Osiris

Osiris, Lord of the Dead (Photograph by Ignati)

### Aliases

Asir, Usiris, Asar, Aser, Ausar, Wesir, Ausare, The First Pharaoh, God of Agriculture, God of Vegeration, God of Regeneration, God of the Living and the Dead, Lord of Aaru

## Physical Description

### Spirit of

Fertility, Agriculture, the Afterlife, the Dead, Resurrection, Transition, Life, and Vegetation

## Relatives

### Offspring

Horus, Anubis (adopted), Babi (creation)

**Osiris** was an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead, but more appropriately as the god of transition, resurrection, and regeneration.

## Overview

He is the first born son of Nut and Geb, and is the brother of Isis, Her-ur, Set, and Nephthys. With his sister-wife Isis, he fathered the god Horus.

He is part of the Ennead.

## Appearance

Osiris is often depicted as a man with a complexion of either green (the color of rebirth) or black (alluding to the fertile Nile floodplain), with a pharaoh's beard, and is partially mummy-wrapped from the chest downward.

He is often represented in his most developed icon wearing the Atef crown, which is similar to the White crown of Upper Egypt but with the addition of two curling ostrict feathers at each side. He also carries the crook, which thought to represent him as a sepherd god, and the flail.

## History

### Birth of Osiris

The gods Geb and Nut, both of whom are children of Shu and Tefnut, were in love with each and wanted to make a family of their own. However, when Ra heard of a prophecy that said a child of Nut and Geb would become the new ruler of Egypt in his place, he forbid their child to be born by cursing them so that none of their child would be able to be born on any day on the three-hundred and sixty days of the year.

Desperate, Nut came to Thoth and asked him for guidance, and the god of wisdom quickly devised a plan. Thoth gambled with Khonsu, god of the Moon, whose light rivaled that of his father Ra's. Every time Khonsu lost, he had to give Thoth some of his moonlight. Khonsu lost so many times that Thoth had enough moonlight to make five extra days. Since these days were not part of the year, Nut could have her children.

She then gave birth to Osiris - god of agriculture and later god of the dead, Her-ur - god of war, Isis - goddess of magic, Set - god of deserts, and Nephthys - goddess of water. When Ra found out about their birth, he became furious and threw Nut up to the air and became the sky, after worth, he pulled Geb to the ground and turned him into the earth. Ra then ordered their father Shu - god of air - to keep them separated for eternity.

However, by then, the prophecy had come to fruition as the children of Geb and Nut had been born. Not wanting to create needless drama, Ra then passed down his title as pharaoh to Osiris, the oldest son.

### The Osiris Myth

However, Osiris' brother Set was growing jealous, and so Osiris was killed by Set, who wanted his throne. Isis joined the fragmented pieces of Osiris, but the only body part missing was the reproductive organ.

Isis fashioned a golden reproductive organ, and briefly brought Osiris back to life by use of a spell that she learned from her father. This spell gave her time to become pregnant by Osiris before he again died. Isis later gave birth to Horus. As such, since Horus was born after Osiris' resurrection, Horus became thought of as a representation of new beginnings and the vanquisher of the evil Set. Horus was then sent to be trained by their brother Her-ur.

## Trivia

* Osiris was equated with Dionysus by theologians.