The Osiris Myth: The Story of Horus and Set

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This story continues from Egyptian Mythology: Osiris Myth: Osiris and Isis

     Isis had to make new privates for Osiris out of clay (Eww!). She then joined his entire body together, and with Anubis' help, mummified Osiris for the first time. Suddenly, an ibis came by and made a small sound with it's throat. Isis didn't understand at first, but soon, she understood. The ibis was Thoth, the god of knowledge and magic. He was teaching her some magic. She made the exact same sound with her throat, and the magical incantation resurrected Osiris. She woke him up by kissing him (eww!) and both were happy to be with one another. That night, Osiris had to leave for the underworld, where he took over Anubis' role as the ruler of the underworld. After being a good king to the living, it was time to be a good king to the dead. Anubis gladly forsake his role for Osiris and instead, became the judge of dead souls. In the underworld, Osiris created Babi, the bloodthirsty god of baboons. He's also the god of the dead. He's bananas like that.

     Isis woke up and realized two things: Osiris is gone, and she is pregnant. She had to do everything in her power to protect her child and make sure he claimed his birthright. So, while Nephthys helped Isis with her pregnancy, Isis also took magic lessons from Thoth so that she could be powerful enough to protect her son from all threats. Nephthys then left Isis and became the goddess of service. Like the camels, she learned how to breathe in the desert air and she also learned how to breathe fire. She used her new-found powers to become the goddess of protection.

     Soon, Isis gave birth to Horus, the falcon-headed god of war, vengeance, and kingship. She gave birth to him and hid in a papyrus thicket. When Isis was gone, Horus would be looked after by the snake goddess Wadjet. Isis would travel everywhere and beg people to help, while hiding the fact that she was a goddess. She would leave some deities to take care of Horus and she was protected by scorpion deities when she travelled. Once, when a woman refused to help her, one of the scorpions stung her son, and Isis, being kind and compassionate, helped the woman by curing her son with magic.

    Horus was very innocent and vulnerable as a child. Throughout Horus' childhood, Set would send many scorpions or snake to bite him, but Isis was always able to heal him. Because Horus was bitten many times by snakes, the ancient Egyptians had a great fear of poison and snakebite. Osiris' spirit sometimes visited Horus and taught him both warfare and how to properly govern a kingdom. Horus soon grew up into a strong and valiant prince.

     Horus soon challenged his uncle for the throne of Egypt and so they basically had a huge court battle. In the trial, where were three judges. Ra and Atum were judging because they were the creators of kingship and the first kings. Geb was the third judge, since he was the previous king before Osiris and both Set and Osiris were his sons. Finally, Thoth sort of acted as Horus' lawyer, and served as an assistant to the judges. Isis secretly used her magic to try and tip the odds in her son's favor. From here, we see Isis become extremely cunning and we get to see some of the intelligence she had as a queen. In fact, she was said to be so intelligent that her intelligence and cunning surpassed that of a million gods/men. Meanwhile, in the trial, the gods all have mixed feelings about choosing sides. You're probably wondering "How could it possibly be hard for the gods to see al the bad things Set has done and instantly side with Horus?!".Well, the thing is, Horus may be the rightful heir to the throne that Set deceitfully stole, but Set is also Ra's chief lieutenant and protects him from the serpent Apophis/Apep. Hence, the trial lasted for eight years.

     They weren't getting anywhere with the trial, so while the trial continued, they had some contests. One time, they decided that they would fight each other as hippopotami under the water, but they would have to stay underwater for three months. Throughout all the battles to come, Isis is always secretly using her magic to help her son behind the scenes. She's totally his "Glinda, the Good Witch". So, when Set and Horus declared their hippo war, Isis created a bow and some harpoons. She then flew into the sky and aimed for Set. She shot one harpoon, but it Horus by accident. She then shot several at Set, but missed. Soon enough, she hit him and he cried out in pain. Isis took pity on him, pulled him from the river and nursed him back to health

     They included things like boat racing and fighting in the form of hippopotamuses. It eventually turned into a straight out war. Horus managed to defeat Set, take him as a prisoner, and left his mother to watch him. Set used cunning words to make Isis feel sorry for him and release him. When Horus learned what his mother had done, he chopped off her head in anger. Thoth replaced Isis' head with that of the cow goddess Hathor, who was Horus' wife. This was why Isis wore a headdress with cow horns. To punish Horus for treating his mother in such a way, Ra tortured him.

