This myth has around 300 different versions, but I’ll tell you the most famous one.
The goddess Nut, the goddess of the sky and The god Geb, the god of the earth got married and they had 4 children. 2 daughters named Isis and Nephthys and 2 sons named Osiris, Set. Osiris as the first born male, assumed rule as lord of the earth, he taught people agriculture, law, and religion. In his time Egypt became the ideal country because everyone was equal. Ancient Egyptians loved him so much, his brother Set became the god of the war because he was a strong warrior and had great fighting skills, but Set became very envious of Osiris’ success and their relationship deteriorated further when Osiris married Isis (it was acceptable and common in ancient Egypt for a ruler to marry a sibling). Set fell in love with her but she always loved Osiris, so he decided to kill his brother and capture the throne of the earth.
In Set’s evil plan to steal the thrown from his brother he secretly measured Osiris’ height, then he made a fabulous golden coffin of gold and precious stones. The coffin was made to only fit Osiris. He organized a big party, invited all the gods and goddesses and during the party when everyone was happy, while they were dancing and enjoying their time, Set and his men carried the golden coffin and displayed it to all the guests. He said, “everyone can try this coffin and I will give it as a gift whom it suites.” They all tried the coffin one by one, but unfortunately it didn’t suit any of them. When it was Osiris’ turn, he laid down inside the coffin, Set and his men quickly locked him inside the coffin and threw it into the Nile. It was carried away down the River Nile and that’s how Osiris died.
The goddess Isis was in complete shock, she became very depressed and she cried all the time. Ancient Egyptians believed that her tears were the reason that the Nile flooded every year since that night when she cried. She was wearing a beautiful black gown the night of the party, but it didn’t stop her from going directly to search for the coffin with her husband’s body inside. She searched everywhere in Egypt for 40 days, at the end of her search, she found the coffin in the Mediterranean Sea. She opened the coffin and she found the dead body of Osiris, but unfortunately Set was on a hunting trip nearby and when he saw her beside the coffin, he became very angry and he cut Osiris’ body into 14 pieces and scattered them across Egypt and the Nile. Again Isis decided to collect the pieces, she managed to find 13 pieces but she couldn’t find one piece that had been eaten by fish in the river Nile. She used 13 pieces and she made the first mummy in the world, that was the beginning of the concept of mummification in ancient Egypt. Since then, ancient Egyptians considered Osiris as the lord of the underworld and the judge of the dead. They portrayed him as a handsome man with a beard and crossed arms on the chest and his skin in blue or black color.
Isis wanted revenge badly, but she was alone and Set had a big army. She sadly thought, if we had a son he could avenge his father s murder. She said, “maybe it’s not too late, I still have his body and I can conceive of Osiris”, but she was disappointed when she remembered the fact that the only missing piece of Osiris’ body was his phallus!!! (or his male member).
She converted herself into a vulture, flew above Osiris and she got pregnant from his spirit. She gave birth to Horus the falcon headed god, Horus grew up and became a strong young man. Now ready to fight against his uncle, a big war started in all Egypt. They each had big armies. During the war Horus lost one of his eyes, that we now call (the eye of Horus), the sign of protection and healing not only in ancient Egypt, not only for Egyptians, but until this day all over the world Horus’ eye is considered as one of the most popular signs for Europeans and Americans.
In the End Horus killed Set in one of the southern cities in Egypt (Edfu), which means (victory).
Finally, Horus returned to the throne of his father Osiris and became the protector of the earth and the people.
He met a beautiful girl and they got married, later she was considered as the goddess of love, music and beauty, her name is goddess Hathor.
The god Anubis was an illegitimate son of Osiris and his sister Nephthys, it was a mistake so when the main god Amon Ra found out about it, he ordered that Anubis be in the underworld forever, as protector of the mummies.
One of the interesting traditions in modern Egypt is that you can see almost all women in Upper Egypt in black garments, although the temperature in the summer is higher than 50 degrees. If you ask them why black? Why not white or any other colors? They will answer: “Our mothers and grandmothers have always worn these black garments. We don’t know why.”
Actually the truth is that the tradition came from ancient Egypt, as the goddess Isis was wearing the black dress when she searched for her husband Osiris. Women in ancient Egypt liked to imitate the image of Isis in her hardest times and her reaction as a devoted wife and a good mother.
We can’t ignore the funny tradition in Egypt and what Egyptians think about the power of Nile fish, as tradition, men should eat Nile fish as much possible before their wedding night. They believe that eating fish from the Nile produces strong erections, even stronger than Viagra itself. The funny thing is, the belief that this power comes from the Nile fish only. Fish in the Red Sea or the Mediterranean Sea are very delicious, but they don’t have the same effect as the Nile fish.
Remembering the myth of Osiris and Isis will help you know the reason, as fish in the River Nile ate the male organ of Osiris. So, it was believed that the fish received the sexual power of Osiris and they keep it until now!
