I see there's one of those 'The Universe is Really Big' videos doing the rounds on

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

You may have a point here. Though 'east' could refer to somewhere a little closer, like Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia's more S than East compared to Palestine, isn't it? And what was the religion of pre-Islamic Iraq?

I suppose they could be Persian Zoroastrianism, and there are some similarities with Vedism as it stems from the Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition, but there are just too many similarities with Buddhism.

Once you look only at the words of Jeez himself (not any letters or whatever) and you imagine a hippy Buddhist trying to explain the religion in words of one syllable to a bunch of Classical era Jews, it sort of makes sense.

Eg turn the other cheek, not eye for an eye. Because we should do unto others etc.

[Ash]

Mesopotamia's more S than East compared to Palestine, isn't it? And what was the religion of pre-Islamic Iraq?

I suppose they could be Persian Zoroastrianism, and there are some similarities with Vedism as it stems from the Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition, but there are just too many similarities with Buddhism.

Once you look only at the words of Jeez himself (not any letters or whatever) and you imagine a hippy Buddhist trying to explain the religion in words of one syllable to a bunch of Classical era Jews, it sort of makes sense.

Eg turn the other cheek, not eye for an eye. Because we should do unto others etc.

No, due East really. Not sure what was happening at year zero but before that you had the Babylonians and Assyrians and Sumerians. Possibly Hittites. They were all quite smitey tbf, and were quite into the King-as-God number, like the Egyptians.

Hah! Eureka! King of the Jews, eh? QED