The oldest of all that we know is the ancient Egyptian Trinity. The most important triad or great triad of Abydos consisted of Osiris, Isis and Horus. This triad was the most popular and revered in all of Egypt (the less significant Egyptian triads: Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefertum constituted the Memphis triad; Amon, Mut and Khonsu - the Theban one).
On the left icon sit (from left to right): Horus, Osiris, Isis. On the icon on the right, in the same order, are: Horus, Osiris and Hathor.
Many Egyptologists mistakenly consider Isis and Hathor to be different goddesses. In fact, Hathor is the same goddess Isis, but represented in the image of the Mother of God. The very name Hathor (KHAT-KHOR) translates as "House of Horus", and Horus, as you know, gave birth to Isis, and through the immaculate conception. You should pay attention to the fetish of Isis - the throne - standing on her head and similar to a stepped structure. It will be useful to us further.
In Ancient Egypt, there was also a canon of the image of the mother of Horus, Isis, holding the baby in her arms.
In the era traditionally considered Christian, this image has not lost its significance and was popular both in secular art ("Madonna and Child") and in the church icon painting canon.
The cult of the highest divine triad existed not only in Ancient Egypt - in neighboring kingdoms there are similar and most likely borrowed from Egypt cults. In Ugarit, the Trinity was known by the names Ilu, Asiratu, and their son Yammu (as well as Balu, Anatu, and Yarich). In Mesopotamia, Enki, Inanna and Dumuzi were revered on the one hand, and Enlil, Ninlil and their son Nannu (Sin), on the other.
The Trinity did not bypass Ancient Greece, although its cult was not as pronounced as in Ancient Egypt. However, in ancient Greek theology, ancient Egyptian roots are easily guessed. Hera, the most powerful goddess of Olympus, has her own brother, Zeus, as her husband, which is seen as a connotation with Isis and Osiris. Hera, by analogy with Isis, gives birth to the third god of the triad through the immaculate conception - Hephaestus (according to another version of Ares).
In Hinduism, the supreme divine triad - trimurti - is a single three-faced character uniting Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu.
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Thus, as is easy to see, one of the most important symbols of Christianity - the Trinity - has ancient roots and has come a long way until it acquired its traditional canonical form. The modern interpretation of the Trinity is based on the New Testament (the Gospel of John) and looks like this: God the Father is the creator of all things (visible and invisible), God the Son is eternally born from God the Father, God the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father. It is important to note that one of the central hypostases of the ancient divine triad, symbolizing the feminine principle, is supplanted in the Christian dogma of the Trinity by a rather vague concept of the Holy Spirit. In addition, in Christianity, two different ideas about the Trinity coexist - the "New Testament" with the "Old Testament". Quote from the Orthodox encyclopedia:
“Since the Christian tradition for centuries has insisted on the incomprehensibility of God the Father, the direct image of the Trinity appears in Byzantine and Old Russian art relatively late, in the 15th-16th centuries; it is preceded by symbolic images, among which the most common was the image of the Hospitality of Abraham (Appearance of three angels to Abraham Gen. XVIII, 1-16). The Orthodox tradition views this event as a revelation to Abraham of the triune God in an angelic image (as opposed to the Catholic one based on Augustine). This iconographic type reaches its utmost perfection in Andrei Rublev's Trinity, which embodied in the symbolic image of three angels all the possible completeness of dogmatic ideas about the tri-hypostatic God.
Curiously, the iconography of the Old Testament Trinity belongs to the canonical (that is, it strictly followed a certain set of rules), in contrast to the New Testament icon-painting subjects - "The New Testament Trinity" and "Fatherland". This circumstance provides an excellent opportunity to make a more or less accurate interpretation of the characters in the Old Testament Trinity.
The Orthodox encyclopedia does not explain who and what angels symbolize, and why suddenly the Creator appears in the form of three angels. However, there is a clear parallel with the New Testament, when the Magi arrived in Bethlehem on the occasion of the birth of Jesus. In the Old Testament, let me remind you, the angels appeared to bless Sarah for the birth of Isaac. Thus, along the way, the symbolic meaning of the New Testament appearance of the Magi is revealed - in their person was the Sabaoth himself, represented in the form of a triune God in the guise of the Magi (kings).