     Horus then returned to fight, where he badly hurt Set and Set tore out Horus' eyes. Thoth made a new eye for Horus out of moonlight. Hathor fixed the other eye by pouring milk from the Milky Way into his eye socket. Hence, Horus got both of his eyes back and his eye was seen as a symbol of protection in ancient Egypt. Horus is also known as the god of the sky and the air. So, it was said that his right eye was the sun while his left eye was the moon.

     Meanwhile, Horus the Elder was jealous of his more famous nephew and so joined the fight against Set. He turned into a sun disk and blinded the sight of Set's soldiers. Set's soldiers couldn't see what they were doing in the midst of battle, they all killed each other, giving Horus the Younger the advantage. Horus the Elder became the protector of Egypt.

      Ra called the council of the gods to ferry themselves to a middle-heaven-island where they would judge between Horus the Younger and Set again. Ra told their fisherman, Nempti, to not allow passage to any woman who looked like Isis, wince he wanted a fair trial and didn't want Isis using her magic to affect the outcome. So the gods reached the island and tried to peacefully negotiate things. Isis was afraid that Set would win against Horus and so tricked Nempti by turning herself into an old woman. She paid him a gold ring to ferry her to the island. Once she reached the island, she turned herself into a beautiful woman to attract Set. Set left the meeting to go to her. She told him that her husband had died and that a stranger had taken all his possessions and was going to beat her son. She asked Set to be her son's protector. Set felt bad for her and ironically claimed that the stranger should be brutally punished and her son to inherit his father's place.

     Isis then turned into a bird and flew into a tree. She said that even his mind and mouth had judged him cruel. Set, humiliated and furious, complained to Ra about Isis' manipulation. Ra said exactly what Isis said. OH!!! Sucks to be you Set!!! Set said that the ferryman Nempti should be punished and so his toes were removed. Nempti never accepted any form of gold ever again.

     So, after a bunch of more battles, Horus the Younger defeated Set and was crowned the rightful king of Egypt. Set was banished to the far barren deserts of Egypt and continued being Ra's lieutenant. Sometimes, Set had the head of a falcon just like Horus when fighting Apophis/Apep. Forever angry at his dethronement, Set would scream in anger, causing thunder. Then, Isis, Nephthys, Anubis, and Horus all rushed to Osiris' temple where they attempted to reassemble Osiris again. Finally, to resurrect him, Horus fed him one of his magical eyes (beyond gross!). Anubis built a ladder for Osiris, who ascended to the heavens Isis and Nephthys by his sides. Osiris became the main judge of the dead in the underworld.

     Horus married Hathor and Serket, the goddess of scorpions, magic, and medicine. They had four sons (two from each goddess), though some say that their mother was Isis. They were born from the Nile in a lily flower and they were all mummies with different heads. Their faces were placed on canopic jars from which they protected certain body parts after death. When they were born, they began to drown, and so they were saved by Sobek, who pulled them onto dry land with a fishing net. They were Duamutef, with the head of a jackal, was the god of the east and protector of the stomach. Imest, with the head of a mummified human, was the god of the south and protector and liver. Hapi, with the head of a baboon, was the god of the north and protector of the lungs. Qebehseneuf, with the head of a falcon, was the god of the west and the protector of the intestines. Each of the four gods were protected by goddesses Isis, Neith, Nephthys, and Serket, respectively. From them descended the line of the pharaohs (Ancient Egyptians God-Kings), who were worshipped in Ancient Egypt, since they believed that they descended from the gods.

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The Osiris Myth: The Story of Osiris and Isis

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      After Ra retired to the heavens (Egyptian Mythology: Story of Sekhmet/Ra's Eye), Osiris became the king of Egypt and married his sister Isis. In ancient Egypt, red was the color for evil and chaos instead of black. Black was actually a very good color because it represented the blackness of Nun. It also represented the dark, fertile soil of the Nile river after its annual flood. Red reminded everyone of the infertile red desert ruled by Set, and so was a symbol of Isfet (chaos).

