ABSTRACT
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus into the world, not the birthing process per se – that is, not the mother's labor and the physical exit from her body. That would be inappropriate in most cultural contexts. If Mary is performing some maternal function in this context, it is usually the breastfeeding of her child. Images of Mary breastfeeding the Christ child constitute a category that transcends historical, ethnic, national, denominational, and linguistic boundaries. This brings us to the more general problem of categorizing images of Mary with the Christ child. Of course, the majority of such images do not involve breastfeeding at all. Cyril's assertion about the divine nursing couple is not merely a statement about the great promise or potential that the child Jesus will eventually bring to fruition. Enthusiasm about the divine nursing couple in an Egyptian context reflects the strength of traditional beliefs there about the goddess Isis.
