This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
Isis, identified with the Greek Ceres, was the goddess of medicine, marriage, fecundity and maternity. She was the daughter of Nut, or the sky, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. Set, the god of evil and the brother of Osiris, conspired against the latter, who was king of Egypt. Osiris was put in a chest, thrown into the Nile and carried to the seashore where after a long search he was found by Isis, who hid him while she went to urge Horus to avenge his father. Meanwhile Set found the body and cut it into fourteen pieces scattering them over Egypt. Isis then traveled about building temples over each piece of the body where she found it. Osiris became the lord of the other world and taught Horus the use of arms. Horus defeated Set and took him prisoner, but Isis freed him. This so enraged