What did fish mean in ancient Egypt?

Fish signs spell many words. The tilapia, which shelters its young in its mouth, was a sign of rebirth.

What the sign shows: A Nile tilapia.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: Massey argues that when the spring equinox moved into Pisces the divine child was pictured as a fish, and he links this with the fish of the early Christians.
What scholars say now: Today the early Christian fish is usually explained by the Greek word ichthys, read as the initials of “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour”, rather than by the zodiac.
Where you see it today: The fish is still a Christian emblem, seen on cars and shop doors.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 316 times across the book. Book XII, p. 735: “The fish in Rome”; Book V, p. 276: “The fish-man who came to teach”; Book V, p. 283: “The fish’s mouth as door of life”.
Signs that look like it: Crocodile, Frog and Serpent of darkness. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “The vernal equinox was now in Pisces, and Horus, as type, was the fish instead of the lamb or ram.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book XII, p. 742)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Fish. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

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