Isis is the god of what and what he looks like. Isis

“Come to me, draw close to me, for my lips hold the secret of returning to life. I am the daughter of God, famous in my city for being able to make a poisonous snake retreat. My father taught me this spell, for I am his own, beloved daughter.”
From the text of Metternich's Stele.

In 1735, at the ruins of ancient Koptos, Vitalino Donati, an Italian collector and professor of botany, acquired a pile of stone fragments, among which was the delightful face of a statue of an unknown woman. For almost two centuries, the unknown fragments were stored in a box, which, by the will of fate, ended up in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Turin and was forgotten. Only in 1930 was the old purchase remembered and the dust was wiped off the box. Despite the fact that some fragments were lost, the statue was restored in the form envisioned by the sculptor, a truly brilliant creator.

The statue depicted a woman, or rather, the goddess Isis, standing; in her hands the goddess holds the scepter of power, she is wearing a thin long dress with wide translucent straps covering her chest, decorated with false lotus flowers. On the goddess's head is a tall headdress in the form of cow horns and a solar disk. The goddess's face, with narrow almond-shaped eyes and a barely noticeable smile, is strikingly beautiful. Thanks to the talent of the master, the famous Queen Teye, wife of Amenhotep III, whose family roots went back to this region, and therefore treated it with special respect and attention, was imprinted in the guise of the goddess Isis, “Lady of Koptos,” thanks to the talent of the master. Koptos was one of the cities where the Sed ceremony of Amenhotep III was celebrated, intended to renew his vitality and connections with the world of the deities; New sanctuaries were built here, decorated with specially made statues of deities. Among them was an amazingly beautiful statue of the goddess Isis.
In the hall of the Egyptian Museum in Turin, she stands among other sculptures of the New Kingdom, again forgotten against the background of cracked walls, deprived of light, with a dusty tablet at her knees, as if immersed in sleep. Through the haze of gray, matte stone one can see the striking gaze of a goddess, a queen, a woman who once ruled the minds of peoples, who bloodlessly conquered Rome with her wisdom and who for centuries “speaked” about piety and eternal life.
In 1997, Italy was rocked by the exhibition “Isis. Myth. Mystery, Magic”, dedicated to the greatest goddess of antiquity. They started talking about her again, an excellent catalog was published, which collected images of the “great mother of the gods”, amazing in their diversity, which became for the West not just a symbol of the land of the pharaohs, but also the greatest shrine that inspired the later cults of the mother goddess. However, although they sang of the goddess under other names, they did not even come close to that deep understanding of her essence, which was born in Egypt, was later lost and again attracts our contemporaries, who are trying to “lift the veil.”

