Osiris Myth - Influence

Influence

The effect of the Osiris myth on Egyptian culture was greater and more widespread than that of any other myth. In literature, the myth was not only the basis for a retelling such as "Contendings"; it also provided the basis for more distantly related stories. "The Tale of Two Brothers", a folk tale with human protagonists, includes elements similar to the myth of Osiris. One character's penis is eaten by a fish, and he later dies and is resurrected. Another story, "The Tale of Truth and Falsehood", adapts the conflict of Horus and Set into an allegory, in which the characters are direct personifications of truth and lies rather than deities associated with those concepts.

From at least the time of the Pyramid Texts, kings hoped that after their deaths they could emulate Osiris' restoration to life and his rule over the realm of the dead. By the early Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC), non-royal Egyptians believed that they, too, could overcome death as Osiris had, by worshipping him and receiving the funerary rites that were partly based on his myth. Osiris thus became Egypt's most important afterlife deity. The myth also influenced the notion, which grew prominent in the New Kingdom, that only virtuous people could reach the afterlife. As the assembled deities judged Osiris and Horus to be righteous, undoing the injustice of Osiris' death, so a deceased soul had to be judged righteous in order for his or her death to be undone.

As the importance of Osiris grew, so did his popularity. By late in the Middle Kingdom, the centuries-old tomb of the First Dynasty ruler Djer, near Osiris' main center of worship in the city of Abydos, was seen as Osiris' tomb. Accordingly, it became a major focus of Osiris worship. For the next 1,500 years, an annual festival procession traveled from Osiris' main temple to the tomb site. This procession made reference to, and may have ritually reenacted, Isis and Nephthys' mourning, restoration, and revival of their murdered brother. Kings and commoners from across Egypt built chapels, which served as cenotaphs, near the processional route. In doing so they sought to strengthen their connection with Osiris in the afterlife. Another major funerary festival, a national event spread over several days in the month of Khoiak in the Egyptian calendar, became linked with Osiris during the Middle Kingdom. During Khoiak the djed pillar, an emblem of Osiris, was ritually raised into an upright position, symbolizing Osiris' restoration. By Ptolemaic times (305–30 BC), Khoiak also included the planting of seeds in an "Osiris bed", a mummy-shaped bed of soil, connecting the resurrection of Osiris with the seasonal growth of plants.

The myth's religious importance extended beyond the funerary sphere. Mortuary offerings, in which family members or hired priests presented food to the deceased, were logically linked with the mythological offering of the Eye of Horus to Osiris. By analogy, this episode of the myth was eventually equated with other interactions between a human and a being in the divine realm. In temple offering rituals, the officiating priest took on the role of Horus, the gifts to the deity became the Eye of Horus, and whichever deity received these gifts was momentarily equated with Osiris.

The ideology surrounding the living king was also affected by the Osiris myth. The Egyptians envisioned the events of the Osiris myth as taking place sometime in Egypt's dim prehistory, and Osiris, Horus, and their divine predecessors were included in Egyptian lists of past kings such as the Turin Royal Canon. Horus, as a past king and as the personification of kingship, was regarded as the predecessor and exemplar for all Egyptian rulers. His assumption of his predecessor's throne and pious actions to sustain that spirit in the afterlife were the model for all pharaonic successions to emulate. Each new king was believed to renew maat after the death of the preceding king, just as Horus had done. In royal coronations, rituals alluded to Osiris' burial, and hymns celebrated the new king's accession as the equivalent of Horus' own.

The myth influenced popular religion as well. One example is the magical healing spells based on Horus' childhood. Another is the use of the Eye of Horus as a protective emblem in personal apotropaic amulets. Its mythological restoration made it appropriate for this purpose, as a general symbol of well-being.

As the antagonist of the myth, Set did not enjoy increased popularity. Although he was credited with positive traits in the Osiris myth, the sinister aspects of his character predominate. Overall he was viewed with ambivalence until, during the first millennium BC, he came to be seen as a totally malevolent deity. This transformation was prompted more by his association with foreign lands than by the Osiris myth. Nevertheless, in these late times, the widespread temple rituals involving the ceremonial annihilation of Set were often connected with the myth.

Both Isis and Nephthys were seen as protectors of the dead in the afterlife because of their protection and restoration of Osiris' body. Isis, as Horus' mother, was also the mother of every king according to royal ideology, and kings were said to have nursed at her breast as a sign of their divine legitimacy. Her appeal to the general populace was based in her protective character, as exemplified by the magical healing spells. In the Late Period, she was credited with ever greater magical power, and her maternal devotion was believed to extend to everyone. By Roman times she was the most important goddess in Egypt. The image of the goddess holding her child was used prominently in her worship—for example, in panel paintings that were used in household shrines dedicated to her. Isis' iconography in these paintings closely resembles and probably influenced the earliest Christian icons of Mary holding Jesus.

In the late centuries BC, the worship of Isis spread from Egypt across the Mediterranean world, and she became one of the most popular deities in the region. Although this new, multicultural form of Isis absorbed characteristics from many other deities, her original mythological nature as a wife and mother was key to her appeal. Horus and Osiris, being central figures in her story, spread along with her. It was to a Greek priestess of Isis that Plutarch wrote his account of the myth of Osiris. Her importance continued into the fourth century AD, when Christianity eclipsed it. But Christianity absorbed many of the traditions surrounding Isis and incorporated them into the veneration of Mary, such as Isis' title "Mother of the God" (referring to Horus), which influenced Mary's title "Mother of God".

Through the work of classical writers such as Plutarch, knowledge of the Osiris myth was preserved even after the middle of the first millennium AD, when Egyptian religion ceased to exist and knowledge of the writing systems that were originally used to record the myth were lost. The myth remained a major part of Western impressions of ancient Egypt. In modern times, when understanding of Egyptian beliefs is informed by the original Egyptian sources, the story continues to influence and inspire new ideas, from works of fiction to scholarly speculation and new religious movements.