Osiris as portrayed. Egyptian mythology (Osiris, Set, Horus and Isis). Supreme Court of Osiris

The name Osiris (Usir) came to us from ancient times, we have known him for almost five thousand years, and perhaps longer. Osiris was one of the most revered gods of the ancient Egyptian pantheon, and the Hellenes treated him with respect, associating him with Dionysus. Alchemists in the Middle Ages used his name in their search for the philosopher's stone, and aristocratic adventurers of the 18th century, such as Saint Germain and Cagliostro, under his divine protection tried to achieve immortality. Why does he have such respect? If you look more closely, even in the extravagant company of ancient deities, Osiris looks very peculiar. The story of his life, death, resurrection and posthumous existence remains one of the most curious myths of antiquity. Unfortunately, in this very antiquity, the myth of Osiris was reproduced in a relatively complete form only by Plutarch already at the beginning of our era. in the treatise "On Isis and Osiris". In it, elements of ancient Egyptian myths were mixed with episodes from ancient Greek ones, the names of many Egyptian gods were replaced with the names of their corresponding Greek ones. Even the ancient name Usir, belonging to the main character, was transformed into the Greek Osiris. As we know, it was this that later took root. So what does Plutarch write?

The first part of his work says that when Helios found out about Rhea’s secret marriage to Cronus, he cursed her. The curse was that she would not give birth in any month or year. But Hermes, in love with Rhea, fell in love with her, and then, playing checkers with the moon, he played the seventieth part of each of her cycles, added them together and got five days, and then put them to three hundred and sixty. The Egyptians still call them "inserted" and "birthdays of the gods."

To figure out who is who, you need to take into account that by Helios, Plutarch means the sun god Ra, the main ancient Egyptian god. The Greek goddess of the sky, Nut, is hidden under the Greek Rhea, and Seba should be understood under the name of Cronos, the god of the earth. The prototype of Hermes in Egyptian mythology is a god named Thoth. In what follows we will call them all according to Egyptian canons.

But greek myths, as we know, is more than just a myth. In this one, for example, a cosmological background is clearly visible: a well-known astronomical fact is described - a certain discrepancy between the lunar and solar years. Those five days that Thoth wins at checkers against the Moon constitute this “astronomical gap.” Such a departure from the laws emanating from the supreme deity Ra, such a flagrant violation of his will - from the point of view of the ancient Egyptians - could only be caused by an event of extreme importance and, undoubtedly, belonging to the realm of the sacred.

Plutarch further says that on the first day Osiris was born, and at the moment of his birth a certain voice said: the Lord of All That Is is born. On the second day Arueris was born, whom the Greeks call Apollo, and some call the elder Horus. On the third day, Typhon was born, but at the wrong time and incorrectly: he jumped out of his mother’s side, piercing it with a blow. Typhon is Set, the ancient Egyptian god of the desert. On the fourth day, Isis was born in the moisture, and on the fifth, Nephthys, who is called Aphrodite. The myth says that Osiris and Arueris came from Ra, Isis from Thoth, and Set and Nephthys from Seb.

The fact that at his birth Osiris is proclaimed the Lord of All That Is is very significant: his divine right to rule was ordained from above. It is not without reason that in his first incarnation he acts as the Supreme Ruler, a kind of King of Kings, because his father, according to myth, was Ra himself. His brother Seth, who will play a very important role in the further narrative, embodies a destructive element from his very birth, which, in general, is not surprising for the desert. Seth is born violently and unnaturally. This contrast between the blessed fate of Osiris and the wicked fate of Set from the very beginning sets up a certain metaphorical duality, which will only develop in the future.

Subsequently, Nephthys became the wife of Set, and Isis and Osiris, having fallen in love with each other, united in the darkness of the womb even before birth. Hence the inevitable conclusion: incest in ancient Egyptian mythology is a completely normal thing. Moreover, the marriage of brothers and sisters is clearly under divine protection. This “norm” subsequently led to the degeneration of the pharaohs - due to numerous incestuous marriages.

Having reigned, Osiris instantly turned the Egyptians away from their poor and bestial lifestyle, gave them the fruits of the earth and taught them to honor the gods. Then he wandered, subjugating the entire earth to himself and not needing weapons at all, for he won most people over to his side, charming them with persuasive words combined with singing and music.

And although the fate of the Lord of the World was destined for Osiris from birth, he acts not only as a powerful ruler, but also as an enlightening monarch. And this function of Osiris is worth highlighting as key. Civilization Ancient Egypt, according to most historians, would not have taken place without their successes in agriculture, in particular in the cultivation of cereals. It is therefore not surprising that Osiris, the god who brought humanity out of a primitive state, was the god of grain for the Egyptians. (I immediately remember the Russian proverb “Bread is the head of everything”) Here is what the famous anthropologist James Frazer writes about this in his work “The Golden Bough”: “Osiris is the god of grain. Consideration of this myth and ritual associated with Osiris, I think, is enough for this , to prove that in one of his hypostases this god was the personification of bread, which, figuratively speaking, dies every year and is reborn again. The details of the myth of Osiris are in good agreement with this interpretation. It says that Osiris was the offspring of Heaven and Earth. Which What else can one wish for a pedigree for a god who grows from the earth and is fertilized by heavenly moisture? True, the Egyptian land itself owed its fertility not to showers, but to the floods of the Nile, but its inhabitants must have known - or at least guessed that the great river was fed by rains ", falling in the depths of the country. The legend about Osiris, who taught people agriculture, is most directly related to the god of bread." Plutarch in his treatise explicitly associates Osiris with the Greek god of fertility - Dionysus. In one place he even directly says: “And who knows better than you, Kleia, that Osiris and Dionysus are one? It should be so: after all, it is you who lead the inspired priestesses at Delphi, destined by your father and mother for the mysteries of Osiris.” .

