Facts about Isis

Magic is central to the entire mythology of Isis; arguably moreso than any other Egyptian deity.

Certain Fundamentalist Christians have popularly promoted and even exaggerated the Isis-Mary similarities as part of anti-Catholic polemic, asserting that Catholicism is therefore syncretic, tainted by paganism.

Consequently they were associated with Hathor, and hence with Isis through her later conflation with Hathor.

The last piece, his penis, had been swallowed by a crab, so Isis fashioned one out of gold.

Isis went looking for the box so that Osiris could have a proper burial.

Isis was a goddess in ancient Egyptian mythology, often worshiped as the archetypal wife and mother.

Temples dedicated to Isis have been found as far away as the British Isles.

After her assimilation of Hathor, Isis's headdress is replaced with that of Hathor: the horns of a cow on her head, and the solar disc between them.

Nevertheless, Isis' cult only became prominent during later periods of Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the veneration of many other goddesses.

Isis is the most important goddess in Egyptian mythology who transferred from a local goddess in the Nile Delta to a cosmic goddess all over the whole ancient world.

The two females - Isis and Nephthys were often depicted on coffins, with wings outstretched, as protectors against evil.

Little information on Egyptian priests of Isis survives; however it is clear there were both priests and priestesses of her cult throughout her history.

Many dangers faced Horus after birth, and Isis fled with the newborn to escape the wrath of Set, the murderer of her husband.

The ploy failed, but Osiris now found Nephthys very attractive, as he thought she was Isis.

Some Egyptologists believe that being the throne-mother was Isis' original function, however a more modern view states that aspects of the role came later by association.

The name Isis is still a beloved name among modern Coptic Egyptians, and in Europe the name (Isadora) i.e., Gift of Isis is still common.

Consequently they remained regarded separately, and Isis was sometimes said to be the lover of Min.

Isis protected and raised Horus until he was old enough to face Set, and subsequently became the king of Egypt.

One has only to read the quote from Apuleius above, to see that Isis was worshiped in Roman Times as a Universal and merciful mother figure.

Sopdet still retained an element of distinct identity, however, as Sirius was quite visibly a star and not living in the underworld (Isis being the wife of Osiris who was king of the underworld).

Isis managed to bring Osiris back to life for one night, in which they conceived Horus.

Among these names of Roman Isis, Queen of Heaven is outstanding for its long and continuous history.

Isis is most often seen holding only the generic ankh sign and a simple staff, but is sometimes seen with Hathor's attributes, the sacred sistrum rattle and the fertility bearing menat necklace.

Throughout the Graeco-Roman world, Isis becomes one of the most significant of the mystery religions, and many classical writers refer to her temples, cults and rites.

Isis and Nephthys, her sister went looking for his pieces, but could only find thirteen of the fourteen.

The cult of Isis rose to prominence in the Hellenistic world, beginning in the last centuries B.C.E., until it was eventually banned by the Christians in the sixth century.

By this period, temples to Isis begin to spread outside of Egypt.

Iconographically the similarities between the seated Isis holding or suckling the child Horus (Harpocrates) and the seated Mary and the baby Jesus are apparent.

Some scholars believe that Isis worship in late Roman times was an influence behind Catholic development of the cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Despite the Isis mystery cult's growing popularity, there is evidence to suggest that the Isis mysteries were not altogether welcomed by the ruling classes in Rome.

Herodotus identified Isis with the Greek and Roman goddesses of agriculture, Demeter and Ceres.

By the New Kingdom, Isis gains prominence as the mother / protector of the living Pharaoh.

By the late Egyptian history, Isis becomes the most important, and most powerful magical deity of the Egyptian pantheon.

Temples to Isis were built in Iraq, Greece, Rome, even as far north as England where the remains of a temple were discovered at Hadrian's Wall.

In art, originally Isis was pictured as a woman wearing a long sheath dress and crowned with the hieroglyphic sign for a throne, sometimes holding a lotus, as a sycamore tree.

Isis also assimilated Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, since Sopdet, rising just before the flooding of the Nile, was seen as a bringer of fertility, and so had been identified with Hathor.

Later, the name survived into Coptic dialects as "?se" or "?si," as well as in compound words surviving in names of later people like "Har-si-Ese," literally "Horus, son of Isis."

Worship of Isis continued in pockets of Christian Europe as late as the sixth century.

To make it so Isis could never find Osiris again, Set chopped Osiris' body into fourteen pieces and scattered them all over Egypt.

Individual worship of Isis does not begin until as late as the 30th dynasty; until that time Isis was depicted and apparently worshipped in temples of other deities.

Consequently, since there was not anything logically troubling by identifying Isis as Ra's wife, Hathor unlike identifying Ra as her own son, she and Hathor became considered the same deity, Isis-Hathor.

In another area of Egypt, when the pantheon was formalized, Isis became one of the Ennead of Heliopolis, as a daughter of Nut and Geb, and sister to Osiris, Nephthys, and Set.

The tale describes how Nephthys became sexually frustrated with Set and disguised herself as the much more attractive Isis to try to seduce him.

Critics point out that stylistic similarities between iconography of Mary and Isis are not proof of syncretism, since they could represent a "type."

Isis was a goddess in ancient Egyptian mythology, often worshiped as the archetypal wife and mother.