The appearance of the Star of Bethlehem can be explained by the connotation with ancient Egyptian sacred texts - the birth of Christ, whose prototype was Osiris, as in the case of Osiris, should be accompanied by the appearance of a star in the eastern sky, which was associated with the birth and ascent of Osiris into the Kingdom of Heaven. The Book of the Dead directly says: "Osiris is a star that appeared in the eastern sky."
Based on the ancient concepts of the Trinity, we can conclude that she personifies the concept of Father, Mother and Son. So in the Egyptian triad of gods, the role of the father belonged to Osiris - one of the most revered gods of Ancient Egypt. The mother was represented in the form of the goddess Isis and her incarnation under the name Hathor (House of Horus). She was revered as the wisest and most powerful goddess of the entire pantheon of gods; her status corresponds to the Christian Mother of God, who gave birth to a Son from an immaculate conception, - the third member of the triad - the solar god Horus.
The iconographic canon of the "Old Testament Trinity" (in which there were several traditions with slight variations) allows excluding illustrative pictures of biblical subjects or other icons that contradict dogma from consideration. For example (mosaic of the Church of San Vitale, 546-547, Ravenna, Italy):
Despite the definition of the Moscow Stoglava Cathedral “to paint icons from ancient images, as Greek painters wrote, and as St. Andrei Rublev”, there is some liberty of icon painters who allowed confusion of canons, for example, with the canon“Hospitality of Abraham”, and blurring of the spiritual meaning of the icon. It seems that behind this diversity are hidden milestones of a rather interesting church history, which, alas, have already been lost to us.
It is curious that the icon-painting tradition followed by Andrei Rublev (below on the left), generally speaking, essentially develops the biblical plot, filling it with a number of characteristic details. On the right is an icon of the 16th century with similar symbolism, although it has significant differences in terms of theological interpretation. In the future, we will restrict ourselves only to the task of interest to us of revealing the morphological essence of the Old Testament Trinity.
The situation is so obvious that icon painters often used the titles IC XC (right icon) above the middle angel. However, any sane person will notice the absurdity associated with the appearance of Jesus Christ before his own birth. The interpreters have to eliminate this absurdity by letting themselves into all the theological grave. If we proceed from the principle of the continuity of religious texts, attributes and symbolism, then no paradoxes arise, meaning by Christ his Egyptian forerunner Osiris.
Let's move on to considering the character sitting on the left. From the icons above, you can see that the left angel is associated with the construction of strange architecture. At first glance, it is difficult to understand what it is for and what it means in general. In the theological tradition, it is customary to characterize the left angel as follows: “Behind the left angel, the chambers rise - this is a symbol of God's economy … The left angel is dressed in a blue chiton and an ocher-colored hymantium. No Klava. Most likely the left Angel is the image of God the Father, for it is proper for the Father to bless the Only Begotten Son for the Sacrifice. He is meek and calm, emphasizes the active principle of His Hypostasis ..
Indeed, the left and center angels bow their heads towards each other, but this gesture does not fit with the traditional behavior of two men towards each other. In addition, the bright red hymantium (it faded in the icon of Andrei Rublev) speaks not in favor of God the Father. Red clothes traditionally have female symbolism, and most likely the left angel is a woman. After this assumption, the counter tilt of the heads of both angels already looks quite natural - after all, the Mother of God is represented in the image of the angel sitting on the left! Then it turns out that this is the mother of Jesus? Let us not, however, forget that here we are dealing with very ancient icon-painting symbols, which we managed to more or less adapt to the biblical text. Most likely, this icon is not connected with the Bible at all, therefore it is so ambiguous in interpretation. Its roots go back to the ancient Egyptian tradition of representing the divine triad.
Turning to her (the uppermost ancient Egyptian icon on the left), one can recall that the wife of Osiris, Isis, wore a characteristic fetish on her head - a throne in the form of a three-step structure. And in fact, on the 4 presented icons of the "Old Testament Trinity" on the head of the left angel there is a stepped building with an underlined abstract architecture that does not at all resemble "economy". It follows from this that the left angel is the wife of the central angel, who became the symbolic "successor" of the goddess Isis. Isis, in her maternal incarnation, Hathor (below left) was almost always depicted in a red sarafan. On the right is a fragment of a papyrus depicting Osiris in a naos with his wife Isis, who also appeared in a red robe.
