Egyptian mythology is one of the oldest in the world. Over the years, the master of the land of the dead, the god Osiris, whose cult evoked a sense of respect and fear, became the supreme god. It was he who decided what the soul deserved: eternal life or oblivion. Each person came to his judgment, on which good deeds and sins were weighed.
Divine dynasty
Myths are always interesting. Ancient people believed that everything human was not alien to the gods, but especially in feelings. Therefore, they fell in love, quarreled, gave birth to children. This is what the stories tell.
Egyptian legends say that the land used to be an endless ocean. She was covered in waves, cold and dead. The ocean was called Nun. But once a phoenix bird flew over the boundless water and changed its expanse with its cry. Atum came down from the surface - the first deity. A few generations later Osiris appeared. The forefather God realized that the sea would freeze again without the wind, and created the son of Shu. Together with him was born the twin daughter Tefnut, who became the patroness of the ocean, order and thought. These were two deities with one soul, the feminine and masculine. Subsequently, it was the patroness of water who helped create the world.
But the earth remained dark. The father lost his children and searched for them for a long time. To find the first-born, he gouged out his own eye and threw it into the water. The eye was supposed to track down children. But Atum managed it himself and was so delighted that a lotus appeared from the water, and from it the god Ra - the lord of the sun. He cried with happiness, and his tears turned into people. Later, this god became a reflection of Atum. But the eye, which spent its strength, was offended and became a serpent in anger. Then the supreme god placed him on his crown.
Shu and Tefnut became the first heavenly couple. They had two children: Geb - the patron of the earth and Nut - the owner of the sky. They loved each other so much that they did not open their arms. Therefore, from the very beginning, earth and sky were connected. But when they quarreled, Ra ordered the Shu wind to separate them. The sky goddess rose up. Her head was spinning from a height, so her father, the wind, supported her during the day, and lowered her to the ground every night. Mother Tefnut - the goddess of dew and rain - also held her daughter, but quickly got tired. When it was hard, water poured on the ground.
In the dark, Nut met her husband. Upon learning of this, Ra was angry. He cursed Nuth so that she would not give birth. But through Thoth's cunning, she was still able to have children, among whom was the god of Egypt - Osiris.
The wisdom of the great god
He - the patron of wisdom and magic - decided to help the heavenly Nut. He went to the moon and defeated her by cunning for 5 days. Then Nut and Hebe had children. The first was Osiris. Nephthys - the ruler of the dead, Isis - kept love and fate, Seth - evil became his brothers and sisters.
When Osiris was born, a voice said that he would be the lord of all things. According to legend, it was believed that he was a direct descendant of Ra.
Having matured, Osiris took the throne of Father Geb. It was the fourth god-pharaoh. The first thing he did, taking the throne - began to teach people wisdom. Before that, the tribes lived savages and ate their own kind. Pharaoh taught to eat and grow cereals. The One who was a symbol of wisdom came to the rescue. Together they established the main laws. He invented names, gave names to things, gave writing, taught art and various crafts. The Egyptian god Osiris told how to worship higher powers. He was a master of agriculture and made everyone work. With his will, people learned medicine and magic. They made wine and brewed beer. With its installations, cities were built. Processed ore and copper. The board was called the Golden Age. Domination was carried out without bloodshed and wars. Married, according to family tradition, to his sister Isis, who fell in love with him while still in the womb.
Having put his lands in order, he went to neighboring lands, where chaos reigned until now. He began to rule in peace and wisdom in other tribes. The wife remained on the throne, who transmitted to her people the knowledge of household and the science of family life.
Pantheon intrigues
While Osiris shared his experience, his brother Seth secretly fell in love with Isis. His feelings were so strong that he decided to remove his brother from the world. Seth did not look for supporters for long. Many demons did not like the current situation. The brother of the god Osiris made a sarcophagus, made rich gold and decorated it with expensive stones. Before he secretly measured the growth of the fertility god. Then he arranged a feast, where he invited the elite of Egypt. When the guests drank wine, Seth carried out a drawer. The audience gasped with the beauty they saw. They liked the chest. Then the god of evil said that he would give it to the one who fits perfectly there. Everyone decided to try to lie in a box, but one he was cramped, the other long. When Osiris lay there, the traitors closed the lid and pounded the coffin. The trap worked. The box was carried out and thrown into the river. But the current did not carry the sarcophagus into the sea.
