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Osiris (, from Egyptian '' wsjr'') was the
god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
of
fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...
, agriculture, the
afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...
, the dead,
resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...
, life, and vegetation in
ancient Egyptian religion Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of Polytheism, polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with Ancient Egyptian deities, many deities belie ...
. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned deity with a pharaoh's beard, partially
mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...
-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive
atef Atef () is the specific feathered white crown of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris. It combines the Hedjet, the white crown of Upper Egypt, with curly ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. The feathers are identified a ...
crown and holding a symbolic
crook and flail Crook is slang for criminal. Crook or Crooks may also refer to: Places Canada * Crooks Inlet, former name of Kangiqturjuaq, Nunavut England * Crook, County Durham, a town * Crook, Cumbria, a village and civil parish * Crook Hill, Derbys ...
. He was one of the first to be associated with the mummy wrap. When his brother
Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
cut him to pieces after killing him, with her sister
Nephthys Nephthys or Nebet-Het in ancient Egyptian () was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis ...
, Osiris' sister-wife,
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, searched Egypt to find each part of Osiris. She collected all but one – Osiris’s genitalia. She then wrapped his body up, enabling him to return to life. Osiris was widely worshipped until the
decline of ancient Egyptian religion The decline of ancient Egyptian religion is largely attributed to the spread of Christianity in Ancient Egypt, Egypt. Historical Christianity's strict monotheistic teachings did not allow the syncretism seen between ancient Egyptian religion an ...
during the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Osiris was at times considered the eldest son of the earth god
Geb Geb (, Egyptological pronunciation: ''Gebeb''), also known as Ceb (, ), was the Egyptian god of the Earth and a mythological member of the Ennead of Heliopolis. He could also be considered a father of snakes. It was believed in ancient Egypt ...
and the sky goddess
Nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed * Nut (food), a dry and edible fruit or seed, including but not limited to true nuts * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut, NUT or Nuts may also refer to: A ...
, as well as brother and husband of
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, and brother of
Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
,
Nephthys Nephthys or Nebet-Het in ancient Egyptian () was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis ...
, and
Horus the Elder Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and the sky. He was wors ...
, with Horus the Younger being considered his posthumously begotten son. Through
syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...
with
Iah IAH may refer to: * George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IATA code), an airport in Houston, Texas, United States * Iah, a god of the moon in ancient Egyptian religion * Iah (queen) Iah (also Yah, Jah or Aah = "Moon";Allen, James P. (2000). ' ...
, he was also a god of the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
. Osiris was the judge and lord of the dead and the
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
, the "Lord of Silence" and
Khenti-Amentiu Khenti-Amentiu, also Khentiamentiu, Khenti-Amenti, Kenti-Amentiu and many other spellings, is an ancient Egyptian deity whose name was also used as a title for Osiris and Anubis. The name means " Foremost of the Westerners" or "Chief of the Wester ...
, meaning "Foremost of the Westerners". In the
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...
(2686–2181 BC) the pharaoh was considered a son of the sun god Ra who, after his death, ascended to join Ra in the sky. After the spread of the Osiris cult, however, the kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death – as Osiris rose from the dead, they would unite with him and inherit eternal life through imitative magic. Through the hope of new life after death, Osiris began to be associated with the cycles in nature, in particular the sprouting of vegetation and annual flooding of the
Nile River The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...
, as well as the
heliacal rising The heliacal rising ( ) of a star or a planet occurs annually when it becomes visible above the eastern horizon at dawn just before sunrise (thus becoming "the Morning Star (disambiguation)#Astronomy, morning star"). A heliacal rising marks the ti ...
of
Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...
and
Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated  Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...
at the start of the new year. He became the sovereign that granted all life, "He Who is Permanently Benign and Youthful". The first evidence of the worship of Osiris is from the middle of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt (25th century BC), though it is likely he was worshiped much earlier; the Khenti-Amentiu epithet dates to at least the First Dynasty, and was used as a pharaonic title. Most information available on the
Osiris myth The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt, and its consequences. Osiris's murderer, his brother Set, usurps his throne. Meanwhile, ...
is derived from allusions in the
Pyramid Texts The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterranea ...
at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, later
New Kingdom New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
source documents such as the
Shabaka Stone The Shabaka Stone, sometimes Shabaqo, is a relic incised with an ancient Egyptian religious text, which dates from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. In later years, the stone was likely used as a millstone, which damaged the hieroglyphs. This ...
and " The Contendings of Horus and Seth", and much later, in the narratives of Greek authors including
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
and
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (;  1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...
. Some Egyptologists believe the Osiris mythos may have originated in a former living ruler — possibly a shepherd who lived in Predynastic times (5500–3100 BC) in the
Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...
, whose beneficial rule led to him being revered as a god. The accoutrements of the shepherd, the crook and the flail – once insignia of the Delta god
Andjety Andjety (meaning "He of Andjet") is a local ancient Egyptian deity of the ninth nome, centered at Andjet, which was known as Busiris to the Greeks. This deity is also known by the alternative names Anezti ''or'' Anedjti. Andjety is considered o ...
, with whom Osiris was associated – support this theory.


