"He, wishing to go undetected, shaves
his head and his beard and puts on an Egyptian
mantle, the sort that the attendants of Isis wear, and shaking a sistrum and
going from one city to the next, and collecting [alms] in the name of the
goddess and gratefully accepting necessary sustenance, as a drug against
hunger". - Aelian
fr.121
“They relate also
that Isis, learning that Osiris in his love had consorted with her sister
through ignorance, in the belief that she was Isis, and seeing the proof of
this in the garland of melilote which he had left with Nephthys, sought to find
the child; for the mother, immediately after its birth, had exposed it because
of her fear of Typhon. And when the child had been found, after great toil and
trouble, with the help of dogs which led Isis to it, it was brought up and
became her guardian and attendant, receiving the name of Anubis, and it is said
to protect the gods just as dogs protect men.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 356f
“Demeter has the same meaning among the
Greeks as Isis among the Egyptians: and, again, Koré and Dionysus among the
Greeks the same as Isis and Osiris among the Egyptians. Isis is that which
nourishes and raises up the fruits of the earth; and Osiris among the Egyptians
is that which supplies the fructifying power, which they propitiate with
lamentations as it disappears into the earth in the sowing, and as it is
consumed by us for food.” - Porphyry, Concerning Images
“Osiris is also taken for the river-power of
the Nile: when, however, they signify the terrestrial earth, Osiris is taken as
the fructifying power; but when the celestial, Osiris is the Nile, which they
suppose to come down from heaven: this also they bewail, in order to propitiate
the power when failing and becoming exhausted. And the Isis who, in the
legends, is wedded to Osiris is the land of Egypt, and therefore she is made
equal to him, and conceives, and produces the fruits; and on this account
Osiris has been described by tradition as the husband of Isis, and her brother,
and her son.” - Porphyry, Concerning Images
"Caecilius Clemens to the agorabomos, greeting. Register a
contract of loan from Thonis, son of Harpaesis, son of Petseranthis, his mother
being Petosiris, daughter of Harpaesis, of the city of Oxyrynchus, chief bearer
in the temple of Thoeris and Isis and Serapis and Osiris and the associated
most mighty gods ..." - P. Oxy. CCXLI
Isis and Nephthys mourn Osiris
"The het-bird comes,
the falcon comes; they are Isis and Nephthys, they come embracing their
brother, Osiris. ... Weep for thy brother, Isis! Weep for thy brother,
Nephthys! Weep for thy brother. Isis sits, her arms upon her head;
Nephthys has seized the tips of her breasts because of her brother." - Pyramid Texts, 1280-82
Isis honored by all Egyptians
"No gods are worshipped by all Egyptians in common except Isis and
Osiris, who they say is Dionysos; these are worshipped by all alike." -
Herodotus 2.42
Apollon and Artemis children of Isis and Dionysos
"Apollon and Artemis were children of Dionysos and Isis, and Leto was
made their nurse and preserver; in Egyptian, Apollon is Horus, Demeter
Isis, Artemis
Bubastis." - Herodotus 2.156
Isis born on intercalanted day
"Then Cronus became the ruler, and upon marrying his sister Rhea he
begat Osiris and Isis, according to some writers of mythology, but,
according to the majority, Zeus and Hera, whose high achievements gave
them dominion over the entire universe. From these last were sprung
five gods, one born on each of the five days which the Egyptians
intercalates: the names of these children were Osiris and Isis, and
also Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite." - Diodorus Siculus 1.13
Isis and Demeter equated
"There is only the difference in
names between the festivals of Bacchus and those of Osiris, between the
Mysteries of Isis and those of Demeter." - Diodorus Siculus 1.13
Isis invented letters
"Queen Isis, daughter of Inachus, devised the Egyptian letters when she came from Greece into Egypt." - Isidore of Seville, Etymologies 1.3.5
Similarity between worship of Isis and the Greek mysteries
"Orpheus,
for instance, brought from Egypt most of his mystic ceremonies, the
orgiastic rites that accompanied his wanderings, and his fabulous
account of his experiences in Hades. For the rite of Osiris is the same
as that of Dionysos, and that of Isis very similar to that of Demeter,
the names alone having been interchanged; and the punishments in Hades
of the unrighteous, the Fields of the Righteous, and the fantastic
conceptions, current among the many, which are figments of the
imagination - all these were introduced by Orpheus in imitation of
Egyptian funeral customs." - Diodorus Siculus 1.96
Solemn assembly of Isis
"The Egyptians hold solemn assemblies not once a year, but often. The
principal one of these and the most enthusiastically celebrated is that
in honor of Artemis at the town of Bubastis, and the next is that in
honor of Isis at Busiris ... and the sixth of Ares at Papremis." -
Herodotus 2.59.1
Isis given a different father
