The God Osiris

8/2/2019 The God Osiris

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Osiris σιρις, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Asari,Aser, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, Usire or Ausare is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the godof the Afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man

with a pharaoh‘s beard, partially mummy -wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown withtwo large ostrich feathers at either side, and holding a symbolic crook and flail.

Osiris is at times considered the oldest son of the Earth god Geb, and the sky goddess Nut, aswell as being brother and husband of Isis, with Horus being considered his posthumouslybegotten son. He is also associated with the epithet Khenti-Amentiu , which means “Foremost of the Westerners” — a reference to his kingship in the land of the dead. As ruler of the dead,Osiris is also sometimes called ― king of the living ―, since the Ancient Egyptians considered the

blessed dead ―the living ones ―.

Osiris is first attested in the middle of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, although it is likely that he isworshipped much earlier; the term Khenti-Amentiu dates to at least the first dynasty, also as apharaonic title. Most information we have on the myths of Osiris is derived from allusionscontained in the Pyramid Texts at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, later New Kingdom sourcedocuments such as the Shabaka Stone and the Contending of Horus and Seth , and, much later, innarrative style from the writings of Greek authors including Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus.

Osiris is not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agencythat granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. Heis described as the “Lord of love ―,“He Who is Permanently Benign and Youthful and the “Lord of Silence” . The Kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death — as Osiris rose from thedead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. Bythe New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris atdeath if they incurred the costs of the assimilation rituals.

Through the hope of new life after death Osiris began to be associated with the cycles observedin nature, in particular vegetation and the annual flooding of the Nile, through his links withOrion and Sirius at the start of the new year. Osiris was widely worshiped as Lord of the Deaduntil the suppression of the Egyptian religion during the Christian era.



Father of Horus

Osiris is the mythological father of the god Horus, whose conception is described in the Myth of Osiris and Isis, a central myth in ancient Egyptian belief. The myth described Osiris as having

been killed by his brother Set who wanted Osiris‘ throne. Isis brief ly brought Osiris back to lifeby use of a spell that she learned from her father. This spell gave her time to become pregnant byOsiris before he again died. Isis later gave birth to Horus. As such, since Horus is born afterOsiris‘ resurrection, Horus be came thought of as a representation of new beginnings and thevanquisher of the evil Set.

Ptah-Seker (who resulted from the identification of Ptah as Seker), who is god of re-incarnation,thus gradually became identified with Osiris, the two becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris . As the sun isthought to spend the night in the underworld, and subsequently be re-incarnated , as both king of the underworld, and god of reincarnation, Ptah-Seker-Osiris is identified.

Ram God

Osiris‘ soul, or rather his Ba , is occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were adistinct god, especially so in the Delta city of Mendes. This aspect of Osiris is referred to asBanebdjedet, which is grammatically feminine (also spelt ― Banebded or ― Banebdjed ―) whichliterally means The ba of the lord of the djed , which roughly means The soul of the lord of the

pillar of stability . The djed, a type of pillar, is usually understood as the backbone of Osiris, and,

at the same time, as the Nile, the backbone of Egypt. The Nile, supplying water, and Osiris(strongly connected to the vegetation) who died only to be resurrected represented continuity andtherefore stability. As Banebdjed, Osiris is given epithets such as Lord of the Sky and Life of the(sun god) Ra , since Ra, when he had become identified with Atum, is considered Osiris‘ancestor, from whom his regal authority is inherited. Ba does not, however, quite mean soul inthe western sense, and also has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in thecase of a god. Since the ba is associated with power, and also happened to be a word for ram inEgyptian, Banebdjed is depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed. A living, sacred ram, is even kept



at Mendes and worshipped as the incarnation of the god, and upon death, the rams weremummified and buried in a ram-specific necropolis. Banebdjed is consequently said to be Horus‘father, as Banebdjed is an aspect of Osiris.

As regards the association of Osiris with the ram, the god‘s traditional crook and flail are of

course the instruments of the shepherd, which has suggested to some scholars also an origin forOsiris in herding tribes of the upper Nile. The crook and flail were originally symbols of theminor agricultural deity Andjety, and passed to Osiris later. From Osiris, they eventually passed

to Egyptian kings in general as symbols of divine authority.

