Who was the goddess Isis and whats so iportant about her?

Question

I need information about the goddess Isis of the Ancient Egyptian culture.

Answer 1

Isis, Egyptian Goddess
of Magic and Giver of Life




Isis, the Egyptian goddess of rebirth remains one of the most familiar images of empowered and utter femininity. The goddess Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky. Isis was born on the first day between the first years of creation, and was adored by her human followers.

Unlike the other Egyptian goddesses, the goddess Isis spent time among her people, teaching women how to grind corn and make bread, spin flax and weave cloth, and how to tame men enough to live with them (an art form on which many of us would welcome a refresher course!) Isis taught her people the skills of reading and agriculture and was worshipped as the goddess of medicine and wisdom.

More than any other of the ancient Egyptian goddesses, Isis embodied the characteristics of all the lesser goddesses that preceded her. Isis became the model on which future generations of female dieties in other cultures were to be based. As the personification of the "complete female", Isis was called "The One Who Is All", Isis Panthea ("Isis the All Goddess"), and the "Lady of Ten Thousand Names".

The goddess Isis, a moon goddess, gave birth to Horus, the god of the sun. Together, Isis and Horus created and sustained all life and were the saviors of their people.



Isis became the most powerful of the gods and goddesses in the ancient world. Ra, the God of the Sun, originally had the greatest power. But Ra was uncaring, and the people of the world suffered greatly during his reign.

The goddess Isis tricked him by mixing some of his saliva with mud to create a poisonous snake that bit him, causing him great suffering which she then offered to cure. He eventually agreed.

Isis informed Ra that, for the cure to work, she would have to speak his secret name (which was the source of his power over life and death). Reluctantly, he whispered it to her.

When Isis uttered his secret name while performing her magic, Ra was healed. But the goddess Isis then possessed his powers of life and death, and quickly became the most powerful of the Egyptian gods and goddesses, using her great powers to the benefit of the people.







Isis was called the Mother of Life, but she was also known as the Crone of Death. Her immense powers earned her the titles of "The Giver of Life" and "Goddess of Magic". Her best known story illustrates why she is simultaneously known as a creation goddess and a goddess of destruction.

Isis was the Goddess of the Earth in ancient Egypt and loved her brother Osiris. When they married, Osiris became the first King of Earth. Their brother Set, immensely jealous of their powers, murdered Osiris so he could usurp the throne.

Set did this by tricking Osiris into stepping into a beautiful box made of cedar, ebony and ivory that he had ordered built to fit only Osiris. Set then sealed it up to become a coffin and threw it into the river. The river carried the box out to sea; it washed up in another country, resting in the upper boughs of a tamarisk tree when the waters receded. As time passed, the branches covered the box, encapsulating the god in his coffin in the trunk of the tree.

In a state of inconsolable grief, Isis tore her robes to shreds and cut off her beautiful black hair. When she finally regained her emotional balance, Isis set out to search for the body of her beloved Osiris so that she might bury him properly.




The search took Isis to Phoenicia where she met Queen Astarte. Astarte didn't recognized the goddess and hired her as a nursemaid to the infant prince.

Fond of the young boy, Isis decided to bestow immortality on him. As she was holding the royal infant over the fire as part of the ritual, the Queen entered the room. Seeing her son smoldering in the middle of the fire, Astarte instinctively (but naively) grabbed the child out of the flames, undoing the magic of Isis that would have made her son a god.

When the Queen demanded an explanation, Isis revealed her identity and told Astarte of her quest to recover her husband's body. As she listened to the story, Astarte realized that the body was hidden in the fragrant tree in the center of the palace and told Isis where to find it.

Sheltering his broken body in her arms, the goddess Isis carried the body of Osiris back to Egypt for proper burial. There she hid it in the swamps on the delta of the Nile river.







Unfortunately, Set came across the box one night when he was out hunting. Infuriated by this turn of events and determined not to be outdone, he murdered Osiris once again . . . this time hacking his body into 14 pieces and throwing them in different directions knowing that they would be eaten by the crocodiles.