"In the temple of Isis, daughter of Inakhos." - Callimachus, Epigrams 58
Cows sacred to Isis
"All Aigyptians sacrifice unblemished
bulls and bull-calves; they may not sacrifice cows: these are sacred to
Isis. For the images of Isis are in woman's form, horned like a cow,
exactly as the Greeks picture Io, and cows are held by far the most
sacred of all beasts of the herd by all Aigyptians alike." - Herodotus
2.41.1
Io worshipped as Isis by the Egyptians
"From Inachus and
Argia Io. Jupiter loved and embraced Io, and changed her to heifer form
so that Juno would not recognize her. When Juno found out, she sent
Argus, who had gleaming eyes all around to guard her. Mercurius, at
Jove’s command, killed him. But Juno sent a fearful shape to plague
her, and out of terror of it she was driven wildly and compelled to
cast herself into the sea, which is called Ionian. Thence she swam to
Scythia, and the Bosporus is named from that; thence she went to Egypt
where she bore Epaphus. When Jove realized that for his sake she had
borne such suffering, he restored her to her own form, and made her a
goddess of the Egyptians, called Isis." - Hyginus, Fabulae 145
Poet bemoans his lover's devotion to Isis
"Once again to my sorrow the dismal rites have returned: now for ten
nights is Cynthia engaged in worship. Down with the rites which the
daughter of Inachus has sent from the warm Nile to the matrons of
Italy! The goddess that has so often sundered ardent lovers, whoever
she was, was always harsh. In your secret love of Jove, Io, you
certainly discovered what it means to travel on many paths. When Juno
bade you, a human girl, put on horns and drown your speech in the
hoarse lowing of a cow, ah, how often did you chafe your mouth with oak
leaves and chew in your stall the arbute you had fed on! Is it because
Jupiter has taken that wild shape from your features that you have
become such a haughty goddess? Are the swarthy daughters of Aegyptus
too few for your worship? What profit is it to you that girls should
sleep alone? Take it from me, either you will have horns again or else,
cruel creature, we will banish you from our city: the Nile has never
found favour with the Tiber." - Propertius, Elegies 2.33A
Demeter, Io, Isis equated
"Beside the Nile with his harvests
they hold a festival for another, instead of sheafbearing mother
Demeter; they tell of a spurious bountiful Deo, bullbred, horned,
Inakhos’s daughter Io." - Nonnos, Dionysiaca 31.36
Isis is called Io
"Isis: She is called Io. She was snatched by Zeus from Argos and he,
fearing Hera, changed her first into a white cow, then into a black
one, and then into one that was violet-coloured. After wandering around
with her, he came into Egypt. The Egyptians, then, honour Isis, and for
this reason they carve the horns of a cow on the head of her statue,
alluding to the change from maiden to cow." - Suidas "Isis"
Persephonê and Isis equated
"In fact, men assert that Pluto
is none other than Serapis and that Persephonê is Isis, even as
Archemachus of Euboea has said, and also Heracleides Ponticus who holds
the oracle in Canopus to be an oracle of Pluto." - Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 27
Isis and Serapis the principle deities of Alexandria: Serapis the sun
"In the city on the borders of Egypt which boasts Alexander of Macedon
as its founder, Sarapis and Isis are worshiped with a reverence that is
almost fanatical. Evidence that the sun, under the name of Sarapis, is
the object of all this reverence is either the basket set on the head
of the god or the figure of a three-headed creature placed by his
statue. The middle head of this figure, which is also the largest,
represents a lion's; on the right a dog raises its head with a gentle
and fawning air; and on the left the neck ends in the head of a
ravening wolf. All three beasts are joined together by the coils of a
serpent whose head returns to the god's right hand which keeps the
monster in check." - Macrobius, Saturnalia I.20.13
A Christian railing against the mysteries of Isis
“And you behold the swallow and the cymbal of Isis, and the tomb of
your Serapis or Osiris empty, with his limbs scattered about. Then
consider the sacred rites themselves, and their very mysteries: you
will find mournful deaths, misfortunes, and funerals, and the griefs
and wailings of the miserable gods. Isis bewails, laments, and seeks
after her lost son, with her Cynocephalus and her bald priests; and the
wretched Isiacs beat their breasts, and imitate the grief of the most
unhappy mother. By and by, when the little boy is found, Isis rejoices,
and the priests exult, Cynocephalus the discoverer boasts, and they do
not cease year by year either to lose what they find, or to find what
they lose. Is it not ridiculous either to grieve for what you worship,
or to worship that over which you grieve? Yet these were formerly
Egyptian rites, and now are Roman ones.” - Minucius Felix, Octavius 21
Isis is the Hesis cow
