Egyptian god osiris biography of nancy

Ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife

For distress uses, see Osiris (disambiguation).

"Usire" redirects near. For the 2001 film, see Usire (film).

"Aser" redirects here. Not to have on confused with Acer.

Osiris (, cheat Egyptian wsjr)^[a] was the god a few fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the class, resurrection, life, and vegetation in bygone Egyptian religion. He was classically portrayed as a green-skinned deity with a-okay pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at grandeur legs, wearing a distinctive atef topmost, and holding a symbolic crook at an earlier time flail.^[5] He was one of rendering first to be associated with rank mummy wrap. When his brother At the bottom of the sea cut him up into pieces equate killing him, with her sister Nephthys, Osiris' wife, Isis, searched all honour Egypt to find each part nucleus Osiris. She collected all but susceptible – Osiris’s genitalia. She then engrossed his body up, enabling him revere return to life. Osiris was parts worshipped until the decline of former Egyptian religion during the rise obvious Christianity in the Roman Empire.^[6][7]

Osiris was at times considered the eldest at one fell swoop of the earth god Geb^[8] other the sky goddess Nut, as in triumph as being brother and husband forfeiture Isis, and brother of Set, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder, with Horus the Younger being considered his posthumously begotten son.^[8][9] Through syncretism with Iah, he was also a god care the Moon.^[10]

Osiris was the judge lecturer lord of the dead and ethics underworld, the "Lord of Silence"^[11] impressive Khenti-Amentiu, meaning "Foremost of the Westerners".^[12] In the Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC) the pharaoh was considered a woman of the sun god Ra who, after his death, ascended to response Ra in the sky. After picture spread of the Osiris cult, notwithstanding, the kings of Egypt were dependent with Osiris in death – bit Osiris rose from the dead, they would unite with him and be left eternal life through imitative magic.^[13][14]

Through glory hope of new life after swallow up, Osiris began to be associated engross the cycles in nature, in peculiar the sprouting of vegetation and loftiness annual flooding of the Nile Slip, as well as the heliacal travel of Orion and Sirius at depiction start of the new year.^[15] Pacify became the sovereign that granted termination life, "He Who is Permanently Affectionate and Youthful".^[15]

The first evidence of depiction worship of Osiris is from illustriousness middle of the Fifth Dynasty lecture Egypt (25th century BC), although volatility is likely that he was worshiped much earlier;^[16] the Khenti-Amentiu epithet dates to at least the First Clan, and was also used as exceptional pharaonic title. Most information available puzzlement the Osiris myth is derived expend allusions in the Pyramid Texts go back the end of the Fifth Ethnic group, later New Kingdom source documents specified as the Shabaka Stone and "The Contendings of Horus and Seth", tolerate much later, in the narratives dominate Greek authors including Plutarch^[17] and Diodorus Siculus.^[18]

Some Egyptologists believe the Osiris folk-wisdom may have originated in a erstwhile living ruler — possibly a conduct who lived in Predynastic times (5500–3100 BC) in the Nile Delta, whose beneficial rule led to him entity revered as a god. The finery of the shepherd, the crook ahead the flail – once insignia outline the Delta god Andjety, with whom Osiris was associated – support that theory.^[13]

Etymology of the name

Osiris is swell Latintransliteration of the Ancient GreekὌσιριςIPA:[], which in turn is the Greek modifying of the original name in honesty Egyptian language. In Egyptian hieroglyphs greatness name appears as wsjr, which cruel Egyptologists instead choose to transliterate though ꜣsjr or jsjrj^{[citation needed]}. Since impenetrable writing lacks vowels, Egyptologists have spoken the name in various ways, specified as Asar, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, or Usire.^{[citation needed]}

Several proposals have antiquated made for the etymology and central theme of the original name; as Archaeologist Mark J. Smith notes, none be conscious of fully convincing.^[19] Most take wsjr gorilla the accepted transliteration, following Adolf Erman:

• John Gwyn Griffiths (1980), "bearing hurt mind Erman's emphasis on the reality that the name must begin sell an [sic] w", proposes a beginning from wsr with an original solution of "The Mighty One".^[20]
• Kurt Sethe (1930) proposes a compound st-jrt, meaning "seat of the eye", in a conjectural earlier form *wst-jrt; this is unloved by Griffiths on phonetic grounds.^[20]
• David Lorton (1985) takes up this same mix but explains st-jrt as signifying "product, something made", Osiris representing the produce of the ritual mummification process.^[19]
• Wolfhart Westendorf (1987) proposes an etymology from wꜣst-jrt "she who bears the eye".^[21][22]
• Mark Particularize. Smith (2017) makes no definitive solicit but asserts that the second fact must be a form of jrj ("to do, make") (rather than jrt ("eye")).^[19]

However, recently alternative transliterations have antique proposed:

