Alternate History Laboratory

One of the most important figures in the ancient Egyptian pantheon of gods was Osiris. In Egyptian mythology, it is associated with fertility and agriculture, dying and being resurrected annually, like the plant world. In addition, reigning in the afterlife, he administered judgment over the dead.

Origin of Osiris

The priests of one of the ancient Egyptian religious centers of Heliopolis, at the basis of the origin of the universe and man, represented the nine most important gods - the Aenead. According to the Pyramid Texts, inscriptions found on the walls inside the fifth dynasty pyramids, Osiris was the eldest son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb, representing the fourth generation of gods. On the day of his appearance, it was already known that he would become the most powerful ruler on earth and in heaven, and that he was the son of the sun god Ra. The birthplace of Osiris is considered to be the desert located west of Memphis, the place where, according to the ancient Egyptians, the afterlife began.

The Egyptians depicted Osiris as a man with green skin, whose legs and lower torso were wrapped like a mummy, and in his hands there were symbols royal power: flail and hook. Distinctive feature The deity had a high crown with feathers on the sides. Often the god was depicted surrounded by climbing plants, or the plant trunks themselves entwined the body of Osiris.

In addition to Osiris, the goddess Nut gave birth to the god Horus, the evil god of the desert Set, the goddess of love, motherhood and marital fidelity Isis and the patron goddess of the dead Nephthys. Isis and Osiris fell in love with each other in their mother's womb, and subsequently became husband and wife. These two figures are central to ancient Egyptian mythology.

The Life, Death and Rebirth of Osiris

Having inherited the throne from his father Geb, Osiris ruled the earth together with Isis. At that time, peace and tranquility reigned in Egypt. Osiris taught people agriculture, irrigation, crafts, the art of healing, writing and city building. People's observance of laws and veneration of gods became very important. After establishing order in Egypt, Osiris decided to go to other countries to teach other peoples. Isis remained to rule the country, who continued to teach the Egyptians medicine and magic, and women - housekeeping and family preservation.

Seth envied his brother and hated him for the love of people for their ruler. In addition, Seth was secretly in love with Isis. Having decided to kill Osiris, Seth ordered a sarcophagus to be made according to the measurements of his body, and upon his brother’s return from the trip, he called a feast. In the midst of dinner, servants brought in a sarcophagus decorated with precious metals and stones. Seth suggested that the guests take turns to lie down in the chest, and whoever gets it at the right time will receive an expensive gift. When Osiris lay down in the sarcophagus, the demons who helped Seth in the conspiracy slammed the lid, tied the sarcophagus with belts, sealed it with lead and threw it into the river.

The sarcophagus did not sink; it was carried by the current to the shores of Byblos, where it got stuck in the branches of the heather. When the tree grew, the sarcophagus ended up inside the trunk. The king of Byblos, seeing a strong tree, ordered it to be cut down and made into a column for the palace.

Having learned about what happened to her husband, Isis went in search of his body. The children she met along the way told her where they saw the sarcophagus. Having settled into the service of the ruler of Byblos, Isis persuaded the ruler to give her the column. Having cut the tree trunk, Isis removed her husband’s body from it. Isis sprinkled the trunk itself with oil and wrapped it in flax. Since then, the Djed tree pillar has been a symbol of Osiris.

Isis secretly took her husband's body to Egypt, where she hid it in the reeds on the banks of the Nile. One day, while going hunting, Seth came across the body of Osiris. In anger, he cut his brother into fourteen pieces and scattered them in different directions throughout Egypt.

Isis went again to look for her husband. Nephthys and the jackal-like god Anubis helped her in this. When any part of the body of Osiris was located, Isis performed a funeral rite in this place and erected a funerary stele. This explains the presence of several burials claiming to be the tombs of Osiris. The only part of the body that was not found was the phallus of Osiris, which was eaten by fish. Isis molded a phallus from clay and attached it to the reunited body of Osiris. Anubis helped swaddle and embalm the body. This is how the first mummy appeared in Egypt.

Isis greatly regretted that she had not given birth to a son, Osiris. Then, turning into a female kite, she spread her wings over her husband's mummy, using magic, extracted the life force from him and became pregnant. Isis named her born son Horus. When Horus grew up, he was able to take revenge on Set for the death of his father. Horus allowed his eye, torn out by Set at the very beginning of the battle, to be swallowed by his father, after which Osiris was resurrected. But Osiris did not return to earth, but became the ruler of the underworld. Horus remained to rule the earth, who later handed over the throne to the pharaohs.