However, despite ample evidence of the identity of these two gods, the nature of their cults differs greatly. It is enough just to recall the work of Euripides “The Bacchae” and compare the wild rituals of the fans of Dionysus with the educational activities of Osiris. In the first part of the myth of Osiris, the “solar”, rational side of his religion is revealed; he appears as a supreme being, endowed with divine power and, at the same time, all-good, who brought civilization to people. The symbolic aspect is very important here: Osiris embodies in general any productive force; as psychoanalysts would put it - libido as such. In Plutarch's interpretation, he represents the divine Logos - the creative Word. It is not without reason that the ancient Egyptian phallic cult also belongs to it as a cult of fertility, a cult of active, producing energy.

The second part of Plutarch's work talks about the death of Osiris. Set, upon Osiris’s return from his wanderings, began to prepare a trap for him, drawing as many as seventy-two people into the conspiracy and having the Ethiopian queen Aso as an “accomplice.” He secretly measured the body of Osiris, built a sarcophagus, beautiful and wonderfully decorated, and brought it to the feast. While this spectacle aroused delight and surprise, Seth, as if as a joke, offered to present the sarcophagus as a gift to someone who would like it in size. After everyone tried it in turn and not a single guest liked it, Osiris climbed in there too. The conspirators immediately ran up, slammed the lid and, having nailed it from the outside, filled it with hot lead, dragged the coffin into the river and launched it into the sea near Tanis, through the mouth, which is why the Egyptians still call it hateful and vile. According to myth, this happened on the seventeenth day of the month Aphira, when the sun crosses the constellation Scorpio, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Osiris.

Egyptian sources claim that the walled Osiris did not die immediately, but only on the fourteenth day. This is another reference to natural cycles: the ancient Egyptians associated the death of Osiris with the monthly waning of the moon, because exactly fourteen days pass from the full moon to the new moon. During this period, the moon seems to die - like Osiris. True, in this regard the question immediately arises: how could Osiris even die? Aren't the gods immortal? After all, even in Pushkin’s “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, during the journey of the royal family across the “ocean sea” in a tarred barrel, the child did not die, but managed to grow up, learn to walk and talk. And although he grew “by leaps and bounds,” a lot of time still passed. It is strange that the characters of the Russian fairy tale survived in such circumstances, but the ancient Egyptian god died. But here, obviously, there is a hidden meaning in the way in which Osiris was killed. The sea horizon had a mystical meaning in the minds of some peoples and played the role of a line dividing the world of the living and the world of the dead. Hence the custom of burying the dead, releasing them in a boat into the open sea. And the sarcophagus is an extremely important element here - despite the fact that the obvious absurdity of this method of killing the Lord of All That is striking. However, they could not do without the sarcophagus, since it played the role of the ship that transported Osiris to the world of the dead.

Plutarch goes on to tell how Isis learned that Osiris, who loved her, had mistakenly slept with her sister as herself, and saw proof of this in the lotus wreath that he left with Nephthys. She began to look for the child, for Nephthys, having given birth, immediately hid him out of fear of her husband Seth; the child was found with great difficulty and with the help of dogs that led Isis; she fed him, named him Anubis, and he became her protector and companion, began to guard the gods like dogs guard people.

The funniest thing, of course, in this passage is the phrase “Osiris, who loves her, by mistake...” Either Plutarch was trying to keep up appearances, or was deliberately shielding Osiris - how can you sleep by mistake? However, now it becomes clear why Seth might have disliked his brother. For a "mistake". It is interesting that Isis reacted to this betrayal with understanding. For her, grief over the death of her husband was clearly stronger than jealousy. And in general there is not a word about jealousy here. This is not surprising: the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt often had several wives, so cheating on their “beloved wife” was not considered shameful.

Later, Isis learned that the sea had driven the sarcophagus to the shore of Byblos, where the surf carried it into the heather. And the heather, which quickly grew into a huge and beautiful trunk, embraced and sheltered him within itself. King Malcander of Byblos was surprised at the size of the plant and, cutting down the trunk containing the invisible coffin, placed it as a support for the roof. This is also not just an episode: its symbolic meaning is a reference to another aspect of the cult of Osiris. In addition to the above “specializations,” Osiris was also considered the god of trees in Ancient Egypt. For Plutarch, this was further proof of the complete identity of Osiris and Dionysus. It must be said that various cults of tree worship existed at different times and in different nations. One of the most famous cults is the beliefs of the Druids. In some tribes of Oceania, for example, there was (and perhaps still exists) a tradition of burying their dead in the hollows of trees growing in a special sacred place. It was believed that the spirit of the deceased settles in such a tree and continues to live as long as the tree itself is alive.

Isis, having learned from the divine spirit of the rumor about what had become of the heather trunk, appeared in Byblos, sat down by the source, humble and tearful, and did not speak to anyone. True, she greeted the maids of Queen Byblos, caressed them, braided their hair and sent an amazing aroma from herself onto their bodies. As soon as the queen saw her maids at the spring, an attraction arose in her to the stranger, whose hair and body exuded incense. She took Isis to the palace and made her son her wet nurse. Tradition says that Isis nursed the child, putting a finger in his mouth instead of a breast, and at night she burned out the mortal shell of his body with fire; she herself, turning into a swallow, with a plaintive cry, curled around the support of the roof with her husband's sarcophagus - and so on until the queen lay in wait for her and screamed at the sight of the child on fire, thereby depriving him of immortality. Then the exposed Isis begged for support; She easily split the heather, and then, wrapping it in linen and anointing it with myrrh, she handed it to the king and queen. And now the inhabitants of Byblos still venerate the tree placed in the sanctuary of Isis. And they say that she fell on the coffin and screamed so much that the king’s youngest son died immediately, and she allegedly took the eldest with her and, placing the coffin on the ship, sailed away.