Egyptian mythology clearly indicates that beyond the Nile laid the line of life and death. The river carried him from the country of people to the kingdom of souls. God, who was considered eternal, passed into the world of the dead.
Upon learning of the trick, Isis began to mourn. She grieved for a long time and searched the body of her beloved on the ground. After some time, the woman was told where they saw the coffin. But the box was overgrown with heather, and one of the kings took it to his palace, like a column. Isis found out about this and began serving in the castle as a commoner. Subsequently, the inconsolable widow took away the sarcophagus. The chopped heather that stood as a pillar was later used as a symbol of the god Osiris. When the lid was opened, the goddess burst into tears. In Egypt, she hid a box in the Nile Delta.
The great power of divine love
There was another reason why Seth hated his brother. According to family tradition, the children of some parents were married. This happened in a pair of twins Shu and Tefnut, Nut and Geb. This fate awaited their children - Osiris and Isis and Seth plus Nephthys.
The evil god was married to his second sister. But this woman sincerely fell in love with the Egyptian pharaoh and part-time sibling. One night she reincarnated as Isis and shared a bed with him. So the son of Duat Anubis was born, who became a master of mummification. The woman hid the truth from Seth for a long time. But when the situation turned against Osiris, she sided with the good and became an ally of her sister.
Further events unfold as follows. One evening, Seth was fishing on the Nile and came across a sarcophagus. In a fit of anger, he cut his brother's body into 14 parts and scattered them around the world. Poor Isis and her sister began to search for the body. The search was successful, found all the pieces except the phallus. Subsequently, it was replaced with clay.
There, from where part of the body was taken, a temple was built. Seth saw the sanctuary and thought that the ashes were buried forever, not even suspecting that they wanted to resurrect the enemy.
The wife of the god Osiris and his supporters, the sister of Nephthys, friend Thoth and son Anubis, created a mummy. The process lasted 70 days. Isis was also very sad because she had no children. But due to great magic, she turned into a bird hut, said spells and became pregnant.
The fate of the heir
For a long time, the widow who was waiting for the baby hid. When she gave birth, she said that her son would avenge the death of her father. The child was named Chorus. Isis raised him and waited for that day when justice will triumph. The whole pantheon guarded her and the baby from the bad Set.
When the Chorus grew up, there was a battle with uncle over the throne. During the war, Seth knocked out his eyes to his nephew. One legend says that when the eye returned to the owner, Khor carried it to the mummy. The son of the god Osiris stuck his eyes into the body of the deceased, and he rose again. But the man no longer belonged to this world, but had to rule the kingdom of the dead. Before parting, the father asked several mysteries to Horus and made sure that his son could adequately replace him. Then blessed the child to victory.
Since then, the Egyptians believed that everyone follows the path of Osiris, that is, dies and rises. And mummification does not allow the body to smolder. Like this god, nature also rises every year. In the next world, he weighs the sins of people and acts as a judge.
For 80 years, the battles of uncle and nephew continued. Tired of the constant wars, Seth and Chorus turned to the higher gods. The court decided that the throne belongs to the son of Osiris. Seth became the ruler of the desert and the storm. The god of Egypt Osiris and his son were the last mystical rulers. After them, people ruled the land.
Portrait of earth god
The image of this creature is extremely complex and has undergone many transformations. It is believed that his first name was Jed, and worshiped him in the eastern part of the Nile Delta. Then his essence connected with the face of Anzhet, the patron saint of another city. Therefore, in his hands appeared the staff and the whip of the shepherd. Over the years, he gains new strength, becomes the king of farmers and acquires a vine and lotus.
From 1600 BC e. He was portrayed as a sprouted grain.
At the end of the New Kingdom, they associated with Ra. The image of the god Osiris began to be served with a solar disk above his head.
Becoming the head of the dead, he did not stop drawing among the riot of plants. A pond spilled out in front of the feet, where the lotus grew. Nearby stood a tree on which the soul sat in the face of the phoenix.
Kingdom of the dead
Leaving the earthly world, God became the lord of the dead. Mythology says that he led 42 deities who decided the fate of the deceased. Everyone who passed into the afterlife came into the hall of two truths. The man said the oath of renunciation, the essence of which is that the speaker began the phrase with the prefix “not”: he did not break, he did not deceive.
