Geb appointed Osiris to rule humanity, and Osiris ruled Egypt with Isis during a golden age. Seth killed him, Isis and Nephthys gathered his remains, and Anubis made him the first mummy before the gods made him king and judge of the dead.

Osiris Becomes King of Egypt

Geb appointed his eldest son, Osiris, to rule humanity. Thoth became his viceroy and lit the sky at night while Ra passed through the underworld. In most tellings, Osiris was born wearing a crown, and the sun god chose him to succeed Geb. Osiris and his sister Isis had fallen in love in the womb. They became consorts and ruled Egypt together. Isis served as his queen and chief protector. Their reign became a golden age, but it did not last long.

Seth grew jealous of his brother’s power and decided to murder him. In one telling, Seth took the form of a bull, a hippopotamus, or a crocodile, attacked Osiris, and threw him into the Nile, where he drowned. In another, Seth struck Osiris down and trampled him. Some later tellings said that Seth tore the body apart. Isis and her sister Nephthys searched for Osiris and gathered his remains. Isis used her magic to reverse the effects of decay. Anubis, the god of embalming, made Osiris into the first mummy.

Osiris died and became the Inert One. The gods later decreed that he should be resurrected as king and judge of the dead. His rule continued in the realm of the dead, while Horus, his posthumous son, became king of the living. Osiris then ruled the underworld. Horus ruled the living, and Seth remained opposed to Osiris’s family.

The Birth of Osiris

Nut gave birth to Osiris at Thebes on the first of five intercalary days before the Egyptian New Year. Thoth had created the five days for Nut because he loved her. They allowed her to give birth after she had been forbidden to do so during any month or year. A voice sounded in the temple when Osiris entered the world. It announced that the great and good king had been born, or that the lord of all had come into the light. Ra acknowledged Osiris as his heir.

Nut then gave birth to the other children on the remaining days. In one telling, she bore Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys after Osiris. In another, she bore Isis, Seth, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder. The five days were therefore linked with the births of Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Some tellings included Horus the Elder among Nut's children.

Nut was the daughter of Shu and Tefnut. She was the consort of Geb, the earth god, and became the mother of several important deities. Nut and Geb had embraced so closely that nothing could exist between them, and Nut could not give birth to the children she had conceived. Shu separated them and held Nut above Geb. Her body became the sky, while Geb remained below her. Nut could then give birth to her children.

The parentage of the children also differed. In some tellings, Ra fathered Osiris and Horus, Thoth fathered Isis, and Geb fathered only Seth and Nephthys. In the telling of Osiris's birth, Ra still recognised Osiris as his heir. Nut gave birth to the children across the five extra days, before the new year began.

Osiris's Fertility Rebirth

Seth struck down Osiris, and Osiris died. His death became linked with the dwindling of the Nile and the decline of vegetation. His body was enclosed in a tamarisk tree, which grew to an enormous size and showed his power to bring fertility. Osiris was also linked with Nedit, which was said to be where he was killed or where Isis found his body.

Horus restored Osiris by presenting the power of his Eye to him. This act raised Osiris into renewed divine life. Osiris then became the god of the fertile lands of the Nile valley, floods, and vegetation. His death was identified with the yearly decline of the Nile, and his resurrection with the return of its flood. The floodwaters brought life to parched land. When the waters receded, wheat and barley grew in the fields.

Osiris's body was identified with barley, while Seth was compared with the donkeys that trampled the grain during threshing. Osiris's death and renewal were therefore linked with reaping and sowing. He was also regarded as the source and substance of corn, vines, and trees. He taught people to farm, to grind wheat and barley into flour, and to make bread.

During festivals of Osiris, people made mummies of corn by filling a mummy-shaped linen case with seed, watering it, and allowing seedlings to grow through the linen. These Corn Osirises represented the new life of the dead, as seed corn grew into new plants. People also made similar figures with an erect form. Osiris was shown regenerating inside a tree. His death and renewed life were identified with the annual return of fertility to Egypt.