The Osirian Myth

Here it is, the night before another new episode of Lost, and a new entry. I have below a short introduction to the Osirian myth of ancient Egypt. While gathering this information, I learned that Egyptian myth wasn’t born fully formed like Athena out of Zeus’ head, but evolved over the centuries. This myth is certainly an example of that, as the belief in the After Life and resurrection spread through the land. Thus, Horus was the brother and also the son of Osiris, while Isis took on the traditional roles of other goddesses. For our purposes, Osiris was the first Egyptian to return to life after death, and he and his family took on active roles in the Other World, at turns welcoming and judging souls. I’ve included the earthier creation myth that I suspect is much older than Osiris and his family. Enjoy.

In the primordial Nun, before the world existed, there was a formless spirit, which bore inside it the sum of all existence. To keep his luster from extinction, he kept his eyes shut, and lay within the bud of a lotus. Finally, tired of its impersonality, the spirit rose by force of will from the abyss, and appeared in all its glittering splendor. It took the name Atum-Ra, and was the glorious sun-god. From him came all the gods and human beings. Without aid of a woman, he bore forth the twins Shu and Tefnut. Atum-Ra ruled over all as the first Pharaoh. Shu, the personification of Air, and Tefnut, the goddess of water, mated, and gave birth to Geb and Nut. Ra became angered when Geb and Nut married, and Shu forced himself between Nut, the sky goddess, and Geb, the earth god, elevating Nut high into the air, maintaining her with his upraised arms. Geb to this day misses his wife, and his lamentations can still be heard. Nut birthed Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder. Osiris was the first-born son, and the heavens gave rise to shouts of gladness followed by tears and lamentations, because of the misfortunes that awaited him.

Atum-Ra eventually tired of ruling the ungrateful masses, so he withdrew to the heavens, and Shu ruled in his stead. After Shu withdrew, grown equally tired by disease and by the revolt of the people, Geb ruled, to be followed in turn by Osiris.

Osiris was handsome, dark-skinned, and taller than all other men. When Geb retired to the heavens, Osiris took his sister, Isis, as his queen. His first acts were to abolish cannibalism and teach his subjects how to manufacture agricultural instruments. Under Osiris, his people learned how to turn grain into bread and grapes into wine. He built the first temples, and taught the people how to worship. He invented two kinds of flutes to accompany his hymns. He built towns and gave his people just laws.

After civilizing Egypt, Osiris decided to spread his rule throughout the world. He left Egypt to the care of Isis and set forth with his grand vizier, Thoth, and his lieutenants, Anubis and Upuaut. Osiris never raised his arms to another, and ruled by gentleness, whereby he subjected all the peoples of the world. He finally returned to Egypt, where Isis had ruled with wisdom.

Set, however, grew jealous of the power his brother wielded. He organized a plot against his brother, and when the peoples were celebrating the civilization of the world, Set and his conspirators killed Osiris. Isis, overwhelmed with grief over the assassination of her husband, found the body of Osiris, and hid it from Set. Set found the body, and to prevent Isis from using her sorcery, he tore the body into fourteen fragments, hiding the parts throughout the world. Set’s own wife, Nephthys, horrified by his violence, left her husband and joined her sister, Isis, along with Anubis, Thoth, and Horus to find the pieces of Osiris’s body. After all the precious fragments were located, Isis cunningly rejoined them together. She then performed, for the first time, the rites of embalmment which restored the murdered god to life. Once resurrected, Osiris was forevermore safe from the threat of death. He chose not to return to Earth to rule the peoples, but retired to the Other World, where he could welcome the souls of the just and reign over the dead.

Isis fled from the vengeance of Set and raised her posthumously-conceived son, Horus, in seclusion. He was extremely weak as a child, and she resorted to her sorceries many times throughout his youth to save him. Osiris retuned to Earth to teach his son the use of arms. When Horus grew to manhood, he waged war on Set. After innumerable years at war, the gods brought judgment between the two. Discounting Set’s claim that Horus was a bastard, the gods found for Horus, and condemned Set for stealing the patrimony of Horus. Horus thereafter ruled the earth, while his father ruled the Other World. When Horus decided to retire to the Other World, he chose his vizier, Thoth, to follow him to the throne.

Osiris and his family now rule the Other World. Osiris reigns over the dead in the After Life, and warmly welcomes them upon rival. Hathor, Osiris’s aunt, holds a long ladder that allows the deserving dead to climb to heaven. Anubis makes sure that the offerings brought by the deceased’s family reach him. Horus and Anubis escort the dead to be judged. Anubis, Thoth, and Horus then judge the soul of the dead, determining whether the dead deserves to remain in the Other World.