Strange story, isn't it? It is difficult to interpret, and stylistically it stands out somewhat from the rest of the narrative. For example, Isis’s behavior as a nurse is completely incomprehensible. However, we will find the answer by studying Homer’s hymn to Demeter, where the story of the burning of the child’s mortal coil is repeated almost word for word. In general, one can find a lot in common between the Greek Demeter and Isis. Firstly, they were both goddesses of agriculture. After all, Osiris, having taught people to cultivate the soil, later entrusted the care of observing agricultural cycles to his sister and wife. Both of them mourn and are in search: Isis is looking for Osiris, Demeter is looking for her daughter Persephone, kidnapped by Hades. Demeter also, having hidden her true origin, becomes a wet nurse in someone else's royal family - the Eleusinian king Kelei. And in both cases, the mother-queen witnesses a frightening sight and thereby destroys her child, who has not completed the cleansing ritual. As for the sanctuary of Isis, we are talking here, apparently, about the temple of Baalat-Gebal, which was actually located in Byblos during Plutarch’s life. It must be said that this temple was already very ancient at that time: the estimated time of its construction is approximately 2800 BC. The tree mentioned by Plutarch was most likely indeed a sacred artifact of this temple. So mythology here closely merges with history.

As for the style, the second part of the legend is quite strikingly different from the first part; It also differs in its general atmosphere. The first deals with “vertical” processes, mainly cosmological ones: it tells how gods are born and descend from heaven, how people receive various abilities as a divine gift. In the second, events develop rather in a horizontal plane. The gods in their actions are more like people: they deceive, betray, die, suffer - and their divine nature is no longer so obvious. It is also curious that intrigue is introduced into the plot of the myth, which is not typical for archaic cults. Characters involved in dramatic reality discover interesting character traits. Isis, for example, appears as a magician. If Seth achieves his goal with force and cunning, then Isis uses the hidden forces of nature, power over which she was given at birth, to achieve her goals.

The third, most interesting part, describes the resurrection of Osiris and his subsequent accession to the Kingdom of the Dead. According to Plutarch, Isis then went to But to her son Horus, who was raised there, and placed the coffin away from the road. Seth, hunting by moonlight, came across it and, recognizing the body, tore it into fourteen pieces and scattered them. Isis found out about this and went in search, crossing the swamps on a papyrus boat. Subsequently, the opinion was born that crocodiles allegedly do not touch those floating on papyrus boats, experiencing either fear or reverence for the goddess. And this is supposedly why there are so many tombs of Osiris in Egypt - after all, Isis, while searching for him, buried every part of him. Some, however, deny this and say that she made statues and granted them to each city instead of the body of Osiris so that Seth, if he defeated Horus and began to look for the true tomb, would simply get confused and find nothing. It is curious that of all the parts of Osiris’s body, Isis did not find only the phallus, for it immediately fell into the river and the lepidotes, fagr and sturgeons fed on it. Now the Egyptians abhor these fish. Isis, instead of the phallus, made an image of it and consecrated it; The Egyptians still hold festivals in his honor.

In this part, one of the most important elements is the dismemberment of the body of Osiris into fourteen parts. Firstly, this explains why there were sanctuaries scattered throughout Ancient Egypt, the priests of which claimed that it was in their sanctuary that the ashes of Osiris were buried. The main thing was located in Memphis, where, according to legend, the head was buried. Fraser gives an interesting symbolic interpretation of this fragment: Osiris is associated with grains that are buried in the earth for subsequent “resurrection” in new ears. So the division of Osiris into parts is the division into parts not of the body, but of the ear - for its subsequent revival. This version is supported by some elements of the cult of Osiris, in which grains of wheat actually represent his reproductive energy. A parallel can be drawn with Christianity, because the enormous symbolic meaning of bread in the Holy Scriptures is well known. Bread also plays an important role in church sacraments. So, in the divine liturgy, one of the key rites of both Orthodoxy and Catholicism, it symbolizes the body of Christ. It should be noted that this point was perceived very ambiguously at the dawn of Christianity by its opponents. For example, many considered (and still consider) Christians crazy for “eating the body of their own god.” It got to the point where Christians were accused of cannibalism. However, the ignorant Romans did not know that the bread in this sacrament was a symbol of the resurrection of Christ, and by eating the bread, Christians partook of eternal life.

It is a pity that Plutarch says little and in passing about the resurrection of Osiris. But in Egyptian sources it is of central importance. It must be said that the retelling of the Greek scientist is somewhat different from the Egyptian primary sources. The famous Egyptologist Walliss Budge in the book “Egyptian Magic” provides a translation of the original ancient Egyptian text dedicated to the god Thoth: “Having found the dead body of her husband, Isis soared over him like a bird, and the blows of her wings generated wind, and her shining plumage emitted light. With her “words of power” "She resurrected the dead body. From their embrace during this meeting, Horus was born. Isis raised and educated him in a secret refuge in the reed swamps." It turns out - according to these texts - that Horus was conceived after the resurrection of Osiris, and the resurrection itself was the result of the magical manipulations of Isis, who received support from the god of the sky - Thoth.

Another option is available in the aforementioned “Golden Bough” by Fraser. There, when the body of Osiris was found, Isis and Nephthys staged a funeral lament. The lamentations of the sisters were not in vain: Ra took pity on their grief and sent the god Anubis from heaven with the head of a jackal, and with the help of Isis, Nephthys, Thoth and Horus, he put together a dead body from pieces, swaddled it in linen and performed over it all the rituals that the Egyptians performed over the bodies of the dead. After this, Isis raised the cooled dust with the flap of her wings, Osiris came to life and began to rule in the kingdom of the dead, sitting in the great hall of the Two Truths in the company of forty-two advisers and passing judgment on the souls of the dead. They solemnly confessed to him, and, after their hearts were weighed on the scales of justice, received eternal life as a reward for virtue or due punishment for sins.

This option contains a reference to the ritual of mummification - one of the most unique features of ancient Egyptian culture: every ancient Egyptian dead person buried according to the ritual was associated with Osiris. The reign of Osiris in the Underworld, his title of Lord of the Dead, Master of Eternity, is a continuation of his past, when he was the Lord of All That Is. Having been resurrected, Osiris becomes a symbol of immortality, the guarantee of eternal life.

