Osiris : The Egyptian Underworld God

Osiris

Osiris played an important role in the death and afterlife of ancient Egypt thought. He was considered as the god of the underworld. He appeared in a green-skinned man dressed in the raiment of a pharaoh. He is often depicted wearing the atef crown with a pair of ram horns at its base. According to Pinch (2002), Osiris was the eldest son of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. He married his sister, Isis and ruled Egypt together. Other than that, he was the great-grandson of Ra. He had another brother called Seth and another sister called Nephthys. He inherited the throne to rule Egypt from his father because he was the eldest child in the family. Hence, he ruled Egypt together with his wife, Isis. He was considered as the great ruler or god during his reign of Egypt. E.A. Wallis Budge claimed that “Osiris, being now become king of Egypt, applied himself towards civilizing his countrymen, by turning them from their former indigent and barbarous course of life; he moreover taught them how to cultivate and improve the fruits of the earth; he gave them a body of law to regulate their conduct by, and instructed them in that reverence and worship which they were to pay to the gods”. (Budge 1979: 44-45)

The gods Osiris, Anubis and Horus from a tomb painting

However, Osiris was killed by his own brother, Seth because of his jealousy towards Osiris that he had inherited the throne from their father. Osiris was either struck down and trampled by Seth or drowned in the Nile. The annual flooding of the Nile River is still thought to be representative of this event. After that, Isis managed to find his husband’s body but Seth who was very powerful succeeded to steal the body. He cut the body of Osiris and hid the pieces throughout the Egyptian desert. Isis did not give up easily as she spent a number of years to search the mutilated body parts of her husband. In the end, she succeeded to find all the pieces and used her magical power with The Ritual of Life to restore her husband’s body. The spells and rituals cast by Isis, plus many others given to the people by the gods over the centuries, were collected into The Book of Going Forth by Day which also known as The Book of the Dead. Thus, Osiris descended to the underworld to become the God of the Underworld. Besides that, Isis became pregnant and carried Osiris’s son. There are a lot of stories regarding how Isis became pregnant. Geraldine (2002, p.179) claimed that “Osiris seemed to be strong enough to survive his death, so he is able to make Isis pregnant. Their son was called Horus who later avenged the death of his father to Seth.”

The family of Osiris. Osiris on a lapis lazuli pillar in the middle, flanked by Horus on the left and Isis on the right (22nd dynasty, Louvre, Paris)

Osiris sat on the great throne in the underworld where he was praised by the souls of the just. His main duty was to judge the souls of the dead. He even was known as the merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife. All those who pass the tests of the underworld become worthy to enter The Blessed Land, that part of the underworld that is like the land of the living, but without sorrow or pain. Furthermore, some records stated that Osiris took over several important roles and duties as the Egyptian god of the underworld from Anubis, who was believed to be his son with Nephthys when he descended into the underworld. Others claimed that he rightfully obtained the important role as Egyptian god of the underworld because he was the first god to have died. The centre and home of the worship of Osiris in Egypt under the early dynasties was Abydos, where the head of the god was said to be buried. It spread to all Egypt in the course of time and several large cities claimed to possess one or other of the limbs of his body. The worship of Osiris had become almost universal as early as the 12^th dynasty, c. 2500 B. C. A thousand years later Osiris had become a sort of national god as he was not only regarded as the god and judge of the dead but also as the creator of the world and of all things in it. A lot of hymns to Osiris can be found in The Book of the Dead. Budge (2007) has quoted several hymns to Osiris in his book. One of the hymns was:

“Glory be to thee, O Osiris, Un-nefer, the great god within Abtu (Abydos), king of eternity, lord of everlastingness, who passest through millions of years in thy existence. The eldest son of the womb of Nut, engendered by Seb the Ancestor (of the gods), lord of the crowns of the South and of the North, lord of the lofty white crown; as prince of gods and men he hath received the crook and the whip, and the dignity of his divine fathers. Let thy heart, which dwelleth in the mountain of Ament, be content, for thy son Horus is stablished upon thy throne. Thou art crowned lord of Tattu (Busiris) and ruler in Abydos.”

