There was something supernatural in her power of bringing forth
a living specimen of the race, and in all cults the maternal woman
occupied a very important position. Had Christianity suddenly destroyed
this ancient and natural need? We know that the Church had assimilated a
great number of antique superstitions; nor were the female deities
sacrificed. The great Asiatic Mothers had not been forgotten; the very
ancient Babylonian Istar (Astarte), Rhea Kybele of Asia Minor, and above
all the Egyptian Isis, still lived in the heart of man,--subconsciously,
probably--as lofty, sacred memories, but nevertheless influencing his
life. The Egyptian Isis with Horus in her lap is the direct model of the
Madonna with the Child. She represented earth, bringing forth fruit
without fertilisation. "This religious custom (the worship of Isis),"
says Flinders Petrie, "exerted a powerful influence on nascent
Christianity. It is not too much to say that without the Egyptians we
should have had no Madonna in our creed.
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