The phallic ‘Savior of the Worldʼ

hidden in the Vatican

In the first edition of my book The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story
Ever Sold (1999), I included a chapter entitled “The Bible, Sex and
Drugs” (275-295), at the end of which I provided a line drawing of a
bronze, rooster-headed bust with a phallus for a beak. Under the image, I
added the following caption:

Bronze sculpture hidden in the Vatican treasury of the Cock, symbol of

St. Peter. Inscription reads “Savior of the World.”

(Note that I do not say here or elsewhere that the bronze sculpture itself
is a symbol of St. Peter, but only the cock or rooster, as in the story of
Matthew 26T34, etc., in which Peter denies Christ three times before the
cock crows. In several places elsewhere in my book I provide the citation
for the cock/rooster being a symbol of St. Peter. I apologize for the
ambiguity, but I was not in error here, despite the constant attempts to
make me appear as such.)

After providing the image, I then cited it as coming from “Walker,

WDSSO,” a reference to Barbara G. Walkerʼs The Womanʼs Dictionary of
Symbols and Sacred Objects, included in my bibliography at the end of
the book.

Previous to this image (168), I had discussed this theme of the “peter” or
cock, with the esoteric and “vulgar” meaning:

“Peter” is not only “the rock” but also “the cock” or penis, as the word is
used as slang to this day. As Walker says, “The cock was also a symbol
of Saint Peter, whose name also meant a phallus or male principle (pater)
and a phallic pillar (petra). Therefore, the cockʼs image was often placed
atop church towers.”

The “Savior of the World” image appears in Walkerʼs book on p. 397,

where she remarks:

It is no coincidence that “cock” is slang for “penis.” The cock was a

phallic totem in Roman and medieval sculptures showing cocks somehow
transformed into, or supporting, human penises. Roman carvings of
disembodied phalli often gave them the legs or wings of cocks. Hidden in
the treasury of the Vatican is a bronze image of a cock with the head of a
penis on the torso of a man, the pedestal inscribed “The Savior of the
World.”

(There follows her quote cited in the paragraph above.)

Fabricated image or ‘celebrated bronzeʼ?

Over the years since The Christ Conspiracy was published, this image
has been the periodic focus of interest. Of late, in his new book Did Jesus
Exist?, Bart Ehrman has raised up this image in my book and appears to
be accusing me of fabricating it. Quoting me first, he comments:

“‘Peterʼ is not only ‘the rockʼ but also ‘the cock,ʼ or penis, as the word is
used as slang to this day.” Here Acharya shows (her own?) hand drawing
of a man with a rooster head but with a large erect penis instead of a
nose, with this description: “Bronze sculpture hidden in the Vatican
treasure [sic] of the Cock, symbol of St. Peter” (295). [There is no penis-
nosed statue of Peter the cock in the Vatican or anywhere else except in
books like this, which love to make things up.]

(The “treasure” typo is Ehrmanʼs, while the “sic” is mine. The other
comments in brackets and parentheses are Ehrmanʼs.)

In insinuating that I drew the image myself, Ehrman is indicating he did

not notice the citation under it in my book, clearly referring to Barbara
Walkerʼs work. He is further implying that I simply make things up, and he
is asserting with absolute certainty that no such bronze has existed in the
Vatican, essentially stating that I fabricated the entire story. Contrary to
these unseemly accusations, the facts are that I did not draw the image,
the source of which was cited, and that, according to several writers, the
image certainly is “hidden” in the Vatican, as I stated.

In The Womanʼs Dictionary (397), Walker cites the image as “Knight, pl.
2,” which, in her bibliography, refers to: Knight, Richard Payne. A
Discourse on the Worship of Priapus. New York: University Books, 1974.