The pull of the Great Mother

The image of Isis, which became cornerstone for the history of Egyptian civilization, especially at the final stage of its existence, absorbed all the imagery and multi-layered symbolism of the Egyptian worldview. An ancient mother goddess, depicted back in the pre-dynastic era in the guise of a dancing woman with a bird's face and arms raised up, as if imitating the shape of the horns of a sacred cow, the hypostasis and complement of Hathor, she “gains” her name in written sources only during the V Dynasty in the Pyramid Texts , where, together with Osiris, she becomes the guarantor of eternal and never-ending life for the deceased. Later, during the VI dynasty, we meet the name of her priest, Neferq, nicknamed Pepiankh, who lived in the region of the Central Egyptian city of Kusa, in whose title the name of Isis was theologically associated with the name of Hathor, a goddess whose name has been known to us since ancient times. Until the New Kingdom, its images, with the exception of paintings on the sarcophagi of the XI-XII dynasties, are not known to us, and yet in the Pyramid Texts alone it is mentioned more than seventy times, and in the Sarcophagus Texts even more often, which indicates its significance.
The symbol of the goddess that makes up her name is a throne, a symbol of royal power, on which the pharaoh sits, thereby descending on the knees of his Eternal mother, just as her son Horus, whose embodiment every king was, sat on the knees of Isis. This throne is a magical power that gives the pharaoh royalty and magical protection, this is what makes him a pharaoh. In the Egyptian language, the name of Isis was associated with a root meaning "to have power", which allows us to interpret the name of Osiris, which, as is known, also included the hieroglyph for the throne. Another important meaning of the name of the goddess is “place”, which in the case of the divine world can also be interpreted as a “place of veneration” of the deity, a place in which the reunification of the earthly world and the heavenly world occurs at the moment of the cult action, a place where a transition from the existing reality into transcendental regions known only to the gods, and vice versa.
Isis, the pan-Egyptian goddess, came from the Delta from a city considered one of the largest places of her cult, and was called Hebet by the Egyptians, Iseion by the Greeks, and Iseum by the Romans. Today, the ruins of the temple of the goddess built by Nectaneb II at Behbeit el-Hagar, as the place was called by the Arabs, still present a magnificent sight, awaiting exploration. The reign of the XXX dynasty became an era of special veneration of the goddess. The temples of Iseum and the monastery of Isis on the island of Philae surpassed all her other cult centers. However, other places of her veneration are well known: the temple of Isis “Lady of the Pyramid” in Giza, at the foot of the pyramid of Queen Henutsen, wife of Khufu; sanctuary in the grand temple of Seti I at Abydos; a small temple of Euergetes I and Berenice, dedicated to the goddess in the suburbs of Aswan; the temple of Augustus, built at Dendera on the site where, according to legend, Nut gave birth to Isis and, finally, the abode of the goddess at Deir el-Sheluit, south of Medinet Abu in Thebes.
Isis embodied the Egyptian dream of the ideal of femininity and motherhood. A faithful and loving wife, sacrificial for the sake of her husband, wandering throughout Egypt and foreign countries in search of the body of her beloved husband, killed by his brother, an all-powerful sorceress, conceiving her child from a dead body, revived only for a moment, and, finally, a mother who raised in the swamps Ah-bit of the son of Horus, who provided him with life and protection, burning incense before him, according to the Pyramid Texts, so that “he could walk on the earth in his white sandals and see his father, Osiris,” the goddess at the same time a truly human and superhuman feat , shortly before the new era, surpassed all other Egyptian goddesses and became a symbol of Egypt, which, as you know, was also perceived by the ancients as a female being, the legal wife of the pharaoh. Isis, who has contained the seed of Osiris, is thereby pregnant with the “future,” the heir to the kingdom, who, at the same time, is her husband, reborn in the guise of his son:
“The flame is beating, the gods are in fear, for Isis conceived from the seed of her brother Osiris. She says: “Oh, you gods! Behold, I am Isis, the sister of Osiris, who wept for the father of the gods... His seed in my womb, I created the image of a god in an egg as my son, the one who heads the Ennead. He will rule this country, the inheritance of his father Geb... Come, oh you gods, protect him in my womb for the one you know in your hearts. He is your lord, God, the one who is in his egg, lapis lazuli-haired in appearance, the ruler of the gods... I am Isis, more divine and sacred than all the gods, for God is in this womb of mine and he is the seed of Osiris.”
The story of the human goddess, who thereby gave the common Egyptian hope of gaining immortality, is incredibly vital and, at the same time, mystical. Dressed in mourning robes, the mourner Dzherit is the “falcon,” the witch-queen, all-powerful with her spell, capable of reviving the dead and the mother who fears for her son, who “made” a “nest” of reeds for her child, Isis is the unsurpassed height of the Egyptian faith in femininity, the true “mother.” God" over the millennia of the existence of Egyptian culture, which, in contrast to the Christian understanding of the image of the Mother of God, was not an earthly woman who received a divine spirit, but a goddess who descended to man in her mercy. Isis is associated with the celestial sphere by ideas about her as the goddess of the horizon, who, together with her sister, Nephthys, shifts the solar god from the day boat to the night boat, standing at the great gates of the West, i.e. the afterlife. Like Sepedet or Sirius, the brightest star of the firmament, proclaiming the flood of the Nile during its heliacal rising, previously unseen during the 70 days of mourning for Osiris, Isis is depicted wearing a golden crown of feathers, standing in a boat behind the boat of her husband Orion, whom the Egyptians understood as a hypostasis of Osiris. Isis-Sepedet is also the ruler of destinies, called “Year” in later texts, since on the day Sirius appeared in the sky, which was considered the birthday of Isis, the fate of the coming year was predicted, and not only the fate of living people and the king, but also, possibly, the fate of Egypt itself.
Isis is also an image of suffering, the goddess whose legs Ra himself breaks, whose own son Horus cuts off the head in a rage, who from him, who has taken possession of his own mother, gives birth to four sons - the spirits Imseti, Hepi, Duamutef and Kebehsenuf, protectors of the entrails of the dead; the same Chorus in another myth cuts off her hand, later replacing it with the limb of a cow. The diversity and all-manifestation of the goddess, characteristic of the largest deities of the Egyptian religion, makes it possible to see her in almost every female deity. In Koptos, Isis becomes the mother of Min, identified with Horus and, at the same time, his wife; in Assiut she appears as the mother of Upuat, who gave birth to him from Osiris. Moreover, as the “great mother of God”, i.e. Hora, she is identified with Hathor, becoming her second person in the Greco-Roman era and taking from her typical iconography in the New Kingdom: cow horns and a solar disk between them, mounted on the head, as a sign that the goddess is a great cow, flesh which became the sky, standing above the earthly world.
