Editing Osiris

{{short description|Ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife}}
{{other uses}}
{{Redirect|Usire|the 2001 film|Usire (film)}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Aser|Acer (disambiguation){{!}}Acer}}
{{Redirect|Aser|other uses|ASER (disambiguation){{!}}ASER}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Osiris
| image = Standing Osiris.svg
| alt = 
| caption = Osiris, lord of the dead and of rebirth. His green skin symbolizes rebirth.
| hiero = <hiero>Q1:D4-A40</hiero>
| cult_center = [[Busiris (Lower Egypt)|Busiris]], [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]]
| symbol = [[Crook and flail]], [[Atef crown]], [[ostrich]] feathers, fish, mummy gauze, [[djed]]
| parents = [[Geb]] and [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]];<br/>[[Ipy (goddess)|Ipy]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hart|first=George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZPAREkaS2oC&q=Ipy+goddess&pg=PA100|title=A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses|date=2006-04-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-93012-8|pages=100|language=en}}</ref>
| siblings = [[Isis]], [[Set (deity)|Set]], [[Nephthys]], [[Horus the Elder|Heru-ur]]
| consort = [[Isis]]
| offspring = [[Horus]], [[Anubis]] {{small|(in some accounts)}}
}}
'''Osiris''' ({{IPAc-en|oʊ|ˈ|s|aɪ|r|ᵻ|s}}, from Egyptian ''[[wikt:wsjr|wsjr]]''){{efn|{{langx|cop|ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ}} {{Transliteration|cop|ousire}}, {{IPA|cop|uˈsiræ|Late Coptic}}; [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]]: 𐤀𐤎𐤓,<ref>[[Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften|KAI]] 31, 47 ([[Cippi of Melqart]]), 48 ([[Banobal stele]]), 91; [[RÉS]] 367, 504</ref> <small>romanized:</small> ʾsr)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://corpling.uis.georgetown.edu/coptic-dictionary/entry.cgi?entry=4444&super=1727 |title=Coptic Dictionary Online|website=corpling.uis.georgetown.edu |access-date=2017-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF78Max-h8MC&q=middle%20egyptian&pg=PP1|title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs |last=Allen|first=James P.|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139486354|language=en}}</ref>}} was the [[ancient Egyptian deities|god]] of [[fertility]], agriculture, the [[Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife|afterlife]], the dead, [[resurrection]], life, and vegetation in [[ancient Egyptian religion]]. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned deity with a [[Pharaoh|pharaoh's]] beard, partially [[mummy]]-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive [[atef]] crown and holding a symbolic [[crook and flail]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.touregypt.net/osiriscu.htm|title=Egyptian Mythology - Osiris Cult|website=touregypt.net|language=ru|access-date=2018-10-26}}</ref> He was one of the first to be associated with the mummy wrap. When his brother [[Set (deity)|Set]] cut him to pieces after killing him, with her sister [[Nephthys]], Osiris' sister-wife, [[Isis]], searched Egypt to find each part of Osiris. She collected all but one – Osiris’s genitalia. She then wrapped his body up, enabling him to return to life. Osiris was widely worshipped until the [[decline of ancient Egyptian religion]] during the [[Christianization of the Roman Empire|rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |date=1912-07-01 |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Theodosius I |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577d.htm |access-date=2012-05-01 |website=Newadvent.org}}</ref><ref>"History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian", ''The Suppression of Paganism'' – ch22, p.&nbsp;371, John Bagnell Bury, [[Courier Dover Publications]], 1958, {{ISBN|0-486-20399-9}}</ref>

Osiris was at times considered the eldest son of the earth god [[Geb]]<ref name="Wilkinson">{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Richard H. |title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |year=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0/page/105 105] |isbn=978-0-500-05120-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/completegodsgodd00wilk_0/page/105 }}</ref> and the sky goddess [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]], as well as brother and husband of [[Isis]], and brother of [[Set (deity)|Set]], [[Nephthys]], and [[Horus#Heru-ur (Horus the Elder)|Horus the Elder]], with [[Horus|Horus the Younger]] being considered his posthumously begotten son.<ref name="Wilkinson" /><ref>Kane Chronicles</ref> Through [[syncretism]] with [[Iah]], he was also a god of the [[Moon]].<ref>Quirke, S.; Spencer,  A. J. (1992). ''The British Museum Book of Ancient Egypt''. London: The British Museum Press.</ref>

Osiris was the judge and lord of the dead and the [[Duat|underworld]], the "Lord of Silence"<ref>"The Burden of Egypt", J. A. Wilson, p.&nbsp;302, [[University of Chicago Press]], 4th imp 1963</ref> and [[Khenti-Amentiu]], meaning "Foremost of the Westerners".<ref>Collier, Mark; Manley, Bill (1998). ''How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs'', British Museum Press, p. 41, {{ISBN|0-7141-1910-5}}</ref> In the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] (2686–2181 BC) the pharaoh was considered a son of the sun god [[Ra]] who, after his death, ascended to join Ra in the sky. After the spread of the Osiris cult, however, the kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death – as Osiris rose from the dead, they would unite with him and inherit eternal life through imitative magic.<ref name=":0" /><ref>"Man, Myth and Magic", Osiris, vol. 5, pp.&nbsp;2087–2088, S.G.F. Brandon, BPC Publishing, 1971.</ref> Through the [[Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs|hope of new life after death]], Osiris began to be associated with the cycles in nature, in particular the sprouting of vegetation and annual flooding of the [[Nile River]], as well as the [[heliacal rising]] of [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] and [[Sirius]] at the start of the new year.<ref name="oxford" /> He became the sovereign that granted all life, "He Who is Permanently Benign and Youthful".<ref name="oxford" />

The first evidence of the worship of Osiris is from the middle of the [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt]] (25th century BC), though it is likely he was worshiped much earlier;<ref>Griffiths, John Gwyn (1980). ''The Origins of Osiris and His Cult''. Brill. p. 44</ref> the Khenti-Amentiu epithet dates to at least the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]], and was used as a pharaonic title. Most information available on the [[Osiris myth]] is derived from allusions in the [[Pyramid Texts]] at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, later [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] source documents such as the [[Shabaka Stone]] and "[[The Contendings of Horus and Seth]]", and much later, in the narratives of Greek authors including [[Plutarch]]<ref>"Isis and Osiris", [[Plutarch]], translated by Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936, vol. 5 [[Loeb Classical Library]]. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris*/home.html Penelope.uchicago.edu]</ref> and [[Diodorus Siculus]].<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus]", vol. 1, translated by G. Booth, 1814.</ref> Some Egyptologists believe the Osiris mythos may have originated in a former living ruler — possibly a shepherd who lived in [[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynastic times]] (5500–3100 BC) in the [[Nile Delta]], whose beneficial rule led to him being revered as a god. The accoutrements of the shepherd, the crook and the flail – once insignia of the Delta god [[Andjety]], with whom Osiris was associated – support this theory.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Strudwick|first=Helen|title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4351-4654-9|location=New York|pages=118–119}}</ref>
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==Etymology of the name==
[[File:Head of the God Osiris, ca. 595-525 B.C.E..jpg|thumbnail|right|''Head of the God Osiris'', {{Circa|595}}–525 BC. [[Brooklyn Museum]]|upright]]
''Osiris'' is a [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[transliteration]] of the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|Ὄσιρις}} {{IPA|el|ó.siː.ris|IPA}}, which in turn is the Greek adaptation of the original name in the [[Egyptian language]]. In [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] the name appears as ''[[wikt:wsjr|wsjr]]'', which some [[Egyptology|Egyptologists]] instead choose to transliterate as ''ꜣsjr'' or ''jsjrj''{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}. Since hieroglyphic writing lacks [[vowel]]s, Egyptologists have vocalized the name in various ways, such as Asar, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, or Usire.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Several proposals have been made for the etymology and meaning of the original name; as Egyptologist Mark J. Smith notes, none are fully convincing.<ref name="Smith">{{Cite book|title=Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millennia|last=Smith|first=Mark|date=2017|pages=124–125}}</ref> Most take ''wsjr'' as the accepted transliteration, following [[Adolf Erman]]:

* [[John Gwyn Griffiths]] (1980), "bearing in mind Erman's emphasis on the fact that the name must begin with an [sic] ''w''", proposes a derivation from ''[[wikt:wsr|wsr]]'' with an original meaning of "The Mighty One".<ref name="Griffiths">{{Cite book|title=The Origins of Osiris and His Cult|last=Griffiths|first=John Gwyn|orig-year=1980|year=2018|language=en|pages=89–95}}</ref>
* [[Kurt Sethe]] (1930) proposes a compound ''[[wikt:st|st]]-[[wikt:jrt|jrt]]'', meaning "seat of the eye", in a hypothetical earlier form ''*wst-jrt''; this is rejected by Griffiths on phonetic grounds.<ref name="Griffiths" />
* David Lorton (1985) takes up this same compound but explains ''st-jrt'' as signifying "product, something made", Osiris representing the product of the ritual mummification process.<ref name="Smith" />
* [[Wolfhart Westendorf]] (1987) proposes an etymology from ''[[wikt:wꜣst|wꜣst]]-[[wikt:jrt|jrt]]'' "she who bears the eye".<ref>{{Harvsp|Mathieu|2010|p=79}} : Mais qui est donc Osiris ? Ou la politique sous le linceul de la religion</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Zur Etymologie des Namens Osiris: ''*wꜣs.t-jr.t'' "die das Auge trägt"|journal=Form und Mass: Beiträge zur Literatur, Sprache und Kunst des Alten Ägypten: Festschrift für Gerhard Fecht zum 65. Geburtstag Am 6. Februar 1987|last=Westendorf|first=Wolfhart|date=1987|language=de|pages=456–461}}</ref>
* Mark J. Smith (2017) makes no definitive proposals but asserts that the second element must be a form of ''[[wikt:jrj|jrj]]'' ("to do, make") (rather than ''[[wikt:jrt|jrt]]'' ("eye")).<ref name="Smith" />

However, recently alternative transliterations have been proposed:

* Yoshi Muchiki (1990) reexamines Erman's evidence that the throne hieroglyph in the word is to be read ''ws'' and finds it unconvincing, suggesting instead that the name should be read ''ꜣsjr'' on the basis of Aramaic, Phoenician, and Old South Arabian transcriptions, readings of the throne sign in other words, and comparison with ''[[wikt:ꜣst|ꜣst]]'' ("Isis").<ref>{{Cite journal|title=On the transliteration of the name Osiris|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=76|last=Muchiki|first=Yoshi|date=1990|language=en|pages=191–194|doi=10.1177/030751339007600127|s2cid=194037367}}</ref>
* [[James Peter Allen|James P. Allen]] (2000) reads the word as ''[[wikt:jsjrt|jsjrt]]''{{Hair space}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs|last=Allen|first=James P.|date=2010-04-15|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139486354|language=en}}</ref> but revises the reading (2013) to ''[[wikt:js-jrj|jsjrj]]'' and derives it from ''[[wikt:js|js]]-[[wikt:jrj|jrj]]'', meaning "engendering (male) principle".<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Name of Osiris (and Isis)|journal=Lingua Aegyptia|volume=21|last=Allen|first=James P.|date=2013|language=en|pages=9–14}}</ref>

==Appearance==
[[File:Tumba de Tutankamón, Valle de las Reyes, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 75.jpg|thumb|335x335px|Scenes from the north wall of the [[Tomb of Tutankhamun|burial chamber of Tutankhamun]]. On the left side, [[Tutankhamun]], followed by his ''[[Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul#Ka (vital essence)|ka]]'' (an aspect of his soul), embraces Osiris.{{sfn|Reeves|1990|pp=72–73}}]]
Osiris is represented in his most developed form of iconography wearing the ''[[Atef]]'' crown, which is similar to the [[White crown]] of [[Upper Egypt]], but with the addition of two curling ostrich feathers at each side. He also carries the [[crook and flail]]. The crook is thought to represent Osiris as a shepherd god. The symbolism of the flail is more uncertain with shepherd's whip, fly-whisk, or association with the god Andjety of the ninth [[Nome (Egypt)|nome]] of [[Lower Egypt]] proposed.<ref name="oxford">The Oxford Guide: Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology, Edited by Donald B. Redford, pp.&nbsp;302–307, Berkley, 2003, {{ISBN|0-425-19096-X}}</ref>

He was commonly depicted as a [[pharaoh]] with a complexion of either green (the color of rebirth) or black (alluding to the fertility of the Nile floodplain) in mummiform (wearing the trappings of mummification from chest downward).<ref name="Mark Collier p42">"How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs", Mark Collier & Bill Manley, British Museum Press, p.&nbsp;42, 1998, {{ISBN|0-7141-1910-5}}</ref>

==Early mythology==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2024}}
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 [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]], is found: ''"An offering the king gives and [[Anubis]]"''. By the end of the Fifth Dynasty, the formula in all tombs becomes "''An offering the king gives and Osiris''".<ref>"Architecture of the Afterlife: Understanding Egypt's pyramid tombs", Ann Macy Roth, Archaeology Odyssey, Spring 1998</ref>

===Father of Horus===
[[Image:La Tombe de Horemheb cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|The gods Osiris, [[Anubis]], and [[Horus]]. Wall painting in the tomb of [[Horemheb]] ([[KV57]]).|left]]
[[File:Sokar-Osiris.svg|thumb|316x316px|The syncretized god Seker-Osiris. His iconography combines that of Osiris (atef-crown, crook and flail) and Seker (hawk head, was-sceptre).]]
Osiris is the mythological father of the god [[Horus]], whose conception is described in the [[Osiris myth]] (a central myth in [[Egyptian mythology|ancient Egyptian belief]]). The myth describes Osiris as having been killed by his brother [[Set (deity)|Set]], who wanted Osiris' throne. His wife, [[Isis]], finds the body of Osiris and hides it in the reeds where it is found and dismembered by Set. Isis retrieves and joins the fragmented pieces of Osiris, then briefly revives him by use of magic. This spell gives her time to become pregnant by Osiris. Isis later gives birth to Horus. Since Horus was born after Osiris' resurrection, Horus became thought of as a representation of new beginnings and the vanquisher of the usurper Set.

''Ptah-Seker'' (who resulted from the identification of the creator god [[Ptah]] with [[Sokar|Seker]]) thus gradually became identified with Osiris, the two becoming '''Ptah-Seker-Osiris'''. As the sun was thought to spend the night in the underworld, and was subsequently "reborn" every morning, Ptah-Seker-Osiris was identified as king of the [[underworld]], god of the [[afterlife]], life, death, and regeneration. Osiris also has the aspect and form of Seker-Osiris.

===Ram god===
{{Hiero|[[Banebdjedet]] <br> (''b3-nb-ḏd'')|<hiero>E10-nb-Dd-Dd-t:niwt</hiero>|align=left|era=egypt}}
Osiris' soul, or rather his ''[[Egyptian soul|ba]]'', was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were a distinct god, especially in the [[Nile Delta|Delta]] city of [[Mendes]]. This aspect of Osiris was referred to as ''[[Banebdjedet]]'', which is grammatically [[Grammatical gender|feminine]] (also spelt "''Banebded''" or "''Banebdjed''"), literally "the ''ba'' of the lord of the ''[[djed]]'', which roughly means ''The soul of the lord of the pillar''. The ''djed'', a type of pillar, was usually understood as the [[Vertebral column|backbone]] of Osiris.

The Nile supplying water, and Osiris (strongly connected to the vegetable regeneration) who died only to be resurrected, represented continuity and stability. As ''Banebdjed'', Osiris was given [[epithet]]s such as ''Lord of the Sky'' and ''Life of the ([[solar deity|sun god]]) [[Ra]]''. ''Ba'' does not mean "soul" in the western sense, and has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god.

Since the ''ba'' was associated with power, and also happened to be a word for [[Ram (sheep)|ram]] in [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed. A living, sacred ram was kept at Mendes and worshipped as the incarnation of the god, and upon death, the rams were mummified and buried in a ram-specific [[necropolis]]. Banebdjed was consequently said to be Horus' father, as Banebdjed was an aspect of Osiris.

Regarding the association of Osiris with the ram, the god's traditional [[crook and flail]] are the instruments of the shepherd, which has suggested to some scholars also an origin for Osiris in herding tribes of the upper Nile.

==Mythology==
{{further|Osiris myth}}
[[File:Jewel Osiris family-E 6204-IMG 0641-gradient.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|The family of Osiris. Osiris on a [[lapis lazuli]] pillar in the middle, flanked by [[Horus]] on the left and [[Isis]] on the right ([[Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt|Twenty-second Dynasty]], [[Louvre]], [[Paris]])]]
[[Plutarch]] recounts one version of the Osiris myth in which [[Set (mythology)|Set]] (Osiris' brother), along with the Queen of [[Aethiopia|Ethiopia]], conspired with 72 accomplices to plot the assassination of Osiris.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBfgAAAAMAAJ&q=plutarch+%22queen+of+ethiopia%22+osiris+%22seventy+two%22&pg=PA76 |title=Plutarch's Moralia, On Isis and Osiris, ch. 12 |access-date=2012-05-01|year=1874 |author1=Plutarch }}, or [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris*/home.html Babbit translation].</ref> Set fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which Set then shut, sealed with lead, and threw into the Nile. Osiris' wife, [[Isis]], searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a [[Tamarix|tamarisk]] tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in [[Byblos]] on the [[Phoenicia|Phoenician coast]]. She managed to remove the coffin and retrieve her husband's body.

In one version of the myth, Isis used a spell to briefly revive Osiris so he could impregnate her. After [[embalming]] and burying Osiris, Isis conceived and gave birth to their son, Horus. Thereafter Osiris lived on as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris was associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the yearly growth and death of crops along the Nile valley.

[[Diodorus Siculus]] gives another version of the myth in which Osiris was described as an ancient king who taught the Egyptians the arts of civilization, including agriculture, then travelled the world with his sister Isis, the [[satyr]]s, and [[Muse|the nine muses]], before finally returning to Egypt. Osiris was then murdered by his evil brother [[Typhon]], who was identified with Set. Typhon divided the body into twenty-six pieces, which he distributed amongst his fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Hercules (Horus) avenged the death of Osiris and slew Typhon. Isis recovered all the parts of Osiris' body, except the [[phallus]], and secretly buried them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several locations, which then became centres of Osiris worship.<ref>"Osiris", [[Man, Myth & Magic (encyclopedia)|Man, Myth & Magic]], S.G.F Brandon, Vol5 P2088, BPC Publishing.</ref><ref>"The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus", translated by George Booth 1814. retrieved 3 June 2007. [https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC Google Books]</ref>

== Worship ==

[[File:Osirisinbudge.png|thumb|Names of Osiris span six pages in Budge's 1920 hieroglyphic dictionary.]]
[[File:Tomb_TT3_of_Pashedu_(Kairoinfo4u).jpg|right|thumb|200x200px|A personified Eye of Horus offers incense to the enthroned god Osiris in a painting from the tomb of [[Pashedu]], thirteenth century BC{{sfn|Wilkinson|1992|pp=42–43}}]]
Annual ceremonies were performed in honor of Osiris<ref>[[Franck Goddio]] and David Fabre: ''Osiris - Egypt's Sunken Mysteries'', Flammarion 2017, 
ISBN 978-2-0813-7873-5</ref> in various places across Egypt.<ref>Racheli Shalomi-Hen, ''The Writing of Gods: the Evolution of Divine Classifiers in the Old Kingdom'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006), 69-95.</ref> Evidences of which were discovered during underwater archaeological excavations of [[Franck Goddio]] and his team in the sunken city of [[Thonis-Heracleion]].<ref>The Mysteries of Osiris at the British Museum : https://britishmuseum.tumblr.com/post/151617763422/the-mysteries-of-osiris/</ref> These ceremonies were [[fertility rites]] which symbolised the resurrection of Osiris.<ref>Early 20th-century scholar [[E.A. Wallis Budge]] (over) emphasizes Osiris' action: "Osiris is closely connected with the germination of wheat; the grain which is put into the ground is the dead Osiris, and the grain which has germinated is the Osiris who has once again renewed his life." E.A. Wallis Budge, ''Osiris and the Egyptian resurrection'', Volume 2 (London: P. L. Warner; New York: [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]], 1911), 32.</ref> Recent scholars emphasize "the androgynous character of [Osiris'] fertility" clear from surviving material. For instance, Osiris' fertility has to come both from being castrated/cut-into-pieces and the reassembly by female Isis, whose embrace of her reassembled Osiris produces the perfect king, [[Horus]].<ref>Ann M. Roth, "Father Earth, Mother Sky: Ancient Egyptian Beliefs about Conception and Fertility", in ''Reading the Body: Representations and Remains in the Archaeological Record'', ed. Alison E. Rautman (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000), 187-201.</ref> Further, as attested by tomb-inscriptions, both women and men could syncretize (identify) with Osiris at their death, another set of evidence that underlines Osiris' androgynous nature.<ref>Roth, 199.</ref>