Osiris was widely worshiped as Lord of the Dead until the suppression of the Egyptian religion during the Christian era. However, Osiris remained as one of the most popular of all the ancient Egyptian gods. Today, he still one of the most well known Egyptian gods.

References:

Budge, E. A. W. (1987). Egyptian religion: Egyptian ideas of the future life. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

Pinch, G. (2002). Handbook of Egyptian mythology. California: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris

http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/osiris.htm http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/osiris.html




p/s: I felt miserable every day ! Gosh I cannot stand with the waiting anymore . . Why bad luck always follows me ? Huhu.

Books

At last I managed to finish reading Love in Torn Land by Jean Sasson. Buku ni dah berbulan2 kot aku baca jap stop n den smbg balik. Aku decide nk betol2 abeskan buku ni after I've got 2 new books as my birthday presents from Syahmi n Akmal+Nabil. Klu tak mmg aku rasa tak abes2 la baca buku Love in Torn Land ni. Buku Love in Torn Land ni not bad la cuz dier citer pasal Joanna who is Iraqis Kurds yg suffer time pemerintahan Saddam Hussein dlu. Dier citer pasal plight dier nk selamatkan diri dier n Kurdistan time Sadam punya regime. Dah baca buku ni br aku taw ap itu puak Kurdish n upa2nya Kurdistan wujud kat dlm dunia ni. Tapi aku stil tak taw naper Iraqis, Turkish and Iranians tak suka sgt Kurdish smpi dorg ader history torture puak ni. Aku mls nk google lak amik taw. Aku rasa nt aku nk tnya Prof Dr Ghassan Taha r since dier an Iraqi n lecturer history aku. Myb he will give me best explanation from Iraqi perspective lagi. This book is written by Jean Sasson. Actually aku dah byk bc buku Jean Sasson ni n wat collection kat umah aku. Antara buku2 author ni Princess, Daughters of Arabia and Desert Royal. Tiga2 buku ni pasal life puteri2 of Saud family in the Saudi Arabia monarchy. Citer ni lbey kpada women oppresion r dlm royal fmly ni. It's quite sad dat women in this country still tak dpt full freedom mcm women kat Malaysia ni. Most of westerners will blame Islam because of the reason of this oppression to these women but aku rasa bukan Islam tu penyebab dier tapi culture org Arab yg payah nk ubah since jahiliyah ag menyebabkan women ni trus di-condemned n diseksa. Aku minat gak baca buku2 cmni pasal life org2 kat Middle East ni but wat sementara ni aku akan stop n baca genre laen pulak.

Bday gift from Akmal n Nabil. Hehe

Of kos da next book dat I will read is Britney: The Unauthorized Biography by Sean Smith. Aku ni mmg peminat setia Britney since kecik ag. Besides lagu 1st yg aku rasa aku hafal time kecik2 dlu was Baby One More Time. Haha. Even though aku rasa aku dh taw life Britney macam mana (Thanz to E! News and E! True Hollywood Story), but aku stil nk taw gak pasal life feveret artis aku ni. Hehe.

As the time goes by, reading ni dah bukan true passion aku. (Current passion: CLOTHES !) Klu dlu aku bole abeskan satu novel tu dlm masa smggu or 2 wiks, skang ni it takes months for me to finish a one novel. Hidup aku ni takla bz cm kwn2 aku len wich time wikend je ader programme or tiap2 mlm ader meeting kena g. I just realized yg sejak aku dah masuk U ni n aku kenal ap itu TV Series n Internet telah mmbuatkan aku kurg membaca. Klu kat skola dlu satu bulan je aku dah khatam 2-3 buku tapi skang ni hampeh la nk wat cm dlu. But klu nk tgk on da bright side at least aku still keep on reading. Hehe. Ohh mata aku stil jadi puteh gak tiap kali aku masuk bukstore n tibe2 jadi tak menentu tgk buku2 baru. At least dat a gud sign dat I am stil into reading. However, I will try my best to prioritize reading in my life in da future.