However, no matter how rich the iconography and symbolism of the goddess may be, the main aspect of the image of Isis lies precisely in the cycle of Osiric legends. It is in the actions of Isis, her words and her spells that lies the secret of rebirth and victory over death, the secret of the sacred milk with which she feeds the deceased king in the Pyramid Texts, and with which she pours libations every ten days on the forbidden island of Bige, revered as the main tomb of Osiris .
The sarcophagus, which contains the body of the murdered Osiris, is also identified not only with the body of Nut, the mother of God, but also with Isis, who, bending in the form of a bird over the mummy of her husband, envelops him with her divine wings, giving healing and protection. As Shentait - “weaving infinity”, Isis appears as perhaps the main figure of the ceremonial of the rebirth of Osiris in the month of Khoyak, the great giver of life, the ancient goddess of the funeral cult, participation in which will forever remain one of her integral functions. The name of the mediator goddess, associated with the underworld, is not included in any of the tephoric names in the Old Kingdom, nor, indeed, are the names of other deities closely associated with the funeral cult. Along with the development of ideas about the identification of each deceased with Osiris and the democratization of the royal funeral ritual, individual elements of which become publicly available, the image of Isis acquires a truly grandiose scope. The figure of the goddess appears at the foot of the sarcophagi, while the image of her sister Nephthys appears at the head; the goddess, together with other great protectors - Neith, Nephthys and Selket, protects the entrails of the deceased and his canopic jars, together with Nut herself, since the era of the Pyramid Texts, gives him rebirth:
“Isis will turn to you and Nephthys will speak to you. Right-voiced spirits will come to you, bowed, and will kiss the ground at your feet, in awe of you... And you will go out to your heavenly mother Nut; She will take your hand and lead you along the road to the horizon, to the place where Ra resides. The double doors of heaven will be open for you..."
As the goddess protector of the dead, Isis was identified with Imentet, the goddess of the Beautiful West, the hypostasis of Hathor, often depicted at the bottom of the sarcophagi of private individuals and personifying the sands of the western desert, the space where the sun dies, where the dead are buried and where, at the same time, the path of deity and man begins to revival. On behalf of Isis, who spread her arms in a gesture of protection at the ark with the canopic jars of Tutankhamun, found in his tomb, the king is given the protection of the goddess that was endowed on Osiris:
"I came. I will hide my son in my arms, the Lord of both lands, Nebheprur, the right-voiced one. I will be his protection in eternity, just as I am for Osiris...”
Isis and Nephthys, goddesses of the horizons, introduce the deceased king to the journey of the sun on boats, an echo of ideas about which were the giant ships made of cedar wood, discovered in hiding places at the foot of the pyramid of Khufu:
“You will go out and you will go down, going down with Nephthys, and you will become dark with the boat of the night sun. You will go out and you will go down, going out with Isis, rising with the morning boat of the sun.”
It was the border possessions, the fact that she gave birth to an earthly son from a father who was in the afterlife and became the “path” through which the descent into the world of the deity took place, as well as power in the kingdom of the living and in the space of the dead that later made Isis the object of a mystery cult, majestic and soulful, which became one of the most interesting phenomena of the religious ecumene of Greco-Roman times.
As the guarantee of life and its continuation, Isis reaches in the Egyptian worldview and, in particular, in the rituals of the temple at Behbeit el-Hagar, to the level of an androgynous creator god, an all-creating entity who proclaims the indivisibility of her state with the words:
“I, who have become a man, remain a woman.”
The “bird” who has made her “nest” in the swamps of the Delta, Isis appears as “a woman who knows magic words”, who, despite the fact that “her heart turned away from millions of people and turned to millions of gods,” finds salvation precisely for people from the poison of snakes and scorpions, witchcraft and corruption, having gone through all these trials with the baby Horus in his arms. The goddess here is not only favorable to the supplicant, but also perspicacious and omniscient, closest to the image of a simple woman who brings wisdom. Spells calling on Isis for help in case of danger were also used by early Christians, for whom the destruction of the face of the goddess in ancient sanctuaries did not prevent, nevertheless, from using the sacred knowledge of their ancestors. The goddess, appearing both in the guise of a “beautiful-faced, perfect-eyed” woman and as a bird, cow, snake or female hippopotamus, is merciful to both people and gods: at the sixth hour of the night she, together with Heka, the god of magic, drags the boat of the Sun God through the dangerous space of the Duat.
The goddess, depicted with a baby on her knees, with winged arms protecting her husband, or kneeling with her hand raised to her face in a gesture of crying, was for Egypt, and later for the entire Mediterranean, the true embodiment of hope for salvation and help for mortals in the difficulties of their earthly life existence. However, we often only guess about the functions of Isis and the complexity and diversity of her appearance “only proves the fact that the ancient deities should not be perceived as a direct reflection of any functions or concepts, sometimes possessing all the wealth of contradictions and diversity inherent in the living and full of this life of beings." It was precisely because of this enduring vitality that Isis outlived Egypt itself and became the goddess of another civilization, filling new images with the power of her legend about the protector of her beloved husband, the mistress of “words of power”:
“His sister gave him her protection,
She led away his enemies,
Stopped the deeds of the adversary with the power of her lips,
Beautiful in speech, whose words will never be defeated,
Effective with orders,
Good Isis, who protected her brother,
She searched for him tirelessly,
Walked around this land crying,
Who knew no rest until he was found,
Who created the shadow with her feathers,
Who created the north wind with her wings,
Rejoicing, having revived her brother,
Raising the fatigue of the weary,
She who took his seed and gave him an heir,
In secret, the child was breastfed,
In the place where he was, unknown to anyone..."