“The priests of Aphrodite to Apollonios [the dioiketes] greeting. In accordance with what the king has written to you, to give one hundred talents of myrrh for the burial of [the Hesis], please order this [to be given]. For you know that the Hesis
is not brought up to the nome unless we have in readiness everything
required for the burial, because [the embalming is done (?)] on the day
(of her death). Know that the Hesis is Isis, and may she give you favor in the eyes of the king. Farewell. Year 28, Hathyr 15.” - PSI 4.328
The temple-sharing gods of Tebtunis and their festival dates
“To Apollonios strategos of the Arsinoite, Polemon district, from
Pakebkis of Phanesis and Marepsemis of Markaimis and Pakebkis of
Onnophris the three stolistes and Harpokration of Marepsemis and
Marsisouchos of Onnophris and Marepsemis of Marepsemis and Maresoushos
of Pakebkis and …. of Pakebkis the five priestly elders of the renowned
temple of Soknebtunis alias Kronos and Isis and Sarapis and
Harpokration and the temple-sharing gods being in the village of
Tebtunis in the Polemon district. Register of the priests of year 11
Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus Germanicus Dacicus. Of the
hereditary, exempt, examined 50 men, being listed below …. Month of
Choiak, festival of Serapis …. festival of Soknebtunis alias Kronos,
procession of Soknebtunis, days 30 …. and for the food for them wheat 2
artabas, and for their wages wheat artabas …. making for the year 9 artabas, 2000 drachmas.” - P. Tebt. 2.298
More on Tebtunis’s religious life
“To the Lord prefect from … of Kronos and the remaining hereditary
priests being of Soknebtunis alias Kronos and Isis and Serapis and
Harpochratos and the temple-sharing gods of the renowned temple being
in the village of Tebtunis of the Polemon district of the Arsinoite
nome. We have assigned to us from the public funds instead of a
subsidy, 5001/4 arouras near the village of Tebtunis which formerly
belonged to the gods but was transferred into Royal land by Petronius
the former prefect, now, for the first time, in the current year 4 of
Vespasian, the komogrammateus asked in the register for the coming
fifth year that [an additional] charge of 200 artabas of barley be
levied....”. - P. Tebt. 2.302
Magical spell invoking Isis and Agathos Daimon
"Taking Sulfur and Seed of Nile Rushes, burn as Incense to the Moon and
say, "I call on You, Lady Isis, whom Agathos Daimon permitted to rule
in the entire Black Land [i.e., Egypt]. Your name is LOU LOULOU
BATHARTHAR THARE'SIBATH ATHERNEKLE'SICH ATHERNEBOUNI E'ICHOMO'
CHOMO'THI Isis Sothis, SOUE'RI, Boubastis, EURELIBAT CHAMARI NEBOUTOS
OUE'RI AIE' E'OA O'AI. Protect me, Great and Marvelous Names of the God
(add the usual [i.e., the protection you seek]); for I am the One
Established in Pelusium, SERPHOUTH MOUISRO' STROMMO' MOLO'TH MOLONTHE'R
PHON Thoth. Protect me, Great and Marvelous Names of the Great God!
(add the usual)" - PGM 7.490-504
Isis represents the year
“When they wish to represent the year, the Egyptians draw Isis, that
is, a woman. And they signify the goddess in the same way. And among
them Isis is a star, called Sothis by the Egyptians, by the Greeks the
Dog-star, which appears to rule over the other stars. Now greater, now
less, as it rises, and now brighter, now dimmer. And according to the
rising of this star, we note how everything during the year is going to
happen. Wherefore it is not unreasonable to call the year Isis. At
other times they represent the year by a date-palm, because this tree
alone at each new moon sends forth a branch, so that it unfolds twelve
branches in a year.” – Horapollo, Hieroglyphika 1.3
On Isis’ vulture crown
“Wherefore they hold it absurd that the heavens should be male; female
are the heavens. For the generation of the sun and moon and the rest of
the stars is accomplished in such a way that it is the work of the
female. And the race of vultures, as was said above, is female only.
Because of this the Egyptians place the vulture as a crown on all
female figures, wherefore the Egyptians extend the word to all
goddesses.” – Horapollo, Hieroglyphika 1.11
Isis dedication from modern-day Switzerland
“Annusius Magianus has built on his own and with his own money this
temple for the goddess Isis among the Aquensian villagers on a location
given by the decree of the villagers while his wife Alpinia Alpinula
and his daughter Peregrina gave a hundred denarii for the embellishment
of this temple.” - SIRIS 714
Isis dedication from modern-day Bonn
“To Jupiter best and greatest, Sarapis, Isis the fruit bringer, the Celestial Fortune, Good Event, Felicity, the Lar of the road, and the local genius, L. Lucretius Faustinianus belonging to the tribe Palatina centurio of the legio I Minerua pia felix gladly consecrated this for himself and his family, fulfilling a promise.” - SIRIS 724
Isis dedication from Claudia Ara Augusta Agrippinensium
“To Isis having countless names, -tius … -us upholding his promise
fulfilled it gladly and deservedly, the location had been given by
decree of the municipal council.” - SIRIS 721
Earliest Egyptian inscription in Dalmatia, dating from the first century b.c.e.