===Death and institution as god of the dead===
[[Image:Osiris-nepra.jpg|thumb|left|Osiris-Nepra, with wheat growing from his body. From a bas-relief at [[Philae]].<ref>"Egyptian ideas of the future life.", E. A Wallis Budge, chapter 1, E. A Wallis Budge, org pub 1900</ref> The sprouting wheat implied resurrection.<ref>"Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses", George Hart, p119, Routledge, 2005 {{ISBN|0-415-34495-6}}</ref>]]

[[Plutarch]] and others have noted that the sacrifices to Osiris were "gloomy, solemn, and mournful..." (Isis and Osiris, 69) and that the great mystery festival, celebrated in two phases, began at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] commemorating the death of the god, on the same day that grain was planted in the ground (Isis and Osiris, 13). The annual festival involved the construction of [[Corn mummy|"Osiris Beds"]] formed in shape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed.<ref>Teeter, Emily (2011). ''Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–66</ref> The germinating seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. An almost pristine example was found in the [[KV62|tomb of Tutankhamun]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/gallery/p2024.html |title=Osiris Bed, Burton photograph p2024, The Griffith Institute }}</ref> The imiut emblem- an image of a stuffed, headless skin of an animal tied to a pole mounting a pot, was a symbol associated both with Osiris as god of the underworld and with [[Anubis]], god of mummification, was sometimes included among a deceased person's funerary equipment.<ref name=":0" />

The first phase of the festival was a public drama depicting the murder and dismemberment of Osiris, the search for his body by Isis, his triumphal return as the resurrected god, and the battle in which Horus defeated Set.

According to [[Julius Firmicus Maternus]] of the fourth century, this play was re-enacted each year by worshippers who "beat their breasts and gashed their shoulders.... When they pretend that the mutilated remains of the god have been found and rejoined...they turn from mourning to rejoicing." (''De Errore Profanarum Religionum'').

The passion of Osiris was reflected in his name 'Wenennefer" ("the one who continues to be perfect"), which also alludes to his post mortem power.<ref name="Mark Collier p42"/>

===Ikhernofret Stela===
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
Much of the extant information about the rites of Osiris can be found on the [[Ikhernofret Stela]] at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] erected in the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]] by [[Ikhernofret]], possibly a priest of Osiris or other official (the titles of Ikhernofret are described in his stela from Abydos) during the reign of [[Senwosret III]] (Pharaoh Sesostris, about 1875 BC). The ritual reenactment of Osiris's funeral rites were held in the last month of the inundation (the annual Nile flood), coinciding with Spring, and held at Abydos which was the traditional place where the body of Osiris drifted ashore after having been drowned in the Nile.<ref name="passion play">{{cite web |url=http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/743017 |website=ancientworlds.net |title=The passion plays of osiris |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626111529/http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/743017 |archive-date=2007-06-26 }}</ref>