Isis, an ambitious goddess whose main duty is considered to be caring for her family, never forgot about her own importance. That’s why the beauty put so much effort into returning the throne to her own son, because being the mother of a pharaoh is much more honorable than being a simple fugitive. However, even without the brilliant Horus and the faithful Isis occupied an important place in the Egyptian pantheon of gods. The patroness of women and fertility knew exactly what mere mortals needed.

Origin story

The origins of the cult of the goddess lie in the small city of Sebennit, located in the Nile Delta. Before taking the place of the patroness of the pharaohs, Isis was revered mainly by Egyptian fishermen. The city of Buto was considered the place of worship of the goddess.

The initial image of the woman is noticeably different from later images of the beauty. Isis was depicted with the head of a cow, but the spread of the cult was reflected in the woman’s appearance. When the influence of the wife of Osiris expanded throughout ancient Egypt, the unattractive face of the cow was replaced with a beautiful face. Only the horns remaining in the same place reminded of the previous image.

The goddess gradually acquired relatives, as well as her own myths and legends. With the advent of the Ancient Kingdom, Isis acquired the status of wife and assistant to the divine pharaoh. And if previously a beautiful woman was perceived as the patroness of the sky, now Isis was assigned the responsibility of controlling the wind. From that moment on, the goddess was depicted as a winged maiden.

Merging with the cult of Osiris provided the woman with greater influence and more responsibilities. Now Isis was perceived as the protector of the dead, the patroness of pregnant women and a symbol of fidelity, femininity and maternal love.

The goddess began to be depicted with flowing hair. The woman was dressed in a silver dress, and the goddess often held a bucket (the flood of the Nile) and a musical instrument, the sistrum, in her hands. Often the statue of a beauty was wrapped in a cloak, the hem of which was embroidered with flowers. This served as a reminder that Isis is an expert in medicinal herbs and decoctions.

By the time of the formation of the New Kingdom, Isis had become more famous in Egypt than her own husband. The cult of the goddess spread to Greece, where it was initially renamed cult. But later the woman gained fame under her own name. True, the goddess lost its main meaning, while acquiring erotic symbolism.

In the 2nd century BC, the name of Isis sounded in the territory of Ancient Rome. Temples were erected in honor of the goddess in Pompeii and Benevento. From there the cult spread to Europe and Asia. Researchers claim that some elements of the worship of the Egyptian deity are reflected in Christianity.

Myths and legends about Isis

Isis is the eldest child of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. Soon after the girl’s birth, the couple had more heirs: Osiris and Nephthys. After Osiris was proclaimed pharaoh of Egypt, the goddess married her younger brother.

The marriage, which others considered political, was built on love and mutual respect. Therefore, when the evil Set killed Osiris, the woman directed all her strength to return her beloved.

The suffering widow searched for the body of her lover for a long time and accidentally discovered the coffin with Osiris in a tree that had sprouted on the banks of the Nile. Isis turned into a kite, hugged the body of her dead husband and, casting a spell, resurrected Osiris. Alas, the magic was only enough to indulge with the god of love. After this, Osiris returned to the world of the dead, and Isis was left alone with the newborn baby Horus in her arms.

The exiled wife of the pharaoh vigilantly looked after her son and tried in every possible way to return the throne of Egypt to the rightful heir. When Horus became old enough, Isis convened a council of the gods and demanded justice. Knowing that the truth was not on his side, Seth insisted that Isis not be allowed into the council.

With the help of magic, the woman turned into an old woman and, deceiving the guards, went to the chambers of the invader pharaoh. Before entering her younger brother, the goddess took the form of an unfamiliar beauty. Seth, who always paid attention to attractive women, could not resist this time either.

The man tried to take possession of the stranger, but the disguised goddess asked to first listen to a sad story. Isis said that she married a shepherd who was killed. And a stranger came and seized the husband's cattle, depriving the shepherd's son of his inheritance. The blinded Seth cried out that the stranger must be punished and the herd returned to the heir. At that very moment, Isis became herself again.

However, even such a recognition did not bring Isis and Horus closer to the throne. There were still a number of tests to be completed. The mother, who wanted to help her beloved son, threw a harpoon at Seth during the duel of the gods. The younger brother begged his sister to release him. Despite her hatred of the tyrant, Isis took pity on her husband’s murderer. Seeing that the goddess had freed Seth, the angry Horus rashly cut off his mother's head.

Of course, the great patroness of the dead did not die. The head immediately grew back to the neck. The loving mother was not even angry with her son and forgave the proud young man for his ardent outburst.

Having achieved justice for her son, the goddess wanted to raise her own name among the gods. To gain more influence, Isis decided to find out the secret name of God. Such knowledge would provide a woman with influence and power.

Noticing that Ra was already old and sick, the goddess began to collect the dripping saliva of the patron of the sun. Mixing the liquid with dust, Isis created a snake that bit the god. Ra, suffering from severe pain, called on the gods. Isis also responded to pleas for help. The woman promised to cure the god if he told the goddess his own secret name. The old man obeyed, and Isis received the status of mistress of the gods.

The literal meaning of the goddess's name is "throne", but the Egyptians translated "Isis" as "she who stands at the throne."