Agricultural cult of Osiris

The description of the death and rebirth of Osiris in the myths is associated with his functions as the god of fertility and agriculture. Sowing was associated with the funeral of grain - Osiris, shoots - with his revival, harvest - with killing.

At the end of winter - beginning of spring, a ritual was held in Egypt, during which episodes of the myths about Osiris were recreated. The priestesses, personifying Isis and Nephthys, depicted the search for and mourning the death of a god. After this, the battle between Horus and Set was staged, ending with the erection of the “djed” pillar, dedicated to Osiris and signifying his rebirth (and the resurrection of nature).

The coronation rites of the pharaoh were also associated with Osiris. The young king was portrayed as Horus, and the deceased pharaoh became Osiris himself, suggesting that he would also come to life after death. Another ritual, which has become known to historians, personifies Osiris as the god of vegetation.

During the ritual, the statue of Osiris, located in the temple, was covered with grain and by the time of the holiday, plant shoots appeared, symbolizing the rebirth of the deity. Many drawings have been found depicting a priest watering the mummy of Osiris with ears of corn sprouting from it. The functions of Osiris related to agriculture were performed by the pharaoh during the rituals. Before the waters in the Nile began to rise, the pharaoh threw a scroll into the river with a decree for the water to overflow, at the harvest festival he cut the first sheaf and made sacrifices in gratitude to the gods.

The main ancient Egyptian center of the cult of Osiris was Abydos, where an annual festival was held in honor of the deity. It is believed that the tomb of Osiris is located in Abydos. The cult of Osiris was also widespread in the city of Jedu. In addition, over time, Osiris began to be revered as one of the most important gods not only throughout Egypt, but also beyond its borders.

Osiris - ruler of the underworld

The ancient Egyptians believed that, like Osiris, they would be reborn after death. Getting into the afterlife of the Duat, the deceased had to overcome many obstacles and appear before the gates of the Chamber of Two Truths, in which Osiris administered judgment. According to the Book of the Dead, during the trial Osiris sat on the throne surrounded by 42 gods (according to the number of nomes or provinces), and the gods Anubis and Thoth weighed the heart of the deceased, which personified the soul, on scales. The counterweight was Truth - the feather of the goddess of justice Maat.

The sinners were eaten by the monster Amat with the body of a lion and the head of a crocodile. A cloudless life awaited the righteous in the fields of Ialu. Any Egyptian knew and learned spells that could help him on his journey through the Duat, and the words of the acquittal speech that would be said at the trial of Osiris.

Relatives of the deceased had to provide the necessary material goods for existence in the afterlife. Later, prayers and spells addressed to Osiris and other gods with a request to assist the deceased in providing him with everything necessary received greater dominance over sacrificial benefits.

Since judgment in the face of Osiris was inevitable for any Egyptian, the cult of this deity was the most dominant, and the god himself was perceived as the most important of all others. Most residents of ancient Egypt believed in the justice of the highest court of the ruler of the afterlife and in the fact that the most important thing in court is not wealth and position, but moral qualities and actions.

Conclusion

The image of the god Osiris absorbed all the diversity of the evolution of the religion of ancient Egypt, combining in itself the cult of the king, the resurrecting god and the judge of the afterlife. At the same time, his name is associated with the explanation of the most significant reproductive phenomena for the Egyptians flora, as well as the emergence of a person’s knowledge and skills. The influence of this deity extended to ancient Greek mythology, and even finds echoes in Christianity.

Egyptian god Osiris

Being born from divine beings, Osiris was not a man, but he was similar to him, his important mission on earth was highly noted by the gods and, when he appeared at the Court of Maat (Court of the Just) and, thanks to the ritual handiwork of Anubis, he became “right-speaking” (Christ. "Orthodox") - was able to withstand all the tests of Truth with a pure heart. And thus he became the First “living” King, “being reborn in Another Earth,” which was eventually to become the Kingdom of all the Dead. Here it is impossible not to notice the intertwining of two legends - pre-ancient Egyptian and almost contemporary Christian, where the son of the Supreme God Jesus Christ also appears in the Afterlife as the Almighty and the basis for the fulfillment of the Law. The newly revealed Son of God then came to earth not only with one mission - to bring the Word about God to people, but, having resurrected after his earthly death, to become the King of the Kingdom of the Dead, just as Osiris did in his time. Why it was necessary to implement the same plan twice is unclear. Perhaps, if we analyze the Egyptian cults and early Christianity, these reasons will become clear, but there is no doubt that the Egyptian source was significant in the formation of the ideology and ritual of Christianity.

