The goddess Isis is the most famous goddess of antiquity, about whom it was said that she has a thousand names. She was revered in ancient Egypt as the patroness of fertility and navigation, the lord of wind and water. They worshiped her as a symbol of femininity and selfless allegiance to her husband.
Isis - The Most Revered Pre-Christian Goddess
The goddess Isis used immense love and respect in Ancient Egypt, which cannot be said of other beautiful goddesses. She is the only one of the cults of Egypt that went beyond this civilization. During the Hellenistic period, and later in Rome, she was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean. In addition, the cult of the goddess Isis rivaled early Christianity. She was introduced to the pantheon of gods - the patrons of medicine.
In early mythology, Isis appears as the ruler of scorpions. The ancients believed that she gave humanity bees and wedding dresses. Gave women the ability to spin yarn, weave fabrics, harvest bread. Isis patronized the women in labor and predicted the fate of the born pharaohs.
Interestingly, her name translates as "throne." Isis, thanks to her son, spiritualized the king’s power and was revered as the heavenly mother of any pharaoh who gave him the throne.
Like the Babylonian Ishtar, the Egyptian goddess Isis at first was evil and even fought with her son. But over time, she becomes a beneficent ruler, a mother and wife full of love.
The Birth of Isis: Myth
In mythology, Isis is the daughter of Hebe and Nut, the great-granddaughter of Ra, the twin sister of Osiris and his beloved wife. Almost all myths and legends about it are closely intertwined with legends about Osiris. In the mythology of various nationalities, the marriage of the gods - brothers and sisters - was one of the indicators of their divine essence.
Surprisingly, the “mistress of life”, which the ancient Egyptians worshiped, could not have been born, due to an event that happened at the very dawn of time. While Ra formed the world, his children - the god Shu (air) and the goddess Tefnut (water) - fell in love, and from this beautiful love two gods were born - Geb (earth) and Nut (heaven), who also fell in love arcs of a friend.
Love was so strong that heaven and earth united! The sun, air, water froze, their movement stopped. Rage of Ra knew no bounds, he ordered his son Shu to punish the rebellious lovers, because of this there were several catastrophic earthquakes. But it was too late, Nut was already bearing five gods in the womb.
Among them were the goddess of Egypt, Isis and Osiris. Enraged, Ra determined that these children could not be born in any of the 12 months of the year. The god Thoth came to the rescue , he exchanged five extra days from the moon. They were located after twelve months. Nuth gave birth to Isis on the fourth of the days.
The myth of Isis and Osiris
The content of the myth of the god Osiris and the goddess Isis has survived to our time thanks to the work of Plutarch. In it, the goddess appears in the image of a selflessly devoted wife of the god Osiris. Her life was marked by a terrible tragedy, the cause of which was the envy of the evil god Seth towards his brother Osiris. And Isis failed to stop Seth from doing a dirty deed.
After the murder, Seth threw the body of his hated brother into the Nile, and the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis did a lot to find the remains. In this unfortunate her sister Nephthys helped. Two beautiful goddesses found Osiris and hid him in the swampy areas of Hemmis.
But Seth did not stop his attempts to end his brother, found a cache and divided his remains into 14 parts, after which he scattered all over Egypt. Still, the goddess did not give up. Having collected all the parts of Osiris, she with the help of Anubis created the very first mummy from them.
Isis sculpted a phallus from clay, which they could not find, because, according to legend, the fish ate it. After that, she consecrated it. And with the help of magic spells she grew to her husband's body. With the help of magic, she turned into a female kite, called Hut, Isis, spread her wings on her husband's mummy, whispered magic words and became pregnant.
Religious buildings with the image of Isis and Osiris
In the temples of Hathor in Dendra and Osiris in Abydos, ancient relief compositions have been preserved to this day. They depict the divine act in which the son of the goddess was conceived when she took the form of a female falcon, spread over a mummy. According to myth, Osiris became king in the afterlife, and Isis gave birth to a son - Horus. This happened in the swampy reeds of Hemmis (Delta).
And now in Egypt you can see countless statues and bas-reliefs showing Isis, who is breast-feeding her son, who took the form of a pharaoh. Together with the sisters Nut, Tefnut and Nephthys, the goddess Isis received the epithet “beautiful”. She was always there when the pharaohs were born.
The Great Ra and Isis: Myth
In ancient texts about Isis it is said that her heart is more rebellious than all people, and smarter than all gods. Isis was considered a sorceress. She tested her skills on the gods.
So, with indomitable desire, the goddess wanted to know the secret name of the god Ra, who created the world, as well as heaven and light. This would give her power over the most powerful god, and subsequently - over all the gods. In order to find out the secret of the head of the pantheon of the gods of Egypt, the goddess Isis used a trick. She knew that Ra was old and that when he rested, saliva and droplets under his feet flow from the corners of his lips.
She scraped these droplets, mixed them with road dust and fashioned a snake. With the help of her spells, she revived and threw her onto the road that Ra was supposed to go along. After some time, the supreme god was bitten by a snake. Frightened, he clicked on the help of the children and explained to them that he was bitten by something unknown, and his heart trembles, and the members are filled with cold.
Isis, obedient to his will, also came to her father and said: “Open your name to me, father, because the one whose name will be mentioned in the spell will live!” Ra was confused - he knew about it, but was afraid. He pretending to give in to his daughter, read out a list of random names. But Isis could not be fooled, and she insisted that her father pronounce his real name.
Ra, unable to bear the terrible pain, dedicated it to a terrible secret. After which he was healed by his daughter. Interestingly, in none of the texts currently known, this name was indicated. In Christianity, no one knows the name of God either.
Isis cult, veneration centers and symbols
The cult of the goddess of fertility, Isis, has become ubiquitous over time. She was revered everywhere: from all the lands of Ancient Egypt to the remote Roman provinces. The Greeks and Romans, the goddess of Egypt, Isis, the photo of the images of which you can see in the article, was also a symbol and enjoyed universal attention. The Ptolemies of Egypt built many temples in her honor. So, in the south of Aswan was built the sanctuary of Debod. And with the sunset of the era of the pharaohs and the heyday of the era of Rome, temples were built in Nubia. An example is the temple of Kalabsha (ancient - Talmis). But most famous is the temple of Isis, located on about. Filet (Pilak).
Pharaoh Nektaneb I of the XXX dynasty decided to build a magnificent temple of the goddess Isis, which became the largest cult center of the goddess. The following pharaohs and emperors of Rome in every possible way contributed to the maintenance of this cult. The temple was closed during the spread of Christianity in 537, by order of the emperor Justinian. All the statues were transported to Constantinople, and the Hypostyle Hall was converted into a church of Christians, which once again confirmed its connection with the Virgin.
Symbols of Isis
The main symbol of the described goddess is the royal throne. His sign is often located on her head. The great white cow of Heliopolis, who was the mother of the holy Apis, was worshiped by the sacred animals of Isis.
A widespread symbol of Isis is the amulet of Tet, called the "node of Isis." It is made from red minerals - jasper and carnelian.
The heavenly symbol of the goddess is Sirius. With the rise of this star, the Nile spills from the tears of the goddess mourning her beloved husband.