The Importance of Osiris

The very first Kings of Egypt were believed to be gods by the Ancient Egyptians. In later years, the rule of Egypt was entrusted by the gods to mortals, and the succession of the Pharaohs passed from the gods to men born of women. The word Pharaoh came to us, via the Hebrew language, from the Ancient Egyptian "pr-o" meaning "the great house", and indicates the Pharaoh's vital link between the world and the afterworld. The great house on Earth was simply a reflection of the Great House in the Duat, the afterworld home of the gods.

The Book of the Dead, and especially its more ancient predecessor, the Pyramid Texts, speak continually of the rebirth of the King after his earthly death. At the end of each King's mission on Earth he died, and was reborn, and the rites which surround this rebirth were central to his successful transition from Earth to Duat. The form of this rebirth was stellar -- it involved the stars' correct alignment.

Worship of Ra, the sun-god, was very prevelant in Egypt at the time the Great Pyramids at Giza were constructed during the Fourth Dynasty (2686 - 2181 BCE). One thing is immediately apparent, however, when looking at the geometry of the Pyramids in relation to the Sun, and the Solar System. There is no convincing correlation between them. The Pyramids, though built by a people to whom worship of Ra, the sun-god, was central, were clearly not built along solar lines.

Worship of Ra, the life-giving Sun, was important during life, but the spirit of the dead King did not unite primarily with Ra. Something else was expected to happen to the King after his death and the answer is to be found in the Pyramid Texts. The boat in which Ra traversed the heavens during the day, and the Duat at night, was one of the means by which the King ascended to his rightful position in the sky. A place was reserved among the stars for the King, his by right, a place with the god Osiris.

"Nu has commended the King to Atum, the Open-armed has commended the King to Shu, that he may cause yonder doors of the sky to be opened for the King, barring ordinary folk who have no name. Grasp the King by his hand and take the King to the sky, that he may not die on earth among men." (Pyramid Texts 604)

From the earliest times Osiris was regarded as the god of the Duat, the Underworld. His name is derived from the Ancient Egyptian word "woser" which means "the Mighty One". Osiris and his sister Isis were the children of the gods Geb and Nut, the Earth-god and Sky-goddess respectively. The Kingdom of Duat, home of the dead, was traditionally associated with the West, the place where Ra, the Sun-god, set, indicated by the dead King's passage to his home on the boat of Ra.

Osiris was murdered by his brother Set in an attempt to wrest control of Egypt from him. In an act of supernatural resurrection which shows Osiris' power as god of Duat, the place of resurrection, Isis managed to enliven him long enough to be impregnated by him. The result of their union was a son, Horus, the hawk-headed god.

Horus wanted to revenge his father's murder and fought with Set for eighty years until a tribunal, presided over by Geb, awarded control of Egypt to Horus and ensured the continuation of the Osirian tradition in Egypt.