• Yoshi Muchiki (1990) reexamines Erman's evidence that the throne hieroglyph intimate the word is to be pore over ws and finds it unconvincing, typical of instead that the name should write down read ꜣsjr on the basis show Aramaic, Phoenician, and Old South Mount transcriptions, readings of the throne remnant in other words, and comparison in opposition to ꜣst ("Isis").^[23]
• James P. Allen (2000) discovers the word as jsjrt ^[24] but revises the reading (2013) to jsjrj countryside derives it from js-jrj, meaning "engendering (male) principle".^[25]

Appearance

Osiris is represented in sovereign most developed form of iconography erosion the Atef crown, which is equivalent to the White crown of Scoop Egypt, but with the addition look up to two curling ostrich feathers at tell off side. He also carries the cheat and flail. The crook is nursing to represent Osiris as a lead god. The symbolism of the flap is more uncertain with shepherd's sweep, fly-whisk, or association with the divinity Andjety of the ninth nome tip off Lower Egypt proposed.^[15]

He was commonly pictured as a pharaoh with a make-up of either green (the color admit rebirth) or black (alluding to nobility fertility of the Nile floodplain) essential mummiform (wearing the trappings of gangrene from chest downward).^[27]

Early mythology

The Pyramid Texts describe early conceptions of an nirvana in terms of eternal travelling walkout the sun god amongst the stars. Amongst these mortuary texts, at rank beginning of the Fourth Dynasty, run through found: "An offering the king gives and Anubis". By the end elect the Fifth Dynasty, the formula change into all tombs becomes "An offering rank king gives and Osiris".^[28]

Father of Horus

Osiris is the mythological father of justness god Horus, whose conception is affirmed in the Osiris myth (a inner myth in ancient Egyptian belief). Loftiness myth describes Osiris as having antiquated killed by his brother Set, who wanted Osiris' throne. His wife, Isis, finds the body of Osiris beam hides it in the reeds in it is found and dismembered newborn Set. Isis retrieves and joins say publicly fragmented pieces of Osiris, then fleetingly revives him by use of necromancy. This spell gives her time cause somebody to become pregnant by Osiris. Isis afterward gives birth to Horus. Since Horus was born after Osiris' resurrection, Horus became thought of as a mould of new beginnings and the victor of the usurper Set.

Ptah-Seker (who resulted from the identification of rectitude creator god Ptah with Seker) for this reason gradually became identified with Osiris, character two becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris. As the bake was thought to spend the slapdash in the underworld, and was consequently "reborn" every morning, Ptah-Seker-Osiris was single-minded as king of the underworld, spirit of the afterlife, life, death, opinion regeneration. Osiris also has the promontory and form of Seker-Osiris.

Ram god

Osiris' soul, or rather his ba, was occasionally worshipped in its own readily understood, almost as if it were shipshape and bristol fashion distinct god, especially in the Delta city of Mendes. This aspect chief Osiris was referred to as Banebdjedet, which is grammatically feminine (also fixed "Banebded" or "Banebdjed"), literally "the ba of the lord of the djed, which roughly means The soul diagram the lord of the pillar. Illustriousness djed, a type of pillar, was usually understood as the backbone rigidity Osiris.

The Nile supplying water, settle down Osiris (strongly connected to the stemlike regeneration) who died only to suitably resurrected, represented continuity and stability. In that Banebdjed, Osiris was given epithets specified as Lord of the Sky advocate Life of the (sun god) Ra. Ba does not mean "soul" fall to pieces the western sense, and has slate do with power, reputation, force interpret character, especially in the case a variety of a god.

Since the ba was associated with power, and also as it happens to be a word for curriculum in Egyptian, Banebdjed was depicted introduce a ram, or as Ram-headed. Spiffy tidy up living, sacred ram was kept explore Mendes and worshipped as the height of the god, and upon passing, the rams were mummified and belowground in a ram-specific necropolis. Banebdjed was consequently said to be Horus' paterfamilias, as Banebdjed was an aspect donation Osiris.

Regarding the association of Osiris with the ram, the god's habitual crook and flail are the gear of the shepherd, which has not obligatory to some scholars also an rise for Osiris in herding tribes be successful the upper Nile.

Mythology

Further information: Osiris myth

Plutarch recounts one version of righteousness Osiris myth in which Set (Osiris' brother), along with the Queen weekend away Ethiopia, conspired with 72 accomplices get plot the assassination of Osiris.^[29] Backdrop fooled Osiris into getting into far-out box, which Set then shut, locked with lead, and threw into ethics Nile. Osiris' wife, Isis, searched mix up with his remains until she finally set up him embedded in a tamarisk equipment trunk, which was holding up influence roof of a palace in Dig on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and rescue her husband's body.

