Comparing: Isis and Osiris

In the earliest days of Egypt, Osiris ruled as a wise and benevolent king, teaching humanity agriculture, law, and the arts. His brother Set, consumed by jealousy, devised a cunning plot. He commissioned a magnificent chest fitted exactly to Osiris's measurements. At a great banquet, Set declared that whoever fit perfectly inside the chest could keep it. One by one the guests tried, but none fit. When Osiris lay down inside, Set's accomplices slammed the lid shut, sealed it with molten lead, and cast it into the Nile. The chest drifted to the shores of Byblos, where a sacred tamarisk tree grew around it. Isis, Osiris's devoted wife and a powerful sorceress, searched the land tirelessly. She tracked the chest to Byblos and, through her magic, retrieved her husband's body. But Set discovered her and, in a rage, tore the corpse into fourteen pieces, scattering them across Egypt. Undeterred, Isis traveled the length and breadth of the land. With the help of her sister Nephthys and the jackal-headed Anubis, she recovered every piece — save one. Using her formidable magic, she reassembled Osiris and, for the first time in history, performed the rites of mummification. She breathed life back into him just long enough to conceive their son, Horus. Osiris then descended to the underworld, where he became its lord and judge of the dead, offering eternal life to those who had lived justly. Isis raised Horus in secret among the papyrus marshes, and when he came of age, he challenged Set for the throne of Egypt, reclaiming his father's legacy.

Aux origines de l'Egypte, Osiris regnait en roi sage et bienveillant, enseignant a l'humanite l'agriculture, la loi et les arts. Son frere Set, ronge par la jalousie, ourdit un plan diabolique. Il commanda un coffre magnifique ajuste exactement aux mesures d'Osiris. Lors d'un grand banquet, Set declara que quiconque entrerait parfaitement dans le coffre pourrait le garder. Les invites essayerent un par un, mais aucun ne s'y ajustait. Quand Osiris s'allongea a l'interieur, les complices de Set claquerent le couvercle, le scellerent avec du plomb fondu et le jeterent dans le Nil. Le coffre deriva jusqu'aux rives de Byblos, ou un tamaris sacre poussa autour de lui. Isis, l'epouse devouee d'Osiris et une puissante sorciere, chercha inlassablement a travers tout le pays. Elle traqua le coffre jusqu'a Byblos et, par sa magie, recupera le corps de son mari. Mais Set la decouvrit et, dans une rage, dechira le cadavre en quatorze morceaux, les dispersant a travers l'Egypte. Nullement decouragee, Isis voyagea a travers toute l'etendue du pays. Avec l'aide de sa soeur Nephthys et du dieu a tete de chacal Anubis, elle retrouva chaque morceau, sauf un. Utilisant sa magie redoutable, elle reassembla Osiris et, pour la premiere fois de l'histoire, accomplit les rites de la momification. Elle lui redonna vie juste assez longtemps pour concevoir leur fils, Horus. Osiris descendit alors dans le monde souterrain, ou il devint son seigneur et juge des morts, offrant la vie eternelle a ceux qui avaient vecu avec justice. Isis eleva Horus en secret parmi les marais de papyrus, et quand il atteignit l'age adulte, il defia Set pour le trone d'Egypte, reconquerant l'heritage de son pere.