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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Egyptian Creation Story

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     In the beginning, there was only Nun, the primordial ocean of chaos. The ancient Egyptians believed that Nun was an ocean, but you might know it by another name: space. Nun was made up of eight deities. There was the god Nu and the goddess Naunet, who represented the water of Nun. The god Huh and the goddess Hauhet, who represented the infinite expanse of Nun. The god Kek and the goddess Kauket represented the darkness of Nun. And, the god Amun and the goddess Amaunet represented Nun's difference from the living world. These eight deities were known collectively as the Ogdoad. The four gods were frogs, while the goddesses were snakes. They merged, causing a huge upheaval in the water of Nun. Then, from Nun's waters, there came a little hill in the shape of the first pyramid. It was called Benben.

     One of Nun's waves was a cow named Mehet-Weret. Mehet-Weret was the goddess of the milky Way, which came from her ears, Nun and Mehet-Weret together created a beat, which louder and louder until Ra came into existence (Ra can be replaced by Atum, Amun, or Ptah). Ra was the sun god, and rose from the top of Benben, like the rising sun. Ra further willed himself into existence by creating a heart around the beat, and then a voice box so that he could speak for the first time. Ra realized that words held great power. So, from words, he created a primordial island for him to live on. He then turned from a bennu into a man with the head of a falcon and one all-seeing eye. He then spat (or sneezed). From his saliva came his daughter Tefnut, the lion-headed goddess of mist and moisture. From the breath that propelled the moisture came his son Shu, the god of air.

     While they were living on the island, Tefnut and Shu got lost and they couldn't use their powers to see in the dark. Like any father, Ra began to feel very nervous and became scared for their safety. At the time, Ra had only one eye. So, he plucked out his eye and sent it to find Shu and Tefnut. But, while he waited, he realized that if they came back to him, then he would not be able to see them, so he created a second eye for himself. The second eye was the symbol known as "The Eye of Ra".

      Meanwhile, Ra's first eye found Shu and Tefnut and led them back to Ra. Ra embraced his children and began to cry out of happiness. His tears fell on the ground and they became humans. When Ra's first eye saw that Ra had replaced it, it became furious and tried to corrupt mankind. Hence, cruel qualities were born. Ra saw this and to comfort his first eye, he created a sun disk on his head named Aten, a form of Ra. He then turned his first eye into a snake and placed it on top of Aten. This was a position of great honor, and so Ra's first eye was calmed. Through his first eye, Ra could see the past, the universe, and the future. Ra also created a third eye for himself, so as to have a pair of eyes under his forehead, like most animals and humans.

     Ra then had a daughter named Ma'at. Ma'at is the order of the entire universe. Her opposite was Isfet, the total chaos of the universe. Ra then created Thoth from his tongue to help him create the world. Thoth was the god of knowledge and magic, and he had the head of an ibis (or baboon). Thoth was also a god of the moon and was also the one who invented writing and hieroglyphics Thoth married Ma'at and had a daughter named Seshat, the goddess of writing. Thoth helped Ra to create all animals and plants. Ra then became the first king of the Earth/Egypt.

     Another goddess that came from Nun was Neith. Neith became the goddess of hunting until she saw how her people grew old and died. So, she changed her role and instead became the goddess of weaving. Neith wove and wove and wove, until she ended up weaving most of the world into existence. She then married Khnum, a form of Ra with the head of a ram. Khnum was also said to have come from Nun. Khnum was the god of the source of the Nile, and from his potter's wheel, he makes babies before they are placed into their mothers. Neith and Khnum had three children: Sobek, the crocodile go of the Nile, which he made from his sweat; Tutu, the god of demons and strength; Serqet, the goddess of venomous creatures (mostly scorpions and snakes); and Apophis (Apep), the cosmic serpent of chaos, and the eternal enemy of Ra.

     Sobek married Renenutef, the snake goddess and had a son named Neper, the god of grains. Neper married Nepit, the goddess of grains; and Tayt, the goddess of weaving and textiles. Sobek also married Meskhenet, the goddess of the Ka (spiritual essence) of the soul.

