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Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Vol. 1
Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Vol. 1
Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Vol. 1
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Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Vol. 1

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Osiris the king, was slain by his brother Set, dismembered, scattered, then gathered up and reconstituted by his wife Isis and finally placed in the underworld as lord and judge of the dead. He was worshipped in Egypt from archaic, pre-dynastic times right through the 4000-year span of classical Egyptian civilization up until the Christian era, and even today folkloristic elements of his worship survive among the Egyptian fellaheen. In this book E. A. Wallis Budge, one of the world's foremost Egyptologists, focuses on Osiris as the single most important Egyptian deity.
This is the most thorough explanation ever offered of Osirism. With rigorous scholarship, going directly to numerous Egyptian texts, making use of the writings of Herodotus, Diodorus, Plutarch and other classical writers, and of more recent ethnographic research in the Sudan and other parts of Africa, Wallis Budge examines every detail of the cult of Osiris. At the same time he establishes a link between Osiris worship and African religions. He systematically investigates such topics as: the meaning of the name "Osiris" (in Egyptian, Asar); the iconography associated with him;  the heaven of Osiris as conceived in the VIth dynasty; Osiris's relationship to cannibalism, human sacrifice and dancing; Osiris as ancestral spirit, judge of the dead, moon-god and bull-god; the general African belief in god; ideas of sin and purity in Osiris worship; the shrines, miracle play and mysteries of Osiris; "The Book of Making the Spirit of Osiris" and other liturgical texts; funeral and burial practices of the Egyptians and Africans; the idea of the Ka, spirit-body and shadow; magical practices relating to Osiris; and the worship of Osiris and Isis in foreign lands.
Throughout there are admirable translations of pyramid texts (often with the original hierogyphics printed directly above) and additional lengthy texts are included in the appendices. There are also a great many reproductions of classical Egyptian art, showing each phase of the Osiris story and other images bearing upon his worship. The great wealth of detail, primary informatioin, and original interpretation in this book will make it indispensable to Egyptologists, students of classical civilization and students of comparative religion. Since Osiris seems to have been the earliest death and resurrection god, whose worship both caused and influenced later dieties, the cult of Osiris is highly important to all concerned with the development of human culture.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 9, 2013
ISBN9780486143552
Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Vol. 1

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    it is full of information about Osiris and all the other Egyptian gods and goddesses from Egyptian mythology I really enjoyed reading this book

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Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, Vol. 1 - E.A. Wallis Budge

RESURRECTION

CHAPTER I.

THE HISTORY OF OSIRIS AS TOLD BY CLASSICAL WRITERS.

THE religious literature of all the great periods of Egyptian history is filled with allusions to incidents connected with the life, death, and resurrection of Osiris, the god and judge of the Egyptian dead; and from first to last the authors of religious texts took it for granted that their readers were well acquainted with such incidents in all their details. In no text do we find any connected history of the god, and nowhere are stated in detail the reasons why he assumed his exalted position as the judge of souls, or why, for about four thousand years, he remained the great type and symbol of the Resurrection. No funerary inscription exists, however early, in which evidence cannot be found proving that the deceased had set his hope of immortality in Osiris, and at no time in Egypt’s long history do we find that the position of Osiris was usurped by any other god. On the contrary, it is Osiris who is made to usurp the attributes and powers of other gods, and in tracing his history in the following pages we shall find that the importance of the cult of this god grew in proportion to the growth of the power and wealth of Egypt, and that finally its influence filled both the national and private life of her inhabitants, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sixth Cataract at Shablûkah. The fame of Osiris extended to the nations around, and it is to the hands of foreigners that we are indebted for connected, though short, narratives of his history. These, though full of misunderstandings and actual misstatements, are of considerable interest and value, and we must summarize them and set their principal contents before the reader before we attempt to set out the facts concerning the god which are found in the texts of ancient Egypt.

Plutarch, who was born at Chaeroneia, in Boeotia, about the middle of the first century after Christ, in his famous treatise on Isis and Osiriseb, the Earth-god). He was born on the first of the five epagomenal days of the Egyptian year, and became king of Egypt; whether he reigned from his birth or was crowned king after he had grown up is not stated. Having become king, he devoted himself to improving the condition of his subjects. He weaned them from their miserable and barbarous manners, he taught them how to till the earth and how to sow and reap crops, he formulated a code of laws for them, and made them to worship the gods and perform service to them. He then left Egypt and travelled over the rest of the world teaching the various nations to do what his own subjects were doing. He forced no man to carry out his instructions, but by means of gentle persuasion and an appeal to their reason, he succeeded in inducing them to practise what he preached. Many of his wise counsels were imparted to his listeners in hymns and songs, which were sung to the accompaniment of instruments of music. During the absence of Osiris his own kingdom was administered by his wife Isis, who performed the duties committed to her charge with great wisdom and prudence. Her task was not easy, for she found it necessary to use all vigilance and to be ever ready to counteract the changes which Typhon,² her brother-in-law, was continually endeavouring to introduce.