The goddess Isis searched and searched, accompanied by seven scorpions who assisted and protected her. Each time she found new pieces she rejoined them to re-form his body.

But Isis could only recover thirteen of the pieces. The fourteenth, his penis, had been swallowed by a crab, so she fashioned one from gold and wax. Then inventing the rites of embalming, and speaking some words of magic, Isis brought her husband back to life.

Magically, Isis then conceived a child with Osiris, and gave birth to Horus, who later became the Sun God. Assured that having the infant would now relieve Isis' grief, Osiris was free to descend to become the King of the Underworld, ruling over the dead and the sleeping. His spirit, however, frequently returned to be with Isis and the young Horus who both remained under his watchful and loving eye.







There are many other variations of this myth . . . in some Isis found the body of Osiris in Byblos, fashioned his penis out of clay. In others the goddess consumed the dismembered parts she found and brought Osiris back to life, reincarnating him as her son Horus.

In one of the most beautiful renditions, Isis turns into a sparrowhawk and hovers over the body of Osiris, fanning life back into him with her long wings.

Regardless of the differences, each version speaks of the power over life and death that the goddess Isis symbolizes. . . the deep mysteries of the feminine ability to create and to bring life from that which is lifeless.

To this day the celebration of the flooding of the Nile each year is called "The Night of the Drop" by Muslims. . . for it used to be named "The Night of the Tear-Drop" a remembrance of the extent of the Isis' lamentation of the death of Osiris, her tears so plentiful they caused the Nile to overflow.






The Egyptian goddess Isis played an important role in the development of modern religions, although her influence has been largely forgotten. She was worshipped throughout the Greco-Roman world. During the fourth century when Christianity was making its foothold in the Roman Empire, her worshippers founded the first Madonna cults in order to keep her influence alive. Some early Christians even called themselves Pastophori, meaning the shepherds or servants of Isis. . . which may be where the word "pastors" originated. The influence of Isis is still seen in the Christian ikons of the faithful wife and loving mother.

Indeed, the ancient images of Isis nursing the infant Horus inspired the style of portraits of mother and child for centuries, including those of the "Madonna and Child" found in religious art.

The power of the goddess Isis in the "public arena" was also profound. Her role as a guide to the Underworld, was often portrayed with winged arms outstretched in a protective position. The image of the wings of Isis was incorporated into the Egyptian throne on which the pharaohs would sit, the wings of Isis protecting them.



The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis has many gifts to share with modern women. Isis embodies the strengths of the feminine, the capacity to feel deeply about relationships, the act of creation, and the source of sustenance and protection.

At times Isis could be a clever trickster empowered by her feminine wiles rather than her logic or brute strength, but it is also the goddess Isis who shows us how we can use our personal gifts to create the life we desire rather than simply opposing that which we do not like.

The myths of Isis and Osiris caution us about the need for occasional renewal and reconnection in our relationships. Isis also reminds us to acknowledge and accept the depths of our emotions.





Isis: Symbols of the Egyptian goddess



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Answer 2

Most likely a Bible thumper. Bible says not to worship idols but they make jewelry, statues, paintings, crucifixes, then pray to them. Those are Idols but they don't consider them idols. Anything you worship can basically be considered an idol so that means that Christians commit idolatry by worshipping Jesus and God and the Holy Ghost. Nothing wrong with worshipping Goddess Isis. I've been Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, Christian now Deist who is thinking of switching to another religion. Just my opinion.

Answer 3

She was the Queen of the Egyptian Gods who was wife and sister to Osiris the King. She was Mother to Horus. She was a goddess of healing.

It was Isis who tracked down and restored Osiris when he was cut into pieces and scattered by his brother Set. And it was Isis who got the true name of Amen Ra in order to make Ra relinquish the crown to Osiris by making the serpent

Answer 4

Isis is the feminine archetype for creation - the goddess of fertility and motherhood. She has gone by many names and played many roles in history and mythology - as goddess and female creator.

Her name literally means female of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne. Her original headdress was an empty throne chair belonging to her murdered husband, Osiris. As the personification of the throne, she was an important source of the Pharaoh's power. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt, but the most important sanctuaries were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta.