Plutarch outlined the denouement of the legend, one might say, “close to the text”: in it, Osiris is assigned victory in the battle between good and evil.

Further, Osiris, appearing to Horus from the kingdom of the dead, trained him for battle, and then asked him what he considered the most beautiful thing in the world. Horus answered: to avenge the father and mother who were harmed. Subsequently, many went over to Horus’s side, and Seth’s concubine Tueris also appeared to him. She was pursued by a snake, but Horus' friends killed the snake. In memory of this event, they still throw a rope and cut it in the middle.

Horus won the battle, which lasted many days. Isis received the chained Seth, but did not execute him, but untied him and released him. Horus got angry and tore the royal crown from her head, but He crowned her with a horned helmet. Set then brought the charge of illegitimacy against Horus, but under the protection of Thoth, Horus was recognized by the gods as the legitimate son, and Set was defeated in two more battles.

The fight with Seth has a metaphysical character in the legend. The confrontation between the creator Osiris and the destroyer Set is reminiscent of the cosmic war between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu in ancient Persian mythology. Zoroastrianism, which arose in Azerbaijan and Persia, gave rise to Manichaeism, which also considers the struggle between good and evil principles, equal in power, as the central theme of the world drama. It is difficult to say whether this is the result of cultural borrowing or the embodiment of one archetype on different cultural grounds. In any case, many of the features that were later successfully developed in Christianity were also present in these ancient cults. In general, many researchers emphasized the external similarity of the cult of Osiris and Christianity. The most striking parallel runs between the images of Christ and Osiris: both are the sons of the supreme god, both are God’s anointed for the great kingdom, both embodied both the nature of God and the nature of man, both brought people a divine gift embodied in the word, both died innocently and both resurrected, showing people the way to eternal life. There are parallels between their earthly lives, for example, Jesus distributing bread during the Sermon on the Mount and Osiris teaching people how to tillage. It does not directly follow from this that the image of Christ was borrowed from the ancient Egyptian religion, but it is known that not a single religion was born out of nowhere - it absorbed the features of the previous one. In any case, in ancient times Osiris inspired his followers no less than Christ inspired Christians. For many centuries, the Egyptians believed in eternal life, the guarantor of which was Osiris. During the Hellenic period, there was even a living emanation of Osiris - the sacred bull Apis. According to legend, the soul of Osiris moved into this animal, which has a number of special characteristics.

Today, the belief in Osiris, like the entire ancient Egyptian civilization, is buried under a layer of sand. However, the legend of this ancient god still lives on. And who knows, maybe one day the seeds of his divine Word will sprout, presenting to the world a new incarnation of Osiris.

God of fertility and king of the underworld. Son of the earth god Heb and the sky goddess Nut, father of Horus (Horus), husband and brother of Isis. As an adult, Osiris inherited the throne of the god Geb and the title of supreme ruler of the earth. He taught people to cultivate the land, grow crops, observe the laws of society, and worship the gods. He also gave people writing and knowledge of the basics of crafts and arts. After this, a golden age of abundance and happiness was established on earth.

However, Osiris's foster brother Set, planned to kill him and become an earthly ruler. He prepared a box according to the height of Osiris and invited him to the feast as a guest. The jeweled box was meant to go to someone who could fit comfortably inside it. When Osiris, following the example of other guests, lay down in it. Seth and his accomplices suddenly closed the lid of the box, tied it with ropes and threw it into the river. The box was carried out into the open sea and carried by waves to the Phoenician coast. There Isis found him. Returning to Egypt, Isis hid the body of Osiris in the Nile Delta. Here it was accidentally discovered by Seth while he was hunting. He cut the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt. However, Isis collected almost all the parts of Osiris’s body, united them and made the first mummy from her deceased husband. Possessing knowledge of the secrets of witchcraft, Isis was able to give birth to a son, Horus, from her dead husband. Having matured, Horus fought with Set and allowed the dead Osiris to swallow his eye. Thanks to this, Osiris was resurrected. He blessed Horus to fight Seth, and he himself descended into the underworld and became its ruler. Before Osiris, the heart of a deceased person was weighed on scales to determine the measure of the latter’s sinfulness. Every year in Egypt they celebrated the resurrection of Osiris, which marked the awakening of all plant nature to life.

