Isis

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Understanding Isis: The Egyptian goddess of healing and motherhood

King Seti I offering a figure of maʿat to Osiris, Isis, and Horus; relief in the temple of King Seti I, Abydos, early 13th century bce.

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Al-Jizah. Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau, Cairo, Egypt. Side view of Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background. The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids are astronomically oriented to be north-south, east-west (see notes)

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Isis summary

Isis

Q: Isis was the goddess of what?

Although initially an obscure goddess, Isis came to fulfill a variety of roles, primarily as wife and mother, mourner, and magical healer. She was a role model for women, was a principal deity in rites for the dead, and cured the sick. She also had strong links with the kingship and the pharaohs.

Q: What is Isis depicted to look like?

She was most often represented as a beautiful woman wearing a sheath dress and either the hieroglyphic sign of the throne or a solar disk and cow’s horns on her head. Occasionally, she was represented as a scorpion, a bird, a sow, or a cow.

Q: How was Isis related to the other Egyptian gods and goddesses?

Isis was the daughter of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut and the sister of the deities Osiris , Seth , and Nephthys . She was also wife to Osiris, god of the underworld, and bore him a son, Horus .

Egyptian goddess

Also known as: Aset, Eset

Written by Joyce Tyldesley

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 7, 2024 • Article History

Category: History & Society

Egyptian:: Aset or Eset

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Isis was the goddess of what?

What is Isis depicted to look like?

How was Isis related to the other Egyptian gods and goddesses?

Isis, one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. Her name is the Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word for “throne.” Isis was initially an obscure goddess who lacked her own dedicated temples, but she grew in importance as the dynastic age progressed, until she became one of the most important deities of ancient Egypt. Her cult subsequently spread throughout the Roman Empire, and Isis was worshipped from England to Afghanistan. She is still revered by pagans today. As mourner, she was a principal deity in rites connected with the dead; as magical healer, she cured the sick ...(100 of 799 words)

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