The symbol of Osiris’s beloved is the pharaoh’s throne, with which the goddess adorned her head. The second most important amulet of Isis is the tiet, or “Isis knot.” Sarcophagi and clothing of the pharaohs were decorated with similar designs.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the flood of the Nile was associated with a deity: the river overflows its banks due to the tears that Isis shed for her lost husband.

Among the many mythologies, religions and cultures of the world, there is a stable tendency: it is with male persons that most gods, especially super-powerful supreme beings, are personified. What is it connected with? What was the place of a woman in the ancient world, what powers did she have and what did she bring to the world? These questions require a thoughtful approach. We can glean information that interests us from ancient legends.

Gods of Egypt

The culture of Egypt is one of the most diverse and ancient in the world. Egyptian mythology reflects and intertwines the cultural traditions and history of this state, its rapid ups and downs. The main role in legends and myths is, of course, played by the religious worldview and its basic postulates.

The pantheon of ancient Egyptian gods is very extensive. Its ranks number in total about 700 different divine beings, most of which were revered only in certain areas and were completely unknown in the rest of the territory. Of course, there were gods who were revered throughout the entire state. Almost all of them were represented by male creatures. The goddess Isis is a rare exception to the traditional rule.

Who is she?

Iset, Isis, or Isis - the wife of Osiris, the god of the underworld and rebirth. She is the mother of Horus, the patron of the sun and heaven. Her name is usually translated as “she who has a thousand names.” If we follow the actual translation from the ancient language, then “iset” is a word meaning “royal throne” or “throne”. This name is most likely due to the fact that its bearer was endowed with great power. "The goddess Isis is the goddess of what?" - you ask. In ancient times, she was worshiped as the patroness of the fair sex, childhood and motherhood, women during childbirth and pregnancy, as well as fertility, wind, water and, naturally, magic. Mysticism and magic in general are closely related to the goddess Isis. Ritual rites were actively promoted by the priestesses of her cult.

In other cultures one can find similar cults in which Rhea or Ishtar acted as Isis. In Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece there were also gatherings of people who venerated her. Nephthys is the sister of this goddess. This is the “mistress of the house”, the right hand and assistant of Isis, who is responsible for housekeeping and the hearth.

As the consort of Osiris, this goddess sometimes takes over his functions. For example, according to Diodorus Siculus, Isis taught mortals to grow grains and reap them. The Greeks identified this goddess with Demeter, their mother goddess. Most often, however, the functions of the farmer had to be performed by Osiris himself. Also, along with the legends that the Nile flows from the womb of this god, there was also the idea that it overflows from the tears of his wife, who yearns for her husband. The goddess Isis, according to the traditions of antiquity, ruled over rivers and seas and was the patroness of sailors.

Legends of Isis

She is the main character of many tales and myths. The most famous of them are the legend of Isis and Osiris, her husband, and the struggle for power with Amun-Ra, the supreme sun god.

The Legend of Osiris and Isis

The legend about Osiris and his wife tells primarily about fidelity and great love. It is unlikely that in any other culture there is such a romantic legend. We learned about him thanks to the story of Plutarch, an ancient Greek biographer and philosopher from Chersonese. The legend tells how the husband of the Egyptian goddess Isis, Osiris, tragically died. He was killed by the god Seth, the patron of violent feelings and a warrior who was the brother of his wife. The beautiful goddess Isis, after a long search and wandering, still managed to find the body of her husband, torn to shreds and wounded. Having resorted to the help of the patron and guardian of the kingdom of the dead, Anubis, she was able to collect him and turn him into the first mummy on earth. For a long time, bitter sobs were heard over the cold body of the murdered god...

The goddess Isis is very often depicted as grieving and mourning in a kneeling position for everyone who has passed on to the other world. Her most popular image, however, is that of a regal falcon or a woman with the wings of a bird. The legend continues that the divine couple conceived a son. This miracle could only happen when the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis was in the guise of the bird Hat. She gave birth to her son and nursed him in the Nile River Delta.

The Legend of Isis and the Sun God

In the second myth, in contrast to the legend of lovers, full of bitter suffering and romanticism, the fertility goddess Isis appears as a much less pleasant character. Let's tell this story too.

The goddess Isis, whose photo is presented in this article, appears in the legend about the sun god as a cunning and greedy witch. This story was attested in the Turin Papyrus, a document that is more than 3 thousand years old. Isis practiced secret witchcraft skills not only on mortals, but also on the celestials of Egypt. Her plans included becoming the great queen of heaven, displacing the god Ra himself from the top of the pantheon. Isis was given confidence in her own abilities by the fact that the sun god at that time was already old. She tracked him for a long time and collected Ra’s saliva, and later fashioned a snake from it.

A few days later, a snake, enchanted by witchcraft, bit the sun god. Isis agreed to heal him only in exchange for secret knowledge about his real name. This desire is explained by faith in the power contained in the name. A number of problems affect the meaning of this legend. First of all, questions were raised about the power of spells. In addition, the main role of the goddess in the host of great magical creatures was affirmed. Scientists of our days also see a special role in this legend - it supposedly emphasizes the place that women occupied in the ancient world.