Etymology of the name

''Osiris'' is a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...
of the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
, which in turn is the Greek adaptation of the original name in the
Egyptian language The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world ...
. In
Egyptian hieroglyphs Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined Ideogram, ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct char ...
the name appears as '' wsjr'', which some
Egyptologists This is a partial list of Egyptologists. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. Demotists are Egyptologists who speciali ...
instead choose to transliterate as ''ꜣsjr'' or ''jsjrj''. Since hieroglyphic writing lacks
vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...
s, Egyptologists have vocalized the name in various ways, such as Asar, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, or Usire. Several proposals have been made for the etymology and meaning of the original name; as Egyptologist Mark J. Smith notes, none are fully convincing. Most take ''wsjr'' as the accepted transliteration, following
Adolf Erman Johann Peter Adolf Erman (; 31 October 185426 June 1937) was a German Egyptologist and lexicographer. Education Born in Berlin, he was the son of the physicist Georg Adolf Erman and grandson of the physicist Paul Erman and the astronomer Frie ...
: *
John Gwyn Griffiths John Gwyn Griffiths (7 December 1911 – 15 June 2004) was a Welsh poet, egyptologist and nationalist political activist who spent the largest span of his career lecturing at Swansea University. Early life Born in 1911 in Porth in the Rhondd ...
(1980), "bearing in mind Erman's emphasis on the fact that the name must begin with an ic''w''", proposes a derivation from '' wsr'' with an original meaning of "The Mighty One". *
Kurt Sethe Kurt Heinrich Sethe (30 September 1869 – 6 July 1934) was a German Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman. Sethe collected numerous texts from Egypt during his visits there and edited the '' Urkunden de ...
(1930) proposes a compound '' st- jrt'', meaning "seat of the eye", in a hypothetical earlier form ''*wst-jrt''; this is rejected by Griffiths on phonetic grounds. * David Lorton (1985) takes up this same compound but explains ''st-jrt'' as signifying "product, something made", Osiris representing the product of the ritual mummification process. *
Wolfhart Westendorf Wolfhart Westendorf (18 September 1924 – 23 February 2018) was a German Egyptologist. He was a student of Hermann Grapow, and with him, was a co-author of the ''Grundriss der Medizin der alten Ägypter'' (''Plan of Medicine of the Ancient ...
(1987) proposes an etymology from '' wꜣst- jrt'' "she who bears the eye". * Mark J. Smith (2017) makes no definitive proposals but asserts that the second element must be a form of '' jrj'' ("to do, make") (rather than '' jrt'' ("eye")). However, recently alternative transliterations have been proposed: * Yoshi Muchiki (1990) reexamines Erman's evidence that the throne hieroglyph in the word is to be read ''ws'' and finds it unconvincing, suggesting instead that the name should be read ''ꜣsjr'' on the basis of Aramaic, Phoenician, and Old South Arabian transcriptions, readings of the throne sign in other words, and comparison with '' ꜣst'' ("Isis"). *
James P. Allen James, Jim, or Jimmy Allen may refer to: Academics * James Allen (educator) (1683–1746), English educationalist * James F. Allen (computer scientist) (born 1950), professor of computer science * James Peter Allen (born 1945), Egyptologist * ...
(2000) reads the word as '' jsjrt'' but revises the reading (2013) to '' jsjrj'' and derives it from '' js- jrj'', meaning "engendering (male) principle".