Remaining on earth, Isis, resorting to the unknown technologies of the gods, miraculously was able to give birth to a son, Horus, from Osiris, using part of her husband’s flesh. Hiding the child that was born, she and Thoth took care of his life while Seth occupied the throne of Egypt. When the Choir had matured considerably and become stronger, god Thoth, the most gifted with the highest divine intellect, presented him with a “winged disk” created using space technology. And in ancient Egyptian legends, the Chorus becomes known to us as Hor-Akhet - the Choir of the Horizon, with the ability to move freely on a heavenly boat to any distance, to be simultaneously in all parts of the country, to hear and see everything that is happening around. Hence, another epithet was added to the personality of Horus - the Eye of Horus, one of the divine systems that allows one to be in omniscience.

Sufficiently armed, Horus decided to avenge his father Osiris and in the struggle defeats the offender Set. However, the duel did not end with the death of the latter. First, the Horus expelled Set from Upper Egypt, then expelled him from Lower Egypt, and the Council of the Gods made a “decision - an agreement” that Set would never again invade the possessions of Egypt, and the Horus, in turn, would stop pursuing him beyond the borders of its territory. So the son of Osiris, Horus, received his father’s throne, which belonged to him by right of birth, and began to rule Egypt until his death when, after the death of the gods most “interested” in the power of the gods, control of the country passed to the god of all sciences, Thoth. He was the last one, to whom in Greek myths the great words from the Emerald Tablet are dedicated: That Hermes Thrice Greatest God Wisdom.

It is behind this great epithet of the god Thoth that the mystery of the traditions of the Initiates in the Mystery of the sacred Gnosis is hidden, which from the times of Egypt exists to this day, having endured the burden of antiquity and the Middle Ages.

And a few more words about the most mysterious Egyptian great-god Ptah.

I encountered his images literally everywhere in the sanctuary of Abydos, which sometimes I even questioned - does this Temple belong to the veneration of Osiris alone? Then when the calm and wise face of the Father of the gods looks at me from almost every wall. His slightly raised corners of his lips froze in a mysterious smile, which gave the expression of his face such a mysterious and mystical meaning, as if you were standing in front of a real keeper of all secrets. In the ancient theological treatise of Memphis, written around 2500 BC. Ptah is called great and huge, the demiurge god, who inherited his power from all the gods and their spirits. The thought of creation that arose from Ptah is compared with the appearance of Atum - sunlight. And if Atum creates the material world, then Ptah fills matter with the Spirit, and in ancient Egyptian ideas this is directly connected with the heart. Thanks to his divine word, the life force of gods and people was created, life was given to everything virtuous and death to the criminal, all kinds of works and arts were created, just such as the movement of the arms, legs and all organs of the body according to the order conceived by the heart and expressed by the tongue.

And it was also said about Ptah: “He who created all things and recreated the gods.” And for this it was established and recognized that his power surpasses the powers of other gods. “Ptah pacified, creating all things and divine words. He gave birth to the gods, created cities, founded nomes, installed the gods in their sanctuaries, established their sacrifices, founded their temples. And by his will the gods entered each into his body from all types of trees, stone and clay, and took their form in them..."

But the image of Ptah in myths personifies not only the spiritual component of nature and man, but precisely the Spirit of Reason. His name means "revealer of the unknown." By the power of his Word, guided by divine intelligence, he brought harmony and order to the natural world he formed long before the first people appeared. No one knows for certain how exactly with his participation the life of the gods on earth was built, but his ubiquitous presence in the Temple of Seti I only confirms that without his initial Work the very birth of Osiris would have been impossible.

Still, according to the myth, it remains a mystery: if all the parts of the body of Osiris were found by Isis and put together into one, then how could it happen that such an important part - the head of the god - remained here in Abydos? And if the head is here, then where is everything else? Or after the “burial” of the body, it was removed and again divided, taken into pieces and hidden in sacred Egyptian corners, as we do with the relics of “saints”? Or maybe his body was transported “somewhere” outside?.....possibly. Then, after all, demigods already lived, which means the “connection” could not be interrupted, being transmitted at the genetic level to “others”.

And where, by the way, is the body of Christ...? ...there are obvious similarities in these two stories...

Well, and also... think about it - the g-o-l-o-v-a of God... not an arm, not a leg, not anything else, but a head! Well, maybe not a head at all in the human sense, but in anatomical terms, in human terms, it is represented by a “head”. What's in it? Yes, everything is in it! Reason, intellect, logic and mathematics, and a bunch of other skills, divine ones at that! It just doesn’t work without the rest of the equipment, without something that could bring this head to “life”, to movement. But, God died, that is, he left the earth, which means he no longer needed this mortal “head”, he now feels even better differently in the constellation Orion, where he moved, according to ancient Egyptian beliefs.