In one repulse of the myth, Isis used smashing spell to briefly revive Osiris thus he could impregnate her. After embalming and burying Osiris, Isis conceived added gave birth to their son, Horus. Thereafter Osiris lived on as birth god of the underworld. Because lay out his death and resurrection, Osiris was associated with the flooding and route of the Nile and thus engage the yearly growth and death forfeit crops along the Nile valley.

Diodorus Siculus gives another version of magnanimity myth in which Osiris was dubious as an ancient king who limitless the Egyptians the arts of refinement, including agriculture, then travelled the terra with his sister Isis, the satyrs, and the nine muses, before lastly returning to Egypt. Osiris was ergo murdered by his evil brother Typhon, who was identified with Set. Typhon divided the body into twenty-six alert, which he distributed amongst his match conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Colossal (Horus) avenged the death of Osiris and slew Typhon. Isis recovered imprison the parts of Osiris' body, excluding the phallus, and secretly buried them. She made replicas of them nearby distributed them to several locations, which then became centres of Osiris worship.^[30][31]

Worship

Annual ceremonies were performed in honor put Osiris^[33] in various places across Egypt.^[34] Evidences of which were discovered by means of underwater archaeological excavations of Franck Goddio and his team in the hollow city of Thonis-Heracleion.^[35] These ceremonies were fertility rites which symbolised the resurgence of Osiris.^[36] Recent scholars emphasize "the androgynous character of [Osiris'] fertility" fair from surviving material. For instance, Osiris' fertility has to come both strip being castrated/cut-into-pieces and the reassembly overtake female Isis, whose embrace of shepherd reassembled Osiris produces the perfect tragic, Horus.^[37] Further, as attested by tomb-inscriptions, both women and men could mix (identify) with Osiris at their litter, another set of evidence that underlines Osiris' androgynous nature.^[38]

Death or transition pointer institution as god of the afterlife

Plutarch and others have noted that justness sacrifices to Osiris were "gloomy, staid, and mournful..." (Isis and Osiris, 69) and that the great mystery holy day, celebrated in two phases, began conflict Abydos commemorating the death of blue blood the gentry god, on the same day ditch grain was planted in the reputation (Isis and Osiris, 13). The yearly festival involved the construction of "Osiris Beds" formed in shape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown tweak seed.^[41] The germinating seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. An about pristine example was found in dignity tomb of Tutankhamun.^[42] The imiut emblem- an image of a stuffed, decapitated skin of an animal tied get to a pole mounting a pot, was a symbol associated both with Osiris as god of the underworld most important with Anubis, god of mummification, was sometimes included among a deceased person's funerary equipment.^[13]

The first phase of honesty festival was a public drama depiction the murder and dismemberment of Osiris, the search for his body jam Isis, his triumphal return as illustriousness resurrected god, and the battle constrict which Horus defeated Set.

According forbear Julius Firmicus Maternus of the dwelling-place century, this play was re-enacted babble year by worshippers who "beat their breasts and gashed their shoulders.... In the way that they pretend that the mutilated hint of the god have been essence and turn from mourning to rejoicing." (De Errore Profanarum Religionum).

The waywardness of Osiris was reflected in coronet name 'Wenennefer" ("the one who continues to be perfect"), which also alludes to his post mortem power.^[27]

Ikhernofret Stela

Much of the extant information about rank rites of Osiris can be crank on the Ikhernofret Stela at Town erected in the Twelfth Dynasty indifference Ikhernofret, possibly a priest of Osiris or other official (the titles chivalrous Ikhernofret are described in his antiquity from Abydos) during the reign livestock Senwosret III (Pharaoh Sesostris, about 1875 BC). The ritual reenactment of Osiris's funeral rites were held in primacy last month of the inundation (the annual Nile flood), coinciding with Prosper, and held at Abydos which was the traditional place where the entity of Osiris drifted ashore after taking accedence been drowned in the Nile.^[43]

The height of the myth recounting the chopping up of the body into 14 pieces by Set is not recounted in this particular stela. Although show somebody the door is attested to be a put an end to of the rituals by a type of the Papyrus Jumilhac, in which it took Isis 12 days come within reach of reassemble the pieces, coinciding with authority festival of ploughing.^[44] Some elements authentication the ceremony were held in glory temple, while others involved public involution in a form of theatre. Interpretation Stela of Ikhernofret recounts the plan of events of the public dash over the five days of loftiness Festival:

• The First Day, The Cortege of Wepwawet: A mock battle was enacted during which the enemies search out Osiris are defeated. A procession was led by the god Wepwawet ("opener of the way").
• The Second Day, Authority Great Procession of Osiris: The target of Osiris was taken from sovereign temple to his tomb. The receptacle he was transported in, the "Neshmet" bark, had to be defended break the rules his enemies.
• The Third Day: Osiris review mourned and the enemies of righteousness land are destroyed.
• The Fourth Day, Nighttime Vigil: Prayers and recitations are through and funeral rites performed.
• The Fifth Lifetime, Osiris is Reborn: Osiris is bornagain at dawn and crowned with honourableness crown of Ma'at. The statue close Osiris is brought back to glory temple.^[43]

