Isis, Mother, Wife, and Sorceress

Isis, Mother, Wife, and Sorceress

Upon becoming pregnant, Isis flees from Set to the Nile Delta, accompanied by seven scorpions. One night she asks for shelter from a wealthy lady named Uosret, but the woman refuses her. The furious scorpions then attack Uosret’s son. Moved by pity for the dying child, Isis heals him. She then travels to Chemmis, where she gives birth to Horus.

Isis was terribly poor, and so she is forced to leave Horus, her baby, alone while she goes in search of food. One day, upon returning, she finds Horus completely rigid, having been stung by a scorpion; but this time Isis cannot save him, because she had exhausted her power saving Uosret’s son. In her desperation, Isis stops Ra at the moment he is crossing the sky, and darkness falls upon the world. Ra then sends Thoth to heal Horus, for until he recovered there would be no light, the wells would dry up, and the plants would bear no fruit.

Wife and Mother

Isis is often depicted with a solar disc between cow’s horns, which demonstrates her great affinity with the cow mother goddess Hathor. Both Isis and Hathor were, at different periods, regarded as mothers of Horus and therefore of the king of Egypt, who was the human embodiment of Horus.

Isis was indeed a model wife and mother; she is the symbol of the unity of the divine family, and she is frequently depicted nursing the child Horus.

Sorceress

Isis practised magic, and her powers could also take effect upon the gods. It was her magical powers that succeeded in restoring life to the mummified Osiris and in aiding her son Horus in his battle against Set.

Nursemaid

Just as Demeter (see mitologiagrecorromana) did, Isis, while searching for Osiris, enters the household of a royal infant as a nursemaid; both goddesses attempt to grant immortality to the children by burning away their mortal parts, but are interrupted at that very moment. Isis lets out so terrible a cry upon seeing the corpse of Osiris that the prince in her care dies.