MYTHOLOGY AND FOKLORE

1. The Egyptian Myth of Creation
THE STORY OF OSIRIS, ISIS and HORUS
REPORTER: AWIL, ALFEJEANEC.
ISMAEL,USMANC.

2. ORISIS
• Osiris, lord of the dead. His black-green
skin symbolizes re-birth.
• Name in : hieroglyphs
• Major cult center: Abydos
• Symbol Crook and flail, Atef crown,
ostrich feathers, fish, mummy gauze
• Consort: Isis
• Parents: Geb and Nut
• Siblings: Isis, Set, Nephthys, Horus the
elder
• Offspring: Min, Horus
God of the afterlife, death,
life, and resurrection

3. An Egyptian god, usually identified
as the god of the afterlife, the
underworld, and the dead, but
more appropriately as the god of
transition, resurrection, and
regeneration.
He was classically depicted as a
green-skinned man with a
pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-
wrapped at the legs, wearing a
distinctive crown with two large
ostrich feathers at either side, and
holding a symbolic crook and flail.
As ruler of the dead, Osiris was
also sometimes called "king of the

4. •Who was Osiris?
Besides being the Egyptian god of death, the
Underworld and Rebirth, Osiris was also Isis’
helper, who was his sister. His famous sons were
Horus by Isis and Anubis by his other sister,
Nephthys.
Osiris is one of the most famous and easily
recognised of all the ancient Egyptian gods. He
was shown as a 'human' god without the head of
an animal. He also had a false plaited beard that
was tightly knotted, plaited and hooked behind the
ears.

5. • Myths about Osiris
The most famous legend about Osiris is
about his death by his brother Seth.
Osiris was the oldest son of Geb and
Nut who were the first king and queen of
Egypt. Osiris became pharaoh after Geb
and married his sister Isis. Seth was
always jealous of Osiris and his super
important role as king of Egypt.

6. • The evil Seth tricked Osiris making
him lie in a magnificent coffin as part
of a game and then murdered him.
Seth cut his body to pieces, and
threw the coffin into the Nile. That
was incredibly cruel! His body
travelled down the Nile and across
the sea to the Phoenician coast,
where it eventually rested at the foot
of a tamarisk tree. As the tree grew it
surrounded Osiris and the coffin in its
trunk.

7. • Later, the tree was cut down by the king of
Byblos and was used as a pillar in his
palace. Isis got the pillar back and moved
it to Egypt. Anubis, the son of Osiris,
helped Isis and her sister Nephthys to
rebuild his body and Anubis was in charge
of the first mummification.
• This ancient Egyptian myth explains why
Osiris was the god of the dead and ruler of
the Egyptian underworld. The 'Raising the
Djed Pillar' ceremony was a sign of the
rebirth of Osiris.

8. Interesting Facts about Osiris
• When he was captured by Seth and imprisoned in a
tree, this symbolised the ‘Tree of Life’ which was
connected to abundance and looked after the grain
to make sure it carried on producing fruit.
• He was also associated with both the growth and
the decay of vegetation.
• The ancient Egyptians believed that he
disappeared in the winter taking the crops into the
Underworld with him.
• • His green face was connected to the life he
brought to the ancient Egyptian people.

9. ISIS
• One of the most
famous gods of
ancient Egypt was
Isis. She was one of
ancient Egyptians
most important
gods.The ancient
Egyptians built lots
and lots of temples
to honour her.

10. • We already said she was super important, and
she certainly was. She was seen by the
Egyptians as both a protector and mother of the
Pharaohs.
• • It is believed that she changed her role as early
as 3,100BC. Now that was a long time ago. This
period in time was called ‘Predynastic Egypt’
• Isis was a member of a group of gods and
goddesses called the Ennead. This group, which
was worshipped at Heliopolis, an ancient
Egyptian city, was made up of the nine original
gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. They
were considered to be the most important gods
and goddesses of this ancient civilisation.

11. • One of the most famous legends of all
time was where Isis’ husband, and of
course brother, was killed by their
other brother Set. He was apparently
very jealous of them. There are quite
a few myths about this, but the one
that most people believe is that Isis
brought Osiris back to life. She
obviously loved him very much.

12. How was the Egyptian Goddess Isis
Portrayed?
• Most ancient gods and goddesses were
shown in different ways in drawings and
carvings that were discovered.
• Early art of Isis shows her wearing a long
dress and wearing a crown which had the
hieroglyphic symbol for a throne.
• She is often shown holding a symbol called
the Ankh. It looks like a key and supposedly
symbolises the idea of eternal life, just like
being immortal.

13. • Isis is also closely linked with a symbol called the
Tyet. This symbol was linked to ‘welfare’, meaning
health, or ‘life’ to the ancient Egyptians. The Tyet is
also called the Buckle of Isis, Blood of Isis, and
Girdle of Isis. It is sometimes spelled tiet, tet, and
set. This symbol looks like the knot that was used
to fasten the Egyptian gods clothing.
• Together with her sister Nephthys; Isis is shown on
many ancient coffins. It was believed that these
pictures of her on their coffin would help protect the
dead against evil.
• She was a powerful and respected goddess across
many lands

14. • Her symbols are the scorpion (who
kept her safe when she was in
hiding), the kite (a kind of falcon
whose shape she assumed in
bringing her husband back to life), the
empty throne, and the sistrum.
• Isis became the goddess of all the
people of Egypt, male and female,
royal and common

15. HORUS
• Horus was the Egyptian
god of the Sky. He was the
son of Isis and Osiris. After
fighting his uncle Seth, he
became the king of Egypt.
During this fight, he lost his
eye. That must have been
one mighty fight! The Eye of
Horus became one of the
most important symbols in
ancient Egypt.

16. • The Eye of Horus is an
ancient Egyptian symbol of
protection, royal power and
good health. The eye is
personified in the goddess
Wadjet (also written as
Wedjat or Udjat", Uadjet,
Wedjoyet, Edjo or Uto). The
Eye of Horus is similar to
the Eye of Ra, which
belongs to a different god,
Ra, but represents many of
the same concepts.

17. • The eye is represented as a
figure with 6 parts. These 6 parts
correspond to the six senses -
Touch, Taste, Hearing, Thought,
Sight, Smell. These are the 6
parts of the *eye*. The eye is the
receptor of *input*. It has these
six doors, to receive data.

18. • What was The Eye of Horus?
The Eye of Horus was a powerful
amulet, which is an ornament or small
piece of jewellery that was thought to
fight off evil, danger and disease. It was
a sign of protection. It was also called
the Wadjet Eye. The ancient Egyptians
worshiped Horus partly because he had
the Eye of Horus. When he lost his eye,
it was said that it grew back to become
the Eye of Horus.

19. • What did Horus Look Like?
Horus was considered to be very handsome. He
was normally shown as a falcon or a falcon headed
man, although sometimes he appeared as a falcon
headed crocodile. Sometimes he would take the
form of a heavenly falcon with his left eye being the
moon and his right eye being the sun, his speckled
breast feathers were the stars and the down sweep
of his wings created winds. He was also sometimes
shown with a copper knife. Wonder what he used
that for. He also normally wore the double crown to
show that he ruled all of Egypt and to show that he
was related with the Pharaoh.

20. • How was Horus Worshipped?
Horus was worshiped all over Egypt, especially
in Pe, Bendet and Khem, ancient Egyptian
towns. There were heaps of falcon gods before
Horus, but eventually Horus symbolised all of
them. In Upper Egypt, which was the south, in
the town of Edfu, there was a temple in
Ptolemaic, which was just for Horus. In Kom
Ombo, there was another temple for Horus
called the Kom Ombo temple. Horus was a good
friend of Sobek. He was also worshipped as a
guide to the pharaohs. He sure seemed
important with all those temples for people to
worship him.

21. • What was Horus’ Purpose?
Horus was the god of the sky. The pharaoh ruling at
any given time of Egypt was always the living
image of Horus. When he died, that pharaoh
became Osiris, the god of the dead and the father
of Horus. The new pharaoh became Horus. He
was there to protect the pharaoh.
He was a protector god, who was a god who fought
evil. He was all about justice and honesty. He
fought with Seth. He did this to even the score for
his father, Osiris, who was killed by Seth. When
Horus beat Seth, he conquered his father, Osiris',
throne, and became protector.

22. • Interesting Facts about Horus
• Horus was certainly one important god as he
was worshipped right from the very beginning
of the ancient Egyptian period, right through
to the end. As time went by, his jobs often
changed over time.
• It’s a popular belief that he was the son of Isis
and Osiris, but one ancient Egyptian myth
says that Hathor was his mother. Other myths
say that he was the son of Nut and Get, and
that Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys were his
brothers and sisters.

23. • For most of the ancient Egyptian
period, the Egyptian Pharaohs
believed that they were Horus in a
human form.
• The symbol of the Eye of Horus was
often painted on boats to protect them
from shipwrecks and storms too.
• His name means ‘he who is the sky’
or ‘the distant one’.

24. The Story of Osiris, Isis and Horus: The Egyptian
Myth of Creation
From Geb, the sky god, and Nut, the
earth goddess came four children:
Osiris, Isis, Set and Nepthys. Osiris
was the oldest and so became king of
Egypt, and he married his sister Isis.
Osiris was a good king and
commanded the respect of all who
lived on the earth and the gods who
dwelled in the netherworld.

25. However, Set was always jealous of
Osiris, because he did not command
the respect of those on earth or those
in the netherworld. One day, Set
transformed himself into a vicious
monster and attacked Osiris, killing
him. Set then cut Osiris into pieces
and distributed them throughout the
length and breadth of Egypt.

26. With Osiris dead, Set became king of
Egypt, with his sister Nepthys as his
wife. Nepthys, however, felt sorry for
her sister Isis, who wept endlessly
over her lost husband. Isis, who had
great magical powers, decided to find
her husband and bring him back to
life long enough so that they could
have a child.

27. Together with Nepthys, Isis roamed the
country, collecting the pieces of her
husband’s body and reassembling them.
Once she completed this task, she
breathed the breath of life into his body
and resurrected him. They were together
again, and Isis became pregnant soon
after. Osiris was able to descend into the
underworld, where he became the lord of
that domain.

28. The child born to Isis was named
Horus, the hawk-god. When he
became an adult, Horus decided to
make a case before the court of gods
that he, not Set, was the rightful king
of Egypt. A long period of argument
followed, and Set challenged Horus to
a contest. The winner would become
king.

29. Set, however, did not play fair. After several
matches in which Set cheated and was the
victor, Horus’ mother, Isis, decided to help
her son and set a trap for Set. She snared
him, but Set begged for his life, and Isis let
him go. When he found out that she had
let his enemy live, Horus became angry
with his mother, and rages against her,
earning him the contempt of the other
gods. They decided that there would be
one more match, and Set would get to

30. Set decided that the final round of the
contest would be a boat race. However, in
order to make the contest a challenge, Set
decided that he and Horus should race
boats made of stone. Horus was tricky
and built a boat made of wood, covered
with limestone plaster, which looked like
stone. As the gods assembled for the
race, Set cut the top off of a mountain to
serve as his boat and set it in the water.
His boat sank right away, and all the other

31. Angry, Set transformed himself into a
hippopotamus and attacked Horus’
boat. Horus fought off Set, but the
other gods stopped him before he
could kill Set. The other gods
decided that the match was a tie.
Many of the gods were sympathetic to
Horus, but remembered his anger
toward his mother for being lenient to
Set, and were unwilling to support

32. The gods who formed the court
decided to write a letter to Osiris and
ask for his advice. Osiris responded
with a definite answer: his son is the
rightful king, and should be placed
upon the throne. No one, said Osiris,
should take the throne of Egypt
through an act of murder, as Set had
done.

33. Set had killed Osiris, but Horus did
not killed anyone, and was the
better candidate. The sun and
the stars, who were Osiris’ allies,
descended into the underworld,
leaving the world in darkness.
Finally, the gods agreed that
Horus should claim his birthright
as king of Egypt.