|
Description
In art, since he was representative of death, Osiris was usually depicted as a mummified man, with a beard, and, as ruler of the underworld, was also given the symbols of kingship - the crown, flail, and crozier. Usually, he also was depicted as having green skin, a reference to rotting flesh, and thus to death. Alternatively, the green color could also recall the color of new vegetation in Osiris' capacity of renewing life, similar to his nightly resurrection by Re.
The main visible source of decomposition, of rotting flesh, is its consumption by insects, beetles, and other small animals. Since these animals are the prey of centipedes, centipedes became seen by the Egyptians as protecting the dead, and consequently, in Heliopolis, became thought of as an aspect of Osiris, the lord of the dead. In this form, he was known as Sepa (also spelt Sep), meaning centipede, being depicted either as a normal centipede or as a mummified figure with two horns, reflecting both Osiris' role as lord of the dead, and the prominent horn-like Antennae exhibited by centipedes. Since centipedes are venomous, Sepa was seen as having authority over snake bites and scorpion stings, and so was invoked for protection against these things.
Because centipedes usually roam around soil, Sepa was also associated with the Earth, and his actions seen to improve its fertility. In consequence, Sepa was sometimes depicted with the head of a donkey, a major symbol of soil fertility due to the beneficial effects, to soil, of manure from donkeys in particular (horse manure would be more notable, but horses were not present in Egypt then).
Role
In the first mentions of Osiris, he was regarded the god of the underworld and the dead in the Ennead version of Egyptian mythology. At the height of the ancient Nile civilization, Osiris was regarded as the primary deity of a henotheism. Osiris was not only the merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. Beginning at about 2000 B.C. all men, not just dead pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death.
Family and avatars
He was one of the four children of the earth (Geb) and the sky (Nuit), and was the husband of Isis (Aset), who represented life. Every Khu, an aspect of the soul, seeking admission to Aaru, the Egyptian paradise, was referred to as an Osiris. As god of the dead, Babi, the god who devoured unworthy souls, was described as his first-born son.
Since Osiris was considered dead, as lord of the dead, Osiris' soul, or rather his Ba, was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were a distinct god, especially so in the Delta city of Mendes. This aspect of Osiris was referred to as Banebdjed (also spelt Banebded or Banebdjedet, which is technically feminine) which literally means The ba of the lord of the djed, which roughly means The soul of the lord of the pillar of stability. The djed, a type of pillar, was usually understood as the backbone of Osiris, since the Egyptians had associated death, and the dead, as symbolic of stability. As Banebdjed, Osiris was given epithets such as Lord of the Sky and Life of the (sun god) Ra, since Ra, when he had become identified with Atum, was considered Osiris' ancestor, from whom his regal authority was inherited.
Ba does not, however, quite mean soul in the western sense, and also has a lot to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god. Since the ba was associated with power, and also happened to be a word for ram in Egyptian, Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed. A living, sacred ram, was even kept at Mendes and worshipped as the incarnation of the god, and upon death, the rams were mummified and buried in a ram-specific necropolis.
In Mendes, they had considered Hatmehit, a local fish-goddess, as the most important god/goddess, and so when the cult of Osiris became more significant, Banebdjed was identified in Mendes as deriving his authority from being married to Hatmehit. Later, when Horus became identified as the child of Osiris (in this form Horus is known as Harpocrates in greek and Har-pa-khered in Egyptian), Banebdjed was consequently said to be Horus' father, as Banebdjed is an aspect of Osiris.
In contemporary occult fiction, Banebdjed is often called the goat of Mendes, and identified with Baphomet; the fact that Banebdjed was a ram (sheep), not a goat, is apparently overlooked.
Book of the Dead prayers
In the Book of the Dead there are a series of funerary formulas addressed almost exclusively to Osiris, to be learned by a man when living or inscribed on his coffin so he might enter the “blessed abodes” after death. Only those initiated into the Osirian cult would know its doctrines and ceremonials, for these were, according to the Book of the Dead, “an exceedingly great mystery…in the handwriting of the god himself…. And these things shall be done secretly” (in the rubric accompanying Ch. CXXXVIIa). The Greeks, who also copied these sacred writings, declared it a sacrilege to reveal the rites or doctrines of the mysteries. Herodotus, Plutarch and Pausanias all noted that they were not allowed to repeat what they had learned from Egyptian religious rituals. The Osirian Myth is, however, fully retold by Plutarch (Isis and Osiris, 12-20) and elaborated and reinforced by Diodorus Siculus (Library of History I, 11-27).
Osiris in popular culture
- Albert Pike (the grand commander of Freemasonry) worshipped Osiris and he proudly made that known in his book, Morals and Dogmas.
- In Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, the priests in the Temple of Wisdom worship Osiris and Isis. The chief priest, Sarastro, sings an aria beginning "O Isis und Osiris".
- Osiris is a deity used more than once in the hit television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the show, Osiris is described as the "keeper of the gate, master of all fate" and is used in resurrection rituals. He is also unique as he is seen in one episode, communicating with Willow Rosenberg as she tries to resurrect her dead lover, Tara Maclay; although names of deities are often given in spells on the show, most of the time the deity is not seen.
- Saint Dragon - The God of Osiris is one of the Three Divine Beasts, or God Cards, from the manga Yu-Gi-Oh! and its animated adaptation, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.
- In the show Futurama the three main characters Fry, Leela and Bender visit an Egypt-themed planet named Osiris IV.
- In the Animatrix, the Osiris is the name of the ship that is sacrificed to make sure Zion gets the information that the machines are coming.
- In the show Stargate SG-1 Osiris and other gods are represented as evil, whereas in Egyptian culture, most of them were told to be good and beneficial, in some way, to life.
- In Joss Whedon's Firefly, Osiris is the name of the Core planet River and Simon Tam are originally from.
- In the movie Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hediwg's song "Origin of Love" mentions Osiris.
- In The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, the legend of Osiris being cut up by his brother, Set, is discussed. As the one part of Osiris unable to be found by Isis was his genitals and because he is the god of the underworld, Lestat believes him to be a vampire God, as vampires are unable to copulate.
- The Wu-Tang Clan's (now deceased) member, Ol' Dirty Bastard, went by the alias, Osirus. Fans would know this as he would sometimes shout on a song, "I'm the Osirus of this shit!!"
|