Appearance

Osiris is represented in his most developed form of iconography wearing the ''
Atef Atef () is the specific feathered white crown of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris. It combines the Hedjet, the white crown of Upper Egypt, with curly ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. The feathers are identified a ...
'' crown, which is similar to the
White crown Hedjet () is the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, to form the Pschent, the double crown of Egypt. The symbol sometimes used for ...
of
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
, but with the addition of two curling ostrich feathers at each side. He also carries the
crook and flail Crook is slang for criminal. Crook or Crooks may also refer to: Places Canada * Crooks Inlet, former name of Kangiqturjuaq, Nunavut England * Crook, County Durham, a town * Crook, Cumbria, a village and civil parish * Crook Hill, Derbys ...
. The crook is thought to represent Osiris as a shepherd god. The symbolism of the flail is more uncertain with shepherd's whip, fly-whisk, or association with the god Andjety of the ninth
nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...
of
Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...
proposed.The Oxford Guide: Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology, Edited by Donald B. Redford, pp. 302–307, Berkley, 2003, He was commonly depicted as a
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
with a complexion of either green (the color of rebirth) or black (alluding to the fertility of the Nile floodplain) in mummiform (wearing the trappings of mummification from chest downward)."How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs", Mark Collier & Bill Manley, British Museum Press, p. 42, 1998,


Early mythology

The Pyramid Texts describe early conceptions of an afterlife in terms of eternal travelling with the sun god amongst the stars. Amongst these mortuary texts, at the beginning of the
Fourth Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to c. 2498 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with othe ...
, is found: ''"An offering the king gives and
Anubis Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine hea ...
"''. By the end of the Fifth Dynasty, the formula in all tombs becomes "''An offering the king gives and Osiris''".


Father of Horus

Osiris is the mythological father of the god
Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...
, whose conception is described in the
Osiris myth The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt, and its consequences. Osiris's murderer, his brother Set, usurps his throne. Meanwhile, ...
(a central myth in ancient Egyptian belief). The myth describes Osiris as having been killed by his brother
Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
, who wanted Osiris' throne. His wife,
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, finds the body of Osiris and hides it in the reeds where it is found and dismembered by Set. Isis retrieves and joins the fragmented pieces of Osiris, then briefly revives him by use of magic. This spell gives her time to become pregnant by Osiris. Isis later gives birth to Horus. Since Horus was born after Osiris' resurrection, Horus became thought of as a representation of new beginnings and the vanquisher of the usurper Set. ''Ptah-Seker'' (who resulted from the identification of the creator god
Ptah Ptah ( ; , ; ; ; ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god, and a patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertem. He was also regarded as the father of the ...
with
Seker Seker may refer to: *Sokar, a falcon god in Egyptian mythology *Şeker, a Turkish name See also

*Şəkər (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...
) thus gradually became identified with Osiris, the two becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris. As the sun was thought to spend the night in the underworld, and was subsequently "reborn" every morning, Ptah-Seker-Osiris was identified as king of the
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
, god of the
afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...
, life, death, and regeneration. Osiris also has the aspect and form of Seker-Osiris.


Ram god

Osiris' soul, or rather his '' ba'', was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were a distinct god, especially in the
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
city of
Mendes Mendes (, ''Genitive case, gen''.: ), the Greek language, Greek name of the ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in ancient Egypt as Per (hieroglyph), Per-Banebdjedet ("The Domain of the Ram Lord of Djedet") and Anpet, is known today as Te ...
. This aspect of Osiris was referred to as ''
Banebdjedet Banebdjedet also spelled Banebdjed is an Ancient Egyptian ram god with a cult centre at Mendes. Khnum was the equivalent god in Upper Egypt. Most notably known for appearing in the myth of Horus and Set. Family His wife was the goddess Hatmeh ...
'', which is grammatically
feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
(also spelt "''Banebded''" or "''Banebdjed''"), literally "the ''ba'' of the lord of the ''
djed The ''djed'', also ''djt'' ( 𓊽, Coptic ''jōt'' "pillar", anglicized /dʒɛd/) is one of the more ancient and commonly found symbols in ancient Egyptian religion. It is a pillar-like symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs representing stability. It ...
'', which roughly means ''The soul of the lord of the pillar''. The ''djed'', a type of pillar, was usually understood as the
backbone The spinal column, also known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrates. The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate. The spinal column is a segmente ...
of Osiris. The Nile supplying water, and Osiris (strongly connected to the vegetable regeneration) who died only to be resurrected, represented continuity and stability. As ''Banebdjed'', Osiris was given
epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
s such as ''Lord of the Sky'' and ''Life of the ( sun god) Ra''. ''Ba'' does not mean "soul" in the western sense, and has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god. Since the ''ba'' was associated with power, and also happened to be a word for
ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
in
Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
, Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed. A living, sacred ram was kept at Mendes and worshipped as the incarnation of the god, and upon death, the rams were mummified and buried in a ram-specific
necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...
. Banebdjed was consequently said to be Horus' father, as Banebdjed was an aspect of Osiris. Regarding the association of Osiris with the ram, the god's traditional
crook and flail Crook is slang for criminal. Crook or Crooks may also refer to: Places Canada * Crooks Inlet, former name of Kangiqturjuaq, Nunavut England * Crook, County Durham, a town * Crook, Cumbria, a village and civil parish * Crook Hill, Derbys ...
are the instruments of the shepherd, which has suggested to some scholars also an origin for Osiris in herding tribes of the upper Nile.


Mythology

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
recounts one version of the Osiris myth in which
Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
(Osiris' brother), along with the Queen of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, conspired with 72 accomplices to plot the assassination of Osiris. Set fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which Set then shut, sealed with lead, and threw into the Nile. Osiris' wife,
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a
tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...
tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in
Byblos Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...
on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and retrieve her husband's body. In one version of the myth, Isis used a spell to briefly revive Osiris so he could impregnate her. After
embalming Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them with embalming chemicals in modern times to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for viewing as part of the funeral ceremony or ...
and burying Osiris, Isis conceived and gave birth to their son, Horus. Thereafter Osiris lived on as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris was associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the yearly growth and death of crops along the Nile valley.
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (;  1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...
gives another version of the myth in which Osiris was described as an ancient king who taught the Egyptians the arts of civilization, including agriculture, then travelled the world with his sister Isis, the
satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...
s, and the nine muses, before finally returning to Egypt. Osiris was then murdered by his evil brother
Typhon Typhon (; , ), also Typhoeus (; ), Typhaon () or Typhos (), was a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, Typhon was the son of Gaia and Tartarus. However, one source has Typhon as t ...
, who was identified with Set. Typhon divided the body into twenty-six pieces, which he distributed amongst his fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Hercules (Horus) avenged the death of Osiris and slew Typhon. Isis recovered all the parts of Osiris' body, except the
phallus A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...
, and secretly buried them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several locations, which then became centres of Osiris worship.


Worship

Annual ceremonies were performed in honor of Osiris in various places across Egypt. Evidences of which were discovered during underwater archaeological excavations of
Franck Goddio Franck Goddio (born 1947 in Casablanca, Morocco) is a French underwater archaeologist who, in 2000, discovered the city of Thonis-Heracleion off the Egyptian shore in Aboukir Bay. He led the excavation of the submerged site of Canopus and of ...
and his team in the sunken city of
Thonis-Heracleion Heracleion (Ancient Greek: ), also known as Thonis (Ancient Greek: ; from the Ancient Egyptian: ; ) and sometimes called Thonis-Heracleion, was an ancient Egyptian port city located near the Canopic Mouth of the Nile, about northeast of Al ...
. These ceremonies were
fertility rites Fertility rites are religious rituals that are intended to stimulate reproduction in humans or in the natural world. A group of people performing such rites is a fertility cult. Such rites may involve the sacrifice of "a primal animal, which must b ...
which symbolised the resurrection of Osiris. Recent scholars emphasize "the androgynous character of siris'fertility" clear from surviving material. For instance, Osiris' fertility has to come both from being castrated/cut-into-pieces and the reassembly by female Isis, whose embrace of her reassembled Osiris produces the perfect king,
Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...
. Further, as attested by tomb-inscriptions, both women and men could syncretize (identify) with Osiris at their death, another set of evidence that underlines Osiris' androgynous nature.


