protection of the night, they dropped it into the Nile. The coffer floated
out to sea, and after some time settled at the base of a tamarisk tree at
Byblos. The tree sensed the valuable nature of the contents of the coffer
and grew protectively around it. When the king of
Byblos ordered the tree cut for a supporting pillar of the roof of his
palace, his servants did so, and a delightful scent rose from it. Word of
the scent of the tree quickly spread far and wide.
Back in Egypt, Isis was mourning the loss of Osiris. She did so by cutting
off her hair and tearing her clothes. She was informed of the tree and
immediately recognized its significance. She quickly set off to Byblos.
Malcandre gave the tree trunk to Isis, and she retrieved the coffer. She
then took the coffer back to Egypt and hid it in the swamps of the
Nile delta. There she opened it, and tried to breathe life into Osiris. She
succeeded in keeping him alive long enough for him to impregnate her.
Soon afterwards, Seth was hunting in the swamps and found the coffer.
Infuriated that Osiris still existed, Seth cut the body into fourteen pieces
and scattered them across Egypt. With the aid of Nut, Isis sought the pieces
of the body, and recovered all but the genitals, which were gone forever.
She was successful in resurrecting Osiris.
Osiris went before the gods and discredited Seth. Having regained
life, his reputation, and the throne as ruler of Egypt, Osiris could have
stayed on the earth, but instead chose to become lord of the land of the
dead, which was believed to exist just past the western horizon.
Isis, assisted by Anubis, prepared Osiris for his journey to the land of
the dead with the first embalming rituals, which established the ritual of
burial in Egypt. The magic of Isis was considered important to gain
acceptance into the land of the dead.
Later, Isis gave birth to the child Horus, who she kept hidden in the swamp
to protect him from the rage of Seth.
THE SENILITY OF RA
When Isis, the wife and sister of Osiris, was the servant of the sun god
Ra, she persuaded him to confide his secret name to her, for whoever knew
the name would be granted much magic and power. She did this by collecting
some of the spittle that dripped from his lips and mixing it with earth.
*From this concoction she formed an asp, a deadly snake, which she placed in
Ra’s path. The snake bit and poisoned Ra who, being senile, was not able to
cure himself. Only Isis could remove the poison and the pain. She told Ra
that she would, but only if he told her
his secret name. He refused.
The effects of the venom grew worse. Eventually Ra gave in and uttered the
name to Isis, on the condition that she never tell anyone else. Isis then
gained some of his power and she became unmatched in the magic arts.
HORUS’ REVENGE
Horus was raised in the swamps of the Nile Delta in utmost secrecy by his
mother, Isis. When he reached manhood he vowed to avenge the death of his
father, Osiris. He fought many lengthy battles with Seth. In one of these
battles he lost an eye. Eventually, Horus killed him. The gods had judged
that Horus had won an honorable victory.
In another version of the story, Horus had emasculated Seth rather
than kill him. He appeared before the council of the gods and claimed he had
the right to the throne of his father, Osiris. But Seth insisted that he
himself be crowned, arguing that Horus was illegitimate because he was
mysteriously conceived after Osiris’ death. Finally, the cow goddess Neith
convinced through threats that the gods should “give the office of Osiris to
his son Horus,” she declared,
“and do not act wickedly, else I become angry, and send heaven crashing to
the ground.” He was granted rule over both Upper and Lower Egypt, even
though his father only ruled Upper Egypt.
To mark the event, Horus gave Osiris the eye he had lost and wore a serpent
on his head as his second eye. Thereafter, the pharaohs of Egypt wore the
serpent on their crown as a symbol of royal authority.
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