Isis and Osiris

There are many sources and conflicting stories about the details of the events that happened to Isis and Osiris, but their story remains one of the most telling and interesting stories that left an impact on the hearts of ancient Egyptians, because of the meaning of love, and sacrifice. The story embodies the fight against evil and chaos. It has formed the origin of many worship forms in ancient Egyptian religions.

The story can be summarized into several parts:

The Beginning:

The origin of the story dates back to the twenty-fourth century B.C., or perhaps earlier, when Osiris, the son of the goddess of the earth and heaven, ruled Egypt with justice and goodness. Isis, the wife of Osiris and his sister at the same time, participated in ruling Egypt along with him.

Osiris’s brother, Set, was the god of chaos, the desert, storms, disorder and violence in Ancient Egypt. He hated Osiris because of his belief in his right to rule Egypt. Set planned to kill Osiris to take over the throne, but he did not succeed. The Egyptians did not try to document the way of how Set tried to kill Osiris as they believed that when writing and documenting any event, it is very likely to happen again. But there are writings that say that Set put Osiris in a coffin and threw him into the Nile river where he drowned. Then set called the throne because he was the only heir to him. Egypt was ruled in injustice where chaos and evil spread throughout the kingdom.

Journey of Search and Love:

Isis was shocked and sad when she found out that Set killed her husband and brother. She went looking for his body, with the help of their fourth sister, Neptis. They finally found him in the city of Byblos where the water had carried him. But Set followed them and stole the body of Osiris then cut it into 42 parts and scattered them all in 42 regions of Egypt at the time. Isis worked hard to collect all the parts of her husband’s body and asked for help from the god “Thoth” the god of magic and healing, and the god “Anubis” god of embalming to be able to revive him again. Isis revived Osiris’s soul, and then “slept on” him to finally give birth to their son Horus. After that, Osiris ruled Kingdom of the dead “Doat”.

Son Horus:

In spite of the Set’s constant attempts to get rid of Horus and kill him by sending scorpions or poisoning him or even by using magic, Set failed to kill Horus as Isis protected him and raised him up to grow and become a strong king, to be able to claim the throne of his father.

Fighting over the throne:

Horus became a strong man and demanded Set to give up Egypt’s throne, but he had to fight many wars against Set for 80 years, that ended up with the victory of Horus in most of these wars. During these 80 years, Set stole Horus’s eye, which represented the lunar eclipse in the Egyptian faith and had a great religious value for ancient Egyptians, But at the end the wars ended with Horus taking his legitimate right to rule Egypt.

The return of power of Horus:religious value

Horus retrieved the rule of the kingdom in a remote and barren land. He carried the body of Osiris to his grave to conduct funeral, ancient Egyptian rites, and present Osiris many sacrifices. Osiris was revived again and became God of the dead. Isis became god of the living. Both Isis and Osiris were reunited again to rule with love and goodness.

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