“To Isis and Serapis, Liber and Libera, P. Quinctius Paris having
undertaken a vow for the well-being of his son Scapula gladly and
deservedly fulfilled his vow.” - SIRIS 676
Isis dedication from Siscia
“To Isis the venerated one, Volcenia Maxima happily, gladly, and
deservedly fulfilled her vow on the grounds of a supernatural
manifestation.” - SIRIS 653
Dedication to Isis, Serapis and the other Roman gods
“To Jupiter best and greates, the queen Juno, Minerva, Serapis, Isis
and other gods and goddesses, M. Porcius Verys commander of the Roman
military unit Hemesena consisting of 1000 calvary men.” - SIRIS 674
Rare Latin dedication to Isis and Bast
“To Isis the venerated one and Bubastis, G. Popmonius Philinus th freedman of Pompnius fulfilled his vow.” - SIRIS 664
Priestess of Isis and Bacchus
“Here lies the famous priestess of the god Bacchus the Ancient, chaste
pastophorus of the Nile goddess, whose name was Alexandria. She had
barely attained the bloom of youth when notorious envy of the fates
took her away to Dis.” - ILS 4414
Speculation on the meaning of the names of Isis and Typhon
“Therefore the effort to arrive at the Truth, and especially the truth
about the gods, is a longing for the divine. For the search for truth
requires for its study and investigation the consideration of sacred
subjects, and it is a work more hallowed than any form of holy living
or temple service; and, not least of all, it is well-pleasing to that
goddess whom you worship, a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of
wisdom, to whom, as her name at least seems to indicate, knowledge and
understanding are in the highest degree appropriate. For Isis is a
Greek word, and so also is Typhon, her enemy, who is conceited, as his
name implies, because of his ignorance and self-deception. He tears to
pieces and scatters to the winds the sacred writings, which the goddess
collects and puts together and gives into the keeping of those that are
initiated into the holy rites, since this consecration, by a strict
regimen and by abstinence from many kinds of food and from the lusts of
the flesh, curtails licentiousness and the love of pleasure, and
induces a habit of patient submission to the stern and rigorous
services in shrines, the end and aim of which is the knowledge of Him
who is the First, the Lord of All, the Ideal One. Him does the god urge
us to seek, since He is near her and with her and in close communion.
The name of her shrine also clearly promises knowledge and
comprehension of reality; for it is named Iseion, to indicate that we
shall comprehend reality if in a reasonable and devout frame of mind we
pass within the portals of her shrines.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 351f-352a
Isis the daughter of Hermes
“Moreover, many writers have held her to be the daughter of Hermes,9
and many others the daughter of Prometheus, because of the belief that
Prometheus is the discoverer of wisdom and forethought, and Hermes the
inventor of grammar and music. For this reason they call the first of
the Muses at Hermopolis Isis as well as Justice: for she is wise, as I
have said, and discloses the divine mysteries to those who truly and
justly have the name of ‘bearers of the sacred vessels’ and ‘wearers of
the sacred robes.’” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 352b
What makes a true votary of Isis
“It is a fact, Clea, that having a beard and wearing a coarse cloak
does not make philosophers, nor does dressing in linen and shaving the
hair make votaries of Isis; but the true votary of Isis is he who, when
he has legitimately received what is set forth in the ceremonies
connected with these gods, uses reason in investigating and in studying
the truth contained therein.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 352c
Isis and Osiris wed
“There is also a tradition that Osiris and Arueris were sprung from the
Sun, Isis from Hermes, and Typhon and Nephthys from Cronus. For this
reason the kings considered the third of the intercalated days as
inauspicious, and transacted no business on that day, nor did they give
any attention to their bodies until nightfall. They relate, moreover,
that Nephthys became the wife of Typhon; but Isis and Osiris were
enamoured of each other and consorted together in the darkness of the
womb before their birth.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 356a
Isis ruled in the absence of Osiris
“During his absence the tradition is that Typhon attempted nothing
revolutionary because Isis, who was in control, was vigilant and alert”
– Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 356b
Isis grieves and searches for Osiris
“Isis, when the tidings reached her, at once cut off one of her tresses
and put on a garment of mourning in a place where the city still bears
the name of Kopto. Others think that the name means deprivation, for
they also express "deprive" by means of "koptein."
But Isis wandered everywhere at her wits' end; no one whom she
approached did she fail to address, and even when she met some little
children she asked them about the chest. As it happened, they had seen
it, and they told her the mouth of the river through which the friends
of Typhon had launched the coffin into the sea. Wherefore the Egyptians
think that little children possess the power of prophecy, and they try
to divine the future from the portents which they find in children's
words, especially when children are playing about in holy places and
crying out whatever chances to come into their minds.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 356e
Isis adopts Anubis
“They relate also that Isis, learning that Osiris in his love had
consorted with her sister through ignorance, in the belief that she was
Isis, Fand seeing the proof of this in the garland of melilote which he
had left with Nephthys, sought to find the child; for the mother,
immediately after its birth, had exposed it because of her fear of
Typhon. And when the child had been found, after great toil and
trouble, with the help of dogs which led Isis to it, it was brought up
and became her guardian and attendant, receiving the name of Anubis,
and it is said to protect the gods just as dogs protect men.” –
Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 356f
Isis seeks; finds Osiris
“Thereafter Isis, as they relate, learned that the chest had been cast
up by the sea near the land of Byblus and that the waves had gently set
it down in the midst of a clump of heather. The heather in a short time
ran up into a very beautiful and massive stock, and enfolded and
embraced the chest with its growth and concealed it within its trunk.