     Set hated Osiris for how much he was loved by his family and his people. Osiris once kicked him in their youth and from then on, his hate was fueled by his very existence. Set was also jealous of the love shared between Osiris and Isis. Set would rather have married the beautiful Isis and rarely paid any attention to his wife Nephthys, whom he unwillingly married.

     Nephthys desperately wanted a child, so she first seduced Ra, and then seduced Osiris, which was easy, since she looked almost identical to Isis. She later gave birth to Anubis, the jackal god of funerals and mummification. He had the head of a jackal, like the jackals that are found near the burial grounds. Nephthys's affair with Osiris gave Set another reason for hating Osiris. Set didn't care about Anubis, who had a big liking to Osiris. So, when Anubis left to rule the Duat (Egyptian underworld), Set was actually happy. Who needed such a stupid son who liked Osiris more than his own father?

     The kingdom of Egypt at the time was called Kemet, which means "The Black Land", referencing the rich black spoils around the Nile. At the time, humans hadn't discovered agriculture and so turned to cannibalism. This made them very war-like and bloodthirsty. This caused much distress for Isis, who then solved the problem after she discovered barley, and wild wheat, which grew throughout the land. She then helped Osiris abolish cannibalism and they taught the people agriculture and farming. Osiris taught the people poetry, music and dance. Osiris then taught the people how to turn the barley into beer and the wheat into bread. This gave them a better food supply, and Egypt thrived under Osiris's rule. Osiris then left Egypt for a while and, alongside satyrs and the Nine Muses, he moved towards the Orient (the eastern hemisphere), to spread his knowledge to more of the world. While he was travelling, Isis ruled Egypt as the queen. She was very intelligent and watchful and so Set made no attempt to take the throne during her rule. Isis was known far and wide for her beauty and her sweet fragrance. This angered Tefnut, the goddess of moisture, who felt like she wasn't being respected as much as she should be. She told her father Ra about it.

     "Father, how can it be that Isis is known for sweetness because of her fragrance, when sweetness is a taste not a smell?"

     "Tefnut..."

     "No father, call me Tefnut the beautiful, or Tefnut the sweet one."

     "Tefnut, you know that Isis is already the one known for beauty and sweetness, why don't you go and spread some rain?"

     "How dare you!"

     Tefnut went to her husband Shu, and the two of them got into an argument, that ended with Tefnut leaving Egypt and going to Nubia as a lion. Nubia was just south of Egypt. Rains stopped falling in Egypt while Nubia flooded. Tefnut devoured any human or god who came to her. So, Shu sent Thoth to calm her and bring her back. So, Thoth turned into a baboon ad convinced her to come back. Since then, Tefnut was properly worshipped for her life bringing rain.

     Meanwhile, while Osiris was on his travels, Set gathered 72 people and the evil queen of Ethiopia who were willing to help him in taking down Osiris. When Osiris slept, Set secretly took his body measurements. Then he and his followers built a box of ebony and cedar based on his measurements and, when Osiris returned for his birthday, Set presented a contest. Whoever fit perfectly in his box would earn as much gold as the box could carry. All of the other gods were either too big, too small, too fat, or too skinny. Osiris was the one who fit perfectly. The moment he sat in the box, Set shut the box and poured liquid lead and ivory over the box, which then hardened, completely sealing the box. Set then threw the box far into the Nile river.

     There are two different versions of the murder. In one  version, Set turns into either a crocodile or a bull to kill Osiris, and then denies his death. Another version is similar to the more famous one, in which Osiris is shut in a box and thrown into the Nile, their souls were considered sacred.

     There are two different versions of the murder. In one version, Set turns into either a crocodile or a bull to kill Osiris, and then denies his death. Another version is similar to the more famous one, in which Osiris is shut in a box and thrown into the Nile, only he dies from drowning instead of suffocation. This is one reason why when people drowned in the Nile, their souls were considered sacred.