(USIR) - the god of the vital forces of nature and fertility, rebirth, the king of posthumous existence.
According to references in ancient Egyptian texts, Usir was the eldest son of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, the brother and husband of Isis, the brother of Nephthys and Set, and the father of Horus. He was the fourth of the gods who reigned on earth in primordial times, inheriting the power of his great-grandfather Atum-Ra, grandfather Shu and father Geb. Osiris ruled the Earth and the center of his blessed land was Egypt. Osiris taught people good morals and customs, weaning them from cannibalism. From him, people learned how to grow cereals and grapes, bake bread, make beer and wine, build cities, heal, honor the gods, and also mine and process copper and gold ores. Perhaps this indicates that the first myths about Osiris as a real cultural hero of history originated in the Stone-Copper Age - the Neolithic. Egyptologists today can approximately describe this time as the interval between the 6th-5th millennia BC. A coherent story about Osiris, Isis, Set and Horus can be stated as follows. The firstborn was born to Geb and Nut to the joy of them and the ruler of the Universe, Ra, who announced the appearance of a mighty god, the ruler of the earth, who does good. Next baby there was Seth, strong and resilient, and behind him were two sisters: Isis and Nephthys.
Having become king, Osiris led people out of savagery, teaching them agriculture and crafts. His wife was Isis, who mastered spiritual art and magic. People glorified their wise and kind king. However, he had an evil envious person - Seth, who dreamed of seizing the throne.
While Osiris set out on a campaign in Asia, Seth ordered the making of a luxuriously decorated box. When, having won the victory, Osiris returned home and threw a feast, Seth appeared there with his supporters, bringing this intricately decorated box. Seth announced that the gift would go to whoever it fits. The sarcophagus was specially built according to the measurements of Osiris.
When the unsuspecting Osiris lay down in the box, Set and his minions quickly slammed the lid shut and nailed it shut. The box was thrown into the waters of the Nile. However, the current did not carry him out to sea: a heather bush stopped him near the shore, clasping him with branches. Thanks to clairvoyance, Isis was able to find the sarcophagus with her husband’s body, extracted the life force from the body of Osiris through spiritual practices and thus conceived from him. Isis, in the form of a falcon, alighted on the corpse of Osiris and then gave birth to a son, Horus. Horus was conceived and born in order to act as the only legitimate heir of the latter and the avenger of his father's death.
Isis hid the body of Osiris in a secret place in the Nile Delta. However, he was discovered there by the hunting Seth. He cut his brother's body into 14 pieces and scattered them across different parts of Egypt. (It is assumed that in this way the priests explained the existence of tombs with the body of Osiris in 14 nomes of the country.) Isis was able to put all the pieces together and bury Osiris in Abydos. In some myths, the funeral ceremony was performed by the god Anubis.
After Horus took the Eye from Set in a duel and returned it to Osiris, the latter was resurrected. He became the ruler of the underworld, the guardian god of the dead and their judge, weighing on the scales the amount of good and evil committed by man during his lifetime. As a result, it was decided whether the soul would end up in the fertile fields of paradise. After the battle, or according to other options for a long trial before the Great Nine, Horus is recognized by the gods as the rightful heir of Osiris and receives the kingdom of Egypt.
The features of the cult of the god of the productive forces of nature appear very clearly in the myth of Osiris. The crown that Osiris wears is made of papyrus stalks, his sacred boat is also made of this plant, and his fetish "Djed" consists of several bundles of reeds inserted one into the other. Further, Osiris is always depicted with one plant or another: from the pond in front of his throne grows either a lotus or a row of trees and a vine; sometimes the entire canopy under which Osiris sits is entwined with bunches of grapes; sometimes he himself is entwined with vines. In the same way, the tomb of Osiris is not depicted without greenery: then next to it grows a tree on which the soul of Osiris sits in the form of a phoenix; that tree grew through the tomb, entwining it with its branches and roots; then four trees grow from the tomb itself.
In connection with the death and resurrection of Osiris, solemn ceremonies took place in Egypt.
There was a funeral rite, during which grains planted in moist soil filling a clay mold served as a symbol of the rebirth of the deceased in the kingdom of the dead. The appearance of shoots was identified with rebirth under the auspices of Osiris. The celebration of the resurrection of Osiris took place in the last month of the Nile flood season, when the waters began to subside.

Osiris (Greek) - Usir (Egyptian)

Function. God of the productive forces of nature and the supreme deity in the afterlife cult, judge of the dead, symbol of rebirth and eternal life. In the Early Dynastic period, the local deity of Busiris, associated with fertility. In the Macedonian period, the cult of Osiris merged with the cult of the sacred bull Apis (Osiris-Apis) and on its basis the cult of Serapis arose. In the Late Period, Ba Osiris was personified by Benu.
Location. One of the Heliopolis Ennead of gods. The fourth of the gods who reigned on earth in primordial times. Inherited the power of Ra, Shu and Geb. While reigning, he weaned people from a wild way of life, cannibalism, taught them to sow cereals, bake bread, plant vineyards and make beer and wine, mine and process copper and gold. He taught healing, construction, and established the cult of the gods.

Genealogy. The eldest son of Geb and Nut, brother of Seth, Isis and Nephthys, husband of Isis, father of Horus and Anubis.

Iconography. He was depicted as a man with a body of green (symbol of vegetation) or red (symbol of earth) color, wrapped, like a mummy, in white material. On the head was the Atef crown, consisting of the white crown of Upper Egypt and red feathers, reminiscent of the center of the cult, Busiris. In the hands are symbols of supreme power (flail and hook). Often depicted sitting among trees or with a vine entwining his figure. Ra-Osiris was depicted with a solar disk on his head.
Fetish. Djed pillar. For ritual purposes, wooden cases in the form of the mummy of Osiris were used: they were hollow inside, earth was poured into it and grain was thrown, and holes were drilled in the lid of the case through which green shoots sprouted - “Sprouting Osiris”. In the Mysteries, the harvest, the cutting of ears of corn, symbolized the murder of Osiris; sowing grain is the burial of Osiris, germination is his resurrection.

Worship centers. The main cult centers are Busiris and Abydos (the burial place of the pharaohs), and later the islands of Philae and Bige.
Identification. Aah, Khentiamenti, Sokar, Ptah, Hapi, Nun, towards the end of the New Kingdom - Ra. In Ancient Greece - Hades, Helios, Dionysus, Poseidon, Serapis, Eros.

The Myth of Osiris and Isis

According to myths, at the head of the pantheon of Egyptian gods was the sun god Amon-Ra. The myths also tell about a divine couple - the earth god Hebe and the goddess of the starry sky Nut - who had four children: the gods Osiris and Set and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. The Egyptians claimed that Osiris and his wife, the beautiful Isis, were their first rulers.

The divine couple passed on to people knowledge about the land capable of sprouting, initiated them into the mysteries of art and craft, taught writing and the canons of temple construction. People got the opportunity to live according to the laws of Heaven in unity with Nature. Osiris and Isis revealed to them the mysteries of life and death and the meaning of their own existence. They awakened in souls a love for Wisdom and a thirst for knowledge. It was the most wonderful and happiest time for people.

As the myths tell, on the 17th day of the month Atir, when the sun crossed the constellation Scorpio, a great disaster occurred on earth. Osiris's brother, the god Set, seeking to seize power over the world, killed Osiris and threw his body into the Nile.

For a long time, without knowing fatigue, Isis searched all over the earth for her divine spouse. Having found the body of Osiris, she hid it on the banks of the Nile in the reed thickets. But Seth, who was hunting at night, found him and cut him into fourteen pieces, which he scattered throughout the Egyptian land. Isis set out on a search again. Where the goddess found parts of the body of Osiris, she erected sanctuaries in memory of her divine spouse. Fourteen sanctuaries built by the goddess Isis would become the sacred centers of the entire country in historical times.

Around them, in places determined by the gods themselves, Egypt will be built and developed. Thus, at all times, Egypt represented the body of the divine Osiris, dismembered by his brother Set into 14 parts. As the myth further tells, soon a son is miraculously born to Isis and Osiris - the falcon god Horus, who was supposed to restore justice. The son of Isis enters into battle with the forces of darkness. In one of the battles with Seth, Horus loses an eye. In return, the gods give him Udjat - the eye of the inner. Vision Horus defeats Set, and with the help of Udjat revives his father Osiris.

The Eye of Horus becomes one of the main symbols of Egypt - a symbol of fair actions, compassion and mercy. The son of Isis, Horus, was the last of the gods to rule the Earth. With his departure to heaven, the age of the reign of the gods ends. Millennia will pass before the first historical pharaoh appears and earthly power passes to the earthly king.

Let's begin.

Osiris, in Egyptian mythology, the god of the productive forces of nature, the ruler of the underworld, the judge in the kingdom of the dead. Osiris was the eldest son of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, brother and husband of Isis. He taught the Egyptians agriculture, viticulture and winemaking, mining and processing of copper and gold ore, the art of medicine, the construction of cities, and established the cult of the gods.
Osiris was usually depicted as a man with green skin, sitting among trees, or with a vine entwining his figure. It was believed that, like everything flora, Osiris dies every year and is reborn to a new life, but the fertilizing life force in him remains even in the dead. Myth:
Set, his brother, the evil god of the desert, decided to destroy Osiris and made a sarcophagus according to the measurements of his older brother. Having arranged a feast, he invited Osiris and announced that the sarcophagus would be presented to the one who fit the bill. When Osiris lay down in the sarcophagus, the conspirators slammed the lid, filled it with lead and threw it into the waters of the Nile. (Picking up a sarcophagus during life was normal at that time.)
The faithful wife of Osiris, Isis, found her husband’s body, miraculously extracted the life force hidden in him and conceived a son named Horus from the dead Osiris. When Horus grew up, he took revenge on Set. Horus gave his magic Eye, torn out by Seth at the beginning of the battle, to his dead father to swallow. Osiris came to life, but did not want to return to earth, and, leaving the throne to Horus, began to reign and administer justice in the afterlife. Seth, in Egyptian mythology, the god of the desert, that is, “foreign countries,” the personification of the evil principle, the brother and killer of Osiris. During the era of the Old Kingdom, Set was revered as a warrior god, assistant to Ra and patron of the pharaohs.
As the personification of war, drought, death, Seth also embodied the evil principle - as the deity of the merciless desert, the god of foreigners: he cut down sacred trees, ate the sacred cat of the goddess Bast, etc.
The sacred animals of Seth were considered to be the pig (“disgust for the gods”), antelope, giraffe, and the main one was the donkey. The Egyptians imagined him as a man with a thin, long body and a donkey's head. Some myths attributed to Seth the salvation of Ra from the serpent Apophis - Seth pierced the giant Apophis, personifying darkness and evil, with a harpoon. Myth:
Set, jealous of his brother Osiris, killed him, threw his body into the Nile and legally took his throne. But the son of Osiris, Horus, who had been hiding for many years, wanted to take revenge on Set and take his throne. Horus and Set fought for eighty years. During one of the battles, Seth tore out Horus's eye, which then became the great amulet of the Udjat; Horus castrated Seth, depriving him of most of his essence. Horus or Horus, Horus (“height”, “sky”), in Egyptian mythology the god of the sky and the sun in the guise of a falcon, a man with the head of a falcon or a winged sun, the son of the fertility goddess Isis and Osiris, the god of productive forces. Its symbol is a solar disk with outstretched wings. Initially, the falcon god was revered as a predatory god of the hunt, with his claws digging into his prey. Myth:
Isis conceived Horus from the dead Osiris, who was treacherously killed by the formidable desert god Set, his brother. Retiring deep into the swampy Nile Delta, Isis gave birth to and raised a son, who, having matured, in a dispute with Set, sought recognition of himself as the sole heir of Osiris.
In the battle with Set, the killer of his father, Horus is first defeated - Set tore out his eye, the wonderful Eye, but then Horus defeated Set and deprived him of his masculinity. As a sign of submission, he placed the sandal of Osiris on Seth's head. Horus allowed his wonderful Eye to be swallowed by his father, and he came to life. The resurrected Osiris handed over his throne in Egypt to Horus, and he himself became the king of the underworld. Isis or Isis, in Egyptian mythology, the goddess of fertility, water and wind, a symbol of femininity and marital fidelity, the goddess of navigation. Isis helped Osiris to civilize Egypt and taught women to reap, spin and weave, cure diseases and established the institution of marriage. When Osiris went to wander the world, Isis replaced him and wisely ruled the country. Myth:
Hearing about the death of Osiris at the hands of the god of evil Set, Isis was dismayed. She cut her hair, put on mourning clothes and began searching for his body. The children told Isis that they had seen a box containing the body of Osiris floating down the Nile. The water carried him under a tree that grew on the shore near Byblos, which began to grow rapidly and soon the coffin was completely hidden in its trunk.
Upon learning of this, the king of Byblos ordered the tree to be cut down and brought to the palace, where it was used as a support for the roof in the form of a column. Isis, having guessed everything, rushed to Byblos. She dressed poorly and sat down by a well in the center of the city. When the queen's maids came to the well, Isis braided their hair and wrapped it in such a fragrance that the queen soon sent for her and took her son as a teacher. Every night Isis placed the royal child in the fire of immortality, and she herself, turning into a swallow, flew around the column with her husband’s body. Seeing her son in the flames, the queen uttered such a piercing cry that the child lost his immortality, and Isis revealed herself and asked to give her the column. Having received the body of her husband, Isis hid him in a swamp. However, Seth found the body and cut it into fourteen pieces, which he scattered throughout the country. With the help of the gods, Isis found all the pieces except the penis, which had been swallowed by the fish.
According to one version, Isis collected the body and revived Osiris to life using her healing powers, and conceived from him the god of the sky and sun, Horus. Isis was so popular in Egypt that over time she acquired the characteristics of other goddesses. She was revered as the patroness of women in labor, determining the fate of newborn kings.