The king of the country admired the great size of the plant, and cut
off the portion that enfolded the chest (which was now hidden from
sight), and used it as a pillar to support the roof of his house. These
facts, they say, Isis ascertained by the divine inspiration of Rumour,
and came to Byblus and sat down by a spring, all dejection and tears;
she exchanged no word with anybody, save only that she welcomed the
queen's maidservants and treated them with great amiability, plaiting
their hair for them and imparting to their persons a wondrous fragrance
from her own body. But when the queen observed her maidservants, a
longing came upon her for the unknown woman and for such hairdressing
and for a body fragrant with ambrosia. Thus it happened that Isis was
sent for and became so intimate with the queen that the queen made her
the nurse of her baby. They say that the king's name was Malcander; the
queen's name some say was Astartê, others Saosis, and still others
Nemanûs, which the Greeks would call Athenaïs. They relate that Isis
nursed the child by giving it her finger to suck instead of her breast,
and in the night she would burn away the mortal portions of its body.
She herself would turn into a swallow and flit about the pillar with a
wailing lament, until the queen who had been watching, when she saw her
babe on fire, gave forth a loud cry and thus deprived it of
immortality. Then the goddess disclosed herself and asked for the
pillar which served to support the roof. She removed it with the
greatest ease and cut away the wood of the heather which surrounded the
chest; then, when she had wrapped up the wood in a linen cloth and had
poured perfume upon it, she entrusted it to the care of the kings; and
even to this day the people of Byblus venerate this wood which is
preserved in the shrine of Isis. Then the goddess threw herself down
upon the coffin with such a dreadful wailing that the younger of the
king's sons expired on the spot. The elder son she kept with her, and,
having placed the coffin on board a boat, she put out from land. Since
the Phaedrus river toward the early morning fostered a rather
boisterous wind, the goddess grew angry and dried up its stream. In the
first place where she found seclusion, when she was quite by herself,
they relate that she opened the chest and laid her face upon the face
within and caressed it and wept. The child came quietly up behind her
and saw what was there, and when the goddess became aware of his
presence, she turned about and gave him one awful look of anger. The
child could not endure the fright, and died. Others will not have it
so, but assert that he fell overboard into the sea from the boat that
was mentioned above. He also is the recipient of honours because of the
goddess; for they say that the Maneros of whom the Egyptians sing at
their convivial gatherings is this very child. Some say, however, that
his name was Palaestinus or Pelusius, and that the city founded by the
goddess was named in his honour. They also recount that this Maneros
who is the theme of their songs was the first to invent music. But some
say that the word is not the name of any person, but an expression
belonging to the vocabulary of drinking and feasting: "Good luck be
ours in things like this!", and that this is really the idea expressed
by the exclamation "maneros"
whenever the Egyptians use it. In the same way we may be sure that the
likeness of a corpse which, as it is exhibited to them, is carried
around in a chest, is not a reminder of what happened to Osiris, as
some assume; but it is to urge them, as they contemplate it, to use and
to enjoy the present, since all very soon must be what it is now and
this is their purpose in introducing it into the midst of
merry-making.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 357a-f
Isis takes Typhon’s side
“Now the battle, as they relate, lasted many days and Horus prevailed.
Isis, however, to whom Typhon was delivered in chains, did not cause
him to be put to death, but released him and let him go. Horus could
not endure this with equanimity, be laid hands upon his mother and
wrested the royal diadem from her head; but Hermes put upon her a
helmet like upon the head of a cow. Typhon formally accused Horus of
being an illegitimate child, but with the help of Hermes to plead his
cause it was decided by the gods that he also was legitimate. Typhon
was then overcome in two other battles.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 358d-e
Isis conceives Horus
“Osiris consorted with Isis after his death, and she became the mother
of Harpocrates, untimely born and weak in his lower limbs.” – Plutarch,
On Isis and Osiris 358e
Isis equated with Persephone; Serapis with Pluto
“In fact, men assert that Pluto is none other than Serapis and that
Persephonê is Isis, even as Archemachus of Euboea has said, and also
Heracleides Ponticus who holds the oracle in Canopus to be an oracle of
Pluto.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 361f
Isis the earth
“And thus among the Egyptians such men say that Osiris is the Nile
consorting with the Earth, which is Isis, and that the sea is Typhon
into which the Nile discharges its waters and is lost to view and
dissipated, save for that part which the earth takes up and absorbs and
thereby becomes fertilized” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 363e
The relationships between Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Typhon
“The outmost parts of the land beside the mountains and bordering on
the sea the Egyptians call Nephthys. This is why they give to Nephthys
the name of ‘Finality,’ and say that she is the wife of Typhon.