No. Not just the head of Osiris is hidden in the dungeons of Osirion, but something from the head - the wisdom of the gods in their material expression, their ancient technologies. Those very “strange” things and objects depicted by Pharaoh Seti I on the plaster are not even exactly his Temple, but a much more ancient sanctuary, which belonged not so much to Osiris alone, but to the entire divine clan of the family from Osirion.

Osiris

Osiris(Osiris) - god of rebirth, king of the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology.

According to references in ancient Egyptian texts and the story of Plutarch (c. 45 - c. 127 - ancient Greek philosopher, biographer, moralist), Osiris was the eldest son of the earth god and sky goddess, brother and husband, brother, father and. He was the fourth of the gods who reigned on earth in primordial times, inheriting the power of his great-grandfather, grandfather and father Geb. The tomb of Osiris was located in Abydos.

Reigning over Egypt, Osiris taught people agriculture, gardening and winemaking, but was killed by his brother, the god Set, who wanted to rule in his place. Osiris's wife, his sister Isis, found his corpse and began to mourn him along with her sister Nephthys. Ra, taking pity, sends the jackal-headed god Anubis, who collected the scattered (or, according to another version, cut up by Seth) parts of Osiris, embalmed the body and swaddled it. Isis fashioned a phallus from clay (the only part of Osiris’s body that Isis could not find was the phallus: it was eaten by fish), consecrated it and attached it to the assembled body of Osiris. Having turned into a female kite - the Hat bird, Isis spread her wings over the mummy of Osiris, uttered magic words and became pregnant. Horus was conceived and born in order to act as a natural avenger for the death of his father. At the same time, he considers himself the only legal heir of the latter.

After a lengthy litigation, Horus is recognized as the rightful heir of Osiris and receives the kingdom. He resurrects Osiris by allowing him to swallow his eye. However, Osiris does not return to earth and remains the king of the dead, leaving Horus to rule the kingdom of the living.

Combining at different times, for various reasons, the cults of the king, the dying and resurrecting god of the productive forces of nature, the Nile, the bull, the moon, the afterlife judge at the terrible judgment seat, the myth of Osiris absorbed the reflection of religious ideas of a number of successive stages in the development of Egyptian society .

The crown Osiris wears is made of papyrus stalks, his sacred boat is also made of this plant, and his symbol of the djed (an ancient Egyptian cult object symbolizing the spine of Osiris) consists of several bundles of reeds inserted one into another. Further, Osiris is always depicted with one plant or another: from the pond in front of his throne grows either a lotus or a row of trees and a vine; sometimes the entire canopy under which Osiris sits is entwined with bunches of grapes; sometimes he himself is entwined with vines.

In the same way, the tomb of Osiris is not depicted without greenery: then next to it grows a tree on which the soul of Osiris sits in the form of a phoenix; that tree grew through the tomb, entwining it with its branches and roots; then four trees grow from the tomb itself.

Osiris is the main ruler of the kingdom of the dead in the mythology of ancient Egypt. They respected and feared him, tried to appease him and waited to meet them. It was the Egyptian god Osiris who decided whose soul after death would receive eternal life and whose would end up in oblivion. All the most Interesting Facts about this great and mighty are collected in this article.

How to recognize the god Osiris: description of appearance

Images of this god have survived to this day on frescoes. The Egyptians were afraid of the afterlife and their fate after death, so they prepared for it in advance. Therefore, Osiris was especially revered as the ruler of the kingdom of the dead.

Characteristic features of the image of the god Osiris:

• White atef papyrus crown with red ostrich feathers.
• The hands and face are green or dark in color, symbolizing the fertility of the Nile soil.
• The legs are wrapped in a special fabric - mummy.
• The tallest among all other gods.

Osiris is considered the patron saint of farmers and winegrowers, all those who work on the earth.

According to legend, the god Osiris was the son of Geb, the god of the earth, and the sky goddess Nut. He became the husband of Isis, the famous goddess of fertility. At a time when Egypt was ruled by the gods, he was a great king. It was believed that it was he who brought the knowledge of gardening, agriculture and winemaking, medicine, and construction to the Egyptians.

But younger brother Osiris, Set cunningly lured him into the casket, closed the lid so that he could never get out, and threw him into the waters of the Nile. The goddess Isis, having learned about this, hid the body of her deceased husband in the river delta. Seth, when he discovered this, tore his brother's corpse into 14 parts, but with the help of the gods, his faithful wife collected the remains and created a mummy. Then Isis miraculously gave birth to a son, Horus, from her husband, who was destined to resurrect his father. But Osiris did not want to return to earth, remaining king in the world of the dead.

