Part 3 (1/2)

IX.

THE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS.

The history of Isis and Osiris given on pp. 248 is taken from the famous treatise of Plutarch ent.i.tled De Iside et Osiride, and forms a fitting conclusion to this volume of Legends of the G.o.ds. It contains all the essential facts given in Plutarch's work, and the only things omitted are his derivations and mythological speculations, which are really unimportant for the Egyptologist. Egyptian literature is full of allusions to events which took place in the life of Osiris, and to his persecution, murder, and resurrection, and numerous texts of all periods describe the love and devotion of his sister and wife Isis, and the filial piety of Horus. Nowhere, however, have we in Egyptian a connected account of the causes which led to the murder by Set of Osiris, or of the subsequent events which resulted in his becoming the king of heaven and judge of the dead. However carefully we piece together the fragments of information which we can extract from native Egyptian literature, there still remains a series of gaps which can only be filled by guesswork. Plutarch, as a learned man and a student of comparative religion and mythology was most anxious to understand the history of Isis and Osiris, which Greek and Roman scholars talked about freely, and which none of them comprehended, and he made enquiries of priests and others, and examined critically such information as he could obtain, believing and hoping that he would penetrate the mystery in which these G.o.ds were wrapped. As a result of his labours he collected a number of facts about the form of the Legend of Isis and Osiris as it was known to the learned men of his day, but there is no evidence that he had the slightest knowledge of the details of the original African Legend of these G.o.ds as it was known to the Egyptians, say, under the VIth Dynasty. Moreover, he never realized that the characteristics and attributes of both Isis and Osiris changed several times during the long history of Egypt, and that a thousand years before he lived the Egyptians themselves had forgotten what the original form of the legend was. They preserved a number of ceremonies, and performed very carefully all the details of an ancient ritual at the annual commemoration festival of Osiris which was held in November and December, but the evidence of the texts makes it quite clear that the meaning and symbolism of nearly all the details were unknown alike to priests and people.

An important modification of the cult of Isis and Osiris took place in the third century before Christ, when the Ptolemies began to consolidate their rule in Egypt. A form of religion which would be acceptable both to Egyptians and Greeks had to be provided, and this was produced by modifying the characteristics of Osiris and calling him Sarapis, and identifying him with the Greek Pluto. To Isis were added many of the attributes of the great Greek G.o.ddesses, and into her wors.h.i.+p were introduced ”mysteries” derived from non-Egyptian cults, which made it acceptable to the people everywhere. Had a high priest of Osiris who lived at Abydos under the XVIIIth Dynasty witnessed the celebration of the great festival of Isis and Osiris in any large town in the first century before Christ, it is tolerably certain that he would have regarded it as a lengthy act of wors.h.i.+p of strange G.o.ds, in which there appeared, here and there, ceremonies and phrases which reminded him of the ancient Abydos ritual. When the form of the cult of Isis and Osiris introduced by the Ptolemies into Egypt extended to the great cities of Greece and Italy, still further modifications took place in it, and the characters of Isis and Osiris were still further changed. By degrees Osiris came to be regarded as the G.o.d of death pure and simple, or as the personification of Death, and he ceased to be regarded as the great protecting ancestral spirit, and the all- powerful protecting Father of his people. As the importance of Osiris declined that of Isis grew, and men came to regard her as the great Mother-G.o.ddess of the world. The priests described from tradition the great facts of her life according to the Egyptian legends, how she had been a loving and devoted wife, how she had gone forth after her husband's murder by Set to seek for his body, how she had found it and brought it home, how she revivified it by her spells and had union with Osiris and conceived by him, and how in due course she brought forth her son, in pain and sorrow and loneliness in the Swamps of the Delta, and how she reared him and watched over him until he was old enough to fight and vanquish his father's murderer, and how at length she seated him in triumph on his father's throne. These things endeared Isis to the people everywhere, and as she herself had not suffered death like Osiris, she came to be regarded as the eternal mother of life and of all living things. She was the creatress of crops, she produced fruit, vegetables, plants of all kinds and trees, she made cattle prolific, she brought men and women together and gave them offspring, she was the auth.o.r.ess of all love, virtue, goodness and happiness. She made the light to s.h.i.+ne, she was the spirit of the Dog-star which heralded the Nile-flood, she was the source of the power in the beneficent light of the moon; and finally she took the dead to her bosom and gave them peace, and introduced them to a life of immortality and happiness similar to that which she had bestowed upon Osiris.