Death and institution as god of the dead

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
and others have noted that the sacrifices to Osiris were "gloomy, solemn, and mournful..." (Isis and Osiris, 69) and that the great mystery festival, celebrated in two phases, began at Abydos commemorating the death of the god, on the same day that grain was planted in the ground (Isis and Osiris, 13). The annual festival involved the construction of "Osiris Beds" formed in shape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed. The germinating seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. An almost pristine example was found in the
tomb of Tutankhamun The tomb of Tutankhamun (reigned ), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, is located in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb, also known by its List of burials in the Valley of the Kings, tomb number KV ...
. The imiut emblem- an image of a stuffed, headless skin of an animal tied to a pole mounting a pot, was a symbol associated both with Osiris as god of the underworld and with
Anubis Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine hea ...
, god of mummification, was sometimes included among a deceased person's funerary equipment. The first phase of the festival was a public drama depicting the murder and dismemberment of Osiris, the search for his body by Isis, his triumphal return as the resurrected god, and the battle in which Horus defeated Set. According to
Julius Firmicus Maternus __NOTOC__ Julius Firmicus Maternus was a Roman Latin writer and astrologer, who received a pagan classical education that made him conversant with Greek; he lived in the reign of Constantine I (306 to 337 AD) and his successors. His triple career ...
of the fourth century, this play was re-enacted each year by worshippers who "beat their breasts and gashed their shoulders.... When they pretend that the mutilated remains of the god have been found and rejoined...they turn from mourning to rejoicing." (''De Errore Profanarum Religionum''). The passion of Osiris was reflected in his name 'Wenennefer" ("the one who continues to be perfect"), which also alludes to his post mortem power.


Ikhernofret Stela

Much of the extant information about the rites of Osiris can be found on the
Ikhernofret Stela The Ikhernofret Stela ( Berlin Museum ref 1204) is an ancient Egyptian stela dated to the Middle Kingdom and is notable for its veiled description of how the mysteries of the deity Osiris were carried out in Abydos. The stela is 100 cm high ...
at Abydos erected in the
Twelfth Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty periodically expanded its terr ...
by
Ikhernofret Ikhernofret (also Iykhernofert) was an ancient Egyptian treasurer of the 12th Dynasty, under king Senusret III until the early years of Amenemhat III. On his monuments he bears several important titles, including ''overseer of the double treasury' ...
, possibly a priest of Osiris or other official (the titles of Ikhernofret are described in his stela from Abydos) during the reign of
Senwosret III Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of th ...
(Pharaoh Sesostris, about 1875 BC). The ritual reenactment of Osiris's funeral rites were held in the last month of the inundation (the annual Nile flood), coinciding with Spring, and held at Abydos which was the traditional place where the body of Osiris drifted ashore after having been drowned in the Nile. The part of the myth recounting the chopping up of the body into 14 pieces by Set is not recounted in this particular stela. Although it is attested to be a part of the rituals by a version of the Papyrus Jumilhac, in which it took Isis 12 days to reassemble the pieces, coinciding with the festival of ploughing. Some elements of the ceremony were held in the
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
, while others involved public participation in a form of theatre. The Stela of Ikhernofret recounts the programme of events of the public elements over the five days of the Festival: * ''The First Day, The Procession of
Wepwawet In Egyptian mythology, Wepwawet ( hieroglyphic ''wp-w3w.t''; also rendered Upuaut, Wep-wawet, Wepawet, Apuat, and Ophois) was originally a jackal deity of funerary rites, war, and royalty, whose cult centre was Asyut in Upper Egypt (Lycopolis in ...
'': A mock battle was enacted during which the enemies of Osiris are defeated. A procession was led by the god Wepwawet ("opener of the way"). * ''The Second Day, The Great Procession of Osiris'': The body of Osiris was taken from his temple to his tomb. The boat he was transported in, the "
Neshmet The Neshmet bark was a vessel belonging to the god Nun. The ancient Egyptian deity Osiris was transported in it on the river Nile during the Osiris festival at Abydos. The god's departure from his temple, journey to his tomb, and triumphant return ...
" bark, had to be defended against his enemies. * ''The Third Day:'' Osiris is mourned and the enemies of the land are destroyed. * ''The Fourth Day, Night Vigil'': Prayers and recitations are made and funeral rites performed. * ''The Fifth Day, Osiris is Reborn'': Osiris is reborn at dawn and crowned with the crown of
Ma'at Maat or Maʽat (Egyptian: ''mꜣꜥt'' /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) comprised the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Maat was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regula ...
. The statue of Osiris is brought back to the temple.


