OSIRIS OF ANCIENT KEMET
This article was compiled by Jodi Phillips September 2014, for the Institute of Black Academics
concerning Black Under achievement.
PUBLISHED 09 SEPTEMBER 2014 04:26
Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld, appears to have been a strong element in Egyptian mythology from the beginning.
Before he became the Egyptian god of the underworld; however, Osiris had quite a history.
History of Osiris
Osiris is told to have been one of five children born to the god of the earth and the goddess of the skies; Geb and Nut respectively. Through this family tree he was also a great-grandson of one of the most popular Egyptian gods, Ra. Osiris had four younger siblings who would also play critical roles in his story; his brother Seth and two sisters known as Isis and Nephthys. As the firstborn child and son of Geb and Nut, it therefore fell to Osiris to inherit the throne of Egypt. Seth married Nephthys and Osiris married Isis. Together, Osiris and Isis seemed to have possession of numerous powers. Their marriage was not destined to be happy, however.
At one point, Nephthys appears to have magically taken on the appearance of Isis and presented herself to Osiris as his wife. Not knowing the difference, Osiris was seduced by Nephthys and she became pregnant and gave birth to Anubis.
Later, Seth developed a vendetta against his extremely popular sibling, possibly either because Osiris had inherited the throne or because he had gotten Seth's wife pregnant. At any rate, Seth sought to kill him by luring him into a coffin and drowning him in the Nile. The annual flooding of the Nile River is still thought to be representative of this event.
Isis managed to recover her husband's body; however Seth was very stealthy and stole away with it. After cutting up the body of the Egyptian god of the underworld, Seth hid the pieces throughout the Egyptian desert.
The connection between Isis and Osiris was so strong; the Egyptian goddess proceeded to spend a number of years searching for the mutilated body parts of her husband. She finally managed to find all of the pieces, save one and is believed to have used her magical powers to restore her husband's body. Although there are different versions to this part of the story, it seems Isis became pregnant, presumably by Osiris and gave birth to a son, Horus. Osiris died once again and descended to fully assume his duties as Egyptian god of the underworld.
Some versions of the history of Osiris state that when he descended into the underworld he took over several important roles and duties as Egyptian god of the underworld from Anubis, who was believed to have been his son. Other tales contend that he rightfully obtained the important role as Egyptian god of the underworld because he was the first god to have died. However he obtained the role, it became Osiris' responsibility to judge the souls of the dead. Osiris remained as one of the most popular of all the ancient Egyptian gods. Today, he still one of the most well known Egyptian gods.
[Source : http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/osiris.html]
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