The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt, and its consequences. Osiris's murderer, his brother Set, usurps his throne. Meanwhile, Osiris's wife Isis restores her husband's body, allowing him to posthumously conceive their son, Horus. The remainder of the story focuses on Horus, the product of the union of Isis and Osiris, who is at first a vulnerable child protected by his mother and then becomes Set's rival for the throne. Their often violent conflict ends with Horus's triumph, which restores maat (cosmic and social order) to Egypt after Set's unrighteous reign and completes the process of Osiris's resurrection.
The myth, with its complex symbolism, is integral to ancient Egyptian conceptions of kingship and succession, conflict between order and disorder, and especially death and the afterlife. It also expresses the essential character of each of the four deities at its center, and many elements of their worship in ancient Egyptian religion were derived from the myth.
The Osiris myth reached its basic form in or before the 24th century BCE. Many of its elements originated in religious ideas, but the struggle between Horus and Set may have been partly inspired by a regional conflict in Predynastic or Early Dynastic times. Scholars have tried to discern the exact nature of the events that gave rise to the story, but they have reached no definitive conclusions.
Parts of the myth appear in a wide variety of Egyptian texts, from funerary texts and magical spells to short stories. The story is, therefore, more detailed and more cohesive than any other ancient Egyptian myth. Yet no Egyptian source gives a full account of the myth, and the sources vary widely in their versions of events. Greek and Roman writings, particularly On Isis and Osiris by Plutarch, provide more information but may not always accurately reflect Egyptian beliefs. Through these writings, the Osiris myth persisted after knowledge of most ancient Egyptian beliefs was lost, and it is still well known today.
The Osirismyth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of...
king gives and Osiris". Osiris is the mythological father of the god Horus, whose conception is described in the Osirismyth (a central myth in ancient Egyptian...
of Geb's heir Osiris. The collection of episodes surrounding Osiris' death and succession is the most elaborate of all Egyptian myths, and it had the...
who in turn created Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. An extension to this basic framework was the Osirismyth involving Osiris, his consort Isis, and...
resolution of the myth. Horus gradually took on the nature as both the son of Osiris and Osiris himself. He was referred to as Golden Horus Osiris. In the temple...
of the main characters of the Osirismyth, in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris, and produces and protects his...
star-in-circle: 𓇽. The god Osiris was believed to be the lord of the underworld. He was the first mummy as depicted in the Osirismyth and he personified rebirth...
following a quarrell between the two. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Osiris is murdered by his brother Set who usurps the throne. In the Hindu epic...
Isis and Osiris are two ancient Egyptian deities. Isis and Osiris may also refer to: new Canadian opera "Isis and Osiris, Gods of by composer Peter-Anthony...
subsequently offered the eye to his deceased father Osiris, and its revitalizing power sustained Osiris in the afterlife. The Eye of Horus was thus equated...
divine counterpart of human queens. Isis and Osiris were considered Horus's parents in the Osirismyth as far back as the late Old Kingdom, but the relationship...
During these 5 days, Nut and Geb gave birth to Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. In the central Osirismyth, Thoth gives Isis the words to restore her husband...
began to adopt Egyptian customs, such as marrying their siblings per the Osirismyth and participating in Egyptian religious life. New temples were built...
as a creator god as well. When Ra was in the underworld, he merged with Osiris, the god of the dead. Ra was portrayed as a man with the head of most likely...
god of Memphis, and Osiris the god of the dead. In later periods, this connection was expressed as the triple god Ptah-Seker-Osiris.[citation needed] The...
associated with Isis as a healer of the deceased Osiris (following his violent murder by Set in the central Osirismyth). In fact, though many scholars believe...
although she is also called upon to ward off disease and heal the sick. In a myth about the end of Ra's rule on the earth, Ra sends the goddess Hathor, in...
morning and midday. In the Coffin Texts, Atum has a vital conversation with Osiris in which he describes the end of the universe as a time in which everything...
Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead. It is commonly understood to represent his spine. In the Osirismyth, Osiris...
part of Egyptian mythology, it was not a part of the myth of the murder and resurrection of Osiris. She was not paired with Set the villain, but with Set's...