Judge of the Dead

In the minds of the ancient Egyptians, there is no death, only deep sleep. Therefore, people were buried with everything necessary for a full life in the afterlife. The first thing that awaited the deceased was a meeting with the god Osiris. It was he, together with his subordinates (42 divine judges), who carried out posthumous justice, which took place in several stages:

1. Confession. It was based on the denial of one’s sins: “I did not steal, did not kill, etc.”
2. Weighing the soul. The soul was placed on one pan of the scales, and on the other - the feather of the goddess of truth, which was very light. It was believed that the more bad deeds a person committed during his lifetime, the more the soul burdened by these deeds would weigh.
3. Osiris decided the fate of the sufferer, and if acquitted, he received eternal life in the paradise of the goddess Iaru. Those who were cursed by the gods for their sinful lives were subject to complete oblivion and non-existence. Hell, the fiery cauldron, did not exist in the minds of the ancient Egyptians.

Osiris, or as he is called in his homeland Usuri, was one of the most revered gods of Egypt. Therefore, it is not surprising that his image has been preserved in full and in great detail to this day.

In Ancient Egypt there were many centers where worshipers of the god Osiris performed rituals and sacrifices. There were about 14 sanctuaries in total.

Such great popularity spread beyond the borders of the country, to Ancient Rome And Ancient Greece Osiris was not only known, but also mentioned in their works. Among them were Tibullus, Diodorus, the thinker Plutarch and Herodotus. The latter connected the ancient god of agriculture and winemaking Dionysus with Osiris, finding much in common in them.

It was with the legend of Osiris that the tendency to mummify and embalm the body after death arose in Egypt.

In the culture of the Egyptians and all the peoples of the planet Egypt, Osiris remained as a “benefactor”, wise, mysterious and talented, who is not only strict and fair, but also merciful to people. The cult of this god is still preserved, because he personifies strength, rebirth and mystery eternal life, which will forever remain an attractive mystery for many generations of people.

Osiris- the main god of the underworld, its king. One of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon of deities. The Egyptians called him Usir, and Osiris is already a Greekized form of this name. Depicted as a man, the lower part of which - the torso and legs - are bandaged, like a mummy. In his hands he holds the scepter signs of royal dignity - a hook and a flail.

The distinctive headdress of the deity is his crown - the atef crown. It consists of a tall, conical-shaped cap with two feathers on its sides.

Also sometimes the god's headdress includes ram's horns. The first found image of Osiris dates back to the reign of the V dynasty pharaoh Djedkara Isesi (c. 2413 - 2381 BC). Sometimes the deity's skin has green color, which emphasizes his aspects as a god of abundance and fertility.

There is no consensus among Egyptologists regarding the etymology (i.e. origin and meaning) of the name of this deity. The most common point of view is the connection of his name (Usir) with the ancient Egyptian word “voser” (ws"ir), which can be translated as “mighty one.”

Osiris and the Pyramid Texts

The genealogy (origin) of this divine person is described in the inscriptions carved on the inner walls of the pyramids of the 5th dynasty - the “Pyramid Texts”. According to these texts, Egyptiangod Osiris was the eldest of the children (along with Isis, Seth, Nephthys) of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, who were, in turn, the children of Shu and Tefnut, who were fathered by the god Atum.

Thus, he is one of the nine most important gods - the “ennead” - of the city of Heliopolis, which was one of the main theological centers of ancient Egypt. The Heliopolitan Ennead was the oldest system that explained the origin of the gods (theogony) and the origin of the universe and man (cosmology).

The desert located west of Memphis was considered the place of his birth - it was there, according to the ancient Egyptians, that the afterlife began. Later, when the religious images and cults of various regions of Egypt were transformed into a more complex religious system, the area around Thebes was sometimes considered the birthplace of the god. 14 cities in Egypt had sacred sites or tombs that were revered as tomb of Osiris.

The Myth of Osiris

Stories about the murder and resurrection of this deity are among the most important myths Ancient Egypt. Most consistently stated myth of Osiris Greek writer Plutarch. Here summary this myth. According to this version, he was originally an earthly king, and ruled in Egypt together with his wife (and at the same time sister) Isis. Was fourth Egyptian pharaoh after his great-grandfather Atum (Ra-Atum), grandfather Shu and father Geb who ruled before him.

