The
main features of the Egyptian religion constant.
The chief features of the Egyptian religion remained unchanged from the Vth and VIth dynasties down to the period when the Egyptians embraced Christianity, after the preaching of St. Mark the Apostle in Alexandria, A.D. 69, so firmly had the early beliefs taken possession of the Egyptian mind; and the Christians in Egypt, or Copts as they are commonly called, the racial descendants of the ancient Egyptians, seem never to have succeeded in divesting themselves of the superstitious and weird mythological conceptions which they inherited from their heathen ancestors. It is not necessary here to repeat the proofs, of this fact which M. Amélineau has brought together,[1] or to adduce evidence from the lives of the saints, martyrs and ascetics; but it is of interest to note in passing that the translators of the New Testament into Coptic rendered the Greek {Greek a!'dhs} by ###, amenti, the name which the ancient Egyptians gave to the abode of man after death,[3] and that the Copts peopled it with beings whose prototypes are found on the ancient monuments.
Persistence of the legend of Osiris and the belief in
the resurrection.
The chief gods mentioned in the pyramid texts are identical with those whose names are given on tomb, coffin and papyrus in the latest dynasties; and if the names of the great cosmic gods, such as Ptah and Khnemu, are of rare occurrence, it should be remembered that the gods of the dead must naturally occupy the chief place in this literature which concerns the dead. Furthermore, we find that the doctrine of eternal life and of the resurrection of a glorified or transformed body, based upon the ancient story of the resurrection of Osiris after a cruel death and horrible mutilation, inflicted by the powers of evil, was the same in all periods, and that the legends of the most ancient times were accepted without material alteration or addition in the texts of the later dynasties.
[1. Le
Christianisme chez les anciens Coptes, in Revue des Religions, t, xiv., Paris, 1886, PP, 308-45
2. I.e., ###.
3. See St. Matthew xi.,
23; Acts ii., 27, etc.]
{p. xlix}
Plutarch's version of the legend.
The story of Osiris is nowhere found in a connected form in Egyptian
literature, but everywhere, and in texts of all periods, the life, sufferings,
death and resurrection of Osiris are accepted as facts universally admitted.
Greek writers have preserved in their works traditions concerning this god, and
to Plutarch in particular we owe an important version of the legend as current
in his day. It is clear that in some points he errs, but this was excusable in
dealing with a series of traditions already some four thousand years old.[1] According to this writer the goddess Rhea [Nut], the
wife of Helios [Ra], was beloved by Kronos [Seb]. When Helios discovered the intrigue, he cursed his
wife and declared that she should not be delivered of her child in any month or
in any year. Then the god Hermes, who also loved Rhea, played at tables with
Selene and won from her the seventieth part of each day of the year, which,
added together, made five whole days. These he joined to the three hundred and
sixty days of which the year then consisted.[2] Upon
the first of these five days was Osiris brought forth;[3] and at the moment of
his birth a voice was heard to proclaim that the lord of creation was born. In
course of time he became king of
[1. For the text see De Iside et Osiride,
ed. Didot (Scripta Moralia, t. iii., pp. 429-69), § xii. ff.
2. The days are called in hieroglyphics ###,
"the five additional days of the year," e?pago'menai!hme'rai pe'nte;
see Brugsch, Thesaurus Inscriptionum
Aegytiacarum, Abt. ii. (Kalendarische Inschriften),
3. Osiris was born on the first day, Horus on
the second, Set on the third, Isis on the fourth, and Nephthys
on the fifth; the first, third, and fifth of these days were considered unlucky
by the Egyptians.
4. The mouths of the Nile are discussed and
described by Strabo, XVII., i.,
18 (ed. Didot, p. 681) and by Diodorus,
{p. l}
Plutarch's version.
the month Hathor,[1] when
Osiris was in the twenty-eighth year either of his reign or of his age. The
first to know of what had happened were the Pans and Satyrs, who dwelt hard by Panopolis; and finally the news was brought to
[1. In the Calendar in the fourth Sallier papyrus (No. 10,184) this day is marked triply
unlucky, and it is said that great lamentation by Isis and Nephthys
took place for Un-nefer (Osiris) thereon. See Chabas, Le Calendrier, p.
50. Here we have Plutarch's statement supported by
documentary evidence. Some very interesting details concerning the festivals of
Osiris in the month Choiak are given by Loret in Recueil de Travaux, t. iii., p. 43 ff; t.
iv., p. 21 ff.; and t. v., p. 85 ff. The various mysteries which took place
thereat are minutely described.
2 On the cutting of the hair as a sign of
mourning, see W. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites, p. 395;
and for other beliefs about the hair see Tylor, Primitive
Culture, vo1. ii., p. 364, and Fraser, Golden
Bough, pp. 193-208.
3 The story continues that
{p. li}
Plutarch's version.
chest by ship to
Identity of the deceased with Osiris.
This is the story of the sufferings and death of Osiris as told by Plutarch. Osiris was the god through whose sufferings and death the Egyptian hoped that his body might rise again in some transformed or glorified shape, and to him who had conquered death and had become the king of the other world the Egyptian appealed in prayer for eternal life through his victory and power. In every funeral inscription known to us, from the pyramid texts down to the roughly written prayers upon coffins of the Roman period, what is done for Osiris is done also for the deceased, the state and condition of Osiris are the state and condition of
[1. The ark of "bulrushes" was, no
doubt, intended to preserve the child Moses from crocodiles.
2. {Greek Mo'non
de` tw^n merw^u tou^ O?si'ridos th`n I?^sin ou`x
e`urei^n to` ai?doi^n e`uðu`s ga`r ei's
to`n potamo`n r!ifh^nai kai` geu'sasðai to'n te lepidwto`n au`tou^
kai` to`n fa'gron kai` to`n
o?ksu'rugxon. k.t.l.}.
By the festival celebrated by the Egyptians in honour
of the model of the lost member of Osiris, we are probably to understand the
public performance of the ceremony of "setting up the Tet
in Tattu", which we know took place on the last
day of the month Choiak; see Loret,
Les Fêtes d'Osiris au mois
de Khoiak (Recueil
de Travaux, t. iv., p. 32, § 87); Plutarch, De
Iside, § xviii.
3. An account of the battle is also given in
the IVth Sallier papyrus,
wherein we are told that it took place on the 26th day of the month Thoth.
Horus and Set fought in the form of two men, but they afterwards changed
themselves into two bears, and they passed three days and three nights in this
form. Victory inclined now to one side, and now to the other, and the heart of
{p. lii}
the deceased; in a word, the deceased is identified with Osiris. If Osiris liveth for ever, the deceased will live for ever; if Osiris dieth, then will the deceased perish.[1]
[1. The origin of Plutarch's
story of the death of Osiris, and the Egyptian conception of his nature and
attributes, may be gathered from the following very remarkable hymn. (The text is given
by Ledrain, Les Monuments Égyptiens de la
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1879, pll.
xxi-xxvii. A French translation of it was
published, with notes, by Chabas, in Revue Archéologique, Paris, 1857, t. xiv., p. 65 ff.; and an
English version was given in Records of the Past, 1st series, vol. iv.,
p. 99 ff. The stele upon which it is found belongs to the early part of the XVIIIth dynasty, by which is meant the period before the
reign of Amenophis IV.; this is proved by the fact
that the name of the god Amen has been cut out of it, an act of vandalism which
can only have been perpetrated in the fanatical reign of Amenophis
IV.):
Hymn to
Osiris.
"(1) Hail to thee, Osiris, lord of
eternity, king of the gods, thou who hast many names, thou disposer of created
things, thou who hast hidden forms in the temples, thou sacred one, thou KA who
dwellest in Tattu, thou
mighty (2) one in Sekhem, thou lord to whom
invocations are made in Anti, thou who art over the offerings in Annu, thou lord who makest
inquisition in two-fold right and truth, thou hidden soul, the lord of Qerert, thou who disposest
affairs in the city of the White Wall, thou soul of Ra, thou very body of Ra
who restest in (3) Suten-henen,
thou to whom adorations are made in the region of Nart,
thou who makest the soul to rise, thou lord of the
Great House in Khemennu, thou mighty of terror in Shas-hetep, thou lord of eternity, thou chief of Abtu, thou who sittest upon thy
throne in Ta-tchesert, thou whose name is established
in the mouths of (4) men, thou unformed matter of the world, thou god Tum, thou who providest with food
the ka's who are with the company of the gods, thou perfect khu
among khu's, thou provider of the waters of
Nu, thou giver of the wind, thou producer of the wind of the evening from thy
nostrils for the satisfaction of thy heart. Thou makest
(5) plants to grow at thy desire, thou givest birth
to . . . . . . . ; to thee are obedient the stars in the heights, and thou openest the mighty gates. Thou art the lord to whom hymns
of praise are sung in the southern heaven, and unto thee are adorations paid in
the northern heaven. The never setting stars (6) are before thy face, and they
are thy thrones, even as also are those that never rest. An
offering cometh to thee by the command of Seb.
The company of the gods adoreth thee, the stars of
the tuat bow to the earth in adoration before
thee, [all] domains pay homage to thee, and the ends of the earth offer
entreaty and supplication. When those who are among the holy ones (7) see thee
they tremble at thee, and the whole world giveth
praise unto thee when it meeteth thy majesty. Thou
art a glorious sahu among the sahu's, upon thee hath dignity been conferred, thy
dominion is eternal, O thou beautiful Form of the company of the gods; thou
gracious one who art beloved by him that (8) seeth
thee. Thou settest thy fear in all
the world, and through love for thee all proclaim thy name before that
of all other gods. Unto thee are offerings made by all mankind, O thou lord to
whom commemorations are made, both in heaven and in earth. Many are the shouts
of joy that rise to thee at the Uak[*] festival, and cries of delight ascend to thee from the
(9) whole world with one voice. Thou art the chief and prince of thy brethren,
thou art the prince of the company of the gods, thou stablishest
right and truth everywhere, thou placest thy son upon
thy throne, thou art the object of praise of thy father Seb,
and of the love of thy mother Nut. Thou art exceeding mighty, thou overthrowest those who oppose thee, thou art mighty of
hand, and thou slaughterest thine
(10) enemy. Thou settest thy fear in thy foe, thou removest his boundaries, thy heart is fixed, and thy feet
are watchful. Thou art the heir of Seb and the
sovereign of all the earth;
[* This festival took place on the 17th and
18th days of the month Thoth; see Brugsch, Kalendarische Inschriften, p.
235.]
{footnote page liii}
Seb hath seen thy glorious power, and hath commanded thee
to direct the (11) universe for ever and ever by thy hand.
"Thou hast made this earth by thy hand,
and the waters thereof, and the wind thereof, the herb thereof, all the cattle
thereof, all the winged fowl thereof, all the fish thereof, all the creeping
things thereof, and all the four-footed beasts thereof. (12) O thou son of Nut,
the whole world is gratified when thou ascendest thy
father's throne like Ra. Thou shinest in the horizon,
thou sendest forth thy light into the darkness, thou makest the darkness light with thy double plume, and thou floodest the world with light like the (13) Disk at break
of day. Thy diadem pierceth heaven and becometh a brother unto the stars, O thou form of every
god. Thou art gracious in command and in speech, thou art the favoured one of the great company of the gods, and thou art
the greatly beloved one of the lesser company of the gods.
"Thy sister put forth her protecting
power for thee, she scattered abroad those who were her enemies, (14) she drove
back evil hap, she pronounced mighty words of power, she made cunning her
tongue, and her words failed not. The glorious
[*. Literally, "she alighted not,"; the whole passage here justifies Plutarch's
statement (De Iside Osiride,
16) concerning
+. Compare Plutarch, op. cit., §19:
{Greek T`hn d' I?'sin th`n teleuth`n e`ks O?si'ridos suggenome'nou tekei~n h?li'to'mhnon kai` a?sðenh~ toi~s
ka'twðen gui'ois to`n A?rpokra'thn}.
++. The remainder of the hymn refers to
Horus.]]
{p. liii}
Osiris
invested with the attributes of Ra.
Later in the XVIIIth, or early in the XIXth dynasty, we find Osiris called "the king of eternity, the lord of everlastingness, who traverseth millions of years in the duration of his life, the firstborn son of the womb of Nut, begotten of Seb, the prince of gods and men, the god of gods, the king of kings, the lord of lords, the prince of princes, the governor of the world, from the womb of Nut, whose existence is for everlasting,[1] Unnefer of many forms and of many attributes, Tmu in Annu, the lord of Akert,[2] the only one, the lord of the land on each side of the celestial Nile."[3]
In the XXVIth dynasty and later there grew up a class of literature
[1. For the text see the papyrus of Ani, pl. ii., and pl. xxxvi., 1.
2.
2. I.e., the underworld.
3. neb atebui; see Ani, pl. xix., 1.
9.]
{p. liv}
Osiris the god of the resurrection.
represented by such works as "The Book of Respirations,"[1] "The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys,"[2] "The Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys,"[3] "The Litanies of Seker,"[4] and the like, the hymns and prayers of which are addressed to Osiris rather as the god of the dead and type of the resurrection[5] than as the successor of the great cosmic god Tmu-Ra. He is called "the soul that liveth again,"[6] "the being who becometh a child again," "the firstborn son of unformed matter, the lord of multitudes of aspects and forms, the lord of time and bestower of years, the lord of life for all eternity."[7] He is the "giver of life from the beginning;"[8] "life springs up to us from his destruction,"[9] and the germ which proceeds from him engenders life in both the dead and the living.[10]
[1. ###. The text of this work, transcribed into
hieroglyphics, was published, with a Latin translation, by Brugsch,
under the title, Sai an Sinsin
sive Aber Metempsychosis veterum Aegyptiorum, Berlin,
1851; and an English translation of the same work, but made from a Paris MS.,
was given by p. J. de Horrack in Records of the
Past, 1st series, vol., iv., p. 121 ff. See also Birch, Facsimiles of
Two Papyri, London, 1863, p. 3; Devéria, Catalogue
des MSS. Égyptiens, Paris, 1874, pp. 130 ff.,
where several copies of this work are described.
2. The hieratic text of this work is
published with a French translation by p. J. de Horrack,
Les Lamentations d'Isis et
de Nephthys,
3. A hieroglyphic transcript of these works,
with an English translation, was given in Archælogia,
vol. iii.,
4. What Devéria says with reference to the Book of
Respirations applies to the whole
class: "Toutefois, on remarque dans cet écrit une tendance à la doctrine
de la résurrection du corps plus marquée que dans les compositions
antérieures" (Catalogue, p. 13).
5. ###. Festival Songs, iv.,
33.
6. ###. Ibid.,
viii., 21, ix., 8.
7. Litanies of Seker,
col. xviii.
8. ###. Festival Songs, vi., 1.
9. ###. Ibid.,
iii., 18.
10. ###. Ibid.,
ix., 26.]