Isis
The ideal woman
A cosmic deity: she who is great of magic
Isis was believed to be the most powerful magician among the Egyptian gods. She could use her powers to heal and resurrect people or to harm her ennemies.
Because of her formidable magical powers, Isis was thought to be one of the many forms of the Eye of Ra, the sun’s only daughter.
A royal deity: the Queen Mother
Isis belongs to the Great Ennead of Heliopolis (the nine first deities of the universe). She is the daughter of Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky).
As the wife of Osiris (the deceased king) and the mother of Horus (the reigning king), she symbolizes the Queen Mother.
Her name means ‘the seat, the throne’: she is the one who bore the king and who will support him.
In mythology, her political influence as a mother is often depicted. She is seen as the instigator of a lot of Horus’ victorious strategies.
A people’s goddess: the mother who brings up her children
Isis is a mother goddess but her role as a mother is more social. It focuses on education and raising the child into a fully grown adult. She is different from Hathor who manages the biological aspects of motherhood (pregnancy, childbirth...).
In mythology, she is portrayed as a single mother who knows the hardships of raising a child on her own. Egyptians could easily identify with her and therefore saw her as a helpful goddess.
A funerary deity: the widow
Isis is Osiris’ widow. She has gone through the grief of losing a loved one and knows what pain and suffering feels like. That’s why she is viewed as compassionate and sympathetic towards the weak and destitute.
Isis is often portrayed as weeping and crying Osiris’ death. Thus, she is the mourners’ patron goddess.
Isis has an important role in the funerary cult as her cries are believed to awaken the dead. She also protects the body of the deceased in order for him to be resurrected.
Isis can be depicted as...
a woman with a throne on her head, a woman with Hathor’s headgear, a woman with wings, a tree, a bird, a cow, a scorpion, a cobra... (+ many other forms).
Isis is related to...
her heliopolitan family: Geb (father), Nut (mother), Seth (brother), Osiris (brother and husband), Nephtys (sister), Horus (son).
Atum-Ra (of whom she can be the mother or wife)
Horus (her husband in some funerary myths)
Min (her husband in the town of Coptos)
Isis can be equated with...
all other goddesses especially Hathor, mother goddesses (Mut, Hathor), solar goddesses (Sekhmet, Tefnut), funerary goddesses (Selket).