The part of the myth recounting the chopping up of the body into 14 pieces by Set is not recounted in this particular stela. Although it is attested to be a part of the rituals by a version of the Papyrus Jumilhac, in which it took Isis 12 days to reassemble the pieces, coinciding with the festival of ploughing.<ref>J. Vandier, "Le Papyrus Jumilhac", pp.&nbsp;136–137, Paris, 1961</ref> Some elements of the ceremony were held in the [[Egyptian temple|temple]], while others involved public participation in a form of theatre. The Stela of Ikhernofret recounts the programme of events of the public elements over the five days of the Festival:
* ''The First Day, The Procession of [[Wepwawet]]'': A mock battle was enacted during which the enemies of Osiris are defeated. A procession was led by the god Wepwawet ("opener of the way").
* ''The Second Day, The Great Procession of Osiris'': The body of Osiris was taken from his temple to his tomb. The boat he was transported in, the "[[Neshmet]]" bark, had to be defended against his enemies.
* ''The Third Day:'' Osiris is mourned and the enemies of the land are destroyed.
* ''The Fourth Day, Night Vigil'': Prayers and recitations are made and funeral rites performed.
* ''The Fifth Day, Osiris is Reborn'': Osiris is reborn at dawn and crowned with the crown of [[Ma'at]]. The statue of Osiris is brought back to the temple.<ref name="passion play"/>
[[File:Terre cuite pleureuse Louvre E27247.jpg|thumb|left|A rare sample of Egyptian terra cotta sculpture which may depict [[Isis]] mourning Osiris. The sculpture portrays a woman raising her right arm over her head, a typical gesture of mourning. [[Musée du Louvre]], Paris.|upright]]

===Wheat and clay rituals===
Contrasting with the public "theatrical" ceremonies sourced from the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] Ikhernofret Stele, more esoteric ceremonies were performed inside the temples by priests. Plutarch mentions that (for much later period) two days after the beginning of the festival "the priests bring forth a sacred chest containing a small golden coffer, into which they pour some potable water...and a great shout arises from the company for joy that Osiris is found (or resurrected). Then they knead some fertile soil with the water...and fashion therefrom a crescent-shaped figure, which they cloth and adorn, this indicating that they regard these gods as the substance of Earth and Water." (''Isis and Osiris,'' 39). Yet his accounts were still obscure, for he also wrote, "I pass over the cutting of the wood" – opting not to describe it, since he considered it as a most sacred ritual (''Ibid.'' 21).

In the Osirian temple at [[Denderah]], an inscription (translated by Budge, Chapter XV, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection) describes in detail the making of wheat paste models of each dismembered piece of Osiris to be sent out to the town where each piece is discovered by Isis. At the temple of Mendes, figures of Osiris were made from wheat and paste placed in a trough on the day of the murder, then water was added for several days, until finally the mixture was kneaded into a mold of Osiris and taken to the temple to be buried (the sacred grain for these cakes were grown only in the temple fields). Molds were made from the wood of a red tree in the forms of the sixteen dismembered parts of Osiris, the cakes of "divine" bread were made from each mold, placed in a silver chest and set near the head of the god with ''the inward parts of Osiris'' as described in the [[Book of the Dead]] (XVII).
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== <!-- [[Osiris and his council]] links here -->Judgement ==
[[File:The judgement of the dead in the presence of Osiris.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Judgment scene from the [[Book of the Dead]]. In the three scenes from the [[Book of the Dead]] (version from ~1375 BC) the dead man ([[Hunefer]]) is taken into the judgement hall by the jackal-headed [[Anubis]]. The next scene is the weighing of his heart against the feather of [[Ma'at]], with [[Ammut]] waiting the result, and [[Thoth]] recording. Next, the triumphant Hunefer, having passed the test, is presented by the falcon-headed [[Horus]] to Osiris, seated in his shrine with Isis and [[Nephthys]]. (British Museum)]]
The idea of divine justice being exercised after death for wrongdoing during life is first encountered during the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] in a [[Sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixth Dynasty]] tomb containing fragments of what would be described later as the [[Maat#42 Negative Confessions (Papyrus of Ani)|Negative Confessions]] performed in front of the 42 [[Assessors of Maat|Assessors of Ma'at]].<ref>"Studies in Comparative Religion", General editor, E. C Messenger, Essay by A. Mallon S. J, vol 2/5, p.&nbsp;23, Catholic Truth Society, 1934</ref>

