Isis (Ast, Aset), unlike her twin sister Nephthys, is one of the most famous goddesses of ancient Egypt. Although it is thought that her worship originated in Africa, was nurtured and refined in Egypt, she was a popular goddess in predynastic times in the Delta area. At the opposite end of Egyptian history, her worship spread through the ancient world by the Greek tourists the Romans conquerors, albeit in a different form with the original myths of the goddess long forgotten. Her fame quickly spread to all corners of the Roman empire. There was even a temple to Isis on the River Themes in Southwark, London!

1. t hekeep.org http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/isis.html
Isis, Sister of Nephthys, Mistress of Magic
by Caroline Seawright
May 7, 2001
Updated: November 29, 2012
Isis (Ast, Aset), unlike her twin sister Nephthys, is one of the most f amous goddesses of ancient
Egypt.Although it is thought that her worship originated in Af rica, was nurtured and ref ined in Egypt,
she was a popular goddess in predynastic times in the Delta area.At the opposite end of Egyptian
history, her worship spread through the ancient world by the Greek tourists the Romans
conquerors, albeit in a dif f erent f orm with the original myths of the goddess long f orgotten. Her
f ame quickly spread to all corners of the Roman empire. There was even a temple to Isis on the
River Themes in Southwark, London!
The last recorded f estival of Isis was held in Rome in 394 AD but it was one of
the last of the old f aiths to die out, surviving less f lamboyantly ... until the f if th
century AD.
-- Dr M D Magee, Christianity: Mystery Religions — Isis, Osiris, Dionysos, Orpheus
Isis was, of course, sister to Nephthys, and also to Osiris and Set, and mother
of Horus. To the ancient Egyptians, she was all that a mother should be - loving,
clever, loyal and brave. Many statues and images show Isis holding the inf ant
Horus on her knee, suckling the young god. To the Egyptians, she was the purest
example of the loving wif e and mother, and that was how they worshiped her -
and loved her - the most. In a culture where f ertility was a sign of success and
sexual attractiveness, it's no wonder that the Egyptians cherished the f ruitf ul
Isis.
She wasn't just a mother - Isis was also a great magician. She became one of the
most powerf ul magicians in Egypt when she managed to trick Ra into revealing
his secret name to her.
Thus when she wished to make Ra reveal to her his greatest and most secret
name, she made a venomous reptile out of dust mixed with the spittle of the god,
and by uttering over it certain words of power she made it to bite Ra as he
passed. When she had succeeded in obtaining f rom the god his most hidden
name, which he only revealed because he was on the point of death, she uttered
words which had the ef f ect of driving the poison out of his limbs, and Ra
recovered. Now Isis not only used the words of power, but she also had
knowledge of the way in which to pronounce them so that the beings or things to
which they were addressed would be compelled to listen to them and, having
listened, would be obliged to f ulf il her behests.
-- E.A. Wallis Budge (1969), Gods of the Egyptians: Part 2, p. 214

2. With her magical powers, she was able to bring her husband back to lif e, when he had been torn apart by
his brother Set. She then f ashioned a replacement f or Osiris' missing penis, and blew lif e - with the
appropriate magic words, intonations and rituals... and a little help f rom Thoth - back into husband. Sharing
a night of passion, the deities conceived Horus and Osiris died again, and went on to become Lord of the
Underworld.
But despite all of her magic, there were things that even she could not do without help.
Isis hid her son Horus in the papyri and water lily (lotus) thickets of Chemmis, in
the delta area of Lower Egypt. She knew that if Set ever f ound out about her
son, he would kill him. She had to hide with her son, and watch over him, day and
night.
Even though she was a goddess, and a great magician, she still had to leave the
saf ety of the thickets to beg f or f ood. On one of her trips, Set f ound out where the mother and child were
hiding. Knowing that Isis would be gone f or a while, he transf ormed himself into a snake and reached the
child unseen. Biting the young god, shooting poison through his body, Set then made a quick getaway.
Returning to the thicket, Isis f ound Horus lying lif eless on his back. She could hardly hear his heartbeat. Not
knowing what sort of illness af f ected her song, she tried to work her great magics, but her powers had
deserted her. She was alone, her husband was head and none of the gods were there to help her.
Despairing, she took Horus in her arms and ran to the nearby village. The f ishermen of the village took pity
on her, and did their best to try to cure her son, to no avail.A wise woman examined the child, who told the
goddess that it had been Set, disguised as either a snake or a scorpion, who poisoned him. Realising that
the woman was right, Isis became angry.
She let out a great wail:
'Horus has been bitten!
O Re! a scion of yours has been bitten!
Horus has been bitten!
The heir to your heir, a direct link with the kingship of Shu,
Horus has been bitten!
The babe of Chemmis, the inf ant of the House of the Prince,
Horus has been bitten!
The beautif ul golden child, the innocent orphan child
Horus has been bitten!
The son of the "Benef icent Being", born of the "Tearf ul One",
Horus has been bitten!
Him I watched over so anxiously, f or I f oresaw that he would avenge his f ather....'
-- Robert Thomas Rundle Clark (1960), Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, p. 190-
191
Nephthys heard Isis' cries, and came in her bird f orm of a kite, f lying to the mashes, "Pray, tell what has
happened to Horus the son of Osiris? Ah Isis, my sister! Beseech heaven and the divine crew will bring Ra's
boat to a standstill and the cosmic wind will cease to blow f or the boat of Ra while Horus lies on his side."
Serqet joined the two, saying "What is it? What is it? What has happened to the child Horus? O Isis, pray to
heaven so that the sailors of Ra will stop rowing, so the Barque of Ra may not leave f rom the place where
Horus is."
Raising her voice, she cried to the Boat of a Million Years with a cry so great that it stopped the sun boat in its
course and shook the earth, because Isis knew the secret name of Ra. Looking down at the grieving goddess,
Ra sent Thoth to f ind out what happened.
Image © Roemer and
Pelizaeus Museum,
Hildesheim