Wheat and clay rituals

Contrasting with the public "theatrical" ceremonies sourced from the Middle Kingdom Ikhernofret Stele, more esoteric ceremonies were performed inside the temples by priests. Plutarch mentions that (for much later period) two days after the beginning of the festival "the priests bring forth a sacred chest containing a small golden coffer, into which they pour some potable water...and a great shout arises from the company for joy that Osiris is found (or resurrected). Then they knead some fertile soil with the water...and fashion therefrom a crescent-shaped figure, which they cloth and adorn, this indicating that they regard these gods as the substance of Earth and Water." (''Isis and Osiris,'' 39). Yet his accounts were still obscure, for he also wrote, "I pass over the cutting of the wood" – opting not to describe it, since he considered it as a most sacred ritual (''Ibid.'' 21). In the Osirian temple at
Denderah Dendera ( ''Dandarah''; ; Bohairic ; Sahidic ), also spelled ''Denderah'', ancient Iunet 𓉺𓈖𓏏𓊖 “jwn.t”, Tentyris,(Arabic: Ewan-t إيوان-ة ), or Tentyra is a small town and former bishopric in Egypt situated on the west bank of ...
, an inscription (translated by Budge, Chapter XV, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection) describes in detail the making of wheat paste models of each dismembered piece of Osiris to be sent out to the town where each piece is discovered by Isis. At the temple of Mendes, figures of Osiris were made from wheat and paste placed in a trough on the day of the murder, then water was added for several days, until finally the mixture was kneaded into a mold of Osiris and taken to the temple to be buried (the sacred grain for these cakes were grown only in the temple fields). Molds were made from the wood of a red tree in the forms of the sixteen dismembered parts of Osiris, the cakes of "divine" bread were made from each mold, placed in a silver chest and set near the head of the god with ''the inward parts of Osiris'' as described in the
Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...
(XVII).


Judgement

The idea of divine justice being exercised after death for wrongdoing during life is first encountered during the
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...
in a
Sixth Dynasty The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third Dynasty of Egypt, Third, Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egyp ...
tomb containing fragments of what would be described later as the Negative Confessions performed in front of the 42 Assessors of Ma'at. At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges. If they led a life in conformance with the precepts of the goddess
Ma'at Maat or Maʽat (Egyptian: ''mꜣꜥt'' /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) comprised the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Maat was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regula ...
, who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the kingdom of Osiris. If found guilty, the person was thrown to the soul-eating demon
Ammit Ammit (; , "Devourer of the Dead"; also rendered Ammut or Ahemait) was an ancient Egyptian goddess with the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, and the head of a crocodile—the three largest "man-eating" animals known ...
and did not share in eternal life. The person who is taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of the inferno in
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
via
early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...
and
Copt Copts (; ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptian population, descended from the ancient Egyptians. Copts pre ...
ic texts. Purification for those who are considered justified may be found in the descriptions of "Flame Island", where they experience the triumph over evil and rebirth. For the damned, complete destruction into a state of non-being awaits, but there is no suggestion of eternal torture. During the reign of
Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...
, Osiris was also invoked in royal decrees to pursue the living when wrongdoing was observed but kept secret and not reported.