Speaking of reading, I also need to do a lot of reading for my assignments ! Arghh bencinya. Aku rasa makin lama aku nek meluat dgn assignments ni. Well klu dah jadi budak Human Sciences ni assignments tu korg mmg takle lari r. Aku ader 4 assignments yg aku tak wat2 ag n due date dier smua end of this feb or march.

Another Bday Gift from Syahmi. Kena baca gak ni pas Britney. Hehe

1. Assignment Survey of Ancient Civilizations - Kena wat pasal 'Death and Afterlife Egyptian Civilization Thought'. Pas dah divide2 tajuk dgn Nisa' (my best History partner) aku kena wat pasal Osiris, Pyramid n The Book of Dead. It's kinda interesting tho wat pasal afterlife Egyptian civilization ni.

2. Assignment Islamic Aqidah- Kena wat pasal Secularism and How it affects the Islamic Aqidah of Muslims. Aku dah g library ritu nk cr buku2 pasal secularism tapi smuanya dah kena pinjam wich aku rasa classmates aku yg pnjm cuz dorg wat tajuk pasal secularism. Thank God Akmal wat tajuk ni sem lps. Sah2la aku copy paste je nt wlupon takder buku. Hahaha.

3. Assignment Prophetic- Kena wat pasal Lesson from Hijra of Prophet Muhammad. Ni mmg senang je. Buku pon bersepah2 je pasal tajuk ni. Soo takder la nk riso sgt. Haha.

4. Assignment Leadership - Definitely aku akn stat wat mlm sblm aku kena anta assignment ni. Hahah.Bapak pemalas. Alaa Leadership je pon. 0.5 je kredit hour.. Haha. berlagak giler..

Waiting Nadea to give me this . Haha.

p/s: Angau 3GS makin menjadi2 ! Noooooooooooooooo ! !

Back is Good . . I Think

Setelah lama berpikir dan duk browse blog2 org je keja akhirnya aku decide utk menghidupkan blog aku ni balik. People kept ask me why I deleted this blog before this n aku just jawab "Well ader satu hari tu aku emo n tibe2 je aku rasa nk delete blog ni soo aku delete r". It's true but as usual I always conceal da truth when I speak about something personal to my friends or other people. They have to figure it by themselves. Sometimes I felt it is not fair dat I always get to know about personal life of my friends but they never noe mine. Haha. Besides, tgn aku ni dah takleh tahan nk menaip dah. Byk je bnda je nk citer aku rasa. Hehe.

Updates?Sblm2 ni byk je rasa nk cite tapi time dah menaip kat new post ni taktau nk stat dgn ap or nk taip pasal ap. Hmph. For starters I would like to thank to anyone who wish me Birthday wishes time bday aku 9 Feb. Tak kesah la korg wish lmbt pon aku still appreciate it. Also to kwn2 yg bg hadiah kat aku, aku rasa sgt hepy dpt hadiah from korg. Ntla aku tgkp gmba adiah2 yg aku dpt n show off kat blog ni. Tak nk letak skang kat dlm blog cuz ader yg tak dpt ag wlupon dah 7 hadiah kot aku dah dpt. Hahaha. Bg aku byk gak r tu. Nt time bday korg aku balas blk ea. My sister ritu dah kawen n I was super duper hectic n penat giler time dier kawen. Alhamdulillah smuanya berjalan lancar. Aku dah ader anta borg minor BBA n skang ni tgh tggu result dpt ke tak. After raya cina ni nk kena g opis deputy dean tnya dapat ke x pasal pre reg period nk dekat dah soo klu bole nk la add subjek BBA starting next sem. Cuak gak nk laja accounting balik. Intan duk tak abes2 ckp kat aku bdk2 ICT smua fail je amik accounting. Adoooy. Den ap ag ea updates? Haa aku dah bankrap soo pani mmg kena thn dr excessive shopping tiap kali klu aku kuar g malls. Hish. Aku br je tgk muvie Valentine's Day kat KLCC n ia tersangatla best smpi aku gelak terbahak2nya kat dlm panggung tu. Dah lama tak tgk romantic comedy muvie yg klaka n best. Plus aku rasa audience dlm cinema aku tu pon smua sporting n gelak je time scene klaka2 wlupon scene tu biasa je. Oh yeah aku g tgk citer ni dgn Myra berdua. It's really nice to hangout with her tho wlupon ni first time aku kuar dgn dier. She even blanja me Big Apple doughnuts. Yum2. Kitorg kuar nipon tak plan betul2 sbnrnya just men kuar je after aku text dier tnya psl dis movie. Soo sory la ea Adda aku tak g umah ko tgk abg ko kawen pasal aku g tgk wyg. Hehe. Time kat KLCC ni rmi gakla aku terserempak bdk2 UIA as usual n yg plg tak tahan tu aku nmpk Siti n Datuk K. Bukan maen menggeletat dorg dua tu jalan sama2 manja2. I guess tu je la kot stakat ni update pasal aku.