The message of the cult of Isis as preached by her priests was one of hope and happiness, and coming to the Greeks and Romans, as it did, at a time when men were weary of their national cults, and when the speculations of the philosophers carried no weight with the general public, the people everywhere welcomed it with the greatest enthusiasm. From Egypt it was carried to the Islands of Greece and to the mainland, to Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal, and then crossing the western end of the Mediterranean it entered North Africa, and with Carthage as a centre spread east and west along the coast. Wherever the cult of Isis came men accepted it as something which supplied what they thought to be lacking in their native cults; rich and poor, gentle and simple, all welcomed it, and the philosopher as well as the ignorant man rejoiced in the hope of a future life which it gave to them. Its Egyptian origin caused it to be regarded with the profoundest interest, and its priests were most careful to make the temples of Isis quite different from those of the national G.o.ds, and to decorate them with obelisks, sphinxes, shrines, altars, etc., which were either imported from temples in Egypt, or were copied from Egyptian originals. In the temples of Isis services were held at daybreak and in the early afternoon daily, and everywhere these were attended by crowds of people. The holy water used in the libations and for sprinkling the people was Nile water, specially imported from Egypt, and to the votaries of the G.o.ddess it symbolized the seed of the G.o.d Osiris, which germinated and brought forth fruit through the spells of the G.o.ddess Isis. The festivals and processions of Isis were everywhere most popular, and were enjoyed by learned and unlearned alike. In fact, the Isis-play which was acted annually in November, and the festival of the blessing of the s.h.i.+p, which took place in the spring, were the most important festivals of the year. Curiously enough, all the oldest G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses of Egypt pa.s.sed into absolute oblivion, with the exception of Osiris (Sarapis), Isis, Anubis the physician, and Harpokrates, the child of Osiris and Isis, and these, from being the ancestral spirits of a comparatively obscure African tribe in early dynastic times, became for several hundreds of years the princ.i.p.al objects of wors.h.i.+p of some of the most cultured and intellectual nations. The treatise of Plutarch De Iside helps to explain how this came about, and for those who study the Egyptian Legend of Isis and Osiris the work has considerable importance.

THE HISTORY OF CREATION-A.

THE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS[FN#49] OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING APEP.

[FN#49] Kheperu. The verb Kheper means ”to make, to form, to produce, to become, and to roll;” kheperu here means ”the things which come into being through the rollings of the ball of the G.o.d Kheper (the roller),” i.e., the Sun.

[These are] the words which the G.o.d Neb-er-tcher spake after he had come into being:-”I am he who came into being in the form of the G.o.d Khepera, and I am the creator of that which came into being, that is to say, I am the creator of everything which came into being: now the things which I created, and which came forth out of my month after that I had come into being myself were exceedingly many. The sky (or heaven) had not come into being, the earth did not exist, and the children of the earth[FN#50], and the creeping, things, had not been made at that time. I myself raised them up from out of Nu[FN#51], from a state of helpless inertness. I found no place whereon I could stand. I worked a charm[FN#52] upon my own heart (or, will), I laid the foundation [of things] by Maat,[FN#53] and I made everything which had form. I was [then] one by myself, for I had not emitted from myself the G.o.d Shu, and I had not spit out from myself the G.o.ddess Tefnut; and there existed no other who could work with me. I laid the foundations [of things] in my own heart, and there came into being mult.i.tudes of created things, which came into being from the created things which were born from the created things which arose from what they brought forth. I had union with my closed hand, and I embraced my shadow as a wife, and I poured seed into my own mouth, and I sent forth from myself issue in the form of the G.o.ds Shu and Tefnut. Saith my father Nu:-My Eye was covered up behind them (i.e., Shu. and Tefnut), but after two hen periods had pa.s.sed from the time when they departed from me, from being one G.o.d I became three G.o.ds, and I came into being in the earth. Then Shu and Tefnut rejoiced from out of the inert watery ma.s.s wherein they I were, and they brought to me my Eye (i.e., the Sun). Now after these things I gathered together my members, and I wept over them, and men and women sprang into being from the tears which came forth from my Eye. And when my Eye came to me, and found that I had made another [Eye] in place where it was (i.e., the Moon), it was wroth with (or, raged at) me, whereupon I endowed it (i.e., the second Eye) with [some of] the splendour which I had made for the first [Eye], and I made it to occupy its place in my Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout all this earth.”

