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The most important god ever in the Egyptian pantheon, a figure that, thanks to its history, reconciles life and death.
The myth of Isis and Osiris
To explain this Egyptian divinity it is right to recount the myth to which it is most linked, namely that of Isis and Osiris. According to legend, they were born from the union of the goddess of the sky Nut with the god of the earth Geb, together with them also Seth and Nephthys, other fundamental characters in this story, will see the light. Isis loved her brother from the womb and once they came into the world they will unite to reign as first pharaohs. One day, however, Seth, jealous of his brother’s glory, treacherously imprisoned him in a sarcophagus, then throwing him into the Nile.
The coffin will follow the water course up to Byblos, where it will tie itself to an acacia tree, then used for the construction of a local temple. Isis will go to Lebanon in search of the remains of the beloved and, once identified, will bring him back to his homeland, trying to bring him back to life through magic formulas. He will succeed in his intent, but only for the time of having a sexual relationship with him, thanks to which Horus will then be born.
The god of the underworld
Discovering the actions of his sister, Seth decided to tear the limbs of Osiris to pieces and to scatter them all over Egypt, then imprisoning Isis. The latter, also thanks to the help of many other minor deities, will once again manage to recompose the beloved, this time mummifying him and allowing him to become lord of the underworld. Horus will then avenge the death of his father in a terrible clash with his uncle, but we will see this in the next few days.
From this myth, however, it is to fully understand the value that Osiris could have in ancient Egypt, testified even more by the particular practice of “vegetating Osiris”. The latter planned to insert a mold with the features of the deity entirely covered with earth mixed with cereal seeds in the tomb of the dead man. The revival that the seeds would have had, fully represents his role as both lord of death and that of agriculture. As ruler of the Hereafter, he was also the judge of the weighing of souls, a fundamental step to know if the deceased would have gone to the Iaru fields or to the jaws of the monstrous Ammit.
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