3. The Great Lady
The God-Mother
Lady of Re-a-nef er
Isis-Nebuut, lady of Sekhet
Lady of Besitet
Isis in Per Pakht
The Queen of Mesen
Isis of Ta-at-nehepet
Isis, Dweller in Netru
Isis, Lady of Hebet
Isis in P-she-Hert
Isis, lady of Khebt
Usert-Isis, Giver of Lif e
Lady of Abaton
Lady of Iat-Rek (Philae)
Lady of the Countries of the South
When he heard, Thoth consoled the goddess:
"What is the matter, O Isis, you who are so divine and skilf ul and know your
spell? Surely nothing has gone amiss with Horus? An assurance of his saf ety is
in the boat of Ra. I have just come f rom the barge. The sun is in its place of
yesterday so that all has become dark and the light has been driven away until
Horus recovers his health - to the delight of his mother Isis."
-- Robert Thomas Rundle Clark (1960), Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, p. 191
Thus it was that Thoth worked great magic and the poison was driven out of
Horus' body, bringing the baby back to lif e again, to the delight of his mother.
Thoth then ordered the people of the marshes and all birds and animals who
lived there to keep watch over them. Their lif e in the delta was still hard, but they
stayed until Horus was old enough to have revenge on his uncle f or the death of his f ather.
Her heavenly symbol was the star Sirius (when connected to the goddess Sopdet), the star that marked the
beginning of not only the Egyptian new year, and the season f or inundation of the Nile, but also the arrival
of spring. It was a sign of renewed wealth and prosperity f or the whole country.
During her history, Isis was a goddess up took on the attributes of the other
goddesses (including Nekhbet, Wadjet (Edjo), Ma'at, Bast and Hathor), even f rom
a very early stage in Egyptian history.As such, she became a goddess of
limitless attributes, a goddess of water, earth, corn, star, wind, motherhood and
a goddess of the underworld. She, along with her twin, was both a goddess of
mourning and a f riend of the dead, and a patron goddess of childbirth and
motherhood. In her role of guardian of the dead, she was thought to protect the
liver, along with Imsety - a human headed Son of Horus - in the canopic jar on the
south cardinal point.
Isis was a winged goddess who represented all that was visible, birth, growth,
development and vigour. Having wings, she was a wind goddess (as was her
sister). She travelled widely, moaned and cried loud enough to shake the heavens and used her wings to
blow lif e into her husband. The kite was sacred to her, and she could transf orm herself into this bird at will.
She brought the heavenly scent with her through the land, leaving lingering scenes of spices and f lowers
her wake. She brought f resh air with her into the underworld when she gave f ood to the dead. She
represented both the lif e-giving spring winds of Egypt and the morning winds that hailed the arrival of the
sun each day.
Some of her many specif ic titles included:
Image © Jacques Livet and
Ibrahim Soliman

4. Others included:
"the Divine One, the Only One, the Greatest of the Gods and Goddesses, the Queen of all Gods, the
Female Ra, the Female Horus, the Eye of Ra, the Crown of Ra-Heru, Sept, Opener of the Year, Lady of the
New Year, Maker of the Sunrise, Lady of Heaven, the Light-Giver of Heaven, Lady of the North Wind, Queen
of the Earth, Most Mighty One, Queen of the South and North, Lady of the Solid Earth, Lady of Warmth and
Fire, Benef actress of the Duat, She Who is Greatly Feared in the Duat, the God-Mother, the God-Mother of
Heru-ka-Nekht, the Mother of the Horus of Gold, the Lady of Lif e, Lady of Green Crops, the Green
Goddess (Wadjet), Lady of Bread, Lady of Beer, Lady of Abundance, Lady of Joy and Gladness, Lady of
Love, the Maker of Kings, Lady of the Great House, Lady of the House of Fire, the Beautif ul Goddess, the
Lady of Words of Power, Lady of the Shuttle, Daughter of Geb, Daughter of Neb-er-tcher, the Child of Nut,
Wif e of Ra, Wif e of the Lord of the Abyss, Wif e of the Lord of the Inundation, the Creatrix of the Nile
Flood."
-- E.A. Wallis Budge (1969), Gods of the Egyptians: Part 1, p. 213-214
The Knot of Isis, known as the tyet amulet, is representative of the knot
Isis wore to tie her dress. It is thus also known as the Girdle of Isis or the Buckle of
Isis. It was a symbol of protection, and was thus of ten used as a f unerary item
where it was made f rom red carnelian, jasper or glass, and in this role it was
known as the Blood of Isis. It was of ten paired with the djed pillar, the backbone
of Osiris, in both temple and tomb decorations as well as on sarcophagi and
beds. Such knots were used as amulets due to the Egyptian belief in their power
to bind and released magic.
According to the Book of the Dead, whoever wears such a knot will gain the
protection of Isis and her son Horus, and they will be welcomed into the next
world. In one version of the Book of the Dead, called the Theban Recension, the
magical powers of Isis were granted to the deceased if the tyet amulet was
dipped in the sap of the ankh-imy plant, placed in sycamore wood, and then
placed on the mummy.An incantation completed the spell: "Let the blood of Isis
and the magical words of Isis be mighty and protect and keep saf ely this great
god [the deceased] and to guard him f rom that which is harmf ul." With this special
he tyet amulet, the deceased could travel anywhere he or she wished in the
-- Pat Remler (2010), Book Egyptian Mythology A to Z , pp. 106-107
However, during the Old Kingdom, it was related to the bovine deities Hathor and Bat, and may have
been related to the of f ice-bearers of their cults. During the Late Period it not only represented the
goddesses Isis and Hathor, but Nephthys and Nut as well, and had become a protective device:
...the tyet is commonly depicted as an amuletic pendant slung low f rom the belt in statues dating f rom the
Third Intermediate Period on. Block statues including this detail of the suspended amulet of ten show it
dangling rather conspicuously just over the knees of the seated f igure. In late examples such as this,
however, the emblem usually seems to be present as a protective amulet rather than a badge of of f ice.
-- Jimmy Dunn, The Tyet Symbol
Isis's name comes f rom the hieroglyph of the throne with a f emale ending
reading "Mistress of the Throne" (Osiris also has the throne in his name,
meaning "Occupier of the Throne"). Originally it was the symbol f or 'f lesh',
reading "Mistress of Flesh". Not only did her name suggest that she was Queen
of the Gods, but that she had also once been a mortal woman. In Egyptian art
and myth, she has been depicted as both human and divine. She was represented
as a goddess with the headdress of a miniature throne. Later on, she took on
the aspects of Hathor, and took on the bovine goddess' headdress of cow's horns
Image © Peter Schmidt

5. with the sun disk between them.As a human woman, she was shown with a queen's headdress, with the
uraeus on her forehead.
Her cult originated at Per-hebet, and spread over the whole of Egypt and beyond.Ancient Egyptian f estivals
f or Isis included 'The Festival of Isis', 'The Birthday of Isis', 'The Marriage of Isis and Osiris', 'The Feast of
Lights of Isis', 'The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys f or Osiris', 'Isis Seeks the Body of Osiris', 'Isis
Rejoices as She Finds Osiris' and 'The Birth of Horus, Child of Isis'. Originally, she was a black goddess,
identif ying her as of Af rican origin.
© Caroline 'Kunoichi' Seawright 2001 - present