He taught people to grow crops, obey laws and honor the gods. Moreover, this was done with the power of his songs, and not with weapons (which allowed the Greeks to sometimes identify Osiris with their god Dionysus).

His good rule, the love that he enjoyed among people, aroused jealousy and hatred on the part of his brother, Seth (Plutarch has the name Typhon). Seth announced that he would present a beautiful sarcophagus (that is, a coffin) to anyone for whom it was the right size; he himself made the sarcophagus, using measurements taken in advance from his own brother.

Osiris lay down in the sarcophagus - and it turned out to be just the right size for him. While he was rejoicing, Seth arrived in time with other conspirators (there were 72 of them). Together they slammed the lid on the sarcophagus, even sealed everything with lead, and then threw it into the Nile. The sarcophagus did not sink, but floated with the flow. The river carried the sealed box to the shore near Byblos, where a tree immediately grew in this place.

The inconsolable Isis, who has not lost the ability to act decisively and quickly from grief, finds a sarcophagus with her dead husband. She returns his body to Egypt, to the Delta, where she intended to perform the funeral ceremony. However, the insidious Seth, taking advantage of the fact that Isis temporarily left her husband’s body, cut the deceased into many pieces, which he scattered throughout Egypt.

And again Isis began to search for her husband. In every place in Egypt where she found a body part, funeral rites were performed. Having collected all the parts of her husband, Isis reunited them together, and after that the body was mummified.

The fragments of the ancient Egyptian myths about Osiris and Isis that we know today contain some details that are missing from Plutarch. It is possible that Plutarch, who professed a different religion, simply did not include them in his version. Plutarch's central character, even before his death, had a son, Horus, from his marriage to Isis.

Egyptian myths say that Horus was conceived by Isis from her husband after the latter’s death. It is described as follows: with the help of magic, Isis, flapping her wings, creating the air of life, temporarily revived her husband’s mummy and conceived Horus from him.

Cult of Osiris in Ancient Egypt

Osiris was worshiped from a very early period in ancient Egyptian history. It is suggested that he was originally a god of abundance whose duty it was to ensure a good harvest; in this capacity was associated with the Nile flood. He quickly became the god of resurrection.

In the Old Kingdom, the deceased pharaoh was identified with Osiris, and his successor, the living king, with Horus, the son of the deity. Later it was believed, as can be seen, for example, from the “Texts of the Sarcophagi” and the “Book of the Dead”, that each deceased took on the features of Osiris, that is, it was believed that he would also come to life after death.

Main center cult of Osiris in ancient Egypt was Abydos, the capital of the eighth nome in Upper Egypt, the burial place of the pharaohs (see Map of Ancient Egypt). The ruler of the underworld, his wife Isis and their son Horus formed the most important trinity of gods of Abydos. A very important place of pilgrimage there was the tomb of one of the ancient kings of the first dynasty - Pharaoh Djer, which later became revered as the tomb of Osiris.

A festival dedicated to the deity was held annually in Abydos. During the celebration, the god's boat was carried in a huge procession, celebrating his victories over his enemies. Abydos was also believed to be the place where the god's head was buried after his body was cut into pieces by Set. The emblem of the city (nome) depicted a head with a crown “atef” - the crown of the king of the underworld.

Another important center for the veneration of the deity was the city of Djedu (Busiris), which, in fact, was the place where his cult arose. Despite the presence of these obvious centers, the cult of Osiris in Ancient Egypt spread throughout the country, and later spread beyond its borders - in Libya, Nubia, Mesopotamia, Greece, etc.

Death of Osiris. From the king of the earth to the kings of the underworld

The Pyramid Texts indicate that Osiris was the ruler of Egypt during the pre-dynastic period. However, information about this reign, which ended with his murder at the hands of his brother Set, is extremely scarce. It seems that the earthly life of the god of the underworld is included in the cycle of myths about Osiris only in order to make his fatherly attitude towards the Egyptian king more understandable. Because after his death, Horus, the son of God, becomes the ruler of Egypt, having defeated Seth, thus ensuring, on the one hand, the “divinity” of the pharaohs themselves, and on the other, their close connection with Osiris, as the forerunner of all pharaohs.

From the Sarcophagi Texts of the Middle Kingdom it follows that Seth attacked his brother on the land of Gahesty and killed him on the shore of Nedyet. There is also a hint of death of Osiris from drowning near Memphis. This connection between the god of the underworld and water was further developed in a later period, when the events surrounding his death and resurrection were already connected with the Nile.

