The legend of Osiris, Isis, Horus and Set became one of the most important and powerful in Egyptian mythology during the New Kingdom. It arose originally during the Middle Kingdom as a result of attempts to merge the Ogdoad and Ennead systems. ^{[citation needed]} The legend concerns the death of Osiris and birth of Horus. A legend (Latin, legenda, things to be read) is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. ... Osiris (Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, or Ausare) is the Egyptian God of death and the underworld. ... Isis is a female goddess in the Egyptian belief. ... Horus is an ancient god of Egyptian mythology, whose cult survived so long that he evolved dramatically over time and gained many names. ... Set, in KV34 Set (also Setekh, Seth, etc) was originally a god of strength, war, storms, foreign lands (and foreigners) and deserts in Egyptian mythology. ... Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ... The New Kingdom is the period in Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BCE, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ... The Middle Kingdom is a period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, roughly between 1991 BC and 1648 BC. The Eleventh Dynasty The Middle Kingdom has been usually dated to the time when Pharaoh Mentuhotep... In Egyptian mythology, the Ogdoad are the eight deities worshipped in Hermopolis. ... The Ennead (a word derived from Greek, meaning the nine) is a grouping of nine deities, most often used in the context of Egyptian mythology. ...

Origin

In the Ennead, Osiris is the husband of Isis, and sibling of Set, all of whom are the great-grandchildren of the creator god Atum, and Horus is not present within the system. In the Ogdoad, Osiris is not present within the system, and Horus is the husband of Isis and son of Ra, the creator god. When the Ennead and Ogdoad merged, Ra and Atum were identified as one-another, becoming Atum-Ra, and Horus was initially considered the fifth sibling of Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Set. However, Horus' mother, Hathor, gradually became identified as a form of Isis, leading to Horus becoming said to be Isis' son, and therefore the son of Osiris. Sibling is a generic term meaning brother or sister, i. ... History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ... , , or This article is about the Egyptian god. ... In Egyptian mythology, Nephthys (spelt Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, in transliteration from hieroglyphs) is one of the Ennead of Heliopolis, a daughter of Nuit and Geb, and the wife of Set. ... Statue of Hathor (Luxor Museum) // The divine waterway In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was seen as the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow. ...

As Osiris was the god of the land of the dead, a legend grew up seeking to explain how Osiris could father a son who was very demonstrably alive (Horus was originally the god of the sky) with his wife, who was also very much a part of the land of the living. ^{[citation needed]}

So it became said that Osiris died, thus being able to be lord of the dead, but his wife, with the magical powers that Isis was believed to possess, resurrected him for long enough to have sex, resulting in the birth of Horus.^{[citation needed]}

Original legend

According to the original legend, Osiris was originally king over Egypt and civilised the nation with the assistance of Thoth's inventions of writing, law, the arts, and science. Having improved the Egyptians, Osiris travelled to other lands, placing Isis as his regent. However, Apep, the god of evil, was jealous and killed Osiris, so Isis had a son from Osiris by magic, namely Horus, to avenge him. While young, Isis fled from Apep, a dangerous serpent, by hiding with Horus in the marshland of the Nile delta, where serpents would not follow. When Horus, a sun god, had grown up, he engaged in a great battle of light over the darkness of Apep, a battle so fierce that it was only ended when the other gods judged in Horus' favour and banished Apep. Thoth (Ramesseum, Luxor) In Egyptian mythology, Thoth (also spelt Thot or Thout), pronounced tot, is the Greek name given to Djehuty (also spelt Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, Tetu) - the original pronunciation of his name is disputed, and may have been approximately Tee-HOW-ti -, who was originally the deification of... // High public office A regent, from the Latin regens who reigns is anyone who acts of head of state, especially if not the Monarch (who has higher titles). ... An Egyptian deity wards off the snake-like Apep In Egyptian mythology, Apep (also spelt Apepi, and Aapep, or Apophis in Greek) was an evil demon, the deification of darkness and chaos, and thus opponent of light and Maat (order/truth), whose existance was believed about from the Middle... This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ... The Nile (Arabic: النيل an-nīl), in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. ... Delta may refer to: Look up delta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. ...

Set and resurrection

Originally, Osiris' death was blamed on Apep, but after the time of the foreign Hyksos overlords (at the end of the Middle Kingdom), Set, the favourite god of the Hyksos, was increasingly viewed by the Egyptians as an evil god, having originally been a hero, and so the blame was transferred to Set.^{[citation needed]} The Hyksos (Egyptian heka khasewet) were an ethnically mixed group of Southwest Asiatic people who appeared in the eastern Nile Delta during the Second Intermediate Period. ...

