Osiris

Also known as: AUSARES · Family: Egyptian gods · Role: god · First appears: The History of Creation — A

In the History of Creation A, Seb and Nut brought forth Osiris alongside Heru-khent-an-maati, Set, Isis and Nephthys. Version B gives a different parentage: Shu and Tefnut brought forth Osiris and the same four siblings. In the Legend of the Destruction of Mankind, the god decreed to Osiris the keeping of his words of power. In A Hymn to Osiris, Keb recognized him as heir and commanded him to rule; Osiris set his son Horus upon Keb’s great throne, while Isis protected and avenged him. The hymn recounts her search for Osiris and her drawing an heir from him.

In Plutarch’s account, Osiris was born on the first superadded day. Plutarch says he and Isis enjoyed each other in their mother’s womb, and that from this union sprang Aroueris, whom some call Apollo. He later became king of Egypt and taught its people agriculture, laws and reverence for the gods. Typhon, with Aso and other conspirators, plotted against him, sealed him in a chest and sent it downriver. Isis found the chest and wept over her dead husband; after Typhon scattered Osiris’s body, she searched for and buried its portions.

In the Hymn of Praise to Horus, Isis calls Osiris her husband and tells how she conceived and bore Horus. Plutarch also says that Osiris later appeared to Horus, encouraged him to fight and instructed him in arms; after Osiris’s death, Isis bore Harpokrates. In the incantations against reptiles and noxious creatures, Ra, Sekhet, Thoth and Heka protect Osiris by their magical power.