     Khnum was also married to Heqet, the goddess of frogs and fertility; Satet, the goddess of hunting; Menhit, the goddess of lions and war; and Nebtuwi, goddess of desert oases. Khnum and Satet had a daughter named Anuket, the goddess of gazelles. Khnum and Menhit had a son named Heka, the god of medicine and magic. Khnum, Satet, and Anuket became the main triad worshiped at Elephantine.

     From his blood, Ra created Sia, the god of sight; and Hu, the god of creativity. Ra also had a lion-headed son named Anhur, the god of war. When another lion-goddess named Menhit ran away to Nubia, Ra sent Anhur to go get her back. Anhur fell in love with Menhit and when he brought her back, he got Ra's permission to marry her.

     Amun, a form of Ra, married the goddesses Amunet, Wosret, and Mut. Mut was a mother goddess and she and Amun had a son named Konshu, the moon god. It is Mut's job to make sure that the sun (Amun) and the moon (Konshu) are always happy with one another. Amun, Mut, and Konshu are worshiped as the triad of the city of Thebes.

     Shu and Tefnut got married and merged to form the mist. They gave birth to Geb and Nut, who were born clinging to one another. Geb was the earth god and Nut was the sky goddess. They got married. A prophecy said that the son of Geb and Nut would become the king of Egypt. To stop this from happening, Ra forced Shu to separate his children. Shu did it because he knew that Geb and Nut had to be separated so that life could thrive on Geb. So, Shu tore them apart and spread his daughter's body in a huge arch, making the sky and the earth separate to this day. This was also how the atmosphere was created. Now, whenever Nut released rain upon Geb, plants sprouted up from his body, and whenever Geb laughed, it resulted in earthquakes.

     Geb gave birth to Hapi, the god of the Nile river. Geb and Renenutet had a son named Nehebkau, the god of funerals. Nehebkau married a goddess named Nehmetawy. Geb is considered to be the father of all crops, geese, and snakes.

     Unfortunately for Ra, Nut was already pregnant at the time of the separation and so Ra used his power to make it so that Nut can't give birth on any month of the year. At the time, the year consisted of 360 days, like in the degrees of a circle. Nut was in great pain and she desperately had to give birth soon. Thoth took pity on her and so gambled light with Konshu. His moonlight was just as bright and powerful as Ra's sunlight. Thoth won enough times to take the light he won and add five extra days to the calendar, making 365 days in a year. Because of the light he had lost, Konshu had to wax and wane every month. To thank Konshu, Thoth made his ibis beak curve like the crescent moon.

     One the five days, one by one, Nut gave birth to five children: Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set, Isis, and Nephthys, respectively. Osiris was the god of agriculture, and the afterlife. Horus the Elder was a sphinx deity, and was the god of the sun disk and the protector of Egypt. Set was the god of storms, desert, chaos, and evil. Isis was the goddess of magic, love, and motherhood. Isis was such a great goddess that even the Romans worshiped her. Nephthys was the goddess of protection, water, rivers, skulls, nature, night, sleep, lamentation, and camels.

     Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys were all known as the Enhead, and were the nine gods worshiped in Heliopolis.

     Isis wanted to become more powerful to be able to protect her husband and maybe one day, her child. So, she began to heal small wounds and worked her way up from there. But, it wasn't enough. By then, Ra had grown old over the years and he drooled a lot. So, Isis took some of his saliva, mixed it with sand, and created a very venomous snake. The snake bit Ra and he began to die. All the gods came to help him, but Ra would only accept help from Isis, due to her great healing abilities. Isis came and said that she couldn't save Ra unless he told her his secret name. Everything in existence had a secret name and to give Isis his secret name would give Isis dominion over him. He relented until he finally agreed to tell her his secret name, making her swear that she would not tell it to anyone except her son. She agreed and then was able to heal him. This made her the goddess of magic and she became one of the most powerful Egyptian.

     Over time, many more gods and goddesses appear, such as Nekhbet, the vulture goddess; Wadjet, a snake goddess; Hatmehyt, goddess of fish; Maftet, the mongoose; Tawaret, the hippo/lion/crocodile goddess; and her husband Bes, the god of dwarves and children.

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