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In the legend, Osiris, son of Geb, god of the earth and of Nut, goddess of heaven, was killed by his brother Seth who cut up his body into 14 pieces and scattered the fragments throughout Egypt by throwing them into the Nile.
Thanks to her divine powers, Isis, sister and wife of Osiris, invented with the help of her sister Nephtys and the jackal god Anubis the gestures of mummification and gathered together his body before giving him life and conceiving their son, Horus.
Osiris became the Master of the Hereafter and Horus, victor over Seth, inherited Egypt. Osiris is the most human of the Egyptian gods and his resurrection brings to the world
the promise of eternal life.
Told by Plutarch in the second century, the myth of Osiris approaches the legend of Dionysus among the Greeks. It describes a universal order which, at every moment, is threatened with dissolution, hence the importance of rites that ensured its preservation.
Only Pharaoh, son and heir of the gods, was authorized to practice these rites within the sanctuaries. The priests, by royal delegation, assured in the name of the king, the daily worship. In Egyptian mythology, Maat symbolized justice, balance, harmony that made up the universe. Osiris was the «Lord» and Pharaoh made his offering.
The awakening of Osiris,
Egyptian Antiquities Museum of Cairo (CGC 38424) Photo : Christoph Gerigk © Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation
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