To browse Academia. Clement wrote, Tertullian an early Latin Church Father again used the example of the phoenix in connection with resurrection.
The story also featured in another piece of writing that appeared about the same time: the Physiologus, a Greek work that described real and mythical animals and outlined their allegorical significance for the developing Christian orthodoxy. Its author added a new detail to the phoenix storyβthat the bird died and returned to life after three days. Writing a little later, another early Church Father, Origen, also thought the pagan mythological bird might be real see Contra Celsum 4.
Other aspects of the pagan story have worked their way into Christian literature and iconography as well. In lieu of these beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, we find references to a mythical bird known as Bennu in their mythology.
Bennu has been depicted as a tall bird that resembles a stork or a heron. The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes Bennu as the heart and soul of Ra and the guide of the gods of the underworld.
This description shows the association of Bennu with sun-god. Moreover, in the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Bennu represents both, rising as well as setting sun.
