Osiris

Ruler of the Egyptian Afterlife

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead, rebirth, fertile land and the afterlife. He was normally shown as a mummified king with green or black skin, wearing a tall crown and holding a crook and flail. Green represented new plants, while black could represent the rich soil beside the Nile. Osiris was the son of Nut and Geb and the brother of Isis, Set and Nephthys. He married Isis and became a king, but his brother Set wanted the throne. Set killed Osiris, beginning one of the most famous family dramas in Egyptian mythology.

Isis searched for her husband's body with help from Nephthys. In later versions, Set cut Osiris into pieces and scattered them around Egypt. Isis gathered them again, and Anubis helped preserve and wrap the body. Osiris became the model for mummification. Isis used magic to restore him long enough for them to have a son, Horus. Osiris did not return to ordinary life. Instead, he became ruler of the Duat, the world of the dead, while Horus grew up and eventually challenged Set for the throne.

Osiris became extremely important to Egyptian ideas about what happened after death. In the famous judgement scene, he sits on a throne while a person's heart is weighed against the feather of Ma'at. Someone judged worthy could continue into a blessed afterlife. Osiris was especially worshipped at Abydos, where people believed his tomb was located. Festivals there retold his death and return, and people travelled long distances to honour him. He was also connected with grain because seeds disappearing into the soil and growing again seemed like a perfect picture of rebirth. Egyptians even made figures of Osiris from soil and grain so green shoots would grow from them. I think that is the best way to understand him. Osiris's story is full of death, but he is really a god about what happens afterwards. Something can disappear, seem completely lost and still begin again in a new form.