     Isis screamed and ran after it down the Nile river. The box was carried far away from her reach down the fast currents. She didn't care. She kept running until her feet bled and she was insanely dizzy. She eventually fell down on the bank of the river and stayed there until her dizziness calmed down. Meanwhile, Osiris' box went upriver, out to the ocean, and eventually stopped near Byblos, a city in Phoenicia. By this time, Osiris had died from suffocation. Tons of reeds grew around the box and soon grew into a fresh cedar tree, completely concealing Osiris' box inside its trunk. The king of Byblos and his queen Ishtar saw the tree and decided to take it back to their palace, where it would serve as a pillar.

     Isis' dizziness eventually dissipated and coming to the conclusion that her brother-husband was dead, Isis cried and lamented. Her tears flowed into the Nile river until it flooded. This led to the annual flooding on the banks of the river Nile. Soon, Isis continued her journey down the river until she came upon Anubis, who was also grieving Osiris' death. Isis comforted him and taught him magic. Anubis then left to rule the Duat, or the underworld. Anubis married Anput, the jackal-headed goddess of funerals and the seventh Nome of Egypt, and also the protector of Osiris' body. They had a daughter named Kebechet, the serpent goddess of liquid and fertility.

     Meanwhile, Isis continued her journey down the Nile, asking everyone of they had seen a box, but no one had seen it. She soon came upon some children who told her that they had seen it and where it had been carried off to. Out of gratitude, Isis blessed the children that they should always speak the truth and always speak words of wisdom. Soon, she reached Byblos, in Phoenicia. Isis saw some handmaidens bathing in the river. She took the form of an old woman and taught them how to make their hair into plaits. The handmaidens then returned to the palace and they were accompanied with a special fragrance. The queen Ishtar noticed this and asked them what happened and they told her the whole story. So, she went to Isis who was busy crying over her dead husband. Ishtar took pity on her and tasked her with taking care of the baby prince, and for a while, she was happy. She was always happy when she took care of the prince.

     But one day, she realized that the baby prince would also die and leave her like Osiris did. So, she concocted a plan to do a magic fire ritual that would burn away the baby's mortal bits and make him immortal. She snuck into the courtyard with the baby and created a magic fore and placed the baby in the fire, ignoring his cries. She then turned into a kite (a kind of bird), and flew above the fire, protecting it. Ishtar burst with her guards and snatched the baby from the fire before the spell could be completed.

     Isis angrily revealed herself in all her glory. She demanded to have possession of the box inside the palace pillar. The soldiers broke open the pillar and the box came out, much to their shock. Hearing the box fall with a hollow, lifeless sound, She lamented to the sky, which was so loud that it killed the baby prince. Ishtar and her husband fell at Isis' feet and begged for forgiveness. She forgave them and allowed them to keep the tree, which was revered from that day forth, since it had contained the body of a god.

     Isis took Osiris' box and returned to Egypt, where she hid it amongst some reds. Meanwhile, lush Egypt had turned into a dry desert under Set's rule. The goddess Neith tried to make him nicer by giving the goddesses Astarte and Anat to him as wives, but it didn't work. Meanwhile, Isis kept the chest safe with her and she hid from Set. Set learned that Isis had Osiris' body and wasn't willing to let her bring Osiris back with her great powers. Set forced Nephthys to tell him where the body was and in the dead of night, Set found the box, opened it, and chopped Osiris' body into 42 pieces, which he spread throughout the 42 Nomes of Egypt.

     The next day, Isis and Nephthys both flew all over Egypt, finding Osiris' body parts, while mourning simultaneously. They gathered all the pieces, but weren't able to find his privates (gross). A fish told them that it was eaten by a crocodile (even more gross!). The crocodile just so happened to be Sobek, the crocodile god of the Nile. He didn't know that the privates belonged to Osiris. As a punishment, the gods cut his tongue, which is why crocodiles have small tongues. But since a crocodile ate it, Egyptians found it sinful to eat fish or crocodile meat. In a different version of the story, Osiris's privates were eaten by a fish instead of crocodile.

This story continues in Egyptian Mythology: Osiris Myth: Horus and Set

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