Ancient Egyptian relief showing Osiris seated on a throne with green skin, accompanied by goddess Isis, with hieroglyphic background
Nut, the great Sky Goddess, bore four children — Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.  Their story is one of love, betrayal, magic, and rebirth.  It is also one of the most enduring myths of ancient Egypt, shaping ideas of kingship, the afterlife, and the eternal battle between order and chaos.
Osiris grew to manhood and married his sister Isis.  Together, they ruled happily as King and Queen of Egypt.  Osiris was not just a king — he was remembered as the one who brought civilization to Egypt, teaching farming, law, and justice.  Isis stood at his side, the embodiment of love, beauty, and magical power.  Their people adored them.But balance requires opposition. 
Their brother Set, who had married Nephthys, was the darker force — the personification of violence, chaos, and destruction.  Set was not loved, and where Osiris brought harmony, Set brought disruption.  And yes — this is the very same Set whose cult continued for centuries and whose name appears in later history, including the story of Pharaoh Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, where Set was acknowledged and invoked, by Ramses III (using Heka) as a powerful god, to protect his fortress.
Anubis and the betrayal
Nephthys, unable to conceive with Set, tricked Osiris into her bed.  From that union was born Anubis, the jackal-headed god who became guardian of mummification and protector of the dead.  When Set discovered the affair, his fury burned uncontrollably.  He vowed to destroy Osiris and take Isis for himself.

So Set devised a cunning trap.  He commissioned a magnificent box, built to Osiris’s exact measurements.  At a great banquet filled with music, wine, and laughter, Set declared that the box would be a gift to whomever fit it perfectly.  One by one, his companions tried, but all were too short or too tall.  Finally, Osiris was persuaded to lie down inside.  At once the lid was slammed shut, sealed with molten lead, and the chest was flung into the Nile.

With Osiris gone, Set crowned himself king.  His reign was the opposite of Osiris’s golden age — harsh, cruel, and joyless.

The mourning of Isis

When Isis learned what had happened, her grief was unmeasurable.  She set out on a long journey to recover Osiris.  The chest had floated downriver and lodged in a great tree, which grew around it.  By the time she found it, Osiris was dead.

But Set’s malice was not yet satisfied.  Discovering that Isis had reclaimed the body, he stole it from her and hacked it into fourteen pieces, scattering them across Egypt.  One part was lost forever — Osiris’s phallus, devoured by a fish in the Nile.  Egyptians, remembering this myth, regard that fish as taboo – forbidden and never eat it.

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Magic, rebirth, and Horus

Undaunted, Isis searched again.  With the help of her sister Nephthys, she gathered every fragment of Osiris she could find.  She reassembled his body, replacing the missing part with a model made from clay.  Then, calling upon her own powers and Heka magic, Isis transformed into a bird and breathed life into Osiris for a brief moment.  In that moment she conceived a child — Horus, the falcon god.

To protect her son from Set, Isis fled to the island of Philae near Aswan, where she hid until Horus grew strong enough to challenge his uncle.  But probably the best place to see this story on the temple walls is at Edfu.

The gods and their powers

  • Osiris (Ausar): Lord of the Underworld, symbol of death, rebirth, and the eternal cycle of life.
  • Isis: Goddess of love, beauty, and magic — the creative female power.
  • Set: God of chaos, violence, and opposition. T he same Set who appears in later royal narratives, including the reign of Ramesses III, showing how deeply his presence haunted Egyptian thought.
  • Nephthys (Nebt-het): The silent protectress of the dead.
  • Anubis: Guardian of embalming, guide of souls on their journey through the afterlife.

Where to see the gods

If you want to see the most vivid and colourful depictions of Nut, Isis, Osiris, and the other gods, there is no better place than Dendera Temple.  The ceilings and walls there are alive with brilliantly preserved images, their colours still vibrant after two thousand years.

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