The similarity of the image of Isis with the image of a real worldly woman

The mythological image of Isis is very close to a real worldly woman. A little-known story about her tells of the sadness and bitter suffering that the goddess Isis experienced (photos of her are sometimes so sad). She complains of loneliness, laments, and all because a mere mortal woman did not accept her on the threshold of her house. She paid for this disrespect with the health of her son, who was stung by a scorpion. In this drama, however, Isis cannot be denied mercy. She still saved the son of a negligent housewife.

Isis herself is a reverent mother. This is confirmed in many legends. In one of them, for example, she goes into a frenzy seeing her dying son. The suffering of this goddess was able to stop even the world boat of the supreme god Ra, in which he sailed across the sky.

Symbols and personifications of the goddess

A large role in ancient Egypt was given to personification and symbolism. Isis is often depicted as a white cow or a woman with a headdress that resembles the disk of the sun with the horns of this animal. Another option is an image in which she is represented with a headdress in the form of a royal throne.

The power and strength that this goddess was endowed with, according to the legends, was truly unlimited. She guarded the celestial horizon in the form of a gazelle, protected the dead, and was the patroness of fabrics and weaving, as well as funeral shrouds.

Talismans and amulets in the name of Isis

Many talismans were made in the name of this goddess. Her name was cast in hieroglyphs on each of them. Even the most important elements, such as the sacred scarab beetles, were subject to this rule. There was also a specially selected amulet made by the priestesses of Isis. Usually it was worn around the neck of the deceased for the subsequent burial procedure. This amulet was an alloy of jasper, carnelian, gilding or gold, with the main color combination being red and gold. Many similar decorations were created. There were more than twenty models in total.

Where was the goddess worshiped?

Isis was revered throughout Egypt. The most famous sanctuary to date was located on the island of Philae. This is a small piece of land that is hidden in the middle of the Nile. It was here, according to ancient legends, that Osiris, her husband, was laid to rest. The temple of the goddess Isis was significantly different from others in that even during the heyday of Christianity, the worship of her cult was preserved. It was customary to venerate the goddess also in Nubia. In Koptos there is another sanctuary known throughout the world. Here the husband of the goddess Isis is not Osiris, but Min, an ancient deity, ruler and patron of the desert.

Note that none of the Egyptian gods (except Serpais) received such popularity in antiquity as Isis. Its temple is in the 4th century. BC. was built on the island of Delos (in Piraeus). Also known are the sanctuaries located in Cenchrea, Tiphorea and other cities of Greece.

From the 2nd century BC. The cult of this goddess spreads in Italy. Temples dedicated to her are being built in Benevente, Rome, Pompeii and other cities. There are known monuments testifying to her cult in Britain, Spain and Gaul. At first he was associated with the veneration of Osiris, but in the Greco-Roman era, Isis became independent and took on many of the functions of a spouse.

The role of the cult of Isis in history

Of course, the cult of Isis played a significant role in the history of the development of Egypt. And she was not only religious, but also social. For the first time, the feminine essence of the goddess in the person of Isis performed on an equal footing with men, and performed quite successfully. She was fair, cunning, wise, and had cosmic powers. Isis is a goddess who is worthy of worship. Negative aspects and human qualities are not alien to her, but her patronage is based on the ideals of goodness, as well as true family values. Ancient authors wrote a lot about it. Her cult greatly influenced the development of Christianity. It is to the image of Isis with Horus in her arms that the image of the Mother of God with her child goes back.

Her figurines were preserved as relics in several medieval churches.

How to call the goddess Isis?

Magicians advise: before calling spirits, you need to learn as much as possible about them. In addition, it should be understood that not every entity should be believed unconditionally. There is nothing stopping some evil spirit from deceiving you for gain.

In order to summon Isis (or any other deity), you should know several rules. The session should be carried out in the dark (best from 12 at night to 4 in the morning). The ritual is carried out by candlelight; there should be no electric lighting. You should write the questions you plan to ask the spirit on a piece of paper in advance, and then read them from it. In order to make it easier for Isis to enter the house, you can open a window or window. Before the session, the room is fumigated with incense. It has properties that repel lower entities. You should not drink alcohol before the ritual.

Compliance with these rules, of course, does not guarantee that you will be able to achieve your plans. Mediums claim that lower entities usually come to the call of beginners. Therefore, we advise you to prepare well and know exactly why you need it, and whether you need it at all.

The ancient Egyptian gods have been attracting attention for many centuries, and fantastic myths, supported by real events and people, draw you in and immerse you in the atmosphere of the past. Isis is no exception. She was very famous, and her fame has survived to this day.

Who is the goddess Isis in ancient Egypt?

She was a very kind and positive character and always took the side of good. Isis provided help to anyone in need, and was deeply affected by the troubles and misfortunes of mortals. Many myths say that she shared most of her skills with her son Horus and instructed him to take care of people. The son was the real dignity of the goddess, and she loved him more than her life.