After Osiris returned from his travels Typhon appears to have made up his mind to get rid of him, and to seize the kingdom, and to take possession of his wife, Isis, with whom he was violently in love. With the view of carrying out his baleful design, he hatched a plot, and persuaded seventy-two persons, as well as a certain queen of Ethiopia, who was called Aso (’Aσώ), to join in the conspiracy. He caused a very handsome box, or chest, to be made the exact size of the body of Osiris, the measure of which he had caused to be taken by craft, and having richly decorated it, he had it brought into his dining room and left there. He then invited Osiris to a banquet, at which all the fellow-conspirators were present, and whilst the guests were admiring the handsome box, Typhon, speaking as if in jest, declared that he would give it to him that was able to lie down comfortably in it. Thereupon one after the other of the seventy-two conspirators tried to get into the box, but were unable to do so. At length Osiris expressed his willingness to make trial if the box would contain him, and finding that it did he lay down in it. All the conspirators rushed to the box, and dragging the cover quickly over it, they fastened it in position with nails, and then poured lead over it. Thus it became impossible for Osiris to breathe, and he was suffocated. The conspirators, under the direction of Typhon, then dragged the box from the banqueting hall to the bank of the Nile, and cast it into the river, which carried it northwards, and it passed out to sea by the Tanitic mouth of the Nile. The day of the murder of Osiris was the 17th of the month of Hathor,³ when the sun was in the constellation of Scorpio; according to some Osiris was in the 28th year of his reign, and according to others, in the 28th year of his age. When the report of the murder reached Isis, who was then in the city of Coptos, she immediately cut off one of the locks of her hair, and put on mourning apparel, and wandered about the country in a distraught state searching for the box which contained her husband’s body. Certain children who had seen the box thrown into the Nile told her what had been done with it, and how it had floated out to sea by way of the Tanitic mouth of the Nile.

eb and Nut, Hathor and Maāt. From a bas-relief at Philae.

Meanwhile the waves had carried the box to the coast of Syria and cast it up at Byblos,in the form in which it was worshipped at Abydos. This done, Isis threw herself upon the box and uttered such piercing shrieks and lamentations that the younger of the king’s sons was frightened into convulsions and died on the spot. She then placed the box in a boat, and taking the elder son with her, she set sail for Egypt.

The Funeral Coffer of Osiris and the Erica tree. At the head stands Nephthys and at the foot Isis. From a bas-relief at Denderah.

of Osiris, with the plumes, horns, disk, breast-plate and pectoral of the god. From a bas-relief at Abydos.

Soon after her departure she opened the box, and laying her face on that of her dead husband, she embraced his body, and wept bitterly. Meanwhile the boy, wondering what was happening, stole up behind and spied upon her; when Isis became aware of this she turned round suddenly, being in a great passion, and in her anger cast so terrible a look upon him that he died of fright. Some, however, say that he did not die through the wrath of the goddess, but that he fell into the sea and was drowned. He is said to be the Maneros upon whom the Egyptians call during their feasts.

In due course Isis arrived in Egypt from Byblos, and having placed the box in an out-of-the-way place, she set out to visit her son Horus, who was being reared at Butus.⁶ The box was, however, discovered by Typhon, the murderer of Osiris, one night whilst he was hunting by the light of the moon, and knowing whose the body was, he broke it up into fourteen pieces, which he scattered throughout the country. When the news of the dismemberment of Osiris reached Isis, she set out in search of his scattered limbs. This region of the Delta being full of marshes and canals Isis travelled about in a boat made of the papyrus plant, which was sacred to her. No crocodile dared to attack her in her papyrus boat, and unto this day men make their boats of papyrus, because they believe that when in them they are safe from the attacks of crocodiles. Isis was successful in her search, and wherever she found a member of her husband’s body she buried it, and built a sepulchre over it; this explains why there are so many tombs of Osiris in Egypt. Some say that Isis only buried figures of Osiris in the various cities and pretended that they were his body, so that she might thereby cause the worship of her husband to be general, and that Typhon, distracted by the number of the tombs of Osiris, might despair of ever being able to find the true one. Isis found all the members of the body of Osiris save one, which was cast by Typhon into the Nile after he had severed it from the body, and had been eaten by the Lepidotus, Phagrus, and Oxyrhynchus fishes, but she made a figure of it which was ever after used in commemorative festivals.

After these things Osiris returned from the Other World and encouraged his son, Horus, to do battle with Typhon. A fight took place between them which lasted for several days, and at length the murderer of Osiris was vanquished and taken prisoner, and handed over to the custody of Isis. Feeling some compassion for her brother-in-law she cut his bonds, and set him at liberty, an act which enraged Horus so greatly that he tore the royal crown off his mother’s head. In its place Thoth gave her a crown made in the shape of an ox’s head. Typhon made use of his liberty to accuse Horus of illegitimacy, but the matter was tried before the gods, and by the assistance of Thoth, who acted as his advocate, Horus was enabled to prove to the gods that he was the lawful successor to the throne of his father, Osiris. Subsequently Isis had union with her husband, Osiris, and the result of the god’s embrace was the child Harpokrates, who came into the world prematurely, and was lame in his lower limbs in consequence. Such are the principal facts of this famous story, the more harsh and shocking parts of it, such as the dismemberment of Horus, and the beheading of Isis being omitted."

The cow-headed Isis pouring out a libation in honour of the soul of Osiris, which rises in the form of a man-headed hawk from the plants growing in a sacred lake. From a bas-relief at philae.

Diodorus, who was born at Agyrium in Sicily in the latter half of the first century B.C., relates in his famous history the following concerning Osiris and Isis: The early generations of men thought there were two principal gods that were eternal, that is to say, the sun and the moon; the former they called Osiris, and the latter Isis The name Osiris means many-eyed (πoλυóϕθaλμov), and is rightly applied to the sun, which darts his rays everywhere, seeing as it were with many eyes what is on land and sea. The name Isis means ancient, and has been applied to the moon from time immemorial. Osiris and Isis govern the whole world, and they foster and protect everything in it, and they divide the year into three parts, spring, summer, and winter.eb), who married his sister Rhea (in Egyptian, Nut), and became the father of Osiris and Isis. Others say that Zeus and Hera were the rulers of Egypt, and that from them five gods were born, one upon each of the five epagomenal days, viz., Osiris, Isis, Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite. Those who hold this view identify Osiris with Bacchus, and Isis with Ceres. Osiris married Isis, and after he became king he performed many things for the benefit and advantage of mankind generally. He abolished cannibalism, which was common in Egypt, he taught the people to plough and to sow, and to raise crops of wheat and barley, and Isis showed them how to make bread, and was the first to make them acquainted with the use to which wheat and barley could be put. For this reason they offer to Isis the firstfruits of the ears of corn at harvest, and invoke her powerful assistance with loud cries. It is also said that Isis formulated a code of laws which provided wholesome punishments for wild and violent men.⁸

Osiris was greatly devoted to agriculture. He was brought up in Nysa, a town of Arabia Felix, where he discovered the use of the vine. He was the first to drink wine, and he taught men to plant the vine, and how to make and preserve wine. He held Hermes (in Egyptian, Thoth) in high honour, because of his ingenuity and power of quick invention. Hermes taught men to speak distinctly, he gave names to things which possessed none before, he invented letters, and instituted the worship of the gods, he invented arithmetic, music, and sculpture, and formulated a system of astronomy. He was the confidential scribe of Osiris, who invariably accepted his advice upon all matters. Osiris raised a large army, and he determined to go about the world teaching mankind to plant vines and to sow wheat and barley. Having made all arrangements in Egypt he committed the government of his whole kingdom to Isis, and gave her as an assistant Hermes, his trusted scribe who excelled all others in wisdom and prudence. He appointed to be the chief of the forces in Egypt his kinsman Hercules, a man of great physical strength. Osiris took with him Apollo (in Egyptian, Horus), Anubis who wore a dog’s skin, Macedo who wore a wolf’s skin, Pan (in Egyptian, Menu), and various skilful husbandmen. As he marched through Ethiopia, a company of satyrs was presented to him; he was fond of music and dancing, and therefore added them to the body of musicians and singers, both male and female, who were in his train. Having taught the Ethiopians the arts of tillage and husbandry, he built several cities in their country, and appointed governors over them, and then continued his journey. On the borders of Ethiopia he raised the river banks, and took precautions to prevent the Nile from overflowing the neighbouring country and turning it into a marsh, and he built canals with flood-gates and regulators. He then travelled by way of the coast of Arabia into India, where he built many cities, including Nysa, in which he planted the ivy plant. He took part in several elephant hunts, and journeying westwards he brought his army through the Hellespont into Europe. In Thrace he killed Lycurgus, a barbarian king, who refused to adopt his system of government. Osiris became a benefactor of the whole world by finding out food which was suitable for mankind, and after his death he gained the reward of immortality, and was honoured as a god.