Whenever, then, the Nile overflows and with abounding waters spreads
far away to those who dwell in the outermost regions, they call this
the union of Osiris with Nephthys, which is proved by the upspringing
of the plants. Among these is the melilotus, by the wilting and failing
of which, as the story goes, Typhon gained knowledge of the wrong done
to his bed. So Isis gave birth to Horus in lawful wedlock, but Nephthys
bore Anubis clandestinely. However, in the chronological lists of the
kings they record that Nephthys, after her marriage to Typhon, was at
first barren. If they say this, not about a woman, but about the
goddess, they must mean by it the utter barrenness and unproductivity
of the earth resulting from a hard-baked soil.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 366c
‘Physical’ explanation for the Osirian myth
“The insidious scheming and usurpation of Typhon, then, is the power of
drought, which gains control and dissipates the moisture which is the
source of the Nile and of its rising; and his coadjutor, the Queen of
the Ethiopians, signifies allegorically the south winds from Ethiopia;
for whenever these gain the upper hand over the northerly or Etesian
winds which drive the clouds towards Ethiopia, and when they prevent
the falling of the rains which cause the rising of the Nile, then
Typhon, being in possession, blazes with scorching heat; and having
gained complete mastery, he forces the Nile in retreat to draw back its
waters for weakness, and, flowing at the bottom of its almost empty
channel, to proceed to the sea. The story told of the shutting up of
Osiris in the chest seems to mean nothing else than the vanishing and
disappearance of water. Consequently they say that the disappearance of
Osiris occurred in the month of Athyr, at the time when, owing to the
complete cessation of the Etesian winds, the Nile recedes to its low
level and the land becomes denuded. As the nights grow longer, the
darkness increases, and the potency of the light is abated and subdued.
Then among the gloomy rites which the priests perform, they shroud the
gilded image of a cow with a black linen vestment, and display her as a
sign of mourning for the goddess, inasmuch as they regard both the cow
and the earth as the image of Isis; and this is kept up for four days
consecutively, beginning with the seventeenth of the month. The things
mourned for are four in number: first, the departure and recession of
the Nile; second, the complete extinction of the north winds, as the
south winds gain the upper hand; third, the day's growing shorter than
the night; and, to crown all, the denudation of the earth together with
the defoliation of the trees and shrubs at this time. On the nineteenth
day Fthey go down to the sea at night-time; and the keepers of the
robes and the priests bring forth the sacred chest containing a small
golden coffer, into which they pour some potable water which they have
taken up, and a great shout arises from the company for joy that Osiris
is found. Then they knead some fertile soil with the water and mix in
spices and incense of a very costly sort, and fashion therefrom a
crescent-shaped figure, which they clothe and adorn, thus indicating
that they regard these gods as the substance of Earth and Water. When
Isis recovered Osiris and was watching Horus grow up as he was being
made strong by the exhalations and mists and clouds, Typhon was
vanquished but not annihilated; for the goddess who holds sway over the
Earth would not permit the complete annihilation of the nature opposed
to moisture, but relaxed and moderated it, being desirous that its
tempering potency should persist, because it was not possible for a
complete world to exist, if the fiery element left it and disappeared.
Even if this story were not current among them, one would hardly be
justified in rejecting that other account, to the effect that Typhon,
many ages ago, held sway over Osiris's domain; for Egypt used to be all
a sea, and, for that reason, even to day it is found to have shells in
its mines and mountains. Moreover, all the springs and wells, of which
there are many, have a saline and brackish water, as if some stale
dregs of the ancient sea had collected there. But, in time, Horus
overpowered Typhon; that is to say, there came on a timely abundance of
rain, and the Nile forced out the sea and revealed the fertile land,
which it filled out with its alluvial deposits. This has support in the
testimony of our own observation; for we see, even to day, as the river
brings down new silt Cand advances the land, that the deep waters
gradually recede and, as the bottom gains in height by reason of the
alluvial deposits, the water of the sea runs off from these. We also
note that Pharos, which Homer knew as distant a day's sail from Egypt,
is now a part of it; not that the island has extended its area by
rising, or has come nearer to the land, but the sea that separated them
was obliged to retire before the river, as the river reshaped the land
and made it to increase. The fact is that all this is somewhat like the
doctrines promulgated by the Stoics about the gods; for they say that
the creative and fostering spirit is Dionysus, the truculent and
destructive is Heracles, the receptive is Ammon, that which pervades
the Earth and its products is Demeter and the Daughter, and that which
pervades the Sea is Poseidon.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 366d-367c
Isis equated with Nature
“Isis is, in fact, the female principle of Nature, and is receptive of
every form of generation, in accord with which she is called by Plato
the gentle nurse and the all-receptive, and by most people has been
called by countless names, since, because of the force of Reason, she
turns herself to this thing or that and is receptive of all manner of
shapes and forms. She has an innate love for the first and most
dominant of all things, which is identical with the good, and this she
yearns for and pursues; but the portion which comes from evil she tries
to avoid and to reject, for she serves them both as a place and means
of growth, but inclines always towards the better and offers to it
opportunity to create from her and to impregnate her with effluxes and
likenesses in which she rejoices and is glad that she is made pregnant
and teeming with these creations. For creation is the image of being in
matter, and the thing created is a picture of reality.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris
Isis and Hathor equated
“For the world is something perceptible and visible, and Isis is
sometimes called Muth, and again Athyri or Methyer. By the first of
these names they signify "mother," by the second the mundane house of
Horus, the place and receptacle of generation, as Plato has it, and the
third is compounded of "full" and "cause"; for the material of the
world is full, and is associated with the good and pure and orderly.” –
Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 374b
Isis depicted on the sistrum
“The sistrum also makes it clear that all things in existence need to
be shaken, or rattled about, and never to cease from motion but, as it
were, to be waked up and agitated when they grow drowsy and torpid.
