The God Osiris

The God Osiris

Research Part 1

Osiris , 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 god of the Afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaohs beard, partially mummy- wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two 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, as well as being brother and husband of Isis, with Horus being considered his posthumously begotten 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 is worshipped much earlier; the term Khenti-Amentiu dates to at least the first dynasty, also as a pharaonic title. Most information we have on the myths of Osiris is derived from allusions contained in the Pyramid Texts at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, later New Kingdom source documents such as the Shabaka Stone and the Contending of Horus and Seth, and, much later, in narrative 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 agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. He is 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 the dead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. By the New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death 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 observed in nature, in particular vegetation and the annual flooding of the Nile, through his links with Orion and Sirius at the start of the new year. Osiris was widely worshiped as Lord of the Dead until 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 briefly brought Osiris back to life by use of a spell that she learned from her father. This spell gave her time to become pregnant by Osiris before he again died. Isis later gave birth to Horus. As such, since Horus is born after Osiris resurrection, Horus became thought of as a representation of new beginnings and the vanquisher 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 is thought 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 a distinct god, especially so in the Delta city of Mendes. This aspect of Osiris is referred to as Banebdjedet, which is grammatically feminine (also spelt Banebded or Banebdjed) which literally 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 and therefore 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 in the western sense, and also has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god. Since the ba is associated with power, and also happened to be a word for ram in Egyptian, 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 were mummified 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 gods traditional crook and flail are of course the instruments of the shepherd, which has suggested to some scholars also an origin for Osiris in herding tribes of the upper Nile. The crook and flail were originally symbols of the minor 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 regeneration and re -birth) had a particularly strong interest toward the concept of immortality. Plutarch recounts one version of the myth in which Set (Osiris brother), along with the Queen of Ethiopia, conspired with 72 accomplices to plot the assassination of Osiris. Set 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 on the box in this myth). Osiris wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and open it, but Osiris was already dead. In one version of the myth, she used a spell learned from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate he r. Afterwards he died again and she hid his body in the desert. Months late r, she gave birth to Horus. While she raised Horus, Set was hunting one night and came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces 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 the m together for a proper burial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and resurrected Osiris as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris is associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the crops 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 amongst his fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Horus avenge the death of Osiris and slay Typhon. Isis recovers all the parts of Osiris body, less the phallus, and secretly buries them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several locations which then became centres of Osiris worship.

The tale of Osiris becoming fish-like is cognate with the story the Greek shepherd god Pan becoming 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 by Typhon, 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, and mournful (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 the death of the god were one and the same: the cereal is identified with the god who came from heaven; 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 in shape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed. The germinating seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. An almost pristine example is found in the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard 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 in which Horus defeated Set. This is all presented by skilled actors as a literary history, and is the main method of recruiting cult membership. According to Julius Firmicus Maternus of the fourth century, 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 and rejoinedthey 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 and practices.

Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge suggests possible connections or parallels in Osiris resurrection story with those found in Christianity: The Egyptians of every period in which they are known to us believed that Osiris is of divine origin, that he suffered death and mutilation at the hands of the powers of evil, that after a great struggle with these powers he rose again, that he became henceforth the king of the underworld and judge of the dead, and that because he had conquered death the righteous also might conquer deathIn Osiris the Christian Egyptians found the prototype of Christ, and in the pictures and statues of Isis suckling her son Horus, they perceived the prototypes of the Virgin Mary and her child. Biblical scholar Bruce M. Metzger notes that in one account of the Osirian cycle he dies on the 17th of the month of Athyr (approximating to a month between October 28 and November 26 in modern calendars), is revivified on the 19th and compares this to Christ rising on the third day but he thinks resurrection is a questionable description. Egyptologist Erikrnung observes that Egyptian Christians continued to mummify corpses (an integral part of the Osirian beliefs) until it finally came to an end with the arrival of Islam and argues for an association between the passion of Jesus and Osirian traditions, particularly in the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus and Christs descent into Hades. He concludes that whilst Christianity rejected anything pagan it did so only at a superficial level and that early Christianity is deeply indebted to Ancient Egypt. David J. MacLeod argues that the resurrection of Osiris differs from Jesus Christ, saying: Perhaps the only pagan god for whom there is a resurrectio n is the Egyptian Osiris. Close examination of this story shows that it is very different from Christs resurrection. Osiris did not rise; he ruled in the abode of the dead. As biblical scholar, Roland de Vaux, wrote, What is meant of Osiris being raised to life? Simply that, thanks to the ministrations of Isis, he is able to lead a life beyond the tomb which is an almost perfect replica of earthly existence. But he will never again come among the living and will reign only over the dead. This revived god is in reality a mummy god. No, the mummified Osiris is hardly an inspiration for the resurrected Christ As Yamauchi observes, Ordinary men aspired to identification with Osiris as one who had triumphed over death. But it is a mistake to equate the Egyptian view of the afterlife with the biblical doctrine of resurrection. To achieve immortality the Egyptian had to meet three conditions: First, his body had to be preserved by mummification. Second, nourishment is provided by the actual offering of daily bread and beer. Third, magical spells were interred with him. His body did not rise from the dead; rather elements of his personality his Ba and Ka continued to hover over his body. Saint Augustine wrote that the Egyptians alone believe in the res urrection, as they carefully preserved their dead bodies. A. J. M. Wedderburn further argues that resurrection in Ancient Egypt differs from the very negative features in Judaeo-Christian tradition, as the Ancient Egyptians conceived of the afterlife as entry into the glorious kingdom of Osiris.

