The golden flesh of Egypt's gods.

Almost three thousand years ago, within the confines of a small mud-brick workshop, a metallurgist laboured tirelessly at his task.

With thick curls of kyphi incense smoke flooding the air, and under the flickering radiance of burning lanterns, the artisan and his apprentice worked long into the evening on a shining lump of metal that carried tremendous significance for his people.

The task was one of great importance because it was handed down to them by a divine being; a man whom the people of the land considered not only to be their ruler, but also a living god.

The divine one’s name was Heqakheperre Setepenre Shoshenq II—a name that in ancient Egyptian meant “the chosen one of Ra”. Shoshenq II was the third pharaoh of the twenty-second dynasty of Egypt, who in the year 886 B.C., had ruled over his kingdom for barely a year.

The pharaoh had ordered the metallurgist to fashion a statue of Amun-Ra; a god formed from the dyad of Amun, the creator of the universe, and Ra, he who was made of the sun, and responsible for the creation of light. And because of the import of who the statue depicted, the pharaoh bade the artisan to fashion the effigy out of the hallowed metal the Egyptians called nbw, or nebu.

In Egypt, nebu was believed to be indestructible, eternal, and of heavenly origin.

Ra was said to be made of nebu, which was what produced the sun’s golden radiance. And all the gods of the Great Ennead of Egypt—including Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Set, and sometimes Horus—were believed to be clad in nebu, giving it the name “flesh of the gods.”

To Shoshenq II, and to his people, nebu was sacred. And like almost all the pharaohs who preceded him, he would also take the metal to his grave.

Death comes for everyone. Even a god-king.

Less than a year after ordering the creation of the nebu statue, Shoshenq II would die due to septic—the result of a traumatic head wound. And in traditions passed down by his people for almost one thousand years, he was entombed with his face covered by a great death mask made of holy nebu, as well as alongside the statue he had commissioned a short time earlier.

History doesn’t remember the name of the metallurgist who fashioned the statue that accompanied the pharaoh into the afterlife. But his work has endured throughout the ages—the nebu idol can be found almost ten thousand kilometres away from where it was made, currently on display in Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Today, we no longer call Egypt’s sacred metal nebu. Instead, we know it as gold. And for the first time in over half a century, it’s once again being elevated to a position of economic reverence, by a country far to the north of ancient Egypt.

Since invading Ukraine, Russia has been the target of some of the most severe economic sanctions in history.

Currency restrictions. A ban on oil and gas exports. The exit of literally hundreds of multinational countries from the Russian market. And the seizure of billions of dollars in personal assets from oligarchs, their families, and friends.

As a side note, I personally don’t believe that sanctioning individual citizens of Russia is a good idea, especially those who can’t be proven to have anything to do with Putin’s war. I think it sets a terrible precedent, and could be the start of a slippery slope to legitimising the seizure of basically anyone’s personal property, for any arbitrary reason a government wants.

But I digress.

The sanctions placed on Russia thus far have resulted in a serious erosion of the value of the ruble. Just a week after the invasion, over 20% of the ruble’s worth had been wiped out.

The ruble, it seems, is dying.

Or is it?

Because today, as I write this, the ruble is actually more valuable than it was before the war in Ukraine started. And for the past week, it’s continued on an upward trend, strengthening despite just about everyone’s predictions to the contrary.

Is the ruble rising because sanctions are easing? No. In fact, they’re only getting worse.

So how is it possible that it’s getting stronger? Well partially, the answer lies in gold.

Although gold has been used as a means of exchange for thousands of years, for the last half-century of human history, we’ve shunned it in place of much less valuable paper money.

The U.S. dollar was the last global currency connected to the sacred stability of gold. But since Nixon took it the gold standard in 1971, no nation’s money has been connected to the highly-prized yellow metal.

That is, until now.

To combat the brutal sanctions that have been foisted upon their nation, Russia has enacted measures to stem its financial bleeding. One of these has been to be the first country in over fifty years to link the ruble to the price of gold, by purchasing gold for a fixed per-gram price from its domestic banks.

In short, they’ve created a new gold standard. And it’s working.

The currency has stabilised, and the ruble is rising.

Gold isn’t the only reason for the correction of the ruble’s value, however. This is also in part due to the skyrocketing oil and gas prices that Russia is able to take advantage of, as well as the fact that Russian citizens are banned from offloading the currency.

But still, gold is playing a big part.

The thing is, Russia’s move to implement a gold standard probably won’t last. In fact, the move has openly been stated to be only temporary, with an end date already set for June 30th this year. However, it could very well be extended if the war doesn’t end, and Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty continues.

But here’s the big thing you should take away from all this:

Since this newsletter launched, I’ve been talking about how in a future scenario where we experience a severe economic crisis, gold will once again be the stable means of exchange our governments will fall back on. Simply because it’s been a trusted form of trade for thousands of years, that everyone agrees has value.

As we speak, we’re seeing Russia fall back on the security of gold in real-time. In short, we’re being given proof that when times are tough, gold will once again be trusted over fiat money.

But Russia isn’t the only reason we should be paying attention to gold.

We’re seeing massive increases in housing prices, historic amounts of debt, rampant inflation, the devaluing of the USD, possible global food shortages, and a general lack of faith in fiat currencies: these are all signs that point to the possibility we could all be hit by some form of economic misery soon. And it’s likely a matter of when, rather than if.

There’s an economic storm brewing. And when it hits, people will increasingly turn to gold.

We’re already seeing it happen. Since the Russia-Ukraine crisis started, the price of gold has risen steadily. In fact, only a few weeks ago it breached $2,050 USD per oz, almost breaking its all-time record high.

In short, are you paying attention to the signs?

I believe if you care at all about your financial security, the time to start holding precious metals is now. Ideally, in the form of the time-tested duo of gold and silver.

And if you haven’t yet begun to build your horde, the good news is that it isn’t hard to do.

Go to your local coin store and secure a few coins. Invest a percentage of your monthly salary into metals, instead of keeping it in cash. Or put some of your savings in a secure vaulted service that makes it easy to buy and sell precious metal as you need to.

Whatever you decide to do, there’s no better time than the present.

To the ancient Egyptians, gold was sacred. And while it won’t bestow upon you the same golden-hued flesh that graced the gods they worshipped, it will grant you a form of economic armour that may enable you to withstand any currency crisis that comes your way.

Be your own golden god.

Leon Hill.
Co-founder, Abundantia.

P.S. – Recently, Sorelle and I launched the pre-sale of our upcoming freedom product, The Manual. For a limited time, you can pre-order it here at 30% off. But this massive pre-order discount will end soon; join us today.

P.P.S. – We’ve mentioned this before, though if you are a European resident and are looking for a secure vaulted service to store your metals, we personally use Gold Avenue. We’re a big fan of their service, reliability, and ease of use.