Osiris

oh-SY-ris

egyptian: Wsir

Definition

Osiris (Egyptian Wsir) is the Egyptian god of the dead, of rebirth, and king of the Duat — the underworld the Sun crosses each night. In the family of Heliopolis he is son of the earth-god Geb and the sky-goddess Nut, brother and husband of Isis, and father of Horus. His stellar identity is Sah, the constellation we call Orion; in funerary belief the dead person merges with Osiris to share his nightly renewal. (For the constellation itself, see Sah (Orion).)

In Tradition

Egyptologists read Osiris as the figure through whom the Egyptians explained how one generation gives rise to the next — a force they saw in the Nile flood, in sprouting seed, and in the Sun's daily rebirth. That rebirth was framed astrally: the night Sun was thought to merge with the mummy of Osiris in the Duat and rise renewed at dawn, which is why he could be understood as a nocturnal aspect of the sun-god Re.

In Practice

For Egyptian-tradition glossary work, Osiris turns up wherever funerary astronomy and the night sky meet. His stellar form Sah (Orion) is the male half of the Sah/Sopdet star-pair that anchors the decanal star-clocks — the star-tables that told the hour of night. Osiris also gathered several astral identities at once: Orion (made up of its own decans), the Moon, and the nocturnal Sun, so that a single twelve-hour night-grid could serve both his cult and the solar liturgy. In the Pyramid Texts the dead king is called "Osiris Unis" in the burial chamber and rises to join the imperishable stars alongside Orion. Keep his deity identity distinct from the constellation Sah, which is the observed star-group.

Historical Origin

Osiris is attested from the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts (Dynasties 5-6, c. 2400-2300 BCE), where the dead king is identified with him; the standard translation is James P. Allen, *The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts* (SBL 2005). He is named throughout the New Kingdom Book of the Dead (Faulkner/Goelet, Ani papyrus). His reading as a nocturnal form of Re is discussed by Miller and Symons. Standard reference: Richard H. Wilkinson, *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt* (2003).

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading