http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Cult of the Dead *Cult of the Dead* Osiris Osiris (Greek language , also *Usiris*; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated *Asar*, *Aser*, *Ausar*, *Ausir*, *Wesir*, *Usir*, *Usire*,or *Ausare*) was an Egyptian god , usually called the god of the Afterlife. Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC. He was widely worshiped until the suppression of the Egyptian religion during the Christian era.^[1] <#cite_note-0> ^[2] <#cite_note-1> The information we have on the myths of Osiris is derived from allusions contained in the Pyramid Texts (ca. 2400 BC), later New Kingdom source documents such as the Shabaka Stone and the /Contending of Horus and Seth/, and much later, in narrative style from the writings of Greek authors including Plutarch ^[3] <#cite_note-2> and Diodorus Siculus .^[4] <#cite_note-3> Osiris was not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. He is described as the /"Lord of love/"^[5] <#cite_note-4> , /"He Who is Permanently Benign and Youthful/".^[6] <#cite_note-oxford-5> , and the /"Lord of Silence"/.^[7] <#cite_note-6> The Kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death — as Osiris rose from the dead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. By the New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death if they incurred the costs of the assimilation rituals.^[8] <#cite_note-7> Osiris was at times considered the oldest son of the Earth god Geb ,^[9] <#cite_note-Wilkinson-8> and the sky goddess, Nut as well as being brother and husband of Isis , with Horus being considered his posthumously begotten son.^[9] <#cite_note-Wilkinson-8> He was later associated with the name Khenti-Amentiu , which means /"Foremost of the Westerners"/ a reference to his kingship in the land of the dead.^[10] <#cite_note-9> Through the hope of new life after death Osiris began to be associated with the cycles observed in nature, in particular vegetation and the annual flooding of the Nile, through his links with Orion and Sirius at the start of the new year.^[6] <#cite_note-oxford-5> Osiris was viewed as the one who died to save the many, who rose from the dead, the first of a long line that has significantly affected man's view of the world and expections of an afterlife.^[11] <#cite_note-10> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Osiris is represented in his most developed form of iconography wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt , amongst the variants this is sometimes supplemented with feathers to represent the Atef crown, and carrying the crook and flail . The crook is thought to represent Osiris as a shepherd God. The symbolism of the flail is more uncertain with shepherds whip, fly-whisk, or association with the god Andjety of the ninth nome of Lower Egypt proposed.^[6] <#cite_note-oxford-5> He was commonly depicted as a green (the color of rebirth) or black (alluding to the fertility of the Nile floodplain) complexioned pharaoh in mummiform.^[ <#cite_note-11> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Pyramid Texts describe early conceptions of an afterlife in terms of eternal travelling with the sun god amongst the stars. Amongst these mortuary texts, at the beginning of the 4th dynasty, is found: /"An offering the king gives, and Anubis"/. By the end of the 5th dynasty the formula in all tombs becomes "/An offering the king gives, and Osiris/".^[13] <#cite_note-12> When the Ennead and Ogdoad cosmogenies became merged, with the identification of Ra as Atum / (Atum-Ra),/ gradually Anubis (Ogdoad system) was replaced by Osiris, whose cult had become more significant. Anubis was said to have given way to Osiris out of respect, and, as an underworld deity. Anubis was Set 's son in some versions, but because Set became god of evil, he was subsequently identified as being Osiris' son. Abydos , which had been a strong centre of the cult of Anubis, became a centre of the cult of Osiris. Because Isis , Osiris' wife and sister, represented life in the Ennead, it was considered somewhat inappropriate for her to be the mother of a god associated with death such as Anubis, and so instead, it was usually said that Nephthys , the other of the two female children of Geb and Nut, was his mother. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The *Cult of Osiris* (who /was/ a god chiefly of regeneration and re-birth) had a particularly strong interest toward the concept of immortality. Plutarch recounts one version of the myth surrounding the cult in which Set (Osiris' brother) fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which he then shut, had sealed with lead, and threw into the Nile (sarcophagi were based on the box in this myth). Osiris' wife, Isis , searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and open it, but Osiris was already dead. She used a spell she had learned from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate her. After they finished, he died again, so she hid his body in the desert. Months later, she gave birth to Horus. While she was off raising him, Set had been out hunting one night, and he came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the parts of the body, less the phallus which was eaten by a fish thereafter considered taboo by the Egyptians, and bandaged them together for a proper burial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and thus resurrected Osiris as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris is associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the crops along the Nile valley. Diodorus Siculus gives another version of the myth in which Osiris is described as an ancient king who taught the Egyptians the arts of civilization, including agriculture. Osiris is murdered by his evil brother Set, whom Diodorus associates with the evil Typhon ("/Typhonian Beast/") of Greek mythology. Typhon divides the body into twenty six pieces which he distributes amongst his fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Horus avenge the death of Osiris and slay Typhon. Isis recovers all the parts of Osiris body, less the phallus, and secretly buries them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several locations which then became centres of Osiris worship. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ With the rise of the *Cult of Osiris* during the Middle Kingdom the “/democratization of religion/” offered to even his most humblest followers the prospect of eternal life, with moral fitness becoming the dominant factor in determining a persons suitability. At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges. If they led a life in conformance with the precepts of the Goddess Maat , who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the kingdom of Osiris. If found guilty the person was thrown to a “/devourer/” and didn't share in eternal life.^[22] <#cite_note-21> The person who is taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of the inferno in hell via early Christian and Coptic texts.^[23] <#cite_note-22> Purification for those who are considered justified may be found in the descriptions of “/Flame Island/”, where they experience the triumph over evil and rebirth. For the dammed complete destruction into a state of non being awaits but there is no suggestion of eternal torture.^[24] <#cite_note-23> ^[25] <#cite_note-24> Divine pardon at judgement was always a central concern for the Ancient Egyptians.^[26] <#cite_note-25> During the reign of Seti I Osiris was also invoked in royal decrees to pursue the living when wrongdoing was observed but kept secret and not reported.