[FN#50] i.e., serpents and snakes, or perhaps plants.

[FN#51] The primeval watery ma.s.s which was the source and origin of all beings and things.

[FN#52] i.e., he uttered a magical formula.

[FN#53] i.e., by exact and definite rules.

”When there fell on them their moment[FN#54] through plant-like clouds, I restored what had been taken away from them, and I appeared from out of the plant-like clouds. I created creeping things of every kind, and everything which came into being from them. Shu and Tefnut brought forth [Seb and] Nut; and Seb and Nut brought forth Osiris, and Heru- khent-an-maati,[FN#55] and Set, and Isis, and Nephthys[FN#56] at one birth, one after the other, and they produced their mult.i.tudinous offspring in this earth.”

[FN#54] i.e., the period of calamity wherein their light was veiled through plant-like clouds.

[FN#55] i.e., the Blind Horus.

[FN#56] i.e., these five G.o.ds were all born at one time.

THE HISTORY OF CREATION-B.

THE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING APEP.

[These are] the words of the G.o.d Neb-er-tcher, who said: ”I am the creator of what hath come into being, and I myself came into being under the form of the G.o.d Khepera, and I came into being in primeval time. I came into being in the form of Khepera, and I am the creator of what did come into being, that is to say, I formed myself out of the primeval matter, and I made and formed myself out of the substance which existed in primeval time. My name is AUSARES (i.e., Osiris), who is the primeval matter of primeval matter. I have done my will in everything in this earth. I have spread myself abroad therein, and I have made strong my hand. I was ONE by myself, for they (i.e., the G.o.ds) had not been brought forth, and I had emitted from myself neither Shu nor Tefnut. I brought my own name[FN#57] into my mouth as a word of power, and I forthwith came into being under the form of things which are and under the form of Khepera. I came into being from out of primeval matter, and from the beginning I appeared under the form of the mult.i.tudinous things which exist; nothing whatsoever existed at that time in this earth, and it was I who made whatsoever was made. I was ONE: by myself, and there was no other being who worked with me in that place. I made all the things under the forms of which I appeared then by means of the Soul-G.o.d which I raised into firmness at that time from out of Nu, from a state of inactivity. I found no place whatsoever there whereon I could stand, I worked by the power of a spell by means of my heart, I laid a foundation [for things] before me, and whatsoever was made, I made. I was ONE by myself, and I laid the foundation of things [by means of] my heart, and I made the other things which came into being, and the things of Khepera which were made were manifold, and their offspring came into existence from the things to which they gave birth. I it was who emitted Shu, and I it was who emitted Tefnut, and from being the ONE, G.o.d (or, the only G.o.d) I became three G.o.ds; the two other G.o.ds who came into being on this earth sprang from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were raised up) from out of Nu in which they were. Now behold, they brought my Eye to me after two hen periods since the time when they went forth from me. I gathered together my members which had appeared in my own body, and afterwards I had union with my hand, and my heart (or, will) came unto me from out of my hand, and the seed fell into my mouth, and I emitted from myself the G.o.ds Shu and Tefnut, and so from being the ONE G.o.d (or, the only, G.o.d) I became three G.o.ds; thus the two other G.o.ds who came into being on this earth sprang from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were raised up) from out of Nu in which they were. My father Nu saith:- They covered up (or, concealed) my Eye with the plant-like clouds which were behind them (i.e., Shu and Tefnut) for very many hen periods. Plants and creeping things [sprang up] from the G.o.d REM, through the tears which I let fall. I cried out to my Eye, and men and women came into existence. Then I bestowed upon my Eye the uraeus of fire, and it was wroth with me when another Eye (i.e., the Moon) came and grew up in its place; its vigorous power fell on the plants, on the plants which I had placed there, and it set order among them, and it took up its place in my face, and it doth rule the whole earth. Then Shu and Tefnut brought forth Osiris, and Heru-khenti-an-maa, and Set, and Isis, and Nephthys and behold, they have produced offspring, and have created mult.i.tudinous children in this earth, by means of the beings which came into existence from the creatures which they produced. They invoke my name, and they overthrow their enemies, and they make words of power for the overthrowing of Apep, over whose hands and arms AKER keepeth ward. His hands and arms shall not exist, his feet and leas shall not exist, and he is chained in one place whilst Ra inflicts upon him the blows which are decreed for him. He is thrown upon his accursed back, his face is slit open by reason of the evil which he hath done, and he shall remain upon his accursed back.”

