Egyptian Mythology

Osiris

Egypt gods & goddesses

Osiris

Osiris (Asir) was the first son of Geb and Nut and the brother of Set, Horus (the elder), Isis and Nephthys. He was one of the most prominent gods of the Heliopolitan Ennead, but his worship pre-dated the development of this fairly complex philosophy. Although Atum was installed as the head of the Ennead by the priests of Heliopolis, Osiris was considered to be the king of the underworld, and is the only deity who is referred to simply as "god". This gives us some indication of his prominence and popularity.

The oldest religious texts known to us refer to him as the great god of the dead, who once possessed human form and lived upon earth. After his murder by Set he became the king of the underworld and presided over the judgment of dead souls. In order to enter his kingdom, the deceased had to undertake a perilous journey (aided by spells and amulets) to the hall of judgment where their heart was balanced against the feather of Ma'at (justice or balance). It is important to distinguish this from the Christian view of judgment. The ancient Egyptians were a pragmatic people. A person was not expected to be perfect, just balanced. An example of this is the "negative confession" (in which the deceased listed all of the evil things he had not done during his lifetime, i.e. "I never murdered anyone") which indicates that it was more a case of convincing Osiris that you deserved admission rather than passively awaiting judgment.

As Osiris had been a good and beneficent ruler during his lifetime, his presence in the underworld no doubt gave the people great comfort. Furthermore, the only barriers to entrance were those relating to the journey to the hall of judgment and the preservation of the body (in which the Ba resided) and your name. The spells needed to pass through Duat (the underworld) were described in great detail in the pyramid and coffin texts, "the book of coming forth by day" (also known as "the book of the dead") and the "book of gates". A decent burial combined with these spells pretty much guaranteed you would be welcomed into a blissful existence which bore a striking similarity to the ancient Egyptian's everyday life (shorn of any problems

Osiris was also a god of agriculture. This may seem rather strange as he was dead, and technically infertile. However, it actually makes a lot of sense when you consider the death and rebirth inherent in the agricultural cycle of planting and harvesting grain. Every harvest, the god was symbolically killed and his body broken on the threshing room floor, but after the inundation life would return to the land and the crops would grow again. Legend held that the ancient Egyptians had been cannibals until Osiris developed agriculture and he and Isis persuaded them to cease that unpleasant habit. There is no evidence that the ancient peoples were in fact cannibals, but the myth underlined the notion that Osiris brought order from chaos and established the culture which formed the basis of their successful and durable civilisation.

Osiris was usually depicted as a mummified king, complete with the ceremonial (curved) beard, crown, flail, and crozier. His skin is generally green or black, to represent the fact that he is dead. He usually wears the white crown of Upper Egypt (the south) or the Atef crown (the white crown with a plume of feathers on each side and a disc at the top). The feathers on the Atef crown are thought to represent Djedu (Busiris), the cult center of Osiris.

His kind smile confirms that he is not a deity to be feared. In fact, Osiris represented the Egyptian belief in rebirth and their feeling that order and justice persevered beyond the grave. "Corn mummies" made of seeded dirt were molded to represent Osiris and interred with the deceased. They would germinate in the darkness of the tomb and illustrate the concept of life from death. Some fine examples made of barley and emmer were found in Tutankhamen's tomb.

During the fourth month of the season of Akhet (emergence) a number of festivals were celebrated at all the chief sanctuaries of Osiris in Egypt, to commemorate the events of Osiris' life, death, and rebirth. Spectators took part in the "passion plays" and everyone seems to have had a great time. The many festivals are recorded on a stele established by Ikhernofret (a prince who acted as Senusert III's chief treasurer).

The many names and forms of Osiris

Osiris is the Greek form of his name. He was known to the Egyptians as Asir (sometimes transliterated as Wsir or Asar). The earliest form of his name used hieroglyphs for "throne" and "eye" leading some to infer that his name means "he sees the throne". It is also possible that the second hieroglyph refers to the great "eye of heaven", Ra. The throne or seat, is the first sign in the name of Aset (Isis), who is the female counterpart (wife and sister) of Osiris. In the late period Osiris was known as Un-nefer, from "un" (to open, to appear, to make manifest) and "neferu" (good things or beauty). He had too many epithets to mention, party because he adopted many of those originally possessed by other local gods whose attributes he assumed over time.

In Memphis, Ptah-Sokar was the result of the combination of Ptah (the creator god of Memphis) and Sokar (or Seker), a local falcon god who protected tombs and was the patron of the workers who built them). As a god of re-incarnation, Ptah-Sokar became identified with Osiris, becoming Ptah-Sokar-Asir. This deity represented the sun during its journey through the underworld before it was reborn at dawn.

Osiris also managed to absorb many other deities, making his worship (in one form or another) a constant feature all over Egypt. He was most closely associated with Andjety, Sahu, Khentiamentiu, Sepa, Banebdjed, Wepwawet, Serapis and Anhur in his form as Ari-hes-nefer (also given as Arensnuphis, Arsnuphis, Harensnuphis) and both the Apis and Buchis bulls.