The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis was a very wise woman. Having gone through obstacles that were unrealistic for a person, she was able to find the strength in herself and still become a mother, which is why she began to be called the goddess of home and fidelity. Isis experienced the death of her husband for a very long time and painfully, and in modern times her appearance is represented as a fragile maiden with a bird’s wing, bending over her deceased husband.

What did Isis patronize?

The great goddess of ancient Egypt, Isis, was the true personification of femininity. All the girls and women prayed and imitated her in order to show their perfection, love and fidelity. The goddess Isis had power over the elements of water and wind. Many considered her the god of fertility and prosperity in the home. All the goals to which this confident and kind woman went were sure to be achieved, but, unfortunately, like others, Isis had a complex and difficult fate, with many betrayals.

What did the goddess Isis look like?

Egyptian mythology presents several forms of the goddess. According to some descriptions, she has beautiful bird wings, with which she seems to shield her dead husband from the outside world. Some believe that Isis could turn into an eagle and fly in the skies, looking at people. Contemporaries see her sitting on her knees or breastfeeding her son Horus.

Almost always she has a throne on her head, or cow horns holding the sun or a halo at their ends. Her second representation dates back to later times, when people already dubbed her as the goddess of fertility. Her name itself comes from the word “iset” - which means royal throne, and this throne is considered her main feature in all images.

How was the goddess Isis worshiped?

The people of ancient Egypt revered her as the main patroness of women in labor. Every time a new person was born, those present were obliged to pray to her, and after a successful birth, bring gifts. The goddess Isis gave people faith in the magic of healing, raised the vitality of those who needed it, but her most important merit was the preservation of the family hearth. In Egypt, many women imitated her, concealing tenderness, kindness and beauty. In ancient times, it was believed that if a wife dared to cheat on her husband, Isis would definitely punish her for the sin she had committed.

The Legend of Osiris and Isis

This myth is known to many and its tragedy can touch the heart of anyone. Isis was the faithful wife of Osiris, but his brother killed him in order to take possession of his castle and power. And Osiris’s brother was so angry that he ordered his body to be cut into small pieces and not buried, so that people could not come to his grave to worship him. Isis wandered for a long time, but still collected her husband’s body and breathed life force into him for a moment to conceive a son.

The goddess managed to get pregnant, and she gave birth to a beautiful son, Horus, to whom she subsequently passed on all her magical knowledge. She loved him as she loved her husband, because he was his exact copy, his likeness. Probably because of such a tragic fate, Isis became the goddess of the hearth. Having lost her happiness, she helped others find it, supporting them in difficult moments of life.

The Wanderings of Isis

After the death of her husband, Isis was not afraid to stay in the castle and look her worst enemy in the eyes. Still, there was no more room for her there and she was driven away. The brutal murder forced the poor woman to wander throughout Egypt and collect pieces of her elastic in order to make a mummy out of it. At that time, this was the very first attempt to make mummies, following the example of which they began to retire the pharaohs.

Isis's wanderings and magic led her to the city of Byblos, to the shores of the Green Sea. It was there that she ended up in the queen’s house, since in her castle, in a wooden column, a chest with the body of her husband was walled up. For a long time, Isis was a servant there and carefully nursed the queen’s son, secretly making him immortal. But the queen of the castle herself ruined everything by accusing the goddess of witchcraft over the child. Angry, Isis broke the column and, seeing her husband’s body, screamed loudly and with her scream killed the queen’s son, punishing her with this.

The goddess Isis is the most famous goddess of antiquity, about whom they said that she had a thousand names. She was revered in Ancient Egypt as the patroness of fertility and navigation, mistress of the wind and water. They worshiped her as a symbol of femininity and selfless loyalty to her husband.

Isis - the most revered pre-Christian goddess

The goddess Isis enjoyed great love and respect in Ancient Egypt, which cannot be said about other beautiful goddesses. She is the only one of the cults of Egypt that went beyond the borders of this civilization. During the Hellenistic period, and later in Rome, she was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean. In addition, the cult of the goddess Isis competed with early Christianity. She was included in the pantheon of gods - the patrons of medicine.

In early mythology, Isis appears as the ruler of scorpions. The ancients believed that she gave bees and wedding dresses to humanity. Gave women the ability to spin yarn, weave fabric, and reap bread. Isis patronized women in labor and predicted the fate of born pharaohs.

Interestingly, her name translates as “throne”. Isis, thanks to her son, inspired the power of the king and was revered as the heavenly mother of any pharaoh, who gave him the throne.

Like the Babylonian Ishtar, the Egyptian goddess Isis was initially evil and fought even with her son. But over time, she becomes a beneficent ruler, a loving mother and wife.

Birth of Isis: myth

In mythology, Isis is the daughter of Geb and Nut, the great-granddaughter of Ra, the twin sister of Osiris and his beloved wife. Almost all myths and tales about her are closely intertwined with tales about Osiris. In the mythology of various nationalities, the marriage of gods - brothers and sisters - was one of the indicators of their divine essence.

Surprisingly, the “Lady of Life” worshiped by the ancient Egyptians may not have been born due to an event that happened at the very dawn of time. At the time when Ra formed the world, his children - the god Shu (air) and (water) - fell in love with each other, and from this beautiful love two gods were born - Geb (earth) and Nut (sky), who also fell in love with each other .

