by
Damien F. Mackey
The myth of Osiris, wrote Sir Alan
Gardiner, “is too remarkable and occurs in too many divergent forms not to
contain a considerable element of historic truth”.
Introduction
The problem is that these
“many divergent forms” make it most difficult for us now to find our way back
to the origin of it all, to identify whatever “historic truth” may lie behind
the myth.
A further complication is that
the ancient gods and goddesses undergo various manifestations in literature.
Athena (Athene), for instance, the Greek virgin goddess, will - according to my
interpretation of it - substitute in The Odyssey for the angel Raphael
of Hebrew literature.
See my:
Similarities to The Odyssey of the Books of Job and Tobit
Robert Bowie Johnson Jr. is
emphatic that Athena arose from the biblical Naamah, sister of Tubal-cain
(commonly considered to be the origin of the Roman god, Vulcan), Genesis 4:22.
Whilst John R. Salverda has responded to Johnson: “Athena
was Naamah? What about the, much more likely, Eve, or Zion, or even Lilith?” See
the debate between the pair in my:
And there are other aspects to
be considered.
For instance, ancient agrarian
peoples recognised, in the life and death cycles of their deities, e.g. the god
Tammuz, the usual birth-death cycle of
vegetation.
And they also, cognizant of the alterations in the heavens, regarded their
gods as astral deities.
Was Homer’s The Iliad, for instance, partly an epic about
astronomy? A fascinating book by Florence and Kenneth Wood, Homer’s Secret
Iliad. The Epic of the Night Skies Decoded, presents the ancient classic in
a new light. (I do not necessarily accept all of the following):
From the flyleaf of Homer’s Secret Iliad, by Florence and Kenneth Wood, which was deservingly awarded Book of the
Year when first released in 1999.
During the 1930s the young daughter of a Kansas farmer spent night after night watching the stars and planets wheel across the vast prairie sky. Later, as a teacher in England, she combined her devotion to astronomy with a passion for Homer. This led her to a discovery which would lie buried until her daughter, Florence Wood, inherited her papers in 1991.
Her years of study,
it became clear, had revealed Homer’s great epic to be also the world’s oldest
book of astronomy.
The changing
configuration of the stars, so important for navigation and the measurement of
time, had a fascination for the ancient world that it has lost today. In the Iliad, battles between Greeks and
Trojans mirror the movements of stars and constellations as they appear to
fight for ascendancy in the sky. The timescale of Homeric astronomy is
breathtaking; elements can be dated to the ninth millennium BC [sic], long
before the recorded astronomy of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Geography is also
represented, since the shapes of constellations were used as ‘skymaps’ to
direct ancient travellers throughout Greece and Asia Minor.
Homer was probably
the last and most accomplished of a long line of bards who wove such knowledge
into the epics they memorized and declaimed. After his lifetime the Greek
alphabet preserved his works in writing, and the study of the skies changed
too, moving away from pure observation to a science that applied mathematics
and geometry. The astronomical content of the Iliad
was gradually forgotten.
This unique and
fascinating book unlocks its hidden meaning once again. It documents one of the
most important discoveries this century about the ancient Greek world.
[End of quote]
Appropriate,
too, is a quote from “The Worship of Saturn”: The
Immanuel Velikovsky Archive http://www.varchive.org/itb/satwor.htm
The Egyptologist John Wilson wrote that
it is an admission of failure that the chief cultural content of Egyptian
civilization, its religion, its mythological features again and again narrated
and alluded to in texts and represented in statues and temple reliefs, is not
understood.(10)
The astral meaning of Egyptian deities was not realized and the cosmic events
their activities represent were not thought of.
Osiris
Perhaps few of the ancient
gods could boast as many manifestations as Osiris, another of those gods of
vegetation - also a stellar deity (http://www.starteachastronomy.com/egyptian.html):
“The constellation Orion, for
instance, represented Osiris, who was the god of death, rebirth, and the
afterlife”.
Historically speaking, how far back does this Osiris
go? He is most ancient according to:
the land including Ra or Re.
Though his exact origin is unclear because of the many myths and legends about
him, Osiris seems to have been known all around the Mediterranean with his own
handiwork attesting to his presence.
Though Osiris, in his origins, must surely date back
to antediluvian times, some see parallels between he in his various
manifestations (ranging throughout the varying legends) and, now Joseph of the
Book of Genesis, and, now Moses.
Joseph and Osiris
Aspects of the Osiris
mythology can remind one of the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis. Anna
Patricio, who has authored a book called Asenath, tells of:
Parallels
between Joseph’s Story and Egyptian Mythology
My novel ‘Asenath’ is about the Egyptian priestess
who marries Joseph of the multicoloured coat fame.
I love the story of Joseph, hence my novel on his
little-known wife. When I began delving deeper into his story some years
ago, I was amazed to come across comparisons made between his story and
various tales from Egyptian mythology. I always thought I knew the
Genesis account and Egyptian myths pretty well, but I never thought to
draw parallels between the two. I found these to be
really insightful. Plus, being a mythology aficionado, my interest was duly piqued.