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 [[Ma'at]], who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the kingdom of Osiris. If found guilty, the person was thrown to the soul-eating demon [[Ammit]] and did not share in eternal life.<ref>''Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt'', Rosalie David, pp. 158–159, Penguin, 2002, {{ISBN|0-14-026252-0}}</ref> 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 [[Copt]]ic texts.<ref>"''The Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology: The Oxford Guide''", "Hell", pp. 161–162, Jacobus Van Dijk, Berkley Reference, 2003, {{ISBN|0-425-19096-X}}</ref> 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 damned, complete destruction into a state of non-being awaits, but there is no suggestion of eternal torture.<ref>"''The Divine Verdict''", John Gwyn Griffiths, p.&nbsp;233, Brill Publications, 1991, {{ISBN|90-04-09231-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Letter: Hell in the ancient world. Letter by Professor J. Gwyn Griffiths |date=December 31, 1993 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letter-hell-in-the-ancient-world-1470076.html |access-date=December 4, 2017 |archive-date=September 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901184319/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letter-hell-in-the-ancient-world-1470076.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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.<ref>"The ''Burden of Egypt''", J.A Wilson, p.&nbsp;243, University of Chicago Press, 4th imp 1963; The INSCRIPTIONS OF REDESIYEH from the reign of Seti I include ''"As for anyone who shall avert the face from the command of Osiris, Osiris shall pursue him, Isis shall pursue his wife, Horus shall pursue his children, among all the princes of the necropolis, and they shall execute their judgment with him.''" (Breasted Ancient Egyptian Records, Vol 3, p.&nbsp;86)</ref>
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==Greco-Roman era==
===Hellenization===
[[Image:Serapis Pio-Clementino Inv689 n2.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of [[Serapis]].]]
The early [[Ptolemaic kings]] promoted a new god, [[Serapis]], who combined traits of Osiris with those of various Greek gods and was portrayed in a Hellenistic form. Serapis was often treated as the consort of Isis and became the patron deity of the Ptolemies' capital, [[Alexandria]].{{sfnp|Wilkinson|2003|pp=127–128}} Serapis's origins are not known. Some ancient authors claim the cult of Serapis was established at Alexandria by [[Alexander the Great]] himself, but most who discuss the subject of Serapis's origins give a story similar to that by Plutarch. Writing about 400 years after the fact, Plutarch claimed that [[Ptolemy I]] established the cult after dreaming of a colossal statue at [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] in Anatolia. His councillors identified the statue as the Greek god [[Pluto (god)|Pluto]] and said that the Egyptian name for Pluto was Serapis. This name may have been a Hellenization of "Osiris-Apis".<ref>[[Françoise Dunand]] and Christiane Zivie-Coche (2004), ''Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE'', pp. 214–215</ref> Osiris-Apis was a patron deity of the [[Memphite Necropolis]] and the father of the [[Apis (god)|Apis bull]] who was worshipped there, and texts from Ptolemaic times treat "Serapis" as the Greek translation of "Osiris-Apis". But little of the early evidence for Serapis's cult comes from Memphis, and much of it comes from the Mediterranean world with no reference to an Egyptian origin for Serapis, so Mark Smith expresses doubt that Serapis originated as a Greek form of Osiris-Apis's name and leaves open the possibility that Serapis originated outside Egypt.{{sfnp|Smith|2017|pp=390–394}}

===Destruction of cult===
[[Image:Philae, seen from the water, Aswan, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg|thumb|The Philae temple on [[Agilkia Island]] as seen from the Nile]]
The cult of Isis and Osiris continued at [[Philae]] until at least the 450s CE, long after the imperial decrees of the late 4th century that ordered the closing of temples to "[[pagan]]" gods. Philae was the last major ancient Egyptian temple to be closed.<ref>Dijkstra, Jitse H. F. (2008). ''Philae and the End of Egyptian Religion'', pp. 337–348</ref>

==See also==
* [[Aaru]]
* [[Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul]]
* [[Teka-her]]
*[[Khenti-Amentiu]]
*[[Mysteries of Osiris]]
{{Portal|Traditional African religion}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{full citations needed|date=April 2025}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{NSRW Poster}}
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.aldokkan.com/religion/osiris.htm Osiris]—"Ancient Egypt on a Comparative Method"

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