Isis

Isis (Aset in ancient Egyptian, «the one of the throne») is one of the most important and long-lived goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon. Daughter of Geb, the earth, and Nut, the sky, she forms part of the Ennead of Heliopolis and is sister and wife of Osiris, as well as sister of Set and Nephthys. Her name and her oldest headdress, the hieroglyph of the throne, link her from the beginning with royalty: she is the symbolic mother of the pharaoh, whom she holds on her lap as she holds her son Horus. Already in the Pyramid Texts, the oldest religious texts of Egypt, she is invoked as protector of the deceased king and guarantor of his resurrection. With time, Isis absorbed attributes of other goddesses, especially Hathor, whose horns and solar disk she adopted in her crown, and came to be venerated as «the Great in magic» (Weret-Hekau) and as universal goddess, lady of the sky, the earth and the underworld.

The central myth of Isis is her role in the passion of Osiris. After the murder and dismemberment of her husband at the hands of Set, Isis travels through Egypt gathering the fragments of his body and, with her powerful spells, returns him to life long enough to conceive Horus. She then hides her son in the marshes of the Delta to protect him from Set, and the tales, such as those preserved in the Metternich Stele, show her healing him from a scorpion sting through magic. Another famous myth tells how Isis obtains supreme power: she fabricates a serpent that poisons Ra and only agrees to cure him in exchange for the old solar god revealing his secret name to her, the source of all his strength. These tales consolidate her image as an unequaled sorceress, faithful wife and devoted mother, whose love and cunning overcome death and ensure the continuity of the divine royalty.

The cult of Isis, rooted in Egypt (with temples as famous as that of Philae, active until the 6th century AD), spread throughout the Greco-Roman world from the Hellenistic period onwards. Assimilated to Greek and Roman goddesses such as Demeter, Aphrodite or Fortuna, Isis was worshipped as a savior and universal divinity in initiatory mysteries that promised protection in this life and hope in the afterlife, and which Apuleius describes in his novel El asno de oro. Her sanctuaries extended from Alexandria to Rome, Pompeii and the borders of the Empire. The iconography of Isis breastfeeding Horus (the Isis lactans) is considered by many scholars a visual antecedent of the Christian representations of the Virgin with the Child. Enduring symbol of divine motherhood, magic and resurrection, Isis is today one of the divinities of ancient Egypt with the greatest recognition and cultural influence.