W E A R E T H E W E A V E R S W E A R E T H E W E B
Isis is the Goddess of motherhood, magick, fertility, death and rebirth. Originally called by an Egyptian name whose pronunciation has been settled on as Aset, the usual translation of Her name is "Lady of the Throne". In Her oldest representations, Her headdress was a throne. She personified the Throne and Her blessing was necessary to legitimize the reign of the Pharoah. Bread and beer were considered to be Her gifts to humanity. In New Kingdom stories, Egyptians said that the annual flooding of the Nile was caused by Her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris.
Worship of Isis
The worship of Isis dates from predynastic times, prior to 3100 BCE, at Sebennytos in the northern delta. The first written records of Isis date from the Fifth Dynasty (approx 2500 BCE) in the Nile Delta region of Lower Egypt. In Heliopolis, She was one of the most prominent deities along with Geb and Nut, Her parents, as well as Osiris, Set, and Nepthys, Her siblings.
By the Middle Kingdom, 2040 and 1640 BCE, Isis was strongly associated with Her role as Protectress of the Dead, and Her images, along with those of Her sister, Nepthys, appear on coffins throughout Egypt from many time periods. Her name also appears many times in the Egyptian Books of the Dead as someone invoked to protect the deceased. She was also considered, through Her role as wife of Osiris, to be the wife of the Pharoah in the Afterlife. By the New Kingdom period, 1570 and 1070 BCE, Her role was seen more as Mother of the Pharoah, who was associated with Horus at this time, and there are many depicitons of Her from this period showing Isis nursing Horus/Pharoah. During this period, Her worship was widespread in Egypt, but Her most prominent temples were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta, which was in Lower Egypt.
Isis was popular not only all through Egypt but throughout the ancient world by the end of the Roman Empire. So popular that temples to Isis have been found from Iraq to the British Isles. Her worship was spread from Egypt by the Macedonians who came to Egypt with Alexander the Great and later carried everywhere by the Romans. In many locations, particularly Byblos, Her worship assimilated the worship of Astarte. Eventually, Her worship subsumed many different Goddesses, including Hathor, Mut, and Aphrodite. During the Roman Empire, Her worship was one of the greatest of the Mystery religions, and Her rites are referred to by many writers from the time. One of the best sources from the time is Plutarch, a Greek scholar who lived from 46 CE to 120 CE. In one of his surviving texts, Isis and Osiris, he writes of Isis: "She is both wise, and a lover of wisdom; as Her name appears to denote that, more than any other, knowing and knowledge belong to Her." and that the temple of Isis in Sais carried the inscription "I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be; and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised." Another source from the time is Apuleius, whose book The Golden Ass is all about his devotion to and understanding of the Mysteries of Isis. “You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are, my nod governs the shining heights of Heavens, the wholesome sea breezes. Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names ... some know me as Juno, some as Bellona ... the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship call me by my true name...Queen Isis." - Apuleius, The Golden Ass.
One of the few places where we have a well-preserved record of any of Her worship is from the ruins of Pompeii, where the Temple of Isis was found with many pieces of statuary and mosaics and friezes that depicted Her rites as done in that city, where Isis apparently had great prominence. Rome also contained many temples dedicated to Isis as well as obelisks to Her honor. On the Greek mainland, the rites of Isis were celebrated in such places as Eleusis, Delphi, and Athens. Inscriptions to Isis have been found on harbor structures on the Arabia and Black Seas. Small shrines to Isis have also been found in Germany, Turkey, Arabia, Spain, Britain, France, Portugal, and even Ireland. The last center of Isis worship from ancient times was on the island of Philae in the Nile Delta, where it survived until the Sixth century CE. Sadly, though Her worship lasted far longer than any other deity from Ancient Egypt, very little knowledge of what exactly Her worship entailed survives from that period since the later Christians were quite thorough in trying to deface and destroy all permanent records.
Art from the Old Kingdom period shows Isis as a woman wearing a long sheath dress and crowned with the hieroglyphic sign for a throne. Often She was shown holding a lotus. At times She was shown as a sycamore tree, which was related to the stories of Her search for Her murdered and dismembered spouse, Osiris. In later times, once the worship of Isis subsumed the worship of Hathor to some extent, She was sometimes depicted with the twin horns of a cow on Her head, with a solar disc between them and holding the sacred sistrum rattle and the fertility-bearing menat necklace. Most images of Isis, however, depict Her with Her young child, Horus (frequently in this representation Isis is nursing Horus), with a crown, and a vulture. Sometimes Isis was represented as a kite flying over the body of Osiris or with the dead Osiris draped over Her lap as She brought him back to life. There are also many images of Isis holding only the ankh and a simple staff. In The Book of Coming Forth By Day, Isis is shown standing on the prow of the Solar Barque with Her arms outstretched. Boats on the Nile usually had the name of the Goddess on either side of the prow, to protect against wrecks and crocodiles.
