Osíris

Osíris is a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, revered as the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and rebirth. In myth he is portrayed as a king who ruled Egypt with Isis, his wife and sister, and as the father of Horus. He is closely associated with the Nile’s cycles, agriculture, and the renewal of vegetation.

According to legend, Osíris was murdered by his brother Set, who dismembered his body. Isis and Nephthys recovered and reassembled him; through magical rites he was resurrected and, in some versions, became ruler of the afterlife. His death and revival symbolize the seasonal cycle and the promise of life beyond death. As lord of the underworld, Osíris presides over judgment of the dead, often in the Hall of Ma’at, where Anubis weighs the heart against the feather of truth, with Thoth recording the result.

His worship centered largely at Abydos, with widespread reverence throughout Egypt. In iconography, Osíris is typically depicted as a mummified king with green or black skin denoting rebirth, wearing the Atef crown or the white crown of Upper Egypt, and bearing the crook and flail as symbols of kingship and fertility. The Osírian cult influenced later religious ideas and, in Greco-Roman Egypt, he was identified with other deities and connected with parallels to the mythic figures of other cultures.