The insidious Seth not only lured his gullible brother into a chest (sarcophagus), which was then thrown into the river, but also chopped the body of the deceased into pieces. According to one version, there were 14 of these parts, according to another – 16, and according to another – 42. The first figure is undoubtedly connected with the number of cities and temples that claimed that the tomb of Osiris (his grave) was located in their area. The last figure is related to the number of nomes - regions of Ancient Egypt.

There were 22 nomes in Upper Egypt, 20 in Lower Egypt, for a total of 42. It was natural for the Egyptians to believe that in each administrative unit of the country there was (was) part of the body of the national god. This corresponded to the state ideology, national self-awareness and identification, and the unity of the country.

The myths as presented by Plutarch conveyed some details of where and what parts of the body were located (were buried):
Sebennutos - thigh and lower leg;
Herakleopolis - thigh, head, two legs;
Athribis - heart;
Abydos - head;
Edfu - leg;
Biga Island - left leg.

Thus, the veneration of relics, sacred remains, and body parts of divine personalities also came to us from Ancient Egypt. The fact that the same parts were in different places is not an obstacle to a religious worldview. Just like the presence of several tombs of Osiris. Suffice it to remember that in much later Christianity there were several of the same sacred relics, for example, the heads of John the Baptist.

The devotion of the deity's sister and wife, the goddess Isis, which became an extremely developed motif in later versions of the Osiris legends, is already present in the earliest versions of the myth. After a long search, she finds parts of her dismembered husband and puts his flesh back together.

After this, the ritual of embalming the god was performed in Abydos ( important role The gods Anubis and Thoth played a role in this). This is why he is depicted as a mummy, with his legs and body (excluding his arms and head) tightly wrapped in linen.

Despite his miraculous resurrection, Osiris no longer lays claim to the Egyptian throne. He becomes king of the underworld, leaving his son Horus to fight for the Egyptian throne with Set.

Isis and Osiris

How was the god Horus born? Isis and Osiris were a married couple, but during the earthly life of Osiris - before his murder - they had no children.

Here's what ancient Egyptian myths say about it. When Isis found and pieced together the body of her husband cut into pieces, she began magical rites over her murdered husband.

According to myths, she managed to breathe life into the deceased so much that he was able to have sexual intercourse with Isis and impregnate her. Thanks to this, Isis became pregnant and subsequently gave birth to a son, Horus.

The piquancy of this story is that, according to one version of the myth, Seth, having scattered the body of his gullible brother cut into 14 parts throughout Egypt, threw the god’s phallus into the Nile, where it was eaten by fish.

Isis used her magic to create an artificial phallus for her husband. The ancient Egyptians had a separate cult and festival dedicated to this event. It should be noted that according to another mythological tradition, the god's phallus was not damaged and was located in Memphis, where it was found by Isis

Judgment of Osiris

By the time of the New Kingdom, a religious concept had formed and took shape, according to which Osiris, at the head of 42 gods, carries out judgment over the soul of the deceased. The king of the underworld is shown sitting on a throne in the Hall of Two Truths, where every deceased person is brought.

The deceased takes an oath that during his earthly life he was a God-fearing person and obedient to earthly authorities. All formulas of this oath begin with the preposition “not”: did not violate, did not deceive, etc. Therefore, it was called the “oath of denial.”

What follows is the procedure of weighing on the scales of truth. On one bowl is the heart of the deceased, on the other is the feather of the goddess Maat. If a person’s sins were great, then the cup with the heart outweighs the other cup. If the person was pious, then the scales are equalized.

On what verdict he makes court of Osiris, the further fate of the deceased depends - either he will end up on the fertile fields of Iaru, where he will remain in contentment and joy, or his heart will be eaten by the merciless monster Ammut, which will make his death final and resurrection impossible. The scene of the trial of Osiris is both the central plot and the finale of the Egyptian " Books of the Dead" Since all Egyptians will have to appear before the court of Osiris, his cult becomes dominant in the era of the New Kingdom, and the ruler of the underworld himself is perceived and revered as the greatest of the gods.

These ideas about him as a just judge and savior of the dead are characteristic of all the last stages of the history of Ancient Egypt. This concept had reassuring and comforting messages for the broadest sections of the population. The posthumous fate of a person does not depend on his wealth and position on earth. It depends only on the moral qualities and actions of the person himself, as well as on the goodwill of the king of the underworld.

Epithets of Osiris

Osiris is one of the most complex divine images of the ancient Egyptians. From the local deity of the city of Djedu in the western part of the Delta, where he largely adopted the features of the also local god Anjeti, Osiris becomes one of the most universal gods of Ancient Egypt. Over time, this image began to include the features and characteristics of many other gods, and they themselves turned into hypostases of this deity.