It should be noted right away that this icon ("The Hospitality of Abraham") is not a canon one, which allows icon painters some freedom in using uncharacteristic symbolism. Apparently, when the artist depicted a structure with a gable roof over the left angel, it seemed to him sufficient for identification (after all, Sarah is in a red tunic) and presented the Mother of God in the image of the Queen of Heaven, allowing the blue color of her clothes.
It remains for us to consider the right angel, and, as usual, first of all we listen to the theologian: “Behind the right angel is a mountain - a symbol of spiritual ascent. … The Right Angel, with his head bowed and his palm down, seems to give a tacit consent to everything that takes place at the mysterious and incomprehensible Council of the Holy Trinity. The Right Angel is dressed in a blue chiton with a greenish clave and a green hymantium. The smooth, calm movement of the right Angel, robes of light green and blue colors, are similar to the “breath of subtle cold” in which the Holy Spirit appears. The Right Angel is the Holy Spirit."
The right angel - meekness and obedience itself - is the main conclusion that can be drawn from the above quote. The priest's allusions regarding the "Holy Spirit" seem completely far-fetched. But in this case it is necessary to enter the position of a person for whom there is no other Trinity, except the dogmatic one, and cannot be. If we continue our logic, then it suggests an obvious and natural answer: the right angel is the son of his parents sitting in front of him. Hence - the green color of himantium, symbolizing blossoming youth, and appropriate humility in the circle of elders. It remains to find out the symbolic meaning of the rocks hanging over it. And here we will again be helped by the great Egyptian triad, which includes a son - the solar god Horus, who was born in the form of a falcon. And falcons, as you know, nest in the highest places, and if there are mountains and rocks nearby,then they become their natural habitat.
On this, in fact, it is possible to end the investigation, during which it was possible to interpret all three angels of the Old Testament Trinity, the prototype of which was the main triad of the ancient Egyptian gods from Abydos. Subsequently, when the centers of religion began to move further and further from their historical homeland - Egypt - the semantic symbolism of the Trinity underwent a significant transformation, becoming practically unrecognizable. The New Testament Trinity turned out to be completely devoid of the feminine principle, although in some Christian teachings (heresies) it is argued that the Holy Spirit bears the feminine principle and should not be portrayed as a dove, but as a turtle dove. Alexander Vladimirov in his book “Qumran and Christ” writes about this: “in all Gnostic and apocryphal early Christian works, the Holy Spirit in the indicated Trinity acts as a feminine principle, giving birth to the Son. Theologians of the Church … clearly found it difficult to explain the marriage combination of the Mother of God Mary with the Holy Spirit, or Ruach, which is also feminine in Hebrew. I would also like to draw your attention to a very curious aspect concerning color symbolism. With the left angel - the Mother of God - we figured it out - it is symbolized by the red color, which has become traditionally female. The color symbolism of the right angel - Horus - in addition to green, also implies blue. Blue is the color of the sky in which it soars, the blue crown (khepresh) is the everyday crown of the Pharaoh Horus. With the left angel - the Mother of God - we figured it out - it is symbolized by the red color, which has become traditionally female. The color symbolism of the right angel - Horus - in addition to green, also implies blue. Blue is the color of the sky in which it soars, the blue crown (khepresh) is the everyday crown of the Pharaoh Horus. With the left angel - the Mother of God - we figured it out - it is symbolized by the red color, which has become traditionally female. The color symbolism of the right angel - Horus - in addition to green, also implies blue. Blue is the color of the sky in which it soars, the blue crown (khepresh) is the everyday crown of the Pharaoh Horus.
The situation with the central angel dressed in red and blue clothes is much more complicated. Color dualism corresponds to its double essence - earthly and heavenly (divine), but here it is easy to fall into error and make a mistake. In fact, the true (sacred) color of the robe of Christ-Osiris is white. No options. The color of the crown of the Pharaoh-Osiris (hedget) is white, the mummy of Osiris is white, the clothes of Jesus Christ at the climax:
"His garments became shining, very white, like snow, as on the ground the whitener cannot whiten it."
"But Herod and his soldiers, humiliating Him and laughing at Him, dressed Him in a light garment and sent Him back to Pilate."
As you can see, Jesus made his last journey in white clothes. Thus, the Old Testament Trinity forms the following color combination (from left to right):
RED - WHITE - GREEN (BLUE).