Well here are some updates about some of my Besties (Hey I am still a Paparazi! Haha)

• Wawa dah tak duk Kuantan n dier dah pindah Kuala Terengganu. Sian dier klu cuti je nk balik umah pani kena beli dua tiket satu from K.Lipis to Kuantan den Kuantan to K.Tganu. It takes berbelas jam gakla nk balik umah je. Dah macam flight aku g London dah ritu. Ohh dier juga bertanding utk JPP wich stands for Jawantakuasa Perwakilan Pelajar for unit or klas dier tapi dier kalah. Dier ckp dier nervous giler bertanding n paling tak tahan dier kena g tmpt2 public kat maktab dier berkempen. Haha. Aku tak dpt bygkan la ko berkempen wa. Dlu kat klas pon ko dah tepuk meja berpuluh2 kali tiap kali ko nk present ni nk g ckp kat depan org rmi. Tapi dier ckp kat aku dier dah kurg dah tepuk2 meja ni. Bole caya ke? Hahaha. Wawa pon masuk PBSM n dier nt nk g Thailand ader kursus. Uuuuu.. Dier dgn Azwan? Well stil TTM (teman tapi mesra). Ingtkan dah couple balik.

• Bdk2 UITM Diploma cm Ikwan, El n Nun skang tgh final sem dorg. Soo skang ni dorg tgh bz n dilema isi borg UPU n borg nk smbg degree kat UITM. Noon ader bgtau aku yg dier cm interested nk smbg kat YuYaYiea tapi aku just ckp dier buang masa jela ko nk smbg kat YuYaYiea ni pasal sah2nya dier akan abes lmbt pasal UIA nikan byk sbjk2 smpingan yg kena amik. Languages je pon dah makan setahun. Belum lagi sbjk2 IRK, BM, Arab smua 2. Elok2 dua tahun je degree for dier jadi 4 thn. Ikwan lak dier apply smua u yg dkt2 KL. Well bgus la tu senang la aku nk ajk ko kuar nt. Hehe. El pulak skang tgh try nk apply smbg overseas. Uuuuu.. Girlfriends updates for these 3 guys? None.

• Intan dah makin kurus n lagi kurus dr aku. Berat bdn dier dah trun jd 39 kg je! Gosh aku terkejut giler time dier bgtau aku berat bdn dier trun. Dier ckp brt dier trun pasal dier suka memilih makan smpi dier tak makan kadang2 n jalan g klas. Aku rasa Nadea memilih je makan n siap pnjt gunung tapi takderla berat dier 39kg cm Intan ni. Aku rasa laa. Haish nk kata Syazwan si bf Intan ni tak sumbat dier bg makan aku rasa slalu je dorg ni kuar dating. Haha. Intan ader gak bgtau aku yg Awyn accident moto ritu. Terkejut beruk aku! Dasat gak r Awyn accident but Alhamdulillah takder r parah. Huu.

• Una skang jadi Bendahari for MPP. Dier kata dier saje2 je bertanding tgk2 dier menang. Mus pon jadi SU MPP kat UUM. Haish rminya laa kwn aku yg jadi wakil pelajar ni. Bagus2. Moga2 korg dapat laksanakan tugas korg dgn jayanya ea.

Dat's ol for now . .



p/s: I miss my 3GS ! Huarghhh ! Sob2..