Mythology of Osiris

The cult of Osiris (who is a god chiefly of rege neration and re -birth) had a particularlystrong interest toward the concept of immortality. Plutarc h recounts one version of themyth in which Set (Osiris’ brother), along with the Queen of Ethiopia, conspired with 72accomplices to plot the assassination of Osiris. Se t fooled Osiris into getting into a box,which Set the n shut, sealed with lead, and thre w into the Nile (sarcophagi we re based onthe box in this myth). Osiris’ wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found himembedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in Byblos on thePhoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and open it, but Osiris was alreadydead. In one version of the myth, she used a spell learned from her father and brought himback to life so he could impregnate he r. Afterwards he died again and she hid his body inthe dese rt. Months late r, she gave birth to Horus. While she raised Horus, Set was huntingone night and came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteenpiece s and scattered the m throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the pa rts of the body,less the phallus (which was eaten by a catfish) and bandaged them together for a properburial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and resurrected Osiris as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osi ris is associated with theflooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the c rops along the Nile valley.

Diodorus Siculus gives another version of the myth in which Osiris is described as an ancient

king who taught the Egyptians the arts of civilization, including agriculture. Osiris is murdered by his evil brother Set, whom Diodorus associates with the evil Typhon (― Typhonian Beast ―) of Greek mythology. Typhon divides the body into twenty six pieces which he distributes amongsthis fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Horus avenge the deathof Osiris and slay Typhon. Isis recovers all the parts of Osiris body, less the phallus, and secretlyburies them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several locations which thenbecame centres of Osiris worship.



The tale of Osiris becoming fish-like is cognate with the story the Greek shepherd god Panbecoming fish like from the waist down in the same river Nile after being attacked by Typhon.This attack is part of a generational feud in which both Zeus and Dionysus were dismembered byTyphon, in a similar manner as Osiris is by Set in Egypt.

Death and institution as god of the dead

Plutarch and others have noted that the sacrifices to Osiris were ―gloomy, solemn, andmournful… (Isis and Osiris, 69) and that the great mystery festival, ce lebrated in two phases,began at Abydos on the 17th of Athyr(November 13) commemorating the death of the god,which is also the same day that grain is planted in the ground. ―The death of the grain and thedeath of the god were one and the same: the cereal is identified with the god who came fromheaven; he is the bread by which man lives. The resurrection of the god symbolized the rebirth of the grain. (Larson 17) The annual festival involved the construction of ―Osiris Beds formed inshape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed. The germinating seed symbolized Osirisrising from the dead. An almost pristine example is found in the tomb of Tutankhamun byHoward Carter.

The first phase of the festival is a public drama depicting the murder and dismemberment of Osiris, the search of his body by Isis, his triumphal return as the resurrected god, and the battle inwhich Horus defeated Set. This is all presented by skilled actors as a literary history, and is themain method of recruiting cult membership. According to Julius Firmicus Maternus of the fourthcentury, this play is 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 andrejoined…they turn from mourning to rejoicing. ( De Errore Profanorum ).

The passion of Osiris is reflected in his name ‗Wenennefer (―the one who continues to be perfect ), which also alludes to his post mortem power.

Parts of this Osirian mythology have prompted comparisons with later Christian beliefs andpractices.



Marvin Mayer notes that some scholars regard the idea of dying and rising deities in the mysteryreligions as being fanciful but suggests this may be motivated by apologetic concerns, attemptingto keep Christ‘s resurrection as a unique event. In contrast he argues that the ancient story of dying and rising in the divine, human and crops, (with Osiris as an example), is vindicated andreaches a conclusion in Christianity.

Ikhernofret Stela

Much of the extant information about the Passion of Osiris can be found on the Ikhernofret Stelaat Abydos erected in the 12th Dynasty by Ikhernofret (also I-Kher-Nefert), possibly a priest of Osiris or other official during the reign of Senwosret III (Pharaoh Sesostris, about 1875 BC). ThePassion Plays were held in the last month of the inundation (the annual Nile flood), coincidingwith Spring, and held at Abydos/Abedjou which is the traditional place where the body of Osiris/Wesir drifted ashore after having been drowned in the Nile.The part of the mythrecounting the chopping up of the body into 14 pieces by Set is not recounted in this particularstela. Although it is attested to be a part of the rituals by a version of the Papyrus Jumilhac, inwhich 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, while others involved publicparticipation in a form of theatre. The Stela of I-Kher-Nefert recounts the programme of eventsof the public elements over the five days of the Festival:

o The First Day, The Procession of Wepwawet : A mock battle is enacted duringwhich the enemies of Osiris are defeated. A procession is led by the godWepwawet (―opener of the way ).

o The Second Day, The Great Procession of Osiris : The body of Osiris is takenfrom his temple to his tomb. The boat he is transported in, the ―Neshmet bark,has to be defended against his enemies.

o The Third Day, Osiris is Mourned and the Enemies of the Land are Destroyed .o The Fourth Day, Night Vigil : Prayers and recitations are made and funeral rites

performed.o The Fifth Day, Osiris is Reborn : Osiris is reborn at dawn and crowned with the

crown of Ma‘at. A statue of Osiris is brought to the temple .[

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Judgment

With the rise of the cult of Osiris during the Middle Kingdom the ― democratization of religionoffered to even his most humblest followers the prospect of eternal life, with moral fitness

becoming the dominant factor in determining a person‘s suitability.

