Isis and Osiris XV: Ten Step Program

Even after five millennia, people still paint Horos on walls.

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I've been continuing to research and ponder the Horos-myth. Here's my current best-effort to reconstruct it from available sources, all cited below. No interpretations, today, though: this page is for those who wish to study or contemplate the myth for themselves.

1. Geb and Nut have intercourse. Ra curses Nut so that she cannot give birth on any day of the year. Thoth takes pity on Nut and takes a seventieth part of Iah's light and adds five intercalary days to the year so that Nut can give birth. On each of those days, Nut gives birth to Osiris, Horos (who was born to Osiris and Isis while still in the womb), Seth (who bursts from Nut's side rather than being born normally), Isis, and Nephthus. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XII. See also the similar version given by Diodoros, Library of History I xiii.]

2. Osiris becomes king of Egypt and civilizes it, then he travels the world and civilizes it, too. While he is away, Seth constructs a beautifully-ornamented box sized to fit Osiris exactly. When Osiris returns, Seth invites Osiris, Queen Aso of Ethiopia, and seventy-two conspirators to a feast. Seth tricks Osiris into the box, seals the box shut, throws it into the Nile, and usurps the throne. Seth's conspirators steer the box to the sea by way of Tanis. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIII. See also the detailed account of Osiris civilizing the world given by Diodoros, Library of History I xiv–xxi.]

3. Pan and the satyrs learn of Osiris's death and tell Isis. Isis grieves, cuts a lock of her hair, puts on mourning garments, and wanders in search of him. Isis meets some children, who tell her where Osiris's box entered the sea. Isis meets Nephthus and learns that she had a son by Osiris, named Anoubis, but exposed him in fear of Seth. Isis finds Anoubis and raises him to be her attendant. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIV. For another, sparser, account of Anoubis, see Diodoros, Library of History I lxxxvii.]

4. The box comes to land in a patch of heather near Bublos. The heather grows to an exceptional size, enclosing the box within its stalk. King Malkander of Bublos is so impressed by the stalk that he cuts it down for a pillar in his house. Isis comes to Bublos, sits by a spring, weeps, and speaks to nobody. The maids of Malkander's wife, Astarte, come by the spring. Isis plaits their hair and perfumes them. When the maids return, Astarte sees them beautifully made up and sends for Isis. Astarte makes Isis nurse of her son, Diktus. Isis nurses him with her finger rather than her breast, and puts him in a fire at night to burn away his mortal part. Meanwhile, she transforms into a swallow and flies around the pillar bewailing Osiris. Astarte becomes suspicious, spies Diktus burning, and cries out, which deprives Diktus of immortality. Isis explains herself and asks for the pillar. Astarte consents. Isis cuts the box out of the pillar, wraps the pillar in linen, perfumes it, entrusts it to the royal family as a relic, and laments her husband so profoundly that Astarte's (unnamed) younger son dies. Isis takes the box and Diktus and sails from Bublos. The Phaidros river delays the journey. Isis dries it up in spite. When she is alone, Isis opens the box and grieves over Osiris. Diktus, curious, peeks into the box. Isis, enraged, gives him such an awful look that he dies of fright. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XV–XVII.]

5. Isis returns to Egypt by Buto and hides the box. Seth finds the box, divides Osiris into fourteen pieces, and scatters them across Egypt. A fish eats the penis. Isis searches the Nile in a papyrus boat; recovers the remaining pieces of Osiris; makes a replacement penis; reassembles him; and, using sorcery, has a son by dead Osiris, named Horos. She then institutes temples in the places where she found each part. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XVIII. See also the very different version given by Diodoros, Library of History I xxi–xxii.]

6. Isis and Horos go into hiding from Seth. Later, Isis goes out to beg for food. A rich woman refuses to help Isis, while a poor woman gives her food. Seven scorpions who were following Isis sting the rich woman's son, who lies dying. Isis uses sorcery to neutralize the poison, and the rich woman apologizes for refusing Isis and gives her many gifts. Meanwhile, Seth sends a scorpion to their hiding place to sting Horos. The gods notify Isis. Isis races to Horos, but he dies before she arrives. Isis grieves. Nephthus and Serket advise Isis to pray to heaven. She does so. Thoth appears, comforts Isis by saying that heaven's protection of Horos is absolute, uses sorcery to resurrect him, and promises Isis that he will advocate for Horos when needed. [The Metternich Stela.]