"He who protects burials." In the west of the Nile, where most of the cemeteries were located, the sun sank into the Duat (the afterlife underworld). He took on the features of Khentiamenti, the god of the Abydos necropolis.

"He who lives in Djedu (Busiris)." This epithet is associated with cult center deities - the city of Busiris in the Delta (Lower Egypt). It is believed that it was from the local god of these places, Anjeti, depicted with a flail and hook in his hands, that these attributes passed on to Osiris.

"He who lives in Heliopolis." With this epithet he is associated with the most important ancient center of sun worship - the dying and resurrecting deity.

"He who lives in Orion." This epithet connects the deity with an important constellation of stars and shows the sidereal element in it, contrasting with the predominant subterranean aspect.

"He who lives in the house of Serket." Serket (Selket) is the patron goddess of the dead. This epithet shows the close connection of the ruler underworld with the scorpion goddess, who plays an important role in the ancient Egyptian cult of the dead as the guardian of human remains.

"He who is in the embalming room." In a special room, embalmers turned the body of the deceased into a mummy. It was believed that this process occurs with the direct participation and protection of the king of the afterlife. In this case, he takes on the traits of Anubis.

"He who is in fumigation." Embalming and mummification were accompanied by fumigation with incense. By creating a specific aromatic atmosphere, the ancient Egyptians counteracted the fear that death caused through its decomposition and decay of the body.

"He who was placed in the sarcophagus." This epithet is only partly connected with the legend, known to us from the version given by the Greek writer Plutarch, that Seth lured his brother into a box (sarcophagus) by cunning. The main content of the epithet is Osiris’s patronage of the dead, whose bodies were placed in sarcophagi.

Thus, the main epithets of the deity are associated with funeral procedures. Initially, they applied only to the funeral of the king (pharaoh), but gradually their application became widest, including the entire population of Egypt. Osiris became the main funeral god and king of the underworld.

Osiris and Pharaoh

In the era Ancient kingdom Osiris was associated almost exclusively with the pharaoh. When the ruler of Egypt dies, he becomes none other than Osiris, the king of the Duat - the afterlife.

In texts carved into the pyramids of the 5th and 6th dynasties, the deceased king is sometimes referred to by the name of a god, such as Osiris Unas or Osiris Pepi. That is, the pharaoh did not die, but turned into a god.

However, it should be noted that even in these early sources, there are moments that indicate that the monarchs wanted to be with the sun god in the sky, and not to live in the unknown and dark regions of the Duat. In particular, one of the texts says that Ra will not hand over the king to the king of the underworld, and the other contains a spell for the god of the underworld to leave the royal grave free from “his evil.”

During the era of the Middle Kingdom, there are such descriptions of the ruler of the underworld in the “Texts of the Sarcophagi” that make him more like an evil demon than a good defender and patron.

However, these darker aspects of Osiris were never predominant in the description of this deity, and did not eliminate his role as the personification of a deceased person of kingship.

Osiris and Ra

The Egyptian worldview is characterized by dualism, which manifests itself both in views on nature and in religious and mythological constructs.

The roots of this dualism are in the surrounding reality itself: up-down, damp-dry, light-dark, hot-cold, etc. And the gods were perceived by the Egyptians dualistically.

Each god has a kind of dual other half. The king of the underworld has the sun god Ra.

On the one hand, Osiris is the light of the underworld, an underground copy of the solar god Ra. On the other hand, Ra takes part in the funeral ceremonies of Osiris; every night Ra’s boat sails along the underground Nile in the domain of the god of the underworld (afterlife). According to some texts of the Book of the Dead from the New Kingdom period, after the death of Osiris, in the darkest hour of the night, the soul of the sun god Ra reached the cave where the body of the deceased lay and united with the soul of Osiris. This allowed Osiris and all the dead to awaken and live again. In the understanding of the Egyptians, Osiris and Ra acted as a kind of Double Soul.

However, it is precisely within the framework of the concept of dualism that there is constant competition between the gods. A typical mythological story is in which Osiris emphasizes his own importance as an agricultural deity in the production of wheat and barley, the most important crops of Ancient Egypt. Ra in this story states that crops exist independently of the lord of the underworld.

When Horus entered the struggle for the Egyptian throne against the murderer of his father, Set, Ra initially supported Set, not Horus. And only after the intervention of Isis, who actually forced Ra to change his position, did he support Horus. But at the same time, Seth did not lose his favor - Ra took him into his boat, and Seth faithfully began to protect the sun god from his worst enemy -