Isis
Isis (pronounced /ˈaɪ.sɪs/ or eye-sis) was a goddess in Egyptian mythology. She was the sister and wife of Osiris, and they had a son named Horus. Isis also protected children and was one of the greatest goddesses. She was also the greatest magician and goddess of magic.
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[change] Origin of the name
| Isis in hieroglyphs |
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The English pronunciation used, /ˈaɪ.sɪs/), comes from the pronunciation of the Greek name, Ίσις, which changed the Egyptian name by adding a final "-s" because of the grammatical requirements of Greek noun endings.
The Egyptian name was recorded as ỉs.t or ȝs.t and meant '(She of the) Throne'. However the true Egyptian pronunciation is not known because their writing system left out vowels. Based on recent studies, the reconstructed pronunciation of her name is *ʔŪsat (ooh-saht). Later, the name in Coptic dialects was "Ēse" or "Ēsi".
To make it easier to say, Egyptologists choose to say the word as "ee-set". Sometimes they may also say "ee-sa". This is because the last "t" in her name was a feminine (female) suffix which is known to have been dropped in speech in the last stages of the Egyptian language.
[change] Powers
Isis had great healing powers along with her being a magician and a protector. She could even cast spells on Ra. An example of her powers is when Isis brought Osiris back to life for one night. Though the powers of Isis are strong, there are even things she could not do like she could only bring back Osiris to life for a night.
[change] Physical Appearance
Isis had a sun disk and horns on her head. She appeared as a queen. Sometimes, Isis is called the egg of the goose because Geb is the father of Isis and goose represents him. She also had the throne sign on her head.
[change] Worship of Isis
Many Egyptian gods and goddesses started in one place, and all through their history had their own city where they were worshipped, and many big cities and towns are known as the hometowns of their god or goddess. However, no local cities where Isis was worshipped have been found; all through her early history there are no known temples to her. Worship of Isis did not start until as late as the 30th dynasty; until that time Isis was worshiped in temples of other gods or goddesses. However, even in the 30th dynasty Isis was worshiped together with Horus and Osiris. Temples to Isis became common in the Roman times. There was a temple built to her at Philae.
By this time, temples to Isis began to spread outside of Egypt. In many places her followers took over the worship to the Semitic goddess Astarte, because of the similarity of names. In the Hellenic era, because she was known as a protector, and mother, she also became the goddess of sailors.
In all parts of the Graeco-Roman world, Isis became one of the most important figures of the "mystery religions", and many classical writers sometimes wrote about her temples, and followers. Temples to Isis were built in Iraq, Greece, Rome, even as far north as England where the remains of a temple were found at Hadrian's Wall. At Philae, she was worshiped until the 6th century, after the rise of Christianity. The fall of her temples is usually said to mark the end of ancient Egypt.
[change] Priesthood
Little information on Egyptian priests of Isis has been found, but we know that there were both priests and priestesses of her followers all through her history. By the Graeco-Roman era, many of them were healers, and were said to have many other powers, including explaining dreams and the power to control the weather by braiding or combing their hair.
[change] References
[change] Further reading
- Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt" by Janeen R, Adil
