set (the Egyptian god of disorder and violence, who is also associated with the sun god Ra, and his sun, Aten/Aton) is jealous of his brother. The source of this jealousy is slightly different though, since in the traditional myth, it arises over a supposed affair between Osiris and Set's wife Nephthys, while in Reed's story, it comes out of a dislike for Osiris' beloved dancing. In the original myth, Set then throws Osiris into the Nile, drowns him, and cuts him up into pieces that are then spread throughout Egypt -- a story which is quite similar to Reed's. Next in the myth, cult centers for Osiris arise everywhere where the pieces of his corpse end up, and Mumbo Jumbo follows this narrative as well, having people begin to worship Osiris when they begin seeing him ("a backbone, or a toe or an arm") in the land after his death.

I also did a search on Atonism, and according to Wikipedia, Amenhotep IV is the founder of "Atenism," where the deified sun of Ra (Aten) became the focus of this monotheistic religion. The same Amenhotep is mentioned in Mumbo Jumbo, though only as someone who popularized a religion that Set created. Historically, Atenism was thought to have been crushed by the pharaoh Horemheb. Though, as we have seen in Reed's novel, the religion went underground and flourished in Western civilization.

Much later, the Knights Templar began to thrive in Europe's Middle Ages. This aspect of the novel (or parts of it), fell close to the historical narrative as well. King Philip IV of France, indeed went in debt to the Templar and forced the Pope Clement V to put them on trial. The members of the Templar were then accused of being "enemies of the faith." Like in Reed's story, they were burned at the stake, and their abrupt dissolution gave rise to the superstitions that surround the organization today, and those that Reed played with in his novel.

Though there were many similarities between the fact and the fiction, there are some clear deviations between Reed's story and that found in the history textbooks. There are no records of Osiris being a dancer, the Knights Templar didn't seem to be "filthy ruffians" who let the clothes "rot off their back," but are said to have been wealthy and powerful men wearing "pure white mantles," etc. I'm pretty sure these are details that Reed put in to create a narrative arc that would connect the different aspects of his story. They also paint certain characters and organizations as more sympathetic or less favorable, depending on how Reed felt he should depict African versus European culture. Nevertheless, the connections between Mumbo Jumbo and the historical record are striking, and in his novel, Reed creates an alternate history -- his own conspiracy theory -- which I think is pretty convincing, and definitely worth a closer look.

*** An after note: While researching the Osiris myth, I found that the ancient Egyptians, like many of the characters in Mumbo Jumbo, believed that "written words had the power to affect reality." This caused them to avoid writing about the specifics of Osiris' death, but reminded me of the way that Jes Grew had found its power in the Book of Thoth. Thus, it seems like this idea of a movement finding 'its Text' is another example of Reed drawing on historical beliefs.***