[FN#57] i.e., I uttered my own name from my own mouth as a word of power.

THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND.

CHAPTER I.

[Here is the story of Ra,] the G.o.d who was self-begotten and self- created, after he had a.s.sumed the sovereignty over men and women, and G.o.ds, and things, the ONE G.o.d. Now men and women were speaking words of complaint, saying:-”Behold, his Majesty (Life, Strength, and Health to him!) hath grown old, and his bones have become like silver, and his members have turned into gold and his hair is like unto real lapis- lazuli.” His Majesty heard the words of complaint which men and women were uttering, and his Majesty (Life, Strength, and Health to him!) said unto those who were in his train:-”Cry out, and bring to me my Eye, and Shu, and Tefnut, and Seb, and Nut, and the father-G.o.ds, and the mother-G.o.ds who were with me, even when I was in Nu side by side with my G.o.d Nu. Let there be brought along with my Eye his ministers, and let them be led to me hither secretly, so that men and women may not perceive them [coming] hither, and may not therefore take to flight with their hearts. Come thou[FN#58] with them to the Great House, and let them declare their plans (or, arrangements) fully, for I will go from Nu into the place wherein I brought about my own existence, and let those G.o.ds be brought unto me there.” Now the G.o.ds were drawn up on each side of Ra, and they bowed down before his Majesty until their heads touched the ground, and the maker of men and women, the king of those who have knowledge, spake his words in the presence of the Father of the first-born G.o.ds. And the G.o.ds spake in the presence of his Majesty, saying:-”Speak unto us, for we are listening to them” (i.e., thy words). Then Ra spake unto Nu, saying:-”O thou first-born G.o.d from whom I came into being, O ye G.o.ds of ancient time, my ancestors, take ye heed to what men and women [are doing]; for behold, those who were created by my Eye are uttering words of complaint against me. Tell me what ye would do in the matter, and consider this thing for me, and seek out [a plan] for me, for I will not slay them until I have heard what ye shall say to me concerning it.”

[FN#58] The G.o.d here addressed appears to have been Nu.

