EgyptNorth AfricaReligion & Spirituality
God of Osiris – Egyptian God of the Underworld
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God of Osiris
One of the main deities in the Egyptian pantheon, Osiris is most known for being the deity of the Underworld.
Osiris was the oldest child born to Nut, the goddess of the skies, and Geb, the Earth deity, according to Egyptian mythology.
Seth, the deity of chaos and battle, and Isis, the goddess of healing and rebirth, were among his younger brothers.
After getting hitched, Isis and Osiris ruled Egypt as its first queen and king.
They had Horus, another well-known deity in the pantheon, as a kid.
Historians have discovered the first representation of Osiris around 2300 BCE.
Initially, only a few individuals in each group idolized him.
But he rose to fame as the afterlife’s supreme king, and his devotees began to blame him for the annual flooding of the Nile.
Osiris was revered as the deity of:
1. Fertility.
2. Agriculture.
3. Resurrection.
4. Vegetation.
5. Evaluation in the afterlife.
History of Osiris
Osiris originally appeared as a local deity.
He received fertility prayers from small groups of Egyptians.
Osiris became one of the most revered gods in all of ancient Egypt as a result of his popularity over time.
Osiris was first represented in art around 2300 B.C.
However, the majority of Osiris depictions date from the 1500s to around 1075 B.C.
The deity Geb and the goddess Nut were the parents of Osiris, according to the Greek historian Plutarch.
Seth was his brother, and Isis was his sister (and wife).
Egypt’s monarch or pharaoh was Osiris.
Seth was incredibly envious of Osiris and his strength.
Seth attempted to drown Osiris in the Nile River in an effort to take the kingship for himself.
When Seth was unable to catch Osiris, he tried again, this time slicing his corpse into 14 parts and hiding them all throughout Egypt.
Isis, the wife of Osiris, gathered all but one of the fragments and reassembled them.
Isis resurrected Osiris with her sorcery.
He wasn’t really alive, but he wasn’t dead either.
As a result, Osiris could not dominate the realm of the living; instead, he ruled the underworld and the afterlife.
The importance of Osiris
Osiris was once strongly linked to Egypt’s pharaohs.
Pharaohs who had died and entered the Egyptian afterlife were symbolized by Osiris.
In the end, whether a person was a king or not, Osiris was connected to every Egyptian death.
The Pyramid Texts, often known as the Book of the Dead, include reference to Osiris.
Written prayers, poetry, and spells were interred with pharaohs as a way for their spirits to make their way to the afterlife.
The Egyptians thought the soul was delivered to Osiris and a panel of 42 judges for ultimate judgment after passing through different dangers.
Osiris had the ability to decide whether a person’s spirit would live on in the afterlife and take advantage of everything it has to offer.
A soul might also be completely destroyed by Osiris, ending its existence.
Osiris was revered not just as the lord of the underworld but also as the deity of agriculture and fertility.
I’m sure you’re asking how that’s even feasible.
The deity of the afterlife is also the god of rebirth and food production, right?
That doesn’t seem to make much sense at first glance, but to the Ancient Egyptians, Osiris stood for fresh starts.
He wasn’t reborn as his original self since Isis and Seth had to piece him back together after they had chopped him up.
He was instead granted a brand-new existence.
Osiris possessed the ability to resurrect a family as a deity.
When a family member passed away, a younger generation continued their heritage.
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