Marvin Mayer notes that some scholars regard the idea of dying and rising deities in the mystery religions as being fanciful but suggests this may be motivated by apologetic concerns, attempting to keep Christs 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 and reaches a conclusion in Christianity.

Ikhernofret Stela
Much of the extant information about the Passion of Osiris can be found on the Ikhernofret Stela at 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). The Passion Plays were held in the last month of the inundation (the annual Nile flood), coinciding with 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 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, while others involved public participation in a form of theatre. The Stela of I-Kher-Nefert recounts the programme of events of the public elements over the five days of the Festival:
o

o o o

The First Day, The Procession of Wepwawet: A mock battle is enacted during which the enemies of Osiris are defeated. A procession is led by the god Wepwawet (opener of the way). The Second Day, The Great Procession of Osiris: The body of Osiris is taken from his temple to his tomb. The boat he is transported in, the Neshmet bark, has 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 Maat. A statue of Osiris is brought to the temple. [

Judgment
With the rise of the cult of Osiris during the Middle Kingdom the democratization of religion offered to even his most humblest followers the prospect of eternal life, with moral fitness becoming the dominant factor in determining a persons suitability. 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 Maat, who represente d truth and right living, the person is welcomed into the kingdom of Osiris. If found guilty the person is thrown to a devourer and didnt 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 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 complete destruction 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 when wrongdoing 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 Egyptian mythology from the beginning. Before he became the Egyptian god of the underworld; however, Osiris had quite a history.

History of Osiris
Osiris is told to have been one of five children born to the god of the earth and the goddess of the skies; 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 play critical roles in his story; his brother Seth and two sisters known as Isis and Nephthys. As the firstborn 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 have possession 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 presented herself to Osiris as his wife. Not knowing the difference, Osiris was seduced by Nephthys and she became pregnant and gave birth to Anubis. Later, Seth developed a vendetta against his extremely popular sibling, possibly either because Osiris had inherited the throne or because he had gotten Seths wife pregnant. At any rate, Seth sought to kill him by luring him into a coffin and drowning him in the Nile. The annual flooding of the Nile River is still thought to be representative of this event. Isis managed to recover her husbands body; however Seth was very stealthy and stole away with it. After cutting up the body of the Egyptian god of the underworld, Seth hid the pieces throughout the Egyptian desert. The connection between Isis and Osiris was so strong; the Egyptian goddess proceeded to spend a number of years searching for the mutilated body parts of her husband. She finally managed to find all of the pieces, save one and is believed to have used her magical powers to restore her husbands body. Although there are different versions to this part of the story, it seems Isis became pregnant, presumably by Osiris and gave birth to a son, 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 was believed to have been his son. Other tales contend that he rightfully obtained the important role as Egyptian god of the underworld because he was the first god to have died. However he obtained the role, it became Osiris responsibility to judge the souls of the dead. Osiris remained as one of the most popular of all the ancient Egyptian gods. Today, he still one of the most well known Egyptian gods.

The God Osiris

Research Part 3

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 Heliopolis Myths: Isis and Osiris A god of the earth and vegetation, Osiris symbolized in his death the yearly drought and in his miraculous rebirth the periodic flooding of the Nile and the growth of grain. He was a god-king who 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 traditions state that Nephthys (mother of Anubis) assumed the form of Isis, seduced him (perhaps with wine) and she became pregnant with Anubis. The oldest religious texts refer to Osiris as the great god of the dead, and throughout these texts it is 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 Geb abdicated. At this time the Egyptians were barbarous cannibals and unc ivilized. Osiris saw this and 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 many ways by inventing the arts and sciences and giving names to things. Osiris was Egypts greatest king who ruled through kindness and persuasion. Having civilized Egypt, Osiris traveled to other lands, leaving Isis as his regent, to teach other peoples what he taught the Egyptians. During Osiris absence, Isis was troubled with Seths plotting to acquire both her and the throne of Egypt. Shortly after Osiris return to Egypt, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, on the seventeenth day of the month of Hathor (late September or Nove mber), Seth and 72 conspirators murdered him. They then threw the coffin in which he was murdered into the Nile, with his divine body still inside. Isis, with the help of her sister Nephthys, and Anubis and Thoth, magically located Osiris body. Upon learning the his brothers body was found, Seth went to it and tore it into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis once again found every part of his body, save his phallus (it had been eaten by the now-cursed Nile fish). She magically re-assembled Osiris and resurrected him long enough to be impregnated by him so that she could give birth to the new king Horus. Seth of course was not willing to surrender the throne of Egypt to the youthful Horus and thus a tribunal of gods met to decide who was the rightful king. The trial lasted eighty years. Eventually through 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 admit all people to the Duat, the gentle, fertile land in which the righteous dead lived, that had lived a good 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 a minor 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 adoration of 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 his original association to agriculture, his death and resurrection were seen as symbolic of the annual death and re- growth of the crops and the yearly flooding of the Nile. The sun too with its daily re-birth and death was associated with Osiris. His rivalry with his brother Seth, the god of storms and 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 deceased father 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 his death. When the Nile began to flood again, another festival honoring Osiris was held whereby small shrines were cast into the river and the priests poured sweet water in the Nile, declaring that 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 throne over an eye (there are at least 158 versions of the name). At one point the first syllable of the name 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 like the strength of the Eye (i.e., the strength of the Sun-god Re.) Another possibility raised by an ancient hymns author is that the name Unnefer (another name by 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, Thy beauty maketh itself manifest in thy person to rouse the gods to life in thy name Unnefer. In any case, 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 the atef crown. His hands emerge from the mummy wrappings and hold the flail and crook.