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| Isis by Brett Cushing from Brett Cushing Art Gallery |
Isis is the Goddess of motherhood, magick, fertility, death and rebirth. Originally called by an Egyptian name whose pronunciation has been settled on as Aset, the usual translation of Her name is "Lady of the Throne". In Her oldest representations, Her headdress was a throne. She personified the Throne and Her blessing was necessary to legitimize the reign of the Pharoah. Bread and beer were considered to be Her gifts to humanity. In New Kingdom stories, Egyptians said that the annual flooding of the Nile was caused by Her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. Some of Her other titles include:
Queen of Heaven
Mother of the Gods
The One Who is All
Lady of Green Crops
The Brilliant One in the Sky
Star of the Sea
Great Lady of Magic
Mistress of the House of Life
She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart
Light-Giver of Heaven
Lady of the Words of Power
Moon Shining Over the Sea
The worship of Isis dates from predynastic times, prior to 3100 BCE, at Sebennytos in the northern delta. The first written records of Isis date from the Fifth Dynasty (approx 2500 BCE) in the Nile Delta region of Lower Egypt. In Heliopolis, She was one of the most prominent deities along with Geb and Nut, Her parents, as well as Osiris, Set, and Nepthys, Her siblings.
By the Middle Kingdom, 2040 and 1640 BCE, Isis was strongly associated with Her role as Protectress of the Dead, and Her images, along with those of Her sister, Nepthys, appear on coffins throughout Egypt from many time periods. Her name also appears many times in the Egyptian Books of the Dead as someone invoked to protect the deceased. She was also considered, through Her role as wife of Osiris, to be the wife of the Pharoah in the Afterlife. By the New Kingdom period, 1570 and 1070 BCE, Her role was seen more as Mother of the Pharoah, who was associated with Horus at this time, and there are many depicitons of Her from this period showing Isis nursing Horus/Pharoah. During this period, Her worship was widespread in Egypt, but Her most prominent temples were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta, which was in Lower Egypt.Isis was popular not only all through Egypt but throughout the ancient world by the end of the Roman Empire. So popular that temples to Isis have been found from Iraq to the British Isles. Her worship was spread from Egypt by the Macedonians who came to Egypt with Alexander the Great and later carried everywhere by the Romans. In many locations, particularly Byblos, Her worship assimilated the worship of Astarte. Eventually, Her worship subsumed many different Goddesses, including Hathor, Mut, and Aphrodite. During the Roman Empire, Her worship was one of the greatest of the Mystery religions, and Her rites are referred to by many writers from the time. One of the best sources from the time is Plutarch, a Greek scholar who lived from 46 CE to 120 CE. In one of his surviving texts, Isis and Osiris, he writes of Isis: "She is both wise, and a lover of wisdom; as Her name appears to denote that, more than any other, knowing and knowledge belong to Her." and that the temple of Isis in Sais carried the inscription "I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be; and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised." Another source from the time is Apuleius, whose book The Golden Ass is all about his devotion to and understanding of the Mysteries of Isis. “You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are, my nod governs the shining heights of Heavens, the wholesome sea breezes. Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names ... some know me as Juno, some as Bellona ... the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship call me by my true name...Queen Isis." - Apuleius, The Golden Ass.
One of the few places where we have a well-preserved record of any of Her worship is from the ruins of Pompeii, where the Temple of Isis was found with many pieces of statuary and mosaics and friezes that depicted Her rites as done in that city, where Isis apparently had great prominence. Rome also contained many temples dedicated to Isis as well as obelisks to Her honor. On the Greek mainland, the rites of Isis were celebrated in such places as Eleusis, Delphi, and Athens. Inscriptions to Isis have been found on harbor structures on the Arabia and Black Seas. Small shrines to Isis have also been found in Germany, Turkey, Arabia, Spain, Britain, France, Portugal, and even Ireland. The last center of Isis worship from ancient times was on the island of Philae in the Nile Delta, where it survived until the Sixth century CE. Sadly, though Her worship lasted far longer than any other deity from Ancient Egypt, very little knowledge of what exactly Her worship entailed survives from that period since the later Christians were quite thorough in trying to deface and destroy all permanent records.
Art from the Old Kingdom period shows Isis as a woman wearing a long sheath dress and crowned with the hieroglyphic sign for a throne. Often She was shown holding a lotus. At times She was shown as a sycamore tree, which was related to the stories of Her search for Her murdered and dismembered spouse, Osiris. In later times, once the worship of Isis subsumed the worship of Hathor to some extent, She was sometimes depicted with the twin horns of a cow on Her head, with a solar disc between them and holding the sacred sistrum rattle and the fertility-bearing menat necklace. Most images of Isis, however, depict Her with Her young child, Horus (frequently in this representation Isis is nursing Horus), with a crown, and a vulture. Sometimes Isis was represented as a kite flying over the body of Osiris or with the dead Osiris draped over Her lap as She brought him back to life. There are also many images of Isis holding only the ankh and a simple staff. In The Book of Coming Forth By Day, Isis is shown standing on the prow of the Solar Barque with Her arms outstretched. Boats on the Nile usually had the name of the Goddess on either side of the prow, to protect against wrecks and crocodiles.
July 19th (Opet Festival: the Marriage of Isis and Osiris)
August 12th (Feast of the Lights of Isis)
August 13th (Isis Gains the Horns of Hathor)
September 24th (Going Forth of Isis)
October 3rd (Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys)
October 10th (Coming Forth of Isis)
November 12 (Isis Seeks the Body of Osiris)
November 13th (Isis Grieves the Loss of Osiris)
November 14 (Isis Rejoices as She Finds Osiris)
December 24th (Feast of Isis)
January 7-10th (Festival of Isis)
March 23rd (Festival of Isis)
Her birthday was thought to be July 17th as She was said to have been born on the fourth Intercalary Day of the Egyptian
Calendar.
Giver of wealth, Queen of the gods, Lady Hermouthis,
Ruler of All, Good Fortune, Isis of the Great Name,
exalted Deo, Discoverer of all life,
You put Your hand to mighty works of all kinds, so as to give
life and an ordered society to all mankind,
You introduced laws so that there might be a measure of justice,
You revealed sciences so that men might live decently,
You discovered the flowering nature of all fruitful plants.
For You the sky came into being, the whole earth,
the breath of the breezes, the Sun with its welcome radiance.
By Your power the streams of the Nile are all filled full
at the summer season, and its water pours turbulent
over the whole land so that the crop may never fail.
All mortals who live on the limitless earth,
Thracians, Greeks, and foreigners as well,
utter Your Glorious Name which all honor,
each in his own language, each in his own land.
Syrians call You Astarte, Artemis, Nanaea,
the tribes of Lycia call you Queen Leto,
men in Thrace call you Mother of the Gods,
Greeks call you Hera of the lofty throne, and Aphrodite,
kindly Hestia, Rheia, and Demeter.
Egyptians call you Thiouis because You, being One, are all
the other goddesses named by all peoples.
My Lady, I shall not stop hymning your Mighty Power,
Immortal Saviour, goddess of the many names, almighty Isis,
rescuing from war cities and all of their citizens,
men, their wives, possessions and dear children.
All who are held in the destiny of Death, all in bondage,
all who are racked with pain which will not let them sleep,
all men journeying in a foreign country,
all who sail on the great sea in stormy weather,
when ships are wrecked and men lose their lives
all these find salvation if they pray for Your present help.
Hear my prayers, You whose Name has Mighty Power,
be propitious to me and free me from all affliction.
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