The Story Of Isis And Osiris | The Osiris Myth

The Osiris Myth

Osiris became king of the land and gave it to the good people, showing them what to do. He taught them to farm, plan their villages and cities and make laws and decrees. People loved him and that made his brother Seth jealous so he plotted to kill him.

The Story of Isis and Osiris

Seth devised a plan to kill Osiris by throwing a big party and inviting him. At the party Seth announced a surprise: a golden coffin that would belong to whoever fit inside it. Guests tried the coffin one by one until Osiris lay down in it and it was made for him. Seth and his followers then sealed the coffin with Osiris inside and threw it into the Nile. The river carried it to the Mediterranean and eventually it washed up on the shore of Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon) where a huge tree grew around it and hid it from sight.

Isis searched everywhere for her husband until she was led to the city of Byblos where she found the coffin. She got Osiris’s body and brought it back to Egypt. She hid the body in a remote part of the Delta swamps and prayed to the gods to bring Osiris back to life. The gods answered her prayers and Osiris was resurrected. But Seth found out Osiris was alive, caught him and cut his body into 42 pieces and scattered them all over Egypt.

The ancient Egyptians thought Osiris was the force of life and nourishment. He was the black earth from which green life sprouted and was depicted as grains of wheat growing out of his body, symbolizing rebirth and the cycle of life. Each year they had a festival and decorated a tree with ornaments and green leaves just like we do with our Christmas tree.

The Babylonians had a similar tradition with the “tree of life” which they thought bore the leaves of the annual cycle. This tradition spread westward and people started decorating evergreen trees like cypress and pine during Christmas.

When Horus, son of Osiris, grew up he gathered supporters to avenge his father and take the throne and the land was divided. Good won.

Thanks to the works of Plutarch and others, the Osiris myth survived even after the ancient Egyptian religion and writing was lost in the 1st millennium AD. The legend has been part of the Western view of ancient Egypt and continues to inspire new ideas from fiction to modern day religions.

The ancient Egyptian gods were thought to be very human, they felt jealousy and revenge. This epic myth has inspired many filmmakers to make movies about the Pharaohs and the gods they worshipped.