Answer 5

Isis was the queen of the gods. She was married to Osiris, and she spent a long time searching for his body/body parts after he was killed. Isis was the perfect queen, wanting the best for her people. She, her husband, and their son stand for goodness and light in the ancient Egyptian culture.

Answer 6

Sis was the wife of Osiris the king of the Egyptian Gods. She ruled the underworld with her husband who as reincarnated again and again with each Pharaoh. When Osiris’ jealous brother set killed him over and over again, she would sit by the mummy crying until he resurrected again. Isis herself was a reflection of the role of the woman in ancient Egypt as a staunch supporter of the husband. Later she became a symbol for pagan women’s empowerment but there really is no evidence to support that Isis was much of an independent force.

Answer 7

Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology. She was most prominent mythologically as the wife and sister of Osiris and mother of Horus, and was worshipped as the archetypical wife and mother.

Her name literally means (female) of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne, which was portrayed by the emblem worn on her head, that of a throne. However, the hieroglyph for her name originally meant (female) of flesh, i.e. mortal, and she may simply have represented deified, historical queens.

Her origins are uncertain but are believed to have come from the Nile Delta; however, unlike other Egyptian deities, she did not have a centralised cult at any point throughout her worship. First mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth dynasty of Egypt which is when the first literary inscriptions are found, but her cult became prominent late in Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses. It eventually spread outside Egypt throughout the Middle East and Europe, with temples dedicated to her built as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her worship remained in Christian Europe as late as the 6th century

Answer 8

Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology. She was most prominent mythologically as the wife and sister of Osiris and mother of Horus, and was worshipped as the archetypical wife and mother.

Her name literally means (female) of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne, which was portrayed by the emblem worn on her head, that of a throne. However, the hieroglyph for her name originally meant (female) of flesh, i.e. mortal, and she may simply have represented deified, historical queens.

Her origins are uncertain but are believed to have come from the Nile Delta; however, unlike other Egyptian deities, she did not have a centralised cult at any point throughout her worship. First mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth dynasty of Egypt which is when the first literary inscriptions are found, but her cult became prominent late in Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses. It eventually spread outside Egypt throughout the Middle East and Europe, with temples dedicated to her built as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her worship remained in Christian Europe as late as the 6th century.

Answer 9

I will not go into a long discourse about Isis. I will advise that for the best answer however you give it to the first answerer because they had the information first and everyone else gave exactly the same. Also i will advise that you go a few searches online yourself so that you could compile information that you think is going to be understandable to you and adequate enough for your studies. Not to mention if you do the research yourself it will stick more because you did it and you know exactly what you are looking for.

Answer 10

Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology. She was most prominent mythologically as the wife and sister of Osiris and mother of Horus, and was worshipped as the archetypical wife and mother.

Her name literally means (female) of throne, i.e. Queen of the throne, which was portrayed by the emblem worn on her head, that of a throne. However, the hieroglyph for her name originally meant (female) of flesh, i.e. mortal, and she may simply have represented deified, historical queens.

Her origins are uncertain but are believed to have come from the Nile Delta; however, unlike other Egyptian deities, she did not have a centralised cult at any point throughout her worship. First mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth dynasty of Egypt which is when the first literary inscriptions are found, but her cult became prominent late in Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses. It eventually spread outside Egypt throughout the Middle East and Europe, with temples dedicated to her built as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her worship remained in Christian Europe as late as the 6th century.

more:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis

Answer 11

Isis was the twin sister and wife of the egyptian god Osiris, she whas the one that after osiris´s murder by seth, their son, collected back the 14 pieces of his body (except his penis) and re-assembled him back to life, and eternal life this time into heavens. Then on Osiris was known as the god of the dead, also in charge of fertility in egypt, for his penis couldn´t be found, and was probably lost inside the nile endowing it with powers of fertility, which in it´s turn has influenced the appearence of agriculture. I hope it helps you, but still go look for it somewhere else to get a more complete answer. Regards, Gabriel.