With this section we begin our exploration of one of the principal Egyptian myths, over five-thousand years old, the story of Isis and Osiris, grandchildren of Ra. It is an “order myth,” a type of myth that purports to tell us how order was first established in a culture and typically involves the juxtaposition of peace and war.
In the first myth, “The Secret Name,” Isis –– seeking greater wisdom for herself and hoping to ensure that her husband, Osiris (and her son Horus), will succeed Ra –– devises a clever plan to trick the latter into telling her his secret name, thus giving her the power to make life, a power she will pass on to her children. In her book, Isis and Osiris, Geraldine Harris provides a suitable version of this myth which I plan to use.
In this myth Isis uses some of Ra’s spit to magically form a snake which later bites Ra on the foot. None of the magic from the other wise gods and goddesses can give Ra relief, but Isis offers to use her sorcery to fight the poison, telling him that it will only be effective if he tells her his secret name. He adamantly refuses until the pain becomes unbearable and he is forced to comply. She then heals him and passes the power of the secret name to her future son, Horus.
The following symbols will be used in conjunction with this myth: the falcon and sun disc (symbols of Ra),the cow-horn throne and wings (symbols of Isis), the throne, the horned snake and the crook and flail.
In cooperative groups of three or four, students will be asked to re-enact the story using stick puppets that they make of the characters, Ra, Isis, the horned snake, Osiris and a group of miscellaneous gods and goddesses. In order to make these characters appear authentic, my students will be encouraged to use suitable reference sources (i.e., art books, encyclopedias, etc.) that show how these deities were represented in tomb paintings and on papyrus scrolls. Part A of the Appendix offers such representations of the deities introduced in this unit.
Our next myth describes the reign of Osiris and his murder by his evil brother, Seth. This myth, along with the one presented in the next section on Osiris’s resurrection, exemplifies the yearly cycle of the rising and falling of the River Nile, a cycle the ancient Egyptians were utterly dependent upon. Central to their lives, of course, was the Nile with its regular yearly inundation, providing fertile soil from which crops could grow. Abigail Frost in her above-mentioned book highlights the ancient Egyptians’ complete identification with the Nile. “Without the floods,” she writes, “there would have been no food, and no stories, because there would have been no people” (p. 4). Hence, important questions about life, death, suffering, morality, and the origins of the world were examined in the larger context of this absolute dependence on the annual rising and falling of the great river.
The story of Isis and Osiris is itself closely associated with the life of the Nile. Jules Cashford explains this connection in the introduction to his book, The Myth of Isis and Osiris. He explains how the ancient Egyptians saw the annual falling of the Nile as the death of the great river and its rising as its being reborn once again. When the Nile fell they said that the god Seth was killing his brother, Osiris. When it rose they described it as being swelled by the tears of the mourning Isis in search of her husband. When the Nile overflowed its banks they said it was because Isis had found Osiris. When the seedlings began to appear above ground, it was a sign that Osiris lived again and that all life was in the process of being reborn anew (p. vi).
The portion of the Isis-Osiris cycle to be presented next is in the following form, adapted from Abigail Frost’s version.
Isis and Osiris proved to be good rulers of Egypt. They taught the people new and better ways to live. Isis brought them medicine when they were sick and, with the help of her sister, Nephthys, showed them how to weave cloth and make bread from corn (which was one of Osiris’s gifts).
Osiris gave his people plants that they could eat, like corn, grapes and barley. He built the first plow with his own hands and taught the Egyptians how to use it. He showed them how to plant corn, harvest it, and grind it into flour. Through his help they also learned to press grapes to make wine, and to make beer from barley. Under his guidance not only did they become good farmers but also clever miners of gold, copper and iron. They used these metals to make farming tools and weapons to defend themselves.
Osiris also believed that religion was very important and taught his people how to worship the gods and build many temples for them. With Thoth and Anubis by his side, he traveled to other lands and conquered them peacefully, always sharing with them the gifts he had taught the Egyptians. They called Osiris the Good One and all Egyptians were very content under the kind and just rule of Isis and Osiris.
One way that this myth could be retold is in the form of a play where the narrator tells the story and the props are the various gifts of Isis and Osiris to their people. A second extension-activity might involve using a web-diagram to list the various qualities of a good leader as demonstrated in the myth. From this could follow a discussion of leaders students know or have read about who have some of these same good qualities. Students could then be asked to imagine how they would have ruled ancient Egypt and write about it in their Literature-Response Log. (The topic could be: If I were ruler of ancient Egypt).
The symbols to be used in the presentation of this myth are the stick of the desert sheikh (symbol of prosperity), the crook and flail (symbols of Osiris, the living pharaoh), and the sun disc with cow-horn headdress (another symbol of Isis).
The final portion of the Isis-Osiris myth to be presented will be the murder of Osiris. In this myth we are confronted with the force of evil, Seth, who was Osiris’s brother. In it we see how Seth, who dislikes peace and order and who embraces destruction, war and trouble, is the direct opposite of his brother. For my class I plan to use the simplified version of this myth as retold by Robert Hull in his previously mentioned book.
Seth, wanting to rule Egypt and destroy everything that Osiris had established, plans to murder his brother in a terrible way. He invites Osiris to a feast after which the god is asked to participate in a game of sorts. A large, beautiful chest is brought out and each guest is asked to lie down in it to see who will fit inside. Whoever fits will be given the magnificent chest. All the other guests know of Seth’s malicious plan before-hand, however, and the minute Osiris lies in it, fitting perfectly, they rush to nail the lid shut, even pouring molten lead in the cracks to ensure that Osiris will suffocate. The chest is then hauled into the Nile River, and after a while it comes to rest on the banks under the shade of a sycamore tree. This tree grows around the casket-chest of Osiris, eventually covering it. With Osiris out the way, Seth takes over his rule and the world becomes lifeless and chaotic.
Symbols relevant to this myth are the mummified pharaoh (symbol of Osiris), the hippo (symbol of Seth), and the crook and flail.
Before the story is read, I will ask the class to make predictions about how they think Seth will take over the rule of Egypt. They will write their predictions on a prediction chart having two columns, one entitled Prediction Before Reading and the other (to be filled out after listening to the story read to them) entitled Actual Happening.
In cooperative groups of three or four, students will be asked to make a large story star that shows the main events of the story. They will be asked to follow the procedure below:
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1. As a group, members are to list in sequence the main events in the story.
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2. Choosing an event or two, each member then writes a sentence about that event in a large paper circle, illustrating it.
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3. A few of the members then make a large star (with one point for each event) out of tagboard.
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4. Members work together to paste the event-circles on each point of the star showing proper sequence.
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