Tours: Osiris, The First Mummy

Understand the significance of the mummies for ancient Egyptians.
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|-|Early Natural Mummies=
The oldest mummies recovered date from the , though Egyptologists believe that mummification was in use much earlier than that.
At first, the body was mummified through environmental desiccation, by leveraging the dryness of the environment and the heat of the climate.
Earty experimentations in mummification were conducted with the use of resin made from tree sap. Strips of linen were only used on some superficial parts of the epidermis of the hands, or jaw.
|-|Osiris=
Ideologically, the will to preserve the body is not explained in any way until 3600 BCE. This is when the Egyptian belief that the body housed the soul was finally documented for modern Egyptologists to eventually decipher.
It was not until the arrival of the myth of Osiris in the Egyptian religion, around the , that mummification was thoroughly conceptualized. The practice was thereafter grounded in both a mythological and ideological point of view.
|-|Genesis Myth=
Osiris was mainly known as the god of the dead, and the god of resurrection.
The most well-known genesis myth concerning Osiris is that of his dismemberment.
|-|Osiris, Set & Iset=
It is Plutarch who gives the most simplified and complete summary of the story.
Within Egyptian mythology, Osiris represented the first king to rule Egypt. Jealous of his power, his brother Seth attempted to usurp his throne.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Seth succeeded in killing his brother by dismembering him, and scattering the pieces of his body all over Egypt.
Iset, the Great of Magic, traveled all over Egypt in search of the pieces of her husband's body. After a long search, she recovered all the pieces, save for his manhood, as it was eaten by a fish.
|-|Iset, Nephthys & Horus=
Iset then reassembled the body of her husband by binding it together with strips of linen.
Aided by her sister Nephthys, another powerful magician, they gave Osiris the breath of life. This not only brought him back from the dead, but also allowed him to recover his virility long enough to impregnate Iset, thus insuring his succession before, once more, dying.
Thus, Horus was born.
|-|The First Mummy=
The ritual used to bring Osiris back to life essentially depicts how he became the first mummy.
It is why, on the sarcophagi of kings, we often find Iset and Nephthys represented as the magicians who restore life to the deceased.
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Category:Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt