During the long period of ancient Egyptian civilization, the god Osiris played a critical role. However, during the old kingdom era, god Ptah was the main god, while in the new kingdom, god amon was the main god. Still, the position of god Osiris in Egypt and Egyptian awareness was not changed and always was connected highly with Egyptian culture.
The role of god Osiris
The ancient Egyptians gave much care to the Nile flood in ancient Egypt, and it was called the flood of Osiris. And according to Egyptian mythology, god Seth convinced his brother Osiris to lie inside a coffin to throw him in the Nile, the symbol of fertility and the Nile flood in ancient Egypt.
That is why god Osiris was connected with the Nile and Nile flood and was considered one of its deities; it was connected with good deeds since the Nile flood flourished Nile flood.
It is essential to mention that :
by the eighteenth dynasty, farmers in Egypt made figures of clay and wheat in thebes cemetery. They were irrigated by water to grow on the fourth month in the ancient Egyptian calendar ” after the Nile flood.” and fields are ready for a new period, so the growth of the wheat in the mud statues as evidence of resurrection and eternity of God Osiris.
And this ideology was mentioned in coffins texts ” I’m the life plant which reveals from coffins.”
The titels of god osiris
Osiris is the greek title of the Egyptian title for this god, which was over, he is the king of the gods, or in other words, he is the southern and northern king of all gods.
and from the era of the middle kingdom, Osiris had several titles like :
- win nfr: which means the beautiful place.
- Ka imnt: which means the bull of the west.
- khenty imnytu: which means lord of the west.
- wnb ibdu : lord of abydos.
- wnb jdu: which means lord of Abu sir.
- osir lord of eternity.
- osir, the lord of life and people.
The cult city of Osiris
city of “Zod,” which is Abu sir nowadays, was the capital of the ninth province in ancient Egypt and the hometown of god Osiris, who was the oldest son of god geb, and Osiris live in the deepest level of fields, so provide it with fertility and flourishment and various fruits, and it was the main feature of his soul on the earth as a tree trunk, turned to wedge
he was also the main deity in Abydos.
feasts of Osiris
Many archeologists and egyptologists assume that sign of wedge that symbolizes Osiris refers to his backbone. The clergymen in ancient Egypt held an annual festival, making the backbone rigid, which symbolizes eternal stability for the world.
The family tree of Osiris
His parents are earth’s god GEB and sky’s god NUT; his brother was god SETH, his sisters were: isis and neftys.
His brother Seth was his enemy because he was so jealous of his position between gods.
His wife was the goddess Isis, which was the goddess of beauty, love, and music.
His sister neftys was called the lady of the house, accompanied isis to search for his mummy after his assassination by Seth.
His son was god falcon Horus, who revenged for his father and ruled the whole of Egypt.
The image of Osiris
Osiris had many images in ancient Egypt, once as someone sitting on the throne, others as a mummy.
Represented as a handsome man without dark legs referring to the clay of Egypt, and sometimes is appeared covered by cotton, and sometimes in a green color symbol of agriculture.
He was also represented with a crown holding his hands on his chest.
The origin of Osiris
egyptologists assumed two contrasting theories about the origin of Osiris, which are :
first theory:
Assume that he was a human man, lived in a very ancient time on the eastern delta and was killed by brother, and through to the Nile, according to this theory, it is the death of king because of revolution of the other part the land in upper Egypt.
And this conflict led to the division of Egypt into lower Egypt &upper Egypt, and it was reflected in the conflict between Osiris’s son Horus and his conflict with Seth. He was divined with a new cult connected with his life.
the second theory :
Assum: Osiris as the representation of Nile flood and new birth and life after Nile flood.
However, each province in ancient Egypt had its local deity with a unique identity. The core of the ancient Egyptian religion was the god Osiris who gave the central cult for ancient Egypt in each province.
Pilgrimage to Osiris in Abydos
The central cult for Osiris was in Abydos, where the oldest tombs of the ancient Egyptians were built on the tomb of king “dgr,” his temple there.
And this place became a spot of pilgrimage to most of ancient Egypt from different destinations in Egypt, and there they built tombs or false tombs or at least reliefs on the temple of Osiris.
And the scene of pilgrimage to Abydos was represented on the walls of Beni Hassan’s tombs.
Osiris in ancient Egypt mythology
There are many legends about Osiris in ancient Egyptian civilization, representing the continuous conflict between good and evil, between Osiris and his brother Seth, revealing his magical abilities, and revealing the role of woman in ancient Egypt depicted by his wife isis.
And priests showed the legends of Osiris to the regular people in public shows in temples of Egypt, especially in the Abydos temple.
final judgment
A famous scene on papyrus rolls is the final judgment, which was held by the presence of the god of the dead Osiris since after the conflict between Osiris and Seth, he was honored to be the god of death. Each mummy was buried in the position of Osiris, holding his hands crossed on the chest.