Next was the weighing procedure. On the scales laid on the one hand the heart of the deceased, on the other - the feather of the goddess of truth. Osiris watched everything. God determined the afterlife. There were two options: the happiness of the fields of Iaru, where joy and merriment, or the sinner's heart was given to the monster Ammut, which doomed him to eternal death.
The cult of the afterlife was so great that in the era of the New Kingdom, Osiris was the highest among the gods. From here came a new theory. From now on, eternal existence awaits not only the rich, but also the poor. A ticket to paradise is an exemplary existence, morality, humility.
According to the Egyptians, the loved ones should take care of all the benefits of that world, since death was perceived as a deep sleep. In order for a person to live normally after awakening, the body was mummified. It was not a whim, but an integral part of the practice.
The judgment of the god Osiris evoked a feeling of fear and trepidation. And he himself was not only the first mummy, but also the founder of the cult of the dead.
The image of the dark lord
The Lord of Souls became the unofficial founder of literature and art. The power inspired people to create stories about his exploits. They were depicted on the walls and parchment. Most pages were dedicated to him in the Book of the Dead. These works reveal to us the image of God.
Like all celestial creatures, Osiris was partially human. The judge met the subjects sitting. His legs were bandaged. In their hands lay symbols of power - a hook and a chain.
God Osiris in Ancient Egypt had a characteristic inherent only to him. It was a crown called "atef." This crown was made of papyrus. The color is white, two red ostrich feathers are attached to the sides. From above they curled. Sometimes on the oblong cap were the horns of a ram. It was on this crown that the researchers recognized the frescoes of the god of darkness.
You can find drawings where Osiris is depicted in green. This is a reference to his earthly rule, where he was the patron of fertility and agriculture. If god is red, then this is the color of the soil. Also in his hands may be a vine, because it was he who taught people how to make wine. It is not uncommon to see the god of plants among trees.
The oldest is considered a fresco, which was created during the reign of the V dynasty of the pharaoh Jedkar - approx. 2405-2367 BC e. It depicts the god Osiris. A photo with a thousand-year history is of interest to both scientists and ordinary people.
Egyptian gods in Greece and Christianity
The world first learned about the gods of Ancient Egypt from Greek thinkers. Josephus, Julius African, and Eusebius of Caesarea studied in detail the history of the neighboring kingdom. But most of all contemporaries draw from the research of Plutarch. This man wrote a treatise On Isis and Osiris. A lot of interesting things can be found in his work. The only negative is that the work is full of interweaving of Egyptian myths with Greek. So, for example, there are inaccuracies associated with the name "Osiris". A god with that name did not exist in Egypt, but there was a cult of Usiro. The name we know is simply closer to the language of Plutarch. There are other replacements: Ra became Helios, Nut - Rhea, Thoth - Hermes. And the protagonist of the winemaker became Dionysius.
Many scholars see the common features of the Egyptian with Christ. So, both taught people wisdom and offered wine and bread as their flesh and blood.
And it all started with the fact that archaeologists have found a prayer dated to the thousandth year BC. She repeated word for word “Our Father”. Many parallels are drawn about the birth of both gods. Virgin Mary learned about the blessed child from the archangel, and Nut from an unknown voice. Further, Isis hides with her son from the evil Set, as does Mary with Jesus.
The ancient Egyptian god Osiris was specially invented for slaves who hoped for a different, better life after death. They also interpret the essence of the Christian faith.
Another kinship between Jesus and Osiris is death and resurrection.
Symbol - Sarcophagus
The name Ushiro has been known to mankind for more than five thousand years. The word "Us-Iri" does not have an exact translation, but most scientists believe that it means "one that goes its own way." It was one of the most popular cults of Egypt, so it is not surprising that his image is often found in art. No wonder fetishes dedicated to him. The subject of Osiris was the Jed.
The first attributes for the cult are wooden poles with fixed wheat ties. For festivity, they were tied with a red ribbon - a belt. It was a symbol of new life and season. In different regions, the fetish was done in their own way. Sometimes it was a bunch of reeds.
After the popularization of the myth that Isis found a vertical coffin with her husband in heath, the Jed began to be perceived as the spine of God. The pillar played a major role in the change of kings. No coronation was performed without this symbol.
Every spring, the Jed was set upright. This meant the defeat of Seth and the peace that Osiris brought. God received victory when the constellation of Orion hid behind the western horizon.
Small figurines were used as talismans.