At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges. If they led a life inconformance with the precepts of the Goddess Ma‘at, who represente d truth and right living, theperson is welcomed into the kingdom of Osiris. If found guilty the person is thrown to a―devourer and didn‘t share in eternal life.

The person who is taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and thenannihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of theinferno in hell via early Christian and Coptic 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 dammed completedestruction into a state of non being awaits but there is no suggestion of eternal torture.

Divine pardon at judgement is always a central concern for the Ancient Egyptians.

During the reign of Seti I Osiris is also invoked in royal decrees to pursue the living whenwrongdoing is observed but kept secret and not reported.

The God Osiris

Research Part 2

Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld, appears to have been a strong element in Egyptianmythology from the beginning.

Before he became the Egyptian god of the underworld; however, Osiris had quite a history.

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History of Osiris

Osiris is told to have been one of five children born to the god of the earth and the goddess of theskies; Geb and Nut respectively. Through this family tree he was also a great-grandson of one of the most popular Egyptian gods, Ra. Osiris had four younger siblings who would also playcritical roles in his story; his brother Seth and two sisters known as Isis and Nephthys. As thefirstborn child and son of Geb and Nut, it therefore fell to Osiris to inherit the throne of Egypt.Seth married Nephthys and Osiris married Isis. Together, Osiris and Isis seemed to havepossession of numerous powers. Their marriage was not destined to be happy, however.

At one point, Nephthys appears to have magically taken on the appearance of Isis and presentedherself to Osiris as his wife. Not knowing the difference, Osiris was seduced by Nephthys andshe became pregnant and gave birth to Anubis.

Later, Seth developed a vendetta against his extremely popular sibling, possibly either becauseOsiris had inherited the throne or because he had gotten Seth‘s wife pregnant. At any rate, Sethsought to kill him by luring him into a coffin and drowning him in the Nile. The annual floodingof the Nile River is still thought to be representative of this event.

Isis managed to recover her husband‘s body; however Seth was very stealthy and stole awaywith it. After cutting up the body of the Egyptian god of the underworld, Seth hid the piecesthroughout the Egyptian desert. The connection between Isis and Osiris was so strong; theEgyptian goddess proceeded to spend a number of years searching for the mutilated body partsof her husband. She finally managed to find all of the pieces, save one and is believed to haveused her magical powers to restor e her husband‘s body. Although there are different versions tothis part of the story, it seems Isis became pregnant, presumably by Osiris and gave birth to ason, Horus. Osiris died once again and descended to fully assume his duties as Egyptian god of the underworld.

Some versions of the history of Osiris state that when he descended into the underworld he took over several important roles and duties as Egyptian god of the underworld from Anubis, who wasbelieved to have been his son. Other tales contend that he rightfully obtained the important roleas Egyptian god of the underworld because he was the first god to have died. However heobtained the role, it became Osiris‘ responsibility to judge the souls of the dead. Osiris remainedas one of the most popular of all the ancient Egyptian gods. Today, he still one of the most wellknown Egyptian gods.

The God Osiris

Research Part 3

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Osiris

(Asar, Wesir, Ausar, Unnefer)

Symbols: crook and flail, djed , White and Atef Crowns, bull, mummified form, throne, Bennu(phoenix)Cult Center: Abydos, Busiris and HeliopolisMyths: ―Isis and Osiris

A god of the earth and vegetation, Osiris symbolized in his death the yearly drought and in hismiraculous rebirth the periodic flooding of the Nile and the growth of grain. He was a god-kingwho was believed to have given Egypt civilization.

Osiris was the first child of Nut and Geb, and therefore the brother of Seth, Nephthys, and Isis.He was married to his sister, Isis. He was also the father of Horus and Anubis. These traditionsstate that Nephthys (mother of Anubis) assumed the form of Isis, seduced him (perhaps withwine) and she became pregnant with Anubis.