Then the Majesty of Nu, to son Ra, spake, saying:-”Thou art the G.o.d who art greater than he who made thee, thou art the sovereign of those who were created with thee, thy throne is set, and the fear of thee is great; let thine Eye go against those who have uttered blasphemies against thee.” And the Majesty of Ra, said:-”Behold, they have betaken themselves to flight into the mountain lands, for their hearts are afraid because of the words which they have uttered.” Then the G.o.ds spake in the presence of his Majesty, saying:-”Let thine Eye go forth and let it destroy for thee those who revile thee with words of evil, for there is no eye whatsoever that can go before it and resist thee and it when it journeyeth in the form of Hathor.” Thereupon this G.o.ddess went forth and slew the men and the women who were on the mountain (or, desert land). And the Majesty of this G.o.d said, ”Come, come in peace, O Hathor, for the work is accomplished.” Then this G.o.ddess said, ”Thou hast made me to live, for when I gained the mastery over men and women it was sweet to my heart;” and the Majesty of Ra said, ”I myself will be master over them as [their] king, and I will destroy them.” And it came to pa.s.s that Sekhet of the offerings waded about in the night season in their blood, beginning at Suten- henen.[FN#59] Then the Majesty of Ra, spake [saying], ”Cry out, and let there come to me swift and speedy messengers who shall be able to run like the wind ... .;” and straightway messengers of this kind were brought unto him. And the Majesty of this G.o.d spake [saying], ”Let these messengers go to Abu,[FN#60] and bring unto me mandrakes in great numbers;” and [when] these mandrakes were brought unto him the Majesty of this G.o.d gave them to Sekhet, the G.o.ddess who dwelleth in Annu (Heliopolis) to crush. And behold, when the maidservants were bruising the grain for [making] beer, these mandrakes were placed in the vessels which were to hold the beer, and some of the blood of the men and women [who had been slain]. Now they made seven thousand vessels of beer. Now when the Majesty of Re, the King of the South and North, had come with the G.o.ds to look at the vessels of beer, and behold, the daylight had appeared after the slaughter of men and women by the G.o.ddess in their season as she sailed up the river, the Majesty of Ra said, ”It is good, it is good, nevertheless I must protect men and women against her.” And Ra, said, ”Let them take up the vases and carry them to the place where the men and women were slaughtered by her.” Then the Majesty of the King of the South and North in the three-fold beauty of the night caused to be poured out these vases of beer which make [men] to lie down (or, sleep), and the meadows of the Four Heavens[FN#61] were filled with beer (or, water) by reason of the Souls of the Majesty of this G.o.d. And it came to pa.s.s that when this G.o.ddess arrived at the dawn of day, she found these [Heavens] flooded [with beer], and she was pleased thereat; and she drank [of the beer and blood], and her heart rejoiced, and she became drunk, and she gave no further attention to men and women. Then said the Majesty of Ra to this G.o.ddess, ”Come in peace, come in peace, O Amit,”[FN#62] and thereupon beautiful women came into being in the city of Amit (or, Amem). And the Majesty of Ra spake [concerning] this G.o.ddess, [saying], ”Let there be made for her vessels of the beer which produceth sleep at every holy time and season of the year, and they shall be in number according to the number of my hand-maidens;” and from that early time until now men have been wont to make on the occasions of the festival of Hathor vessels of the beer which make them to sleep in number according to the number of the handmaidens of Ra. And the Majesty of Ra spake unto this G.o.ddess, [saying], ”I am smitten with the pain of the fire of sickness; whence cometh to me [this] pain?” And the Majesty of Ra said, ”I live, but my heart hath become exceedingly weary[FN#63] with existence with them (i.e., with men); I have slain [some of] them, but there is a remnant of worthless ones, for the destruction which I wrought among them was not as great as my power.” Then the G.o.ds who were in his following said unto him, ”Be not overcome by thy inactivity, for thy might is in proportion to thy will.” And the Majesty of this G.o.d said unto the Majesty of Nu, ”My members are weak for (or, as at) the first time; I will not permit this to come upon me a second time.” And the Majesty of the G.o.d Nu said, ”O son Shu, be thou the Eye 'for thy father ..... and avenue (?) him, and 'thou G.o.ddess Nut, place him ... ..... And the G.o.ddess Nut said, ”How can this be then, O my father Nu? Hail,” said Nut ..... to the G.o.d Nu, and the G.o.ddess straightway became [a cow], and she set the Majesty of Ra upon [her] back ..... And when these things had been done, men and women saw the G.o.d Ra, upon the back [of the cow]. Then these men and women said, ”Remain with us, and we will overthrow thine enemies who speak words of blasphemy [against thee.], and [destroy them].” Then his Majesty [Ra] set out for the Great House, and [the G.o.ds who were in the train of Ra remained] with them (i.e., the men); during that time the earth was in darkness. And when the earth became light [again] and the morning had dawned, the men came forth with their bows and their [weapons], and they set their arms in motion to shoot the enemies [of Ra]. Then said the Majesty of this G.o.d, ”Your ”transgressions of violence are placed behind you, for the slaughtering of the enemies is above the slaughter [of sacrifice];” thus came into being the slaughter [of sacrifice]. And the Majesty of this G.o.d said unto Nut, ”I have placed myself upon my back in order to stretch myself out.” What then is the meaning of this? It meaneth that he united (?) himself with Nut. [Thus came into being] ..... Then said the Majesty of this G.o.d, ”I am departing from them (i.e., from men), and he must come after me who would see me;” thus came into being ..... Then the Majesty of this G.o.d looked forth from its interior, saying, ”Gather together [men for me], and make ready for me an abode for mult.i.tudes;” thus came into being ... ... . And his Majesty (life, health, and strength be to him!) said, ”Let a great field (sekhet) be produced (hetep);” thereupon Sekhet-hetep came into being. [And the G.o.d said], ”I will gather herbs (aarat) therein;” thereupon Sekhet-aaru came into being. [And the G.o.d said], ”I will make it to contain as dwellers things (khet) like stars of all sorts;” thereupon the stars (akhekha) came into being. Then the G.o.ddess Nut trembled because of the height.