So ancient was Totemism in Egypt that the Totems of the human Mothers had become the signs of Goddesses, in whom the head of the beast was blended with the figure of the human female. The Totems of the human Mothers had attained the highest status as Totems of a Motherhood that was held to be divine, the Motherhood in Nature which was elemental in its origin. --from "Totemism, Tattoo and Fetishism as Forms of Sign Language" It goes unappreciated by modern Egyptologists, but it is embraced by those who savor the concept of a "hidden history" of humanity, and those who approach all human knowledge from the perspective of the esoteric. Gerard Massey's massive Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World--first published in 1907 and the crowning achievement of the self-taught scholar--redefines the roots of Christianity via Egypt, proposing that Egyptian mythology was the basis for Jewish and Christian beliefs. Here, Cosimo proudly presents Book 2 of Ancient Egypt, in which Massey reads the prehistoric story of human civilization that can be studied in the language of ceremonial rites, ancient customs, and ritual dance, and consequently explores the resultant concept that religion evolved out of expressions of human fertility and sexuality--particularly as embodied in the primeval symbols of blood, sacrifice, and motherhood--and formed the first influences on Judeo-Christianity. Peculiar and profound, this work will intrigue and delight readers of history, religion, and mythology. British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including A Book of the Beginnings and The Natural Genesis.