The oldest religious texts refer to Osiris as the great god of the dead, and throughout these texts itis assumed that the reader will understand that he once possessed human form and lived on earth.As the first son of Geb, the original king of Egypt, Osiris inherited the throne when Gebabdicated. At this time the Egyptians were barbarous canniba ls and uncivilized. Osiris saw thisand was greatly disturbed. Therefore, he went out among the people and taught them what to eat,the art of agriculture, how to worship the gods, and gave them laws. Thoth helped him in manyways by inventing the arts and sciences and giving names to things. Osiris was Egypt‘s greatestking who ruled through kindness and persuasion. Having civilized Egypt, Osiris traveled to otherlands, leaving Isis as his regent, to teach other peoples what he taught the Egyptians.

During Osiris‘ absence, Isis was troubled with Seth‘s plotting to acquire both her and the throneof Egypt. Shortly after Osiris‘ return to Egypt, in the twenty -eighth year of his reign, on theseventeenth day of the month of Hathor (late September or November), Seth and 72 conspiratorsmurdered him. They then threw the coffin in which he was murdered into the Nile, with hisdivine body still inside.

Isis, with the help of her sister Nephthys, and Anubis and Thoth, magically located Osiris‘ body.Upon learn ing the his brother‘s body was found, Seth went to it and tore it into fourteen piecesand scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis once again found every part of his body, save hisphallus (it had been eaten by the now-cursed Nile fish). She magically re-assembled Osiris andresurrected him long enough to be impregnated by him so that she could give birth to the newking Horus.

Seth of course was not willing to surrender the throne of Egypt to the youthful Horus and thus atribunal of gods met to decide who was the rightful king. The trial lasted eighty years. Eventuallythrough Isis‘ cunning she won the throne for her son.



Osiris meanwhile had become the king of the Afterlife. He was believed to be willing to admitall people to the Duat, the gentle, fertile land in which the righteous dead lived, that had lived agood and correct life upon earth, and had been buried with appropriate ceremonies under the

protection of certain amulets, and with the proper recital of certain ―divine words and words of power. His realm was said to lie beneath Nun, in the northern heavens or in the west.

It is as the King of the Afterlife that Osiris gained his supreme popularity. He was originally aminor god of Middle Egypt, especially in comparison to the gods of Heliopolis and Hermopolis,etc. Noting his increasing popularity, and sensing that Osiris would one day eclipse the adorationof their own gods, the priests of these cities adopted him into their own cosmogonies.

The elements of his story was seen as symbolic of real events that happened in Egypt. With hisoriginal association to agriculture, his death and resurrection were seen as symbolic of the annualdeath and re-growth of the crops and the yearly flooding of the Nile. The sun too with its dailyre-birth and death was associated with Osiris. His rivalry with his brother Seth, the god of stormsand the desert, was symbolic of the eternal war between the fertile lands of the Nile Valley and

the barren desert lands just beyond. The pharaoh of Egypt was called Horus, while his deceasedfather was the new Osiris.

Several festivals during the year were held in Egypt, in celebration of Osiris. One, held in November, celebrated his beauty. Another, called the ―Fall of the Nile was a time of mourning.As the Nile receded, the Egyptians went to the shore to give gifts and show their grief over hisdeath. When the Nile began to flood again, another festival honoring Osiris was held wherebysmall shrines were cast into the river and the priests poured sweet water in the Nile, declaringthat the god was found again.

The name ―Osiris is the Greek corruption of the Egyptian name ―Asar (or Usar.) There are

several possibilities as to what this name means, ―the Strength of the Eye , is one. Another is―He Sees the Throne . The oldest and simplest form of the name is the hieroglyph of the throneover an eye (there are at least 158 versions of the name). At one point the first syllable of thename was pronounced ―Aus or ―Us and may have gained the meaning of the word usr ,―strength, might, power . At this time the Egyptians supposed the name to mean something likethe ―strength of the Eye (i.e., the strength of the Sun -god Re.)

Another possibility raised by an ancient hymn‘s author is that the name ―Unnefer (another nameby which Osiris was known) comes from the roots un (―to open, to appear, to make manifest )and neferu , (―good things ). The author then wrote these lines in his hymn to the god, ―Thybeauty maketh itself manifest in thy person to rouse the gods to life in thy name Unn efer . In anycase, even to the ancients, the origin of Osiris‘ Egyptian name is a mystery.

Osiris was usually portrayed as a bearded, mummified human with green skin and wearing theatef crown. His hands emerge from the mummy wrappings and hold the flail and crook.

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The God Osiris

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