Osiris occupies the most important place. In Ancient Egypt, stretched along the longest Nile, there was neither a coherent mythology nor a single image of the gods, as was the case, for example, among the ancient Greeks. Egyptian pictograms have not been fully deciphered, but the myth of the god Osiris is generally known thanks to the writings of Plutarch.

The beginning of the life of Osiris

Initially, it was believed that the god Osiris was born in the desert, separating the kingdom of the living from the kingdom of the dead, by the sky goddess Nut from her husband Geb, who ruled the earth. He had a younger, envious and treacherous brother, Seth, a sister-wife - the wise Isis - and a sister, Nebekhtet, or, in Greek, Nephthys, who was Seth's wife. This couple had no children. The reasons are strange. Either Seth was sterile, or Nephthys did not have a vagina. Nevertheless, she gave birth to a son, Anubis, either from Osiris or from Ra. Inconsistency and lack of logic are characteristic of the entire mythological system of Egypt.

Mythological tales

King Osiris of Egypt wisely ruled his country together with Isis. He was the 4th god, after his great-grandfather Atum, grandfather Shu and father Geb. With chants, and not with weapons and threats, Osiris taught his subjects agriculture, gardening and viticulture. They made wine from grapes. These ideas go deep into tribal society. For the ancient Egyptians, Osiris is the god-producer, to whom nature is subordinated.

The insidious Seth was jealous of his older brother and wanted to take his place on the throne. He made a magnificently decorated sarcophagus, secretly taking Osiris's measurements, and held a feast. He announced to all those invited that he would give the sarcophagus to someone who would like it. Osiris, unaware of the impending betrayal, lay down in it. The lid was quickly slammed shut and sealed with lead and thrown into the Nile. The great river did not accept the sarcophagus, but carried it to the shore near Byblos. Immediately, a huge tree grew and entwined the sarcophagus with its roots. The ruler of Byblos gave the order to cut it down and bring it to the palace. It was used to make a support for the roof. But it was in the tree that the sarcophagus was located. Isis at this time was languishing in prison, put there by Seth. But they helped her escape.

The inconsolable Isis, having cut her hair (a kind of tonsure as a nun) and put on mourning, rushed in search of her husband. She found this tree in the palace and asked him to give it to her.

Revival of Osiris

While preparing for burial, Isis carelessly left her husband's body unguarded. Seth, according to some sources, cut his body into 15 pieces, according to others - into 42, and scattered him throughout Egypt. Isis decided to collect the body, revive her late husband in order to conceive a son. He must grow up and avenge his father. The body was collected, but one piece was missing, without which married life is impossible: Seth threw it into the water, and it was eaten by fish.

Some sources say that Isis molded the phallus from clay. Her wisdom helped her a short time bring Osiris back to life. So the couple conceived a son, who was named Horus. When Horus grew up, he fought with Set and defeated him.
He gave Seth's eye to be eaten by his father and thereby resurrected him. Osiris gave the earthly world to his Horus, and he himself went to the afterlife.

Rites of the priests

Every year the priests of Isis held solemn holiday the reunification of all parts of the body of Osiris. A sacrificial fire was lit, around it, intoxicated with potions and drinks, the priests danced to the sounds of tambourines, drums and flutes. At the moment of climax, the chief priest exclaimed: “Phallus!” - and many servants of Isis castrated themselves with sharp knives, throwing their victim into the fire. Those who survived were incredibly respected.

Osiris - god of the underworld

Leaving this world to his son Horus, Osiris retired to the underworld. Here Osiris is the god who rules over the souls of the dead. In the palace of Justice, the soul of a deceased person utters an oath in which he convinces everyone that he did not do evil deeds on earth: he did not kill, did not slander, did not steal other people’s property.

First, Ra listens to her, then Osiris, the god of this kingdom, then 42 judges, each of whom checks one of the oaths. After this, his soul (heart in other sources) is placed on one of the scales, and on the other - a feather from the wing of the goddess Maat. If the scales are balanced, then he ends up in the heavenly fertile fields, Iaru. The sinner was condemned to complete darkness without light and warmth (according to the Book of the Dead), or, according to another version, he was devoured by a monster - a lion with the head of a crocodile. Osiris is the god who passively and calmly observed the entire trial procedure.

What else did Osiris rule over?

During the dry period, the life of the farmer came to a standstill, and only when the Nile overflowed and brought silt deposits to the fields did the life of the peasant begin anew. If we ask the question: “Osiris is the god of what?” - then the answer will be: the god of the rebirth of nature. It was believed that he patronized farmers and gave them a plow. The question “Osiris is the god of what?” also has the answer that this is the god of new life, reborn after cold winter, agriculture, abundance and fertility. In the spring, under his protection, everything blossomed on well-groomed arable land, in the summer it bore fruit, and in the fall the harvest was harvested. The fertilizing power never left him.

What does the god Osiris look like?

God was primarily depicted zoomorphically. He had the head of a bull and his legs were wrapped like mummies. Later they began to draw him anthropomorphically - in the form of a mummy man with green skin on his face and often green hands.

They are free and hold two symbols of power - a scepter and a flail (heket and neheku) or, otherwise, a chain and a hook. On the head is a crown (“atef”), which looks like a tall narrow hat. There are two feathers attached to it. Osiris was often depicted with a lotus that grows in water, and also on a throne under trees entwined with grapes.