DThey say that they avert and repel Typhon by means of the sistrums,
indicating thereby that when destruction constricts and checks Nature,
generation releases and arouses it by means of motion. The upper part
of the sistrum is circular and its circumference contains the four
things that are shaken; for that part of the world which undergoes
reproduction and destruction is contained underneath the orb of the
moon, and all things in it are subjected to motion and to change
through the four elements: fire, earth, water, and air. At the top of
the circumference of the sistrum they construct the figure of a cat
with a human face, and at the bottom, below the things that are shaken,
the face of Isis on one side, and on the other the face of Nephthys. By
these faces they symbolize birth and death, for these are the changes
and movements of the elements; and by the cat they symbolize the moon
because of the varied colouring, nocturnal activity, and fecundity of
the animal. For the cat is said to bring forth first one, then two and
three and four and five, thus increasing the number by one until she
reaches seven, so that she brings forth in all twenty-eight, the number
also of the moon's illuminations. Perhaps, however, this may seem
somewhat mythical. But the pupils in the eye of the cat appear to grow
large and round at the time of the full moon, and to become thin and
narrow at the time of the wanings of that heavenly body. By the human
features of the cat is indicated the intelligence and the reason that
guides the changes of the moon.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 376d-f
The birth of Horus
“For this reason also it is said that Isis, when she perceived that she
was pregnant, put upon herself an amulet on the sixth day of the month
Phaophi; and about the time of the winter solstice she gave birth to
Harpocrates, imperfect and premature, amid the early flowers and
shoots. For this reason they bring to him as an offering the
first-fruits of growing lentils, and the days of his birth they
celebrate after the spring equinox. When the people hear these things,
they are satisfied with them and believe them, deducing the plausible
explanation directly from what is obvious and familiar.” – Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 377c
Letters of Hermes and Isis
"Great is the Lady Isis!" Copy of a Holy Book found in the Archives of
Hermes: The Method is that concerning The 29 Letters [of the Coptic
alphabet], through which Letters Hermes and Isis, who was seeking
Osiris, Her Brother and Husband, found Him. Call upon Helios and all
the Gods in the Deep concerning Those Things for which you want to
receive an Omen. Take 29 Leaves of a Male Date Palm and write on each
of the Leaves the Names of the Gods. Pray and then pick them up Two By
Two. Read the Last Remaining Leaf and you will find your Omen, how
things are, and you will be answered clearly. - PGM XXIVa.1-25
Temple of Aphrodite and Isis
"Palaipaphos [in Kypros], which
last is situated at about ten stadia above the sea, has a
mooring-place, and an ancient temple of Aphrodite Paphia. Then beyond
that to the promontory Zephyria, with a landing-place, and to another
Arsinoe, which likewise has a landing-place and a temple and a sacred
precinct. And at a little distance from the sea is Hierokepis. Then to
Paphos, which was founded by Agapenor, and has both a harbor and
well-built temples. It is sixty stadia distant from Palaiphaphos by
land; and on this road men together with women, who also assemble here
from the other cities, hold an annual procession to Palaipaphos ...
Then beyond that to a city Soloi, with a harbor and a river and a
temple of Aphrodite and Isis." - Strabo, Geography 14.6.3
Myth of Isis and Re
THE CHAPTER of the divine (or, mighty) god, who created himself, who
made the heavens and the earth, and the breath of life, and fire, and
the gods, and men, and beasts, and cattle, and reptiles, and the fowl
of the air, and the fish, who is the king of men and gods, [who
existeth] in one Form, [to whom] periods of one hundred and twenty
years axe as single years, whose names by reason of their multitude are
unknowable, for [even] the gods know them not. Behold, the goddess Isis
lived in the form, of a woman, who had the knowledge of words [of
power]. Her heart turned away in disgust from the millions of men, and
she chose for herself the millions of the gods, but esteemed more
highly the millions of the spirits. Was it not possible to become even
as was Ra in heaven and upon earth, and to make [herself] mistress of
the earth, and a [mighty] goddess--thus she meditated in her heart--by
the knowledge of the Name of the holy god? Behold, Ra entered [heaven]
each day at the head of his mariners, establishing himself upon the
double throne of the two horizons. Now the divine one had become old,
he dribbled at the mouth, and he let his emissions go forth from him
upon the earth, and his spittle fell upon the ground. This Isis kneaded
in her hand, with [some] dust, and she fashioned it in the form of a
sacred serpent, and made it to have the form of a dart, so that none
might be able to escape alive from it, and she left it lying upon the
road whereon the great god travelled, according to his desire, about
the two lands. Then the holy god rose up in the tabernacle of the gods
in the great double house (life, strength, health!) among those who
were in his train, and [as] he journeyed on his way according to his
daily wont, the holy serpent shot its fang into him, and the living
fire was departing from the god's own body, and the reptile destroyed
the dweller among the cedars. And the mighty god opened his mouth, and
the cry of His Majesty (life, strength, health!) reached unto the
heavens, and the company of the gods said, "What is it?" and his gods
said, "What is the matter?" And the god found [no words] wherewith to
answer concerning himself. His jaws shook, his lips trembled, and the
poison took possession of all his flesh just as Hapi (i.e., the Nile)
taketh possession of the land through which he floweth. Then the great
god made firm his heart (i.e., took courage) and he cried out to those
who were in his following:--"Come ye unto me, O ye who have come into
being from my members, ye gods who have proceeded from me, for I would
make you to know what hath happened. I have been smitten by some deadly
thing, of which my heart hath no knowledge, and which I have neither
seen with my eyes nor made with my hand; and I have no knowledge at all
who hath done this to me. I have never before felt any pain like unto
it, and no pain can be worse than this [is]. I am a Prince, the son of
a Prince, and the divine emanation which was produced from a god. I am
a Great One, the son of a Great One, and my father hath determined for
me my name. I have multitudes of names, and I have multitudes of forms,
and my being existeth in every god. I have been invoked (or,
proclaimed?) by Temu and Heru-Hekennu. My father and my mother uttered
my name, and [they] hid it in my body at my birth so that none of those
who would use against me words of power might succeed in making their
enchantments have dominion over me. I had come forth from my tabernacle
to look upon that which I had made, and was making my way through the
two lands which I had made, when a blow was aimed at me, but I know not
of what kind. Behold, is it fire? Behold, is it water? My heart is full
of burning fire, my limbs are shivering, and my members have darting
pains in them. Let there be brought unto me my children the gods, who
possess words of magic, whose mouths are cunning [in uttering them],
and whose powers reach up to heaven." Then his children came unto him,
and every god was there with his cry of lamentation; and Isis came with
her words of magic, and the place of her mouth [was filled with] the
breath of life, for the words which she putteth together destroy
diseases, and her words make to live those whose throats are choked
(i.e., the dead). And she said, "What is this, O divine father? What is
it? Hath a serpent shot his venom into thee? Hath a thing which thou
hast fashioned lifted up its head against thee? Verily it shall be
overthrown by beneficent words of power, and I will make it to retreat
in the sight of thy rays." The holy god opened his mouth, [saying], I
was going along the road and passing through the two lands of my
country, for my heart wished to look upon what I had made, when I was
bitten by a serpent which I did not see; behold, is it fire? Behold, is
it water? I am colder than water, I am hotter than fire, all my members
sweat, I myself quake, mine eye is unsteady. I cannot look at the
heavens, and water forceth itself on my face as in the time of the
Inundation." And Isis said unto Ra, "O my divine father, tell me thy
name, for he who is able to pronounce his name liveth." [And Ra said],
"I am the maker of the heavens and the earth, I have knit together the
mountains, and I have created everything which existeth upon them. I am
the maker of the Waters, and I have made Meht-ur to come into being; I
have made the Bull of his Mother, and I have made the joys of love to
exist. I am the maker of heaven, and I have made to be hidden the two
gods of the horizon, and I have placed the souls of the gods within
them. I am the Being who openeth his eyes and the light cometh; I am
the Being who shutteth his eyes and there is darkness. I am the Being
who giveth the command, and the waters of Hapi (the Nile) burst forth,
I am the Being whose name the gods know not. I am the maker of the
hours and the creator of the days. I am the opener (i.e., inaugurator)
of the festivals, and the maker of the floods of water. I am the
creator of the fire of life whereby the works of the houses are caused
to come into being. I am Khepera in the morning, and Ra (at the time of
his culmination (i.e., noon), and Temu in the evening." Nevertheless
the poison was not driven from its course, and the great god felt no
better. Then Isis said unto Ra, "Among the things which thou hast said
unto me thy name hath not been mentioned. O declare thou it unto me,
and the poison shall come forth; for the person who hath declared his
name shall live." Meanwhile the poison burned with blazing fire and the
heat thereof was stronger than that of a blazing flame. Then. the
Majesty of Ra, said, "I will allow myself to be searched through by
Isis, and my name shall come forth from my body and go into hers." Then
the divine one hid himself from the gods, and the throne in the Boat of
Millions of Years was empty. And it came to pass that when it was the
time for the heart to come forth [from the god], she said unto her son
Horus, "The great god shall bind himself by an oath to give his two
eyes." Thus was the great god made to yield up his name, and Isis, the
great lady of enchantments, said, "Flow on, poison, and come forth from
Ra; let the Eye of Horus come forth from the god and shine(?) outside
his mouth. I have worked, and I make the poison to fall on the ground,
for the venom hath been mastered. Verily the name hath been taken away
from the great god. Let Ra live, and let the poison die; and if the
poison live then Ra shall die. And similarly, a certain man, the son of
a certain man, shall live and the poison shall die." These were the
words which spake Isis, the great lady, the mistress of the gods, and
she had knowledge of Ra in his own name. The above words shall be said
over an image of Temu and an image of Heru-Hekennu, and over an image
of Isis and an image of Horus.” – The Turin Papyrus
