Humble beginnings may not sound like the Egyptian goddess Isis, but this much is true. When she first emerged into the world, she was hardly known by her people, with the exception of elites. Her enigmatic obscurity, however, inevitably worked in her favor. Over time, Isis’s story and influence expanded outside the realms of Egypt, well into the far reaches of the known world and even the infinite cosmos, making her one of the most worshipped gods of all time.
As a goddess of many things, Isis was a mourner and guide to the dead, a powerful magician, a healer to the living, a creator, a mother, a wife, and a role model. She often wore a simple dress with the symbols of the throne or later, the solar disk and cow’s horns atop her head. At times, she bore wings or was depicted as a scorpion, snake, cow, sow, or bird of prey. Her true name was Aset or Eset, translating to throne or queen of the throne. From the Old Kingdom to the Greco-Roman era and beyond, Isis’s evolution has transcended all possibilities, earning her numerous names and prolific powers. And with that, there is only one place to start, and that is the beginning.
Remains of a temple of Isis on Delos, Greece. (Bernard Gagnon/Public Domain).
The Nature of Creation: The Old Kingdom
Before the 5th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, Isis and Osiris had never been named. Suddenly, they began appearing in the Pyramid Texts of kings, aiding and protecting them through the afterlife. Isis searched for the kings’ bodies, nurtured them, and guided them to eternal bliss. Though stories of her may have circulated for some time before she was ever written, the 5th Dynasty saw an influx in the writing and the recording of mortuary practices. The tomb of the last ruler of the dynasty, Unas, introduced Isis to the world.
It is likely that the conception of Isis originated somewhere in the Nile Delta, as her name was linked to this region in Pyramid Texts. Her mythological beginnings, on the other hand, are believed to have been cultivated at Heliopolis, one of the oldest religious centers of the Egyptian kingdom. There, priests propagated her myth and those of her fellow gods, the Ennead, the nine principal gods. Their central figure was Atum, a manifestation of the sun god Ra. Atum created himself from himself while rising from the primeval waters of chaos, nothingness, and creation. He birthed the earth, Geb, and the sky, Nut. From the earth and sky, four siblings were born: Osiris, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys. Isis wed her brother, Osiris, who was the divine ruler of Egypt, but his brother, Seth, grew restless in his desire for the throne. Evidence gathered from Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts and later texts tell a compelling narrative.
Relief of Isis from Egypt’s Philae Temple. (Kim Bach/CC BY-SA 2.5).
Long before the Old Kingdom, Osiris, the god of life and death, ruled over the fertile Nile valley. He was beloved by the people, a wise and just king who taught them agriculture and brought prosperity. His wife, Isis, was his equal in power and wisdom, a goddess of magic and healing. Together, they ruled with grace, but Osiris's younger brother, Seth, the god of chaos and disorder, was filled with envy and jealousy. Concocting a sinister plan, Seth fashioned a magnificent coffin, perfectly suited to Osiris’s measurements, and presented it at a great banquet. He promised that whoever could fit into the coffin would receive it as a gift. Osiris, unsuspecting of his brother's treachery, lay down inside the chest, and the moment he did, Seth’s followers slammed it shut and cast the coffin into the Nile.
In desperation, Isis tirelessly searched the land. After many trials, she found the coffin which contained her beloved husband and brought it back to Egypt. Yet Seth, in his madness, learned of her return and fervently tore Osiris’s body into fourteen pieces, scattering them across Egypt. Once again, Isis set out, this time accompanied by her sister Nephthys to recover all of Osiris’s dismembered parts. With great care, they found and reassembled every piece of him, but one – the phallus of Osiris could not be found. Using her magic, Isis formed a replacement, and with a ritual full of love and grief, she brought Osiris back to life and conceived a child, Horus. But Osiris could not return to the land of the living. He had become the ruler of the afterlife, giving his people a path to immortality.
This story forms the basis for the narratives written and depicted in Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts and onward, which initially were heavily focused on Osiris in relation to the king, including Isis as a comforting and vigilant figure. Isis was the perfect queen to her husband and thus, an ideal representation of wifehood and womanhood. She was devout and supportive, often quietly allowing her husband to lead. When needed, her clever wits and protective nature saved the kingdom from ruin. Much of what is known of the Ennead of the Old Kingdom comes from Pyramid Texts. Though not explicit in their storytelling, they reflect mythic narratives surrounding deceased kings. And Isis, albeit a secondary, minor role to Osiris, was still a vital component of these early and mysterious royal initiation rites.
Isis’s connection to kings also extended outside the afterlife. As her name suggests, her early incarnations were associated with kingship, represented in her son, Horus, the god of kingship, and the throne that sat atop her head and the kings sat as a symbol of power. The king did not hold authority until he resided on the throne, and by sitting on the throne, the king continued the cyclical nature of creation. Since the king was given divine status, he automatically had ties to the creation myth of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Isis was queen to the living Osiris and remained at his side while he became king of the underworld. Her dual aspects in both living kings and their deaths and resurrections ultimately set the tone for immense potential, one that gradually began to take shape during the Middle Kingdom.
Mourner and Midwife: The Middle Kingdom
As early as the Pyramid Texts, Isis was considered the mother of Horus. However, earlier evidence from the 4th Dynasty suggests that Hathor was his mother. The shift from Hathor, who had been a mother goddess in the Delta Region since the Predynastic Period around 6000 BCE, hundreds of years before Isis, highlights early evidence of assimilations into Isis. One of the oldest deities, Serket, the goddess of the dead, was also beginning to be absorbed by Isis. This took time, and by the Middle Kingdom, Isis continued to be primarily restricted to the realm of kings and elites. She did not have any cults that were known nor temples or shrines dedicated to her. The reason she may have taken on Serket’s and Hathor’s traits would have to do with her family’s mythology. The three of them created a divine triad, one that ideologically resonated with royals as familial archetypes.
Additionally, during the Middle Kingdom, Isis’s roles as mother and mourner further began to take shape as depictions of her myth became more detailed and elaborate. After Osiris retreated to rule the underworld, Isis hid the baby Horus in the Delta marshes, fiercely protecting him against Seth, fearsome snakes, and scorpions, and above all, she taught him the way of magic. Her involvement in royal funerary practices, specifically the Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys evolved from words of encouragement to aid Osiris and the king to a more literal form of speech. The unique language used in the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom alludes to these lamentations as a performative ritual.
“Oh tired one, oh tired one, lying there!
Tired in this place you did not know I knew.
Behold, I have found you in this your place, great weary one.”
“Sister,” Isis says to Nephthys, “our brother is this!
Come, let’s lift his head,
come, let’s join his bones together,
come, let us tend his limbs!” (De Buck Translation, 1935)
The Coffin Text details the grieving process and the deep emotional pain felt by the goddesses, who express their sorrow, also having an active role in restoring Osiris. The lamentation would have been acted out as vocal and physical expressions by substitutes, presumably priestesses, for a deceased elite or royal member of society as a means of reenacting and reinforcing the symbolism of the Osiris myth. The Middle Kingdom ritual would have echoed through mortuary temples or tombs with mournful chants, cries, and invocations. And through this performance, divine protection and renewal was invoked on behalf of the deceased, ensuring safe passage and immortality.
Top image: Isis wall painting in the tomb of Seti I (KV17), 14th century painting by Ägyptischer Maler.
Source: Public Domain.
By Jessica Nadeau