Greco-Roman era


Hellenization

The early Ptolemaic kings promoted a new god,
Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Egyptian Greeks, Graeco-Egyptian god. A Religious syncretism, syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis (deity), Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the ord ...
, who combined traits of Osiris with those of various Greek gods and was portrayed in a Hellenistic form. Serapis was often treated as the consort of Isis and became the patron deity of the Ptolemies' capital,
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
. Serapis's origins are not known. Some ancient authors claim the cult of Serapis was established at Alexandria by
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
himself, but most who discuss the subject of Serapis's origins give a story similar to that by Plutarch. Writing about 400 years after the fact, Plutarch claimed that
Ptolemy I Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pt ...
established the cult after dreaming of a colossal statue at
Sinope Sinope may refer to: *Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea, historically known as Sinope ** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port *Sinop Province * Sinope, Leicestershire, a hamlet in the Midlands of England * Sinope (mythology), i ...
in Anatolia. His councillors identified the statue as the Greek god
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
and said that the Egyptian name for Pluto was Serapis. This name may have been a Hellenization of "Osiris-Apis". Osiris-Apis was a patron deity of the
Memphite Necropolis The Memphite Necropolis (or Pyramid Fields) is a series of Ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian funerary complexes occupying a 30-kilometer (19 mi) stretch on the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert plateau near the ancient capital of Memphis, Egypt, ...
and the father of the
Apis bull In ancient Egyptian religion, Apis or Hapis, alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh, was a sacred bull or multiple sacred bulls worshiped in the Memphis region, identified as the son of Hathor, a primary deity in the pantheon of ancient Egypt. Initi ...
who was worshipped there, and texts from Ptolemaic times treat "Serapis" as the Greek translation of "Osiris-Apis". But little of the early evidence for Serapis's cult comes from Memphis, and much of it comes from the Mediterranean world with no reference to an Egyptian origin for Serapis, so Mark Smith expresses doubt that Serapis originated as a Greek form of Osiris-Apis's name and leaves open the possibility that Serapis originated outside Egypt.


Destruction of cult

The cult of Isis and Osiris continued at
Philae The Philae temple complex (; ,  , Egyptian: ''p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq''; , ) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Originally, the temple complex was ...
until at least the 450s CE, long after the imperial decrees of the late 4th century that ordered the closing of temples to "
pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
" gods. Philae was the last major ancient Egyptian temple to be closed.Dijkstra, Jitse H. F. (2008). ''Philae and the End of Egyptian Religion'', pp. 337–348


See also

*
Aaru Aaru (; , ), or the Field of Reeds (, ''sekhet-aaru''), is the name for heavenly paradise in Egyptian mythology. Ruled over by Osiris, an Egyptian god, the location has been described as the of the Nile Delta. Ancient Egyptians believed th ...
*
Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul The ancient Egyptians believed that a soul ( kꜣ and bꜣ; Egypt. pron. ka/ba) was made up of many parts. In addition to these components of the soul, there was the human body (called the ''ḥꜥ'', occasionally a plural '' ḥꜥw'', meani ...
* Teka-her *
Khenti-Amentiu Khenti-Amentiu, also Khentiamentiu, Khenti-Amenti, Kenti-Amentiu and many other spellings, is an ancient Egyptian deity whose name was also used as a title for Osiris and Anubis. The name means " Foremost of the Westerners" or "Chief of the Wester ...
*
Mysteries of Osiris The Mysteries of Osiris, also known as Osirism, were Religious festival, religious festivities celebrated in ancient Egypt to commemorate the Osiris#Death or transition and institution as god of the afterlife, murder and regeneration of Osiris. T ...


Notes


References


External links


Osiris
"Ancient Egypt on a Comparative Method" {{Authority control Agricultural gods Egyptian death gods Middle Eastern gods Egyptian underworld Fertility gods Health gods Hellenistic Egyptian deities Life-death-rebirth gods Lunar gods Nature gods Primordial teachers Underworld gods Mythological kings Killed deities Chthonic beings