7. When Horos grows up, Osiris comes to him from Duat in the form of a jackal to encourage him to fight and train him. Osiris tests Horos by asking what he believes is best. Horos answers, "to avenge one's parents for wrongdoing!" Osiris then asks what animal is most useful to a soldier. Horos answers, "a horse." Osiris is surprised by this and asks why he wouldn't prefer a lion to a horse. Horos answers, "A lion would be better in a pinch, but without a horse, how could you overtake and cut down a fleeing enemy?" Osiris believes that Horos is ready and rejoices. Seth's concubine, Thoueris, defects to Horos. A serpent chases her. Horos's men slay it. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Osiris visits in the form of a jackal, see Diodoros, Library of History I lxxxviii; J. Gwyn Griffiths, The Conflict of Horus and Seth IV ii.]

8. Horos and Seth engage in battle. Seth turns into a red bull and gouges out Horos's eye. Horos cuts off Seth's testicles. After many days, Horos defeats Seth, takes him prisoner, and delivers him to Isis. Isis releases Seth instead of executing him. Horos, enraged, beheads Isis and takes the crown for himself. Thoth replaces Isis's head with a cow's. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Seth turns into a red bull, see the Pyramid Texts 418a, 679d, 1543a–1550a, 1977b; Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde XLVIII p. 72. That Horos loses his eye, that Seth loses his testicles, and that they are restored after the trial, see the Pyramid Texts 36a, 39a, 65b, 95c, 418a, 535a–b, 578d, 591b, 594a, 595a–596c, 679d, 946a–c, 1614b. That Isis was beheaded, see Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XX; the Papyrus Sallier IV.]

9. Seth takes Horos to court over the legitimacy of his birth (and, consequently, of his claim to the throne). Thoth argues persuasively in favor of Horos. The gods find Horos to be the legitimate son of Osiris but not of Isis, stripping Horos of his mother's part (his flesh) but leaving him his father's part (his bones). They force Horos and Seth to restore each other's missing parts and divide Egypt between them, making Horos king of Lower Egypt and Seth king of Upper Egypt. Horos defeats Seth in battle a second time. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Horos is stripped of his outer part after the trial, see the Papyrus Jumilhac; Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XX; Ploutarkhos on Desire and Grief VI; Ploutarkhos on the Generation of the Soul in the Timaios XXVII. That Horos and Seth's missing parts are restored after the trial, see refs. to [8], above. That Horos is granted Lower Egypt after the trial, see the Shabaka Stone.]

10. Horos defeats Seth in battle a third time, becomes king of Upper Egypt (and, consequently, unifying it), and reconciles with Seth. [Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XIX. That Horos becomes king of all Egypt, see the Turin King List; the Shabaka Stone; Herodotos, Histories II cxliv; Manetho, History of Egypt; Diodoros, Library of History I xxv; etc. That Horos and Seth reconcile, see the Pyramid Texts 390b, 678a–c, 801b–c, 971a–b, 975a–b, 1453b, 2100a–b; the Shabaka Stone; but see also the account where Seth was executed given by Diodoros, Library of History I xxi.]

Here are keys that I have found useful in case one is lost: Ra ("the Sun") is Love is the unifying force. Iah ("the Moon") is Strife is the separatory force. Nut ("the sky") is the state in which all is held together in Love. Thoth ("ibis-like") is Necessity (the need of the all to produce all). Geb ("the ground") is the state in which all is held apart in Strife. Osiris ("the seat of the eye") is Fire is universal consciousness. Horos ("falcon") is Light is individual consciousness (called "child" when embodied and "great" when unembodied). Seth ("to oppress" or "to subdue," cf. Ploutarkhos, Isis and Osiris XLI) is Air is the spiritual medium which transmits consciousness (separating it from universal to individual). Nephthus ("lady of the house") is Water is the material medium which transmits consciousness (distorting it from selfless to selfish). Isis ("the seat") is Earth is the material medium which receives consciousness. Anoubis ("prince") is cause-and-effect or karma (the consequences of the actions of selfish consciousness). Thoueris ("the great one") is desire. The serpent that chases Thoueris is the consequences of desire.