These are my favorite resource books among the hundreds that crept into my house. The ones with an asterisk (*) spend quality time on my desk.
| The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Richard H. Wilkinson * | Ancient Egyptian Medicine by John Nunn |
| The Secret Medicine of the Pharoahs by Cornelius Stetter | Magic in Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch |
| The Leyden Papyrus Edited by Griffith and Thompson | Ancient Egyptian Magic by Bob Brier |
| Ancient Egyptian Divination and Magic by Eleanor Harris | Life in Ancient Egypt by Adolf Erman |
| Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt by Jon Manchip White * | The Ancient Egyptians: Their Life and Customs by Gardiner and Wilkson |
| Judgement of the Pharoah: Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt by Joyce Tyldesley |
Egyptian Warfare and Weapons by Ian Shaw |
| The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt by Bill Manley * | Love Lyrics of Ancient Egypt translated by Barbara Hugesh Fowler |
| Ancient Egyptian Literature: An Anthology translated by John L. Foster | Love Songs of the New Kingdom translated by John L. Foster |
| Ancient Egyptian Fashions - A Dover Coloring Book Ancient Egyptian Costumes - Dover Paper Dolls by Tom Tierney * |
An Ancient Egyptian Herbal* Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt Sacred Luxuries: Fragrance, Aromatherapy, and Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt by Lise Manniche |
| Search for Omm Sety
Isis and Osiris by Jonathan Cott |
Omm Sety's Living Egypt by Omm Sety (Dorothy Eady) Omm Sety's Abydos by Omm Sety (Dorothy Eady) Omm Sety's Egypt by Hanny El Zeini and Catherine Dees |
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| Ancient Egypt in Science Fiction & Frantasty Crowns of Ancient Egypt IBM Eternal Egypt Theban Mapping Project So you want to go to Egypt? Try Min Travel The Egyptian Museum in Cairo |
The Greeks names for the Egyptian gods, Aset, Asar un-Nefer, and Heru were Isis, Osiris, and Horus. They form a holy trinity with Isis at its heart. The name Aset means “the throne” or “mother of kings.” Asar means “he who occupies the throne.” As the mother of Horus, the first pharaoh, Egyptians considered Isis the womb of all life.
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| Many Egyptologists believe Asar un-Nefer was a prehistoric king who possessed the virtues
attributed to Osiris. Kemet, the historical name of Egypt, was a savage and cannibalistic country
until Isis and Osiris ushered in a golden age. Their reign became the model emulated by generations of pharaohs. They were brother/husband and sister/wife whose love began in their mother’s womb and triumphed over death. Their arch-enemy was their brother, Seth, the god of chaos. |
Details about their early life are sketchy in both history and myth, but most accounts say Osiris traveled extensively and acquired great knowledge. The Egyptians credited him with discovering wheat and barley and inventing a code of laws, agricultural techniques, and wine-making. His goal was to ensure his people lived in accordance with ma’at.
Isis, wisest of the Egyptians gods, was the mistress of magic (heka). The Egyptians claimed that she was so clever that even the king of the gods, Ra, could not outwit her. Isis’s gifts were the healing arts, midwifery, and bread and beer making.
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Seth lusted after throne and usurped it by murdering Osiris and casting his body into the Nile.
Isis was so powerful and wise that Seth feared her above all others. Persecuted by Seth, Isis travelled the world with the jackal god Anubis to find Osiris’s body.
With help from her tutor and ally, Thoth (Djhuty) Isis magically resurrected Osiris and conceived
their son Horus (Heru). When an enraged Seth discovered the resurrected but still weak Osiris,
he dismembered him and scattered his body throughout Egypt. Anubis and Isis reassembled the body, making the first mummy. Isis persuaded the gods to make Osiris the Lord of the Afterlife and chose Osiris’s favorite city of Abydos as his burial site. |
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The Myth of Osiris
Legend of Isis and Osiris
The Gods of Ancient Egypt: Osiris
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Powerful, compassionate, crafty, and merciful, Isis is among the oldest deities of ancient Egypt and was worshipped continously from 5000 BC to 600 AD. Despite (or due to) complicated family relationships — daughter of Nut and Geb, sister of Set and Nephthys, sister/wife of Osiris, and the mother of Horus— Isis was as powerful and popular as Ra, the King of Gods, among ancient Eguptians who credited her with tricking Ra into revealing his secret name and thus gained dominion over him. She was the female counterpart of her kingly husband, Osiris, and equal to him in all ways and even surpassed him with her proficiency in magic and medicine. After his murder, she travelled the world to recover pieces of his dismembered body and resurrected him. |  |
Her name translates literally as the throne, and she is often portrayed wearing a crown in the shape of a chair. As the mother of Horus, the ancient Egyptians considered her the goddess of kingship, and every pharaoh claimed her as his mother and became “the living Horus” at his coronation and “Osiris” upon his death. Ancient Egyptians honored her great power, implicit in the title wer-Heka or Great of Magic
The worship of Isis remained enormously resistant to the influence of early Christianity; her mysteries, including the resurrection of Osiris, were performed as late as the 6th century AD.
For more information about Isis:
The Myths of Aset
Domain of Aset, the Egyptian goddess Isis
Isis and the Seven Scorpions
Isis
The Sacred Temple Island of Philae Center of the worship of Isis
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Isis gave birth to Horus in a swamp and raised him in exile, safeguarding him with heka against numerous attacks by Seth while preparing him for his destiny. Horus was the synthesis of his father’s ma’at and his mother’s heka. Osiris often visited Horus in dreams to remind him of his obligation to “right the evil done to his family” and to instruct him on strategy. |  |
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Thoth also instructed the young god and became his champion in the struggle against Seth. When Horus became a man, he and Isis waged war against Seth to avenge Osiris’s murder.
With Seth defeated and ma’at restored, Iset conferred the crown on Horus and
claimed her place as the chief goddess in the Egyptian pantheon. Horus became the god of divine kingship. Every Pharoah assumed the title of Living Horus when he became king. Pharoah's eldest son and heir was often called Horus in the Nest. |
The Myth of Heru son of Aset
The Contendings of Horus and Seth
