The Murdered King
Osiris was Egypt's first divine king, a wise ruler who taught his people farming and law. Son of the earth god Geb and sky goddess Nut, he married his sister Isis, but his jealous brother Set tricked him into a coffin, sealed it, and cast it into the Nile.
The Greek form Osiris renders the Egyptian Wsir, whose meaning is debated but often linked to ideas of "the mighty one" or "place of the eye." His green skin marked him as a god of vegetation and the renewing flood.
Lord of the Afterlife
Isis recovered and revived him long enough to conceive their son, the falcon god of kingship. Though Set later dismembered his body, Osiris was restored through mummification and became ruler of the Duat, the realm of the dead. There he presided over the weighing of each soul's heart against the feather of truth.
Because he died and rose again, Osiris promised every Egyptian the hope of eternal life. His crook and flail became the emblems of pharaonic rule, carried by living kings and clutched in royal tombs.
The first king of Egypt, teacher of agriculture and civilization.
Judge and ruler of the Duat, granting the dead a chance at eternity.
Common Questions
Why is Osiris shown with green skin?
Green symbolized vegetation, fertility, and rebirth, linking him to the annual flooding of the Nile and the growth it brought.
How did Osiris become king of the dead?
After Set murdered him, Isis restored him through the first mummification, allowing him to rule the underworld and judge the souls of the deceased.