Thoth, the advocate of Osiris, bearing life and serenity.

Thoth, the advocate of Osiris, writing on his palette.

From the Papyrus of Hunefer.

For some time the priests kept secret the manner of his death, but at length some of them, being unable to keep the knowledge to themselves, divulged the matter. Osiris was, in fact, murdered by his wicked brother, Typhon, who broke his body into twenty-six pieces, and gave a piece to each of his fellow-conspirators, to make them equally guilty with himself, and so to force them to raise him to the throne of Osiris and to defend him when there. Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, with the assistance of her son Horus, avenged his murder, and took possession of the throne of Egypt. She searched for and found all the pieces of her husband’s body save one, and she rejoined them by means of wax and aromatic spices, and made the body to be of the former size of Osiris. She then sent for the priests and told each of them that she was going to entrust to them the body of Osiris for burial, and she assigned to them one-third part of the country to serve as an endowment for his worship. Isis ordered them also to dedicate to Osiris one of the beasts which they bred, and, whilst it was alive, to pay to it the same veneration which they paid to Osiris, and when it was dead, to worship it as sincerely as they did Osiris. This the priests did, and the animal they dedicated to Osiris was the bull, and they renewed their mournings for Osiris over the graves of two bulls in particular, namely, Apis and Mnevis. Isis also ordered that models of the missing part of the body of Osiris should be made, and they were adored in the temples, and were held generally in great veneration.

Isis addressing the mummy of Osiris as it lay in her boat ready for removal to the tomb.

Isis then made a vow never to marry again, and she spent the rest of her days in administering justice among her subjects, and she excelled all other princes in her works of charity towards her own people. After her death she was numbered among the gods; her tomb, according to some, is at Memphis, and, according to others, at Philae. It is said that Isis discovered many medicines, and that she was greatly skilled in the art of physic. Even as a goddess she interests herself in healing men’s bodies, and to all who seek her help she appears in dreams and gives relief. Several people who were sent away by the physicians as incurable have been restored to health by her; and the lame have been made to walk and the blind to see by her powerful help. They say that she discovered a medicine which would raise the dead to life, and that by means of it she restored to life her son Horus, who had been killed by Titans, and whose body had been thrown into the water; to him she gave this medicine, and he not only came to life again but became immortal. From Isis, Horus learned the arts of physic and divination, which he used for the benefit of mankind.

Osiris in the form of a bull, bearing a mummy of one of his worshippers on his back. From a coffin in the British Museum (No. 29,777).

Julius Firmicus Maternus, who had practised the law, and who flourished in the first half of the fourth century A.D., treats the history of Osiris in a somewhat different manner. In his short treatise De Errore Profanarum Religionum,¹⁰ which appears to have been written with a view of exposing the futility of idolatry, and the absurdity of raising men to the rank of gods and then worshipping them, rather than to show the excellence of the Christian religion, he writes of Osiris thus:—Osiris and Isis were brother and sister, and Typhon was the husband of Isis. Finding that Isis was overtaken by illicit love for her brother, Typhon slew Osiris in a crafty manner, and having torn the body in pieces, he scattered the quivering limbs along the banks of the Nile. Isis thrust her husband Typhon from her in disgust, and joining to herself her sister Nephthys and the dog-headed Anubis, she determined to search for the limbs of Osiris and bury them. With the help of Anubis she found them, and gave them burial, and Osiris, who had been a just man, was henceforward worshipped in the temples under the form of a figure made to resemble him. Typhon, on the other hand, being proud, haughty, and arrogant, was held in abomination. In the sanctuaries of Osiris his murder and dismemberment were annually commemorated with weepings, and wailings, and great lamentations. His worshippers shaved their heads, and beat their breasts, and gashed their shoulders, and inflicted wounds on their bodies in imitation of the cuts and gashes which Typhon made in the body of Osiris. Whenever possible they cut into the scars which were left by the gashes of the preceding year, so that the remembrance of the abominable murder of Osiris might be renewed in their minds. When they have done this for a certain number of days, they pretend that the mutilated remains of the god have been found and rejoined, and then they turn from mourning to rejoicing. Those who defend these practices say that grain is the seed of Osiris, that Isis is the earth, and that Typhon is

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