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Critical Thinking Questions: The Story of Isis and Osiris

Question 1

According to the myth, Moon waxes and wanes and is not as bright as the Sun because

the moon god lost some of his light, thus dwindling as the month progresses until the full moon.

Thoth challenged Khonsu, the moon god, to a game of draughts where the moon god had

wagered his light. He lost all the games to Thoth, who collected the light from Khonsu to create

five extra days in which Nut could have Re’s children. Since Re, placed a curse on Nut to not

have any children on any day of the year, she could bear children in the extra days created which

were not part of the year. Hence, the moonlight dwindles into phases throughout the month and

the increased days in the year to 365 days from 360 days.

Question 2

Osiris became Egypt’s sole ruler after Isis learned Re’s secret name, and hence he could

no longer continue living on earth and had to move on to the heavens handing the reins of power

to Osiris, his first son. The word ‘SOLE rule’ is important as it meant the reign was free from

interference from all deities. Hence, all powers to rule the earth were held by the incumbent and

the worship and reverence that came with the position. Further, Osiris became the father of all

pharaohs, who emulated his leadership and upheld the laws, culture, and religious worship he

began that brought civilization and harmonious living to humanity. The sole rule meant Osiris

was to be worshipped even after his passing to the afterlife and his reign remembered for

eternity.

Question 3
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Osiris was a good king because he civilized the Egyptian people, the people he reigned

over when he assumed power, and then set out to other nations to bring civilization. Upon taking

control, Osiris found brutish and savage people who were cannibalistic and who killed each

other. He taught them how to cultivate grains for food that is wheat and barley when the Nile

river receded, leaving fertile alluvial soil. Isis found the wheat and barley growing wildly by the

banks of the Nile river but still lay undiscovered by man. Osiris showed them how to make bread

for food, make beer from barley, and wine from grapes. He also taught them which animals were

suitable for food and how to slaughter them. Sufficient food ended brutality and cannibalism.

Osiris also taught the Egyptians to appreciate music and poetry and gave them laws, religious

instructions, and culture for harmonious living. The knowledge and laws brought happiness and

peace to the community while bringing rise to a civilized society that he sought to replicate in

other nations. Therefore, Osiris was a good king.

Question 4

Isis’s wise rule in Egypt pertains to Hatshepsut’s reign, which was equally peaceful with

her foreign policy based on trade instead of war with extensive building and restoration programs

that brought prosperity. Similarly, both Isis and Hatshepsut had sisterly blood relations with the

ruling Pharaohs and were queen consorts, and both had stints in ruling the kingdom. Isis’s rule

came when Osiris had left to civilize the rest of the world. Hatshepsut’s rule was when she

became regent queen after the death of the pharaoh, her husband, where she ruled Egypt while

preserving the throne for her stepson, with whom she co-ruled after he assumed power.

The story explains why the priests of Egypt responded to her legacy as they did for

various reasons. Isis learned Re’s secret name through her craft, after which he left earth’s sole
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rule to Osiris. Hence Isis was revered for her great magic. Isis also discovered the grain of wheat

and barley growing wildly in the Nile, which became the main food source for humankind,

ending cannibalism and hunger. Thus was worshipped as the goddess Sati who fertilized the land

and brought the food. Isis restoring baby Dictys health by only giving him her finger to suck and

restoring Osiris’s body fully to allow him to pass into the afterlife is another reason her legacy is

respected. Further, as she wanted to give immortality to baby Dictly, she is viewed as a goddess

able to create and preserve life. Thus her various powers are why priests of Egypt responded to

her legacy as they did when Osiris had gone to bestow his blessing upon other nations and bring

civilization to them.

Question 5

The word anthropoidal indicated using a combination of mask and linen to suggest that

the dead were prepared for the afterlife. Facial features of the dead were built up over mummy

wrappings using paste and painted over with a stylized image of the features of the deceased.

Also, a separately made mask made from cartonnage or of wood with cartonnage overlay could

be used for the facial features. Thus the coffins began to be shaped like a mummified figure

wearing a mask hence the anthropoidal or human-shaped coffin. The anthropoidal coffins were

decorated with an idealized depiction of the owner's face with hieroglyphic writings for easy

identification to attain a successful afterlife. They also were decorated with images of animals,

gods, goddesses, and objects. The anthropoidal coffins were then put in fitting rectangular

coffins for burial rites. The sarcophagus was the earliest stone coffin designed to represent a

miniature home appearance for the deceased. It represented mini-palaces of mud-brick

architecture and had false doors and windows ornamental arrangement, inlaid with wood, metal
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with a stone outer. The origins of this tradition, as in the story, begin with the chest that Seth

made to fit Osiris in his nefarious plan to kill him. He had obtained measurements of Osiris for

him to fit perfectly in the chest. The chest was made from imported rare cedar and inlaid with

ivory, ebony, gold, and silver and decorated with figures featuring gods, animals, and birds. Thus

the origins of the traditions for the anthropoid coffins and decorations in the coffins and

sarcophagus.

Question 6

The ceramic fertility figure from Naqada II, whose anthropomorphic form combined that

of a woman and a bird, is a depiction of a goddess. This myth is depicted when Isis changed into

a swallow when she wanted to make baby Dictys, a prince in Byblos, immortal. The story and

the use of a similar bird/woman imagery give a better understanding of the original intent of such

objects to depict goddesses and how they could give immortality. The bird/woman imagery also

explains the ritual they performed by circling around the mortal and burning away the mortal

parts to make one immortal.

Question 7

After failing to destroy Osiris the first time, Seth dismembered Osiris’s body and cast the

pieces in River Nile. When Isis couldn’t find the fourteenth missing piece of Osiris, the phallus

that the fish supposedly ate in the Nile, she magically made a likeness of the missing part and
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completed Osiris’s body. After the body of Osiris was complete for embalming and rituals, it

then could pass into the afterlife, the Duat. The body needed to be complete before embalming

for preservation as it was thought that the soul would need it for sustenance in the afterlife. Thus

for the soul to proceed to paradise, the body had to be preserved as intact as possible. After

passing into Duat, Osiris’s spirit became the righteous ruler and judge of the dead’s souls. This

explains the ancient Egyptian burial practices. The dead’s complete body is embalmed in a

sarcophagus after the rituals are performed to enable passing into the afterlife for judgment,

where they live on as they did on earth.

Question 8

When Osiris asked Horus what animal was appropriate to take to battle to avenge his

parents, he chose the horse. For his choice, Horus gave the reason that a horse was best suited

when pursuing a fleeing foe to prevent his escape, even after Osiris suggested a lion. His choice

of animal for battle and his answer that a lion is most suitable for a man who needs help in battle

showed that Horus was strong and courageous. If I were to pick an animal for battle, I would also

pick the horse for the same reasons; its speed, strength, fearlessness in battle, and control.