When roughly classed, the myths and legends generally show two points of departure for migrations of the human race, as these were rendered in the stellar and solar mythology. One is from the summit of the celestial mount, the other from the hollow underworld beneath the mount or inside the earth. The races that descended from the mount were people of the pole whose starting-point in reckoning time was from one or other station of the pole-star, determinable by its type, whether as the tree, the rock, or other image of a first point of departure. Those who ascended from the nether-world were of the solar race who came into existence with the sun as it is represented in the legendary lore... --from "The Exodus from Egypt and the Desert of Amenta" 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 8 of Ancient Egypt, in which Massey roots the story of the Hebrew exodus deep in Egyptian legend. From wilderness deserts and promised lands of plenty to magical rods and twelve tribes, Massey explains how the Hebrew tale descended from the story of Ra. 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.