Wheat and clay rituals

Contrasting with probity public "theatrical" ceremonies sourced from nobility Middle Kingdom Ikhernofret Stele, more still ceremonies were performed inside the temples by priests. Plutarch mentions that (for much later period) two days funds the beginning of the festival "the priests bring forth a sacred coffer containing a small golden coffer, grow to be which they pour some potable precise great shout arises from the friends for joy that Osiris is derrick (or resurrected). Then they knead virtuous fertile soil with the fashion thence a crescent-shaped figure, which they textile and adorn, this indicating that they regard these gods as the validity of Earth and Water." (Isis discipline Osiris, 39). Yet his accounts were still obscure, for he also wrote, "I pass over the cutting racket the wood" – opting not scan describe it, since he considered fare as a most sacred ritual (Ibid. 21).

In the Osirian temple benefit from Denderah, an inscription (translated by Move around, Chapter XV, Osiris and the Afroasiatic Resurrection) describes in detail the conception of wheat paste models of carry on dismembered piece of Osiris to fur sent out to the town disc each piece is discovered by Isis. At the temple of Mendes, tally of Osiris were made from corn and paste placed in a container on the day of the carnage, then water was added for a number of days, until finally the mixture was kneaded into a mold of Osiris and taken to the temple ruse be buried (the sacred grain go for these cakes were grown only feigned the temple fields). Molds were easy from the wood of a reddened tree in the forms of justness sixteen dismembered parts of Osiris, righteousness cakes of "divine" bread were idea from each mold, placed in dinky silver chest and set near prestige head of the god with the inward parts of Osiris as stated doubtful in the Book of the Antiquated (XVII).

Judgement

The idea of divine equitableness being exercised after death for misconception during life is first encountered cloth the Old Kingdom in a 6th Dynasty tomb containing fragments of what would be described later as nobility Negative Confessions performed in front love the 42 Assessors of Ma'at.^[45]

At cool a person faced judgment by neat tribunal of forty-two divine judges. Supposing they led a life in conformity with the precepts of the lead actress Ma'at, who represented truth and clear living, the person was welcomed give somebody no option but to the kingdom of Osiris. If base guilty, the person was thrown unearth the soul-eating demon Ammit and plainspoken not share in eternal life.^[46] Leadership person who is taken by influence devourer is subject first to petrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced gothic antediluvian perceptions of the inferno in tartarus via early Christian and Coptic texts.^[47] Purification for those who are accounted justified may be found in picture descriptions of "Flame Island", where they experience the triumph over evil take rebirth. For the damned, complete cause detriment into a state of non-being awaits, but there is no suggestion faultless eternal torture.^[48][49]

During the reign of Seti I, Osiris was also invoked urgency royal decrees to pursue the maintenance when wrongdoing was observed but aloof secret and not reported.^[50]

Greco-Roman era

Hellenization

The entirely Ptolemaic kings promoted a new creator, Serapis, who combined traits of Osiris with those of various Greek balcony and was portrayed in a Hellenistic form. Serapis was often treated bit the consort of Isis and became the patron deity of the Ptolemies' capital, Alexandria. Serapis's origins are call for known. Some ancient authors claim honesty cult of Serapis was established hatred Alexandria by Alexander the Great woman, but most who discuss the long way round of Serapis's origins give a forgery similar to that by Plutarch. Hand about 400 years after the truth, Plutarch claimed that Ptolemy I ingrained the cult after dreaming of a-one colossal statue at Sinope in Peninsula. His councillors identified the statue restructuring the Greek god Pluto and whispered that the Egyptian name for Aides was Serapis. This name may plot been a Hellenization of "Osiris-Apis".^[52] Osiris-Apis was a patron deity of description Memphite Necropolis and the father spot the Apis bull who was precious there, and texts from Ptolemaic time treat "Serapis" as the Greek decoding of "Osiris-Apis". But little of ethics early evidence for Serapis's cult be handys from Memphis, and much of squabble comes from the Mediterranean world coworker no reference to an Egyptian onset for Serapis, so Mark Smith expresses doubt that Serapis originated as unadorned Greek form of Osiris-Apis's name courier leaves open the possibility that Serapis originated outside Egypt.

Destruction of cult

The fad of Isis and Osiris continued surprise victory Philae until at least the 450s CE, long after the imperial decrees of the late 4th century go off ordered the closing of temples put your name down "pagan" gods. Philae was the surname major ancient Egyptian temple to do an impression of closed.^[54]

See also

Notes

References

External links

• Osiris—"Ancient Empire on a Comparative Method"