Cult of Osiris

The Egyptian god Osiris was one of the most revered because he gave life to everything on earth. People turned to him often. The largest religious buildings were the temples in the Nile Delta at Djedou (Busiris in Greek) and Abydos. The cult of the deity arose in Busiris. Pilgrims went to both places from all over Egypt, especially to Abydos. The first pharaoh of Djedha was buried there. Later, his grave began to be identified with the tomb of Osiris. Every year, magnificent festivals were held there, when the boat of the god, made of papyrus, was carried in the hands. This is how victories over his enemies were celebrated.

A man with a menacing expression, dressed in scraps of mummifying fabric, for a long time caused fear and trepidation among the Egyptian population. Rich and poor inhabitants of the fertile lands believed that Osiris, the just ruler of the underworld, knew about everyone’s misdeeds. And only God, who has known great love and immeasurable suffering, can decide who is worthy of staying alive and who will never leave the world of the dead.

Origin story

The first mention of the king of the underworld was discovered on the wall of a pyramid. The inscription is known as the Pyramid Texts and is dated to the mid-Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.

The cult especially flourished during the period called the Middle Kingdom. At this time, the image of Osiris as a judge deciding whether a mortal is worthy of returning to the familiar world gained increased popularity.

Before the exaltation of the status, the deity was perceived by the population as the patron of the harvest and the giver of abundance. Researchers often draw a parallel between Osiris and. But, apart from common spheres of influence, nothing binds the gods. Dionysus is a cheerful, charming young man, while Osiris is an adult, melancholic and power-hungry man.

In 1875 before the birth of Christ, the stela of Ikhernofret was installed on the territory of Abydos, which provides detailed information about the cults and festivals associated with Osiris. The celebrations took place during the last month of the Nile flood and lasted 5 days. The sacred holiday was held on lands near the river, and at the end it was transferred to special temples.

The reign of the Lagid dynasty noticeably transformed the image of God. In order to make friends between the two cultures (the inhabitants of Egypt and the Hellenic settlers who came), the pharaohs combined the familiar deity and the sacred bull Apis in the image of Osiris. The fusion of the Egyptian image and Greek appearance gave birth to a new god - Serapis. Such a replacement marked the beginning of the decline of the once popular cult.

Osiris in mythology

Before becoming the god of rebirth, Osiris was an immortal ruler on Earth for a long time. The man was born into the family of the pharaoh. After his father's death, he married his own sister Isis and took the throne of Egypt. One of the closest advisers to the future god is the younger brother of Osiris named

The young man quietly hated Osiris, but did not dare to actively resist, waiting for the right moment. In addition to claims to the throne, Seth's wife, Nephthys, stood between the brothers. The girl fell in love with the pharaoh, but the man did not pay attention to his sister-in-law. Then Nephthys took the form of the wife of Osiris and seduced her relative.

From an extramarital affair, a child was born, whom the insidious girl named. Fearing Seth's reaction, Nephthys threw the newborn into the reeds. Later, Isis found the baby and raised the child.

It is unknown whether Seth found out about the connection, but the young man’s patience was over. The young man longed to get the throne. Seth was irritated by the love of the people that the ruling pharaoh enjoyed, so the younger brother developed a murder plan.

One day, Seth came to the throne room and announced that he had created a sarcophagus, which he would give to whoever fit in the coffin. The sarcophagus suited Osiris the most. While his brother was trying on the coffin, Seth slammed the lid and filled the sarcophagus with lead. After this, the walled Osiris was thrown into the river. Later, the god’s prison landed on the shore and was instantly overgrown with trees, reliably hiding the man from strangers.

Isis, concerned about the absence of Osiris, went in search of her lover. The search took too long, and the woman found the pharaoh already dead. With the help of a spell, Isis briefly resurrected Osiris. There was only enough time for a love act, after which the goddess had a son, Horus.

Not wanting to part with her beloved, Isis hid her husband’s body in the desert. Alas, it was there that Seth was hunting, who accidentally stumbled upon his brother. In a fit of hatred, the man tore to pieces the remains of the former pharaoh and scattered the parts throughout Egypt.

The wife of Osiris and Anubis collected everything that was left of the ruler of Egypt. Only the reproductive organ of the future god was not preserved. Isis molded the phallus from clay (another source is from gold). Together with her own pupil, the woman collected and embalmed the body of her loved one.

Youngest child Osiris, having become an adult, took revenge on his uncle. During the battle, Seth tore out Horus's eye, and the young man forced his father's dead body to absorb the eye. The life-giving organ of vision brought Osiris back to life. But the pharaoh decided to stay in the monastery of the dead, for which he received the title of king of the underworld. Now the responsibilities of Osiris included holding court hearings at which the fate of mere mortals was decided. God’s beloved son Anubis helped him edit and resolve issues in court.

In the middle of the throne room, God installed scales that allowed the heart of the deceased to be weighed. If the organ outweighed the goddess's feather, which lay on a nearby bowl, then the person was sent into the unknown. The heart of an honest and blameless man was equal in weight to an unusual feather. Such a righteous man was sent to the fields of Jaru, and a quick rebirth awaited the man.

Film adaptations

The powerful god often appears in various blockbusters and mystical serial films. Often the hero fulfills his direct role - he decides the fate of mere mortals.

Unusual appearance hosted by Osiris in the Stargate series. The resurrected spirit of the deity inhabits the girl’s body and sets off in search of her beloved Isis. The role of the feminine Osiris was played by Anna-Louis Palmer.

In 2016, director Alex Proyas directed the film Gods of Egypt, based on ancient Egyptian mythology. The film tells the story of Horus, who intends to take revenge on his own uncle, who killed the parent of God. The role of Osiris went to actor Bryan Brown.

The Egyptians believed that after the second resurrection, Osiris had green skin - the personification of the plant world.
All attributes of the god are made of papyrus: the crown, jet and sacred boat are made of different parts plants.
Osiris became the fourth god to begin his career as pharaoh.
The tomb of the great god was discovered in the ancient city of Abydos.