In the legend, Osiris was only alive before Horus' birth, and Horus obviously only alive after, and each had earlier legends in which they were the husband of Isis. Unlike Osiris, Horus also had earlier legends in which he and Set had a strong animosity, due to them originally being the significant gods for Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt respectively.^{[citation needed]} Consequently, Osiris' identity and that of Horus gradually merged, explaining Set's motive for killing Osiris/Horus, and eventually Horus became considered the resurrected form of Osiris, rather than simply Osiris' avenger.^{[citation needed]} In this merged form, Horus was known as Har Kerest (also spelt Har Karast), literally meaning Horus the embalmed, reflecting Anubis' funerary preparation of the dead body of Osiris/Horus before Isis performed magic upon it. Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... Anubis, is the Greek name for the ancient god in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelt Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw). ...

The coffin and the acacia

At the time the myth initially developed, it was believed that the gods had emerged from under the acacia tree owned by Iusaaset, Atum's shadow, requiring an explanation of how Horus came to be born at the tree. Thus the original form of the myth states that Osiris was killed by a wooden sarcophagus secretly being made to his measurements, and then a party held where the coffin was offered to whoever it fitted. A few people tried to fit in, but to no avail, until Osiris was encouraged to try, who, as soon as he lay back, had the lid slammed on him and it sealed closed. The coffin was thrown into a river, causing Osiris to drown, but the coffin eventually was rescued by Isis and Nepthys, who used magic to bring life to Osiris/Horus inside. The coffin sprouted greenery, eventually turning into an acacia tree, from which the newly young Horus emerged. Species About 1,300; see List of Acacia species Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees of Gondwanian origin belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the Pea Family Fabaceae, first described from Africa by Linnaeus in 1773. ... Stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Merenptah A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. ...

The act of evil in drowning Osiris was said to have been the work of 72 unnamed conspirators, reflecting the legend in which 1/72nd of the moon's light was said to have been won by Thoth for the birth of the five major gods - Set, Nepthys, Osiris, Isis, and Horus, each 1/72nd of the moon's light given for the five days reflecting an individual piece of darkness left in its place during the 360. ^{[citation needed]} This legend was itself based on the fact that 1/72 over 360 days, the length of the year in the older Egyptian calendar, produces 5 whole days, reflecting the duration of the newer 365 day Egyptian calendar.

The moon and the oxyrhynchus

In late Egyptian thought, the righteous dead were sometimes said to become the stars, and thus the moon was occasionally seen as having a connection to Osiris, lord of the dead.^{[citation needed]} As a death and resurrection legend, in which evil seeks to destroy a deity, thus bringing darkness, it thus developed an association with the lunar cycle, in which the moon appears to be destroyed by darkness, and is then brought back to life. Thus it later became said that Osiris had been killed by being dismembered into 13 parts, each part representing one of the 13 full moons seen each year (there are roughly 13 lunar months per year). The original form of Set's murder of Osiris was incorporated into this later version, though it was said that the attempt had failed when Isis and Nepthys found the coffin and rescued it.^{[citation needed]} In astronomy, a phase of the Moon is any of the aspects or appearances presented by the Moon as seen from Earth, determined by the portion of the Moon that is visibly illuminated by the Sun. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ... The Galileo spacecraft took this composite image on 7 December 1992 on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-97. ... In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive similar syzygies (new moons or full moons). ...

However, the resurrected form was Horus, who had previously been considered a sun-god, having been identified with Ra as Ra-Herakhty, and the solar death-resurrection cycle over a year involves a whole entity, said to be composed of 12 sections - the zodiac.^{[citation needed]} Consequently, it became said that before resurrecting Osiris/Horus, Isis put together 12 of the 13 parts, but was unable to find the 13th, which was said to have been destroyed completely. As Set was considered to be homosexual (due to having originally been the god of the desert, and thus thought of as infertile), it was said that a manifestation of Set - the Oxyrhynchus fish (a fish with an unusual curved snout resembling depictions of Set), had swallowed the part that was Osiris' penis. The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. ... Zodiac signs, 16th century , medieval woodcuts The zodiac (from Greek zoon, animal) is an imaginary belt in the heavens extending approximately 8 degrees on either side of the Suns apparent path (the ecliptic), that includes the apparent paths of the Moon and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. ... Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... A dune in the Egyptian desert In geography, a desert is a landscape form or region that receives little precipitation - less than 250 mm per year. ... Fertility is the ability of people or animals to produce healthy offspring in abundance. ... Oxyrhynchus (Greek: Οξύρυγχος; sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian Per-Medjed; modern Arabic el-Bahnasa) is an archaeological site in Egypt, considered one of the most important ever discovered. ... The penis (plural penises or penes) is, in addition to the scrotum, one of the external male sexual organs. ...