Possibly the most widespread comparison made was
that between the Potiphar’s wife episode and the story of the two
brothers, Anubis and Bata. As we know, in the Biblical account, Joseph
fled the advances of his master’s wife, yet suffered unjustly. In the
Egyptian myth, Anubis’ wife too tries to seduce Bata while her husband was
out. Like Joseph, Bata spurned her. And like Mrs. Potiphar, Anubis’ wife
falsely cried rape, and her husband sought to kill Bata.
The similarities do not end there. Joseph and Bata
are long-suffering heroes. As we know, Joseph was in prison for many years
until he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and was appointed vizier of Egypt.
Bata, too, endures a lot but becomes a ruler in the end–a Pharaoh,
at that.
Basically, after hearing his wife’s false
accusations, Anubis goes after Bata to kill him. The gods then create a
river between the two brothers, protecting Bata. When Anubis goes home, he
found his wife duped him, and thus kills her. Meanwhile, the gods give
Bata a wife. Alas, she is not faithful to him. When she catches Pharaoh’s
eye, she marries the king and has her first husband killed.
Bata, however, is reincarnated several times–and
murdered several times as well. Eventually, he is reincarnated as his
wife’s son (this is made possible when, as a tree, he is cut down and a
small chip flies into his wife’s mouth). When he grows into manhood, he is
able to get his revenge and then rules Egypt together with his
long-lost brother.
There is also a little-known episode of Joseph which
takes place during the Exodus. Most people do not seem to be aware of
this, probably because it is mentioned in passing, but when the
Israelites left Egypt they brought the bones of Joseph with them. There is
an interesting rabbinical story in which Moses, before leaving
Egypt, calls on Joseph’s coffin which is apparently buried in the
Nile. Joseph’s coffin rises up, and Moses then collects it.
This has been likened to the tale of Osiris. As you
probably know, Osiris was murdered by his jealous brother Seth and was
placed in a coffin, which was then dumped into the Nile. Osiris’ wife Isis
went searching for him and later found him.
So, Joseph likened to Bata and Osiris. Intriguing
stuff, indeed.
[End of quote]
Moses and Osiris
Others have detected an
undoubted parallel between Horus son of Osiris and the baby Moses, the Exodus
account apparently being a popular story of widespread influence. See e.g. my:
Commentators tend to attribute
the direction of influence as going from the pagan mythology to what they would
consider to be the later Hebrew texts.
Gary A. Rendsburg has, in the
following article, noted the likeness between baby Moses and Horus, the offspring
of Osiris http://forward.com/articles/9812/the-subversion-of-myth/
The Subversion of Myth
One of the core myths of ancient
Egypt concerned the gods Seth, Osiris, Isis and Horus. Seth and Osiris were
brother deities, the former representing evil and chaos, the latter
representing good and fertility. The battle between the two resulted in the death
of Osiris, but before he died Osiris had impregnated his wife, Isis, goddess of
wisdom and beauty. Isis in turn gave birth to Horus, the falcon-headed god of
kingship. When Seth learned that his brother Osiris’s offspring had been born,
he sought to kill the baby Horus. Isis prepared a basket of reeds to hide him
in the marshland of the Nile Delta, where she suckled him and protected him,
along with the watchful eye of her sister, Nephthys, from the snakes, scorpions
and other dangerous creatures until he grew and prospered.
Scholars have noted that the birth
story of Moses is part of a larger motif of ancient literature, namely the
exposed-infant motif. The ancients delighted in telling tales of their heroic
leaders who at birth were exposed to nature, usually by their parents who, for
one reason or another, did not desire their newborn sons. Among the most famous
accounts are the stories of Oedipus from Greece and Romulus and Remus from
Rome, along with the less well known but equally important story of Sargon of
Akkad (in ancient Mesopotamia). There is a difference, however, between the
Moses story and the other exposed-infancy narratives, for in Exodus, chapter
two, the goal of Moses’ mother is not to be rid of the child but to save him.
This occurs elsewhere in ancient literature only in the story of the baby
Horus, whose mother, Isis, sought to protect him from his wicked uncle, Seth.
The Hebrew and Egyptian stories share this crucial feature, which is lacking in
the other parallels, and therefore beckon us to read the former in the light of
the latter.
The list of specific features shared
by the two accounts is truly remarkable. In both stories, it is the mother who
is the active parent (in the Egyptian version, Osiris is dead; in the Hebrew
account, Moses’ father is mentioned in passing in Exodus 2:1, after which the
role of the mother is highlighted). Both mothers construct a small vessel of
reeds and place the baby in the marshland of the Delta. In both accounts,
another female relative watches over the baby (Nephthys in the Horus story;
Miriam in the biblical account). Significantly, in both stories the mother’s
suckling of the child is emphasized: Isis’s nursing of the baby Horus is a
prominent feature of Egyptian artwork, with many statues portraying this
action; while in the biblical story, Miriam arranges for Moses’ mother to nurse
the child. Most importantly, in both stories the baby is hidden and protected
from the wicked machinations of the villain.
[End of quote]
The article, “The
Worship of Saturn”, again, tells of the universality of the influence of Osiris:
The cult of Osiris and the
mysteries associated with it dominated the Egyptian religion as nothing else.