Consulting an earlier edition of Knightʼs book (1865), we find a discussion

of the object in question (32):

…the celebrated bronze in the Vatican has the male organs of generation
placed upon the head of a cock, the emblem of the sun, supported by
the neck and shoulders of a man. In this composition they represented
the generative power of the Ερως [Eros], the Osiris, Mithras, or Bacchus,
whose centre is the sun. By the inscription on the pedestal, the attribute
thus personified, is styled The Saviour of the World…, a title always
venerable under whatever image it be presented.
Here Knight references the image as “Plate II. Fig. 3.” Turning to the back
of the book, around p. 263, we find the image (right), which is hand-
drawn because of its age, printed when photography was still not entirely
feasible for publishers.

On page 35, Knight mentions the “celebrated bronze” again:

…Oftentimes, however, these mixed figures had a peculiar and proper

meaning, like that of the Vatican Bronze…

Another source, Gordon Williams in A Dictionary of Sexual Language and

Imagery (258), comments about this artifact:
The relationship of cock and phallus is ancient. A bronze bust in the
Vatican Museum, bearing the Greek inscription “Redeemer of the World”
(Fuchs, Geschichte der Erotischen Kunst [Berlin 1908] fig. 103), is given
a cockʼs head, the nose or beak being an erect penis.

Doing our scholarly due diligence, we find the pertinent figure in Fuchs
on p. 133. Hot on the trail, we discover more information in Daniela
Erlachʼs Privatisierung der Triebe? (1994T203) about the “small bust
known as the Albani bronze, still housed in the Vaticanʼs secret
collection…” There, we read further: “Its plinth is inscribed ‘Saviour of the
Worldʼ in Greek, and it is possibly of Gnostic import.”

In another mention of the “notorious Albani bronze said to be held in the

Vatican Museum,” we learn that such Roman phallic representations are
called priapi gallinacei. (Jones, Malcolm, The Secret Middle Ages, 75) As
we can see, this bronze image is “celebrated” and “notorious,” which
means many scholars have written about it, also stating that it is
“housed” and “held” in the Vatican Museum.

Romanum Museum, 1692

Continuing the hunt, a discussion of this artifact can be found in a book

entitled Public Characters of 1803-1804 (127), which comments about
the “Savior of the World” inscription, written in Greek as ΣΩΤΗΡ
ΚΟΣΜΟΥ, a phrase used also to describe Jesus Christ:

That inscription is found upon an ancient Phallus, of a date of much more

remote antiquity than the birth of Christ. The account of this antiquity
may be seen at large in “De la Chausseeʼs Museum Romanum,” printed at
Rome, in folio, in 1692…

The late reverend and learned Dr. Middleton, in that valuable work
entitled “Germana quaedam antiquitatis eruditae monumenta, etc.” has
not scrupled to give the following short account of it…

Tracing the image to De la Chausseeʼs Romanum Museum, we discover a

description on page 125 of volume 1:
The author follows this discussion with another about the ancient author
Macrobius and his work concerning the various gods of the Roman
Empire and their solar nature.

The priapus gallinaceus

A description of the statue in Latin is also provided by Rev. Dr. Conyers

Middleton (The Miscellaneous Works of the Late Reverend and Learned
Conyers Middleton, 4T51):

Quod quidem illustrari quodammodo videtur a Symbolica quadam apud

Causæum Priapi effigie, cui Galli Gallinacei caput crista ornatum, rostri
vero loco, Fascinum ingens datur: cujusque in basi litteris Græcis
inscriptum legitur ΣΩΤΗΡ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ. Servator orbis. Quae omnia vir
doctus ita interpretatur: “Gallum scilicet, avem soli sacram esse;
solemque generatricis facultatis præsidem; pudendumque ideo virile
Gallinaceo capiti adjunctum denotare, quod a conjunctis solis Priapique
viribus, animalium genus omne procreatum et conservatum sit,
secundum physicum quoddam Aristotelis axioma, Homo hominem
general et Sol.”

Here Middleton describes the “priapus effigy” as a rooster with a head

crest and the inscription “Savior of the World” or Servator orbis in the
Latin. A “learned man” interprets the image as a cock, a bird sacred to
the sun, a symbol of fertility and generative power. We can see where the
term priapus gallinaceus comes from, as it refers to the erect member of
the god Priapus and the Latin word for “rooster” or “cock.” Therefore, we
are discussing an entire genre of artifacts, evidently dating to before the
common era and into it (Gnostic?); other such examples can be cited.

In The Image of Priapus (67), Giancarlo Carlobelli writes:

The “Soter cosmou” portrayed as the central figure appears to be an

example of what the classical scholars refer to as “Priapus gallinaceus”; it
may be a herm. The illustration had already appeared in De la Chausse…

Here we learn that scholars of classical antiquity have used this term,
priapus gallinaceus or “priapus cock.”

Continuing our search, we

find in Otto Augustus Wallʼs
Sex and Sex Worship (Phallic
Worship): A Scientific
Treatise on Sex (437) a
photograph of what appears
to be the original bronze
statue (or at least its twin).
Concerning this artifact, Wall
(438) states that “this
representation of a bronze
figure of Priapus…was found
in an ancient Greek temple…”

Hidden in the Vatican

In an article “Priapus
Gallinaceus: The Role of the
Cock in Fertility and Eroticism in Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages,”
(Studies in Iconography, Northern Kentucky University, 1981-82, vols. 7-
8, p. 94), after discussing this “Savior of the World” artifact Dr. Lorrayne
Baird comments:

This object was published under papal and royal authority, exhibited for a
time in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and is now said to be
held inaccessible in the secret collections of the Vatican. During the
public life of this bronze, officials disagreed upon the probity of the
exhibit. One offended cardinal requested that the object be removed…

Dr. Baird (95) further states that “the Vatican Saviour-as-Phallic-cock

was a scandalous satire on early Christians.” We are therefore justified in
bringing up this artifact and wondering why it would serve as “satire on
early Christians,” if not for the reasons stated here.

I obviously did not fabricate the image of this artifact, which has been
known in scholarly circles for over 300 years. Nor was my contention
erroneous that the figure is secreted in the Vatican, according to several
authors.

Nevertheless, Ehrman continues his imputation by concluding about my

book:

In short, if there is any conspiracy here, it is not on the part of the ancient
Christians who made up Jesus but on the part of modern authors who
make up stories about the ancient Christians and what they believed
about Jesus.

As we can see, everything in my book concerning this discussion is cited

and accurately represents the original commentary, as found in several
publications dating from the 17th century until the present era, reflecting
a tradition from antiquity. It is unfortunate when other scholars engage in
libelous accusation and gross misrepresentation, of which there are a
number of other instances in Ehrmanʼs book vis-à-vis my work.

See also my addendum: “The phallic ‘Savior of the Wordʼ in the Vatican
revisited.”

Further Reading

Over 80 Rebuttals to Bart Ehrmanʼs Anti-Mythicist Book ‘Did Jesus

Exist?ʼ
St. Peter being symbolized by the cock/rooster as a Christian Symbol
The Mythicist Position Video
Did George Washington and Thomas Jefferson Believe Jesus was a
Myth?
What is a Mythicist?
A Brief History of Mythicism
The Christ Myth Articles
Credentialism and the ‘No Serious Scholarʼ Fallacy
The Christ Conspiracy second edition
Jesusʼs Phallic Abs
Did Jesus Exist? forum thread
Religion and the Ph.D.: A Brief History
Dionysian phallus festival held in Athens for the first time in 2,000 years
Bart Ehrman errs again – this time about virgin births
Bart Ehrman: Gospels not written by eyewitnesses, no Jesus in historical
record
Bart Ehrman caught in libel and lies?
 Nathen April 2, 2012 at 11:06 pm

Cathlic Art
The rooster/Cocksings everyday and the Sunrises. So Jesusbeing Sun, the cock points at the sun rise ( around Jesus head).
This matchesthe story. The roosterwith cock head, lookslike a pointer. May bethey hadit so pointed to sun rise in ancienttime.
Muslimsfigure, the black stone,is mountedon the eastern comer of Kaabaand is pointing to moonrise, is shaped like a female
vulva. So again this symbols pointto moonrise.
Mary is mother Earth. The Sun wasbelieved to be born of MotherEarth everyday. So Mary is shown asa vulva orthe place of
birth.
The Goddessof water wasalso knownto give birth to Sun and the Moon, since the ancients saw theyrise from oceans.