This new description lead to a new description of how Osiris/Horus was resurrected. It was said that Isis made wax models of each dismembered part and gave them to priests to worship, and fashioned a new penis for Osiris/Horus. Isis and Nephthys then were said to have applied sufficient magic to make the penis function, and so Isis had sex with the dead body and new penis, resulting in Horus' birth. An alternative version not requiring a magic penis has it that she impregnated herself from semen removed from his testicles [1]. It has been suggested that Sexual penetration be merged into this article or section. ... Semen or sperm is a fluid that contains spermatozoa. ...

Development and mystery

As a life-death-rebirth deity, Horus/Osiris became a reflection of the annual cycle of crop harvesting as well as reflecting people's desires for a successful afterlife, and so the legend became extremely important, outstripping all others. The legend's ventures into both life and afterlife meant that religious rites associated with the legend eventually began to take on aspects of a mystery religion, where initiates were said to be able to partake in Horus/Osiris' resurrection, purging themselves of past ills, and entering a new life. The category life-death-rebirth deity also known as a dying-and-rising god is a convenient means of classifying the many divinities in world mythology who are born, suffer death or an eclipse or other death-like experience, pass a phase in the underworld among the dead, and are... The afterlife (or life after death) is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual and experiential, beyond this world, or after death. ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. ...

In Greece, the Demeter-Persephone death-resurrection cult at Eleusis, had a similar nature, and began at an extremely similar time. Many centuries later this led to interest in the Egyptian cult by the Greeks, including Plato. Eventually, a derived form of the Egyptian cult, having been infused with Platonism, spread to areas of Greek influence, particularly during the hellenic era of control over Egypt. As the cult referred to foreign gods, the forms of the cult in Greek nations were adopted to describe suitable local deities and merged and expanded to include elements from the local cultures. This produced a collection of closely related versions of the cult, whose central deities had been deformed to be similar to the Egyptian cult, and were by the 1st century BC collectively known as Osiris-Dionysus.^{[citation needed]} Demeter, Greek goddess of the harvest. ... Bust of Persephone In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Classical Greek Persephónē, Modern Greek Persefóni) was the queen of the Underworld, the Kore or young maiden, and the daughter of Demeter. ... The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ... Plato (Greek: Πλάτων Plátōn) (ca. ... Platonic idealism is the theory that the substantive reality around us is only a reflection of a higher truth. ... The term Osiris-Dionysus is used by some historians of religion to refer to a group of deities worshipped around the Mediterranean in the centuries prior to the birth of Jesus. ...

Influences

Some scholars and researchers (including some skeptical of the actuality of early Christian accounts) have argued that there are similarities and parallels between the story of Osiris, and later Christian stories, such as the story of the resurrection of Jesus or of Lazarus. Furthermore, some suggest that the earlier Egyptian tales influenced and helped shape the later Christian accounts. Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... It has been suggested that Resurrection of the dead be merged into this article or section. ... Jesus, also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene, is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ (from Greek Ιησούς Χριστός) with Christ being a title meaning Anointed One. He is also considered a very important prophet in Islam and a manifestation of... Resurrection of Lazarus by Juan de Flandes, around 1500. ...

For example, the original written spelling of Lazarus was given in Koine Greek as "Lazaros", which has been suggested as a corruption of "El-Azar-Os". This is a Hebrew theophoric prefix and a Graecising suffix, and as a whole is cognate with Osiris, who was originally called Azar. The name Osiris itself has a similar etymology - it is the Greek transcription of the original Demotic name Azar, with an additional Graecising suffix of is (i.e. Azar-is). Koine Greek () is an ancient Greek dialect which marks the 2nd stage in the history of the Greek language. ... Theophoric names are exceedingly common in the Ancient Near East and Mesopotamia, where the personal name of an individual included the name of a god in whose care the individual is entrusted. ... Cognates are words that have a common origin. ... Demotic script on a replica of the Rosetta stone. ...

It's also been argued that there are parallels between Jesus and Horus, and that they are syncretistic. Horus is an ancient god of Egyptian mythology, whose cult survived so long that he evolved dramatically over time and gained many names. ... Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ...

External links

• Egyptian Ministry of Tourism about Osiris