Attys, who was called the "Only Begotten Son" and "Saviour," was worshiped by the Phrygians (who were regarded as one of the oldest races of Asia Minor). He was represented by them as a man tied to a tree, at the foot of which was a lamb, and, without doubt, also as a man nailed to the tree, or stake, for we find Lactantius making this Apollo of Miletus ( anciently, the greatest and most flourishing city of Ionia, in Asia Minor) say that:

"He was a mortal according to the flesh; wise in miraculous works; but, being arrested by an armed force by command of the Chaldean judges, he suffered a death made bitter with nails and stakes."

In this god of the Phrygians, we again have the myth of the crucified Saviour of Paganism. By referring to Mrs. Jameson's "History of Our Lord in Art", or to illustrations in chapter xl. this work, it will be seen that a common mode of representing a crucifixion was that of a man, tied with cords by the hands and feet, to an upright beam or stake.

[ Doane, Thomas: Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions, p. 190-191 ]

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[ Berry, Gerald: Religions of the World, B&N, p.20 ]

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"There was the worship of Attis, a very popular religion which must have influenced the early Christians. Attis was the Good Shepherd, the son of Cybele, the great mother, or alternatively, of the Virgin Nana, who conceived him without union with mortal man, as in the story of the Virgin Mary...In Rome the festival of his death and resurrection was annually held from March 22nd to 25th; and the connection of this religion with Christianity is shown by the fact that in Phrygia, Gaul, Italy and other countries where Attis-worship was powerful, the Christians adopted the actual date, March 25th, as the anniversary of our Lord's Passion."