Every dead man or woman was entombed with observances honoring Osiris; the city
of Abydos in the desert west of the Nile and north-west of Thebes was sacred to
him; Sais in the Delta used to commemorate the floating of Osiris’ body carried
by the Nile into the Mediterranean. What made Osiris so deeply ingrained in the
religious memory of the nation that his cult pervaded mythology and religion?
Osiris’ dominion, before his
murder by Seth, was remembered as a time of bliss. According to the legend
Seth, Osiris’ brother, killed and dismembered him, whereupon Isis, Osiris’
wife, went on peregrinations to collect his dispersed members. Having gathered
them and wrapped them together with swathings, she brought Osiris back to life.
The memory of this event was a matter of yearly jubilation among the Egyptians.(3)
Osiris became lord of the netherworld, the land of the dead. A legend, a
prominent part of the Osiris cycle, tells that Isis gave birth to Horus, whom
she conceived from the already dead Osiris,(4)
and that Horus grew up to avenge his father by engaging Seth in mortal combat.
before proceeding to recount Sir
Alan Gardiner’s complete puzzlement about the god:
In Egyptology the meaning of
these occurrences stands as an unresolved mystery. The myth of Osiris “is too
remarkable and occurs in too many divergent forms not to contain a considerable
element of historic truth,” wrote Sir Alan Gardiner, the leading scholar in
these fields;(5)
but what historical truth is it? Could it be of “an ancient king upon whose
tragic death the entire legend hinged”? wondered Gardiner.(6)
But of such a king “not a trace has been found before the time of the Pyramid
texts,” and in these texts Osiris is spoken of without end. There he appears as
a dead god or king or judge of the dead. But who was Osiris in his life? asked
Gardiner. At times “he is represented to us as the vegetation which perishes in
the flood-water mysteriously issuing from himself. . . .” (7) He
is associated with brilliant light.(8)
After a life of studying
Egyptian history and religion Gardiner confessed that he remained unaware of
whom Osiris represented or memorialized: “The origin of Osiris remains from me
an insoluble mystery.” (9)
Nor could others in his field help him find an answer.
[End of quotes]
Noah and Osiris
There is at least one clear connection
between Osiris and Noah. Roger Waite writes of it (http://www.rogerswebsite.com/articles/Man'sHistoryfromAdamtoAbraham.pdf):
The time when Osiris was "shut up in his coffin,"
and when that coffin was set afloat on the waters, as stated by Plutarch,
agrees exactly with the period when Noah entered the ark. That time was
"the 17th day of the month Athyr, when the overflowing of the Nile had ceased,
when the nights were growing long and the days decreasing."
The month Athyr was the second month after the autumnal
equinox, at which time the civil year of the Jews and the patriarchs began.
According to this statement, then, Osiris was "shut up in his coffin"
on the 17th day of the second month of the patriarchal year. Compare this with
the Scriptural account of Noah's entering into the ark, and it will be seen how
remarkably they agree (Gen 7:11), "In the six hundredth year of Noah's
life, in the SECOND MONTH, in the SEVENTEENTH DAY of the month, were all the
fountains
of the great deep broken up; in the self-same day entered
Noah into the ark." The period,
too, that Osiris (otherwise Adonis) was believed to have
been shut up in his coffin, was precisely the same as Noah was confined in the
ark, a whole year...
This
thought is also picked up at: http://www.truthbeknown.com/noah.htm
Like Noah, the Sumero-Armenian
Ziusudra/Xisuthros had three sons, including one named "Japetosthes," essentially
the same as Noah's son Japheth, also related to Pra-japati or Jvapeti, son
of the Indian Menu, whose other sons possessed virtually the same names as
those of Noah, i.e., Shem and Ham. As Oxford University Hebrew professor George
Henry Bateson Wright says in Was Israel ever in Egypt? (51):
JAPHETH - Ewald...shows, with great
probability, that this was a god of the north, as Ham was of the south, once
again in imitation of Hindu mythology. Moreover, the fact, that in the Armenian
legend, derived from "Assyrian or Babylonian documents," the three
sons of Xisuthros, who corresponds to Noah, are Zervin, Titan, and Japetosthe,
is very instructive, suggesting that the unknown foreign word was retained in
its original form...
"Coincidentally," it was said that the
Egyptian god Osiris was shut up in his ark on the very same day
that Noah was likewise so disposed, as I relate in Suns of God (90):
When Osiris's enemies pursue him, he
enters into his "boat" on precisely the same date recorded of
"Noah's" entrance into his ark, Athyr 17th...long before
the biblical tale was invented [sic]. Noah is not a Jewish
"patriarch" but a sun god, and the tale of entering and exiting the
Ark signifies the sun's death and resurrection. The story of the eight
passengers in a boat is an astral myth, reflecting the solar system. These
eight are equivalent to the Egyptian octet of gods, who sail the ocean in a
ship.
[End of quotes]
However, this
particular Osirian legend amongst the many could be a late one – one that was influenced,
in part, by the Genesis account of Noah and the Flood.
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