The love was so strong that heaven and earth united! The sun, air, water froze, their movement stopped. Ra's rage knew no bounds; he ordered his son Shu to punish the disobedient lovers, because of this several catastrophic earthquakes occurred. But it was too late, Nut was already bearing five gods in her womb.

Among them were the Egyptian goddess Isis and Osiris. Enraged Ra determined that these children could not be born in any of the 12 months of the year. He came to the rescue and exchanged five extra days with Luna. They were located after twelve months. Nut gave birth to Isis on the fourth day.

The Myth of Isis and Osiris

After the murder, Seth threw the body of his hated brother into the Nile, and the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis made a lot of efforts to find the remains. Her sister Nephthys helped the unfortunate woman in this. Two beautiful goddesses found Osiris and hid him in the swampy places of Khemmis.

But Seth did not stop his attempts to kill his brother, found the cache and divided his remains into 14 parts, after which he scattered them throughout Egypt. And yet the goddess did not give up. Having collected all the parts of Osiris, she, with the help of Anubis, created the very first mummy from them.

Isis sculpted a phallus from clay, which they could not find because, according to legend, it was eaten by fish. After this, she consecrated him. And with the help of magic spells she grew him to her husband’s body. With the help of magic, Isis, transformed into a female kite called Hut, spread her wings over her husband's mummy, whispered magic words and became pregnant.

Religious buildings depicting Isis and Osiris

In the temples of Hathor in Dendra and Osiris in Abydos, the most ancient relief compositions have been preserved to this day. They depict the divine act in which the son of the goddess was conceived when she took the form of a female falcon, spread out over the mummy. According to myth, Osiris became king in the afterlife, and Isis gave birth to a son, Horus. This occurred in the marshy reeds of Khemmis (Delta).

And now in Egypt you can see countless statues and bas-reliefs showing Isis breastfeeding her son, who took the form of a pharaoh. Together with the sisters Nut, Tefnut and Nephthys, the goddess Isis received the epithet “beautiful”. She was always nearby when the pharaohs were born.

Great Ra and Isis: myth

The ancient texts about Isis say that she has a heart more rebellious than all people, and more intelligent than all the gods. Isis was considered by people to be a sorceress. She tested her skills on the gods.

So, with an indomitable desire, the goddess wanted to know the secret name of the god Ra, who created the world, as well as the sky and light. This would give her power over the most powerful god, and subsequently over all gods. In order to find out the secret of the head of the pantheon of Egyptian gods, the goddess Isis used a trick. She knew that Ra was old and that when he rested, saliva flowed from the corners of his lips and dripped at his feet.

She scraped off these droplets, mixed them with road dust and sculpted a snake. With the help of her spells, she revived her and threw her onto the road along which Ra was supposed to pass. After some time, the supreme god was bitten by a snake. Frightened, he called the children for help and explained to them that he had been bitten by something unknown, and his heart was trembling, and his limbs were filled with cold.

Isis, submissive to his will, also came to her father and said: “Reveal to me your name, father, because the one whose name will be mentioned in the spell will live!” Ra was confused - he knew about it, but he was afraid. He, pretending to give in to his daughter, read out a list of random names. But Isis could not be fooled, and she insisted that her father say his real name.

Ra, unable to bear the terrible pain, initiated her into a terrible secret. After which he was healed by his daughter. It is interesting that this name was not indicated in any of the texts currently known. In Christianity, no one knows the name of God either.

The cult of Isis, centers of veneration and symbols

The cult of the fertility goddess Isis became widespread over time. She was revered everywhere: from all the lands of Ancient Egypt to the remote Roman provinces. Among the Greeks and Romans, the Egyptian goddess Isis, photos of whose images you can see in the article, was also a symbol and enjoyed universal attention. The Ptolemies of Egypt built many temples in her honor. Thus, the sanctuary of Debod was built south of Aswan. And with the decline of the era of the pharaohs and the flourishing of the era of Rome, temples were built in Nubia. An example is the temple of Kalabsha (ancient - Talmis). But the most famous is the Temple of Isis, located on the island. Fillet (Pilak).

Pharaoh Nectanebo I from the XXX dynasty decided to build a majestic temple of the goddess Isis, which became the largest cult center of the goddess. The following pharaohs and emperors of Rome contributed in every possible way to the maintenance of this cult. The temple was closed during the spread of Christianity in 537, by order of Emperor Justinian. All the statues were transported to Constantinople, and the Hypostyle Hall was converted into a Christian church, which once again confirmed its connection with the Mother of God.

Symbols of Isis

The main symbol of the goddess described is the royal throne. His sign is quite often located on her head. Isis was worshiped by the great white cow of Heliopolis, who was the mother of the sacred Apis.

A widely used symbol of Isis is the Tet amulet, called the “Isis knot”. It is made from red minerals - jasper and carnelian.

The heavenly symbol of the goddess is Sirius. With the rise of this star, the Nile overflows from the tears of the goddess mourning her beloved husband.