Paris, 1857, t. xiv. p. 65 ff.]

[Illustration: 1. Isis suckling her child Horus in the papyrus swamps.
2. Thoth giving the emblem of magical protection to Isis. 3. Amen-R[=a]
presenting the symbol of "life" to Isis. 4. The goddess Nekhebet
presenting years, and life, stability, power, and sovereignty to the son
of Osiris. 5. The goddess Sati presenting periods of years, and life,
stability, power, and sovereignty to the son of Osiris.]

What form the details of the history of Osiris took in the early
dynasties it is impossible to say, and we know not whether Osiris was
the god of the resurrection to the predynastic or prehistoric Egyptians,
or whether that _rôle_ was attributed to him after Mena began to rule in
Egypt. There is, however, good reason for assuming that in the earliest
dynastic times he occupied the position of god and judge of those who
had risen from the dead by his help, for already in the IVth dynasty,
about B.C. 3800, king Mea-kau-R[=a] (the Mycerinus of the Greeks) is
identified with him, and on his coffin not only is he called "Osiris,
King of the South and North, Men-kau-R[=a], living for ever," but the
genealogy of Osiris is attributed to him, and he is declared to be "born
of heaven, offspring of Nut, flesh and bone of Seb." It is evident that
the priests of Heliopolis "edited" the religious texts copied and
multiplied in the College to suit their own views, but in the early
times when they began their work, the worship of Osiris was so
widespread, and the belief in him as the god of the resurrection so
deeply ingrained in the hearts of the Egyptians, that even in the
Heliopolitan system of theology Osiris and his cycle, or company of
gods, were made to hold a very prominent position. He represented to men
the idea of a man who was both god and man, and he typified to the
Egyptians in all ages the being who by reason of his sufferings and