Both Sunand the Moonwere thought to be pulled down onthe west bytheevil to the underground everyday. So motherearth
would give birth to them everydayandthe devil would pull them down to the west andbring darkness. So underground was
thoughtto be the devils place.
 Pray Hard March 23, 2012 at 3:03 pm

Oh, my...
I'm having sucha difficult time looking atthelittle rooster/weiner bronze and wondering whatsort of usesit could beputto in the Vatican!
:woohoo:
 MyticAquarius March 23, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Cock, Sun,Jesus
The Cock(Rooster)is a bird, so is heavenly because it has wings andalll birdsare thus ofthe sky and referenceandreflect Heaven. A cock
(Rooster)can not really fy, so is a reference to mankind whois like that, heavenly, but can notfly. The Roosteris extra useful as a reference
to God, Heaven, or man’s nature assingular and like the Sun, becauseit crowsatfirst sun light each day. The Cock (the Phallus)is sacred
becauseit, like the Sun references God,asoneoriginal existence, Peter, as the name ofthe ‘first’ Pope ‘Penis’is anotherreferencein the
same manner. ‘Oneness’itself reflected in and repeated in the Sun, so maleness,is close to God, reflective of God as oneness, the
principle of existence. Theseare all ancient concepts andall connectand repeat themselvesin redundantways.As religiousitems, theyare
at least meantto remind each (male) reverent to have respectfor andaspiration to be as the Sun,as the roosterandasthe principle of his,
owncock,a reflection of oneness, looking toward God.It is much harderto know,in an obvious way, how a femalereverent, in any given
paganorearly Christian temple would be advisedto interpret and personalize all this.
 March25, 2012 at 3:39 am
JH Chrestos

Elephantin the Room

Everyonesayit....Christianity was founded by gay men asa gay cult. When you add the Therapeutfactorinto the equationit becomes...
Christianity was foundedby high as a kite gay conmen asa gaycult for profit and control.

Sorry to be soflippantbutit sure looks that way.

 Ed-M March 27, 2012 at 2:56 am

Thefive pointed cross

As long as we're on the linesof ancient phalli, the “Saviour of the World” dildo and depiction ofthe crucified Christ's Abs as an extremely
well-endowedphallus(like that of Priapus), may | inform or remind you that the cross the Romansused (the[iJcrux{/i]) had a projecting seat
that supported the crucified by means of penetration. This is actually attested to by some of the ancient Nonchristian writers, and affirmed by
variouschurch ‘fathers’,either implicitly or,like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus andTertullian,explicitly.
Is it any wonderthat, whenconfrontedwith with the charge of Christians worshipping “a criminalandhis[iJcrux{/i], Minucius Felix in his
[i]Octavian{/i] 29 strenuously deniedit, saying it was“far from the neighbourhoodofthe truth"?
 Ghassan Mosharaf April 2, 2012 at 5:47 am

Muslim and Christians share Phalic symbols

It is interesting that Muslim's Black stone in Kaaba (Whichis their holiest sign) is shapedlike female Vulva and the Christian'sis like a male
Cock!

Maybeall Christians and Muslimsshall mate, and something good could comeoutofit!

Dear Popeplease send your regards to the Ayatoallah.

I hope theoffspring would not be the devil!

 You saw WHAT April 20, 2012 at 2:52 pm

Are yousure she’s a virgin?

Google“virgin mary, underpass Chicago”click on images,andyou'll seepictures of devout Catholics worshiping an image of a vagina on an
underpass in the Chicagoarea.
Somehow,they thinklooks like G-Zeus’s mom, butI'm thinking they only show.... well... only her doctor and Joseph should see these
images.

lll leaveit to you to LOL with your ownobservations