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Historical Perspectives

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Historical Perspectives CHAPTER ONE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES From time immemorial Isis was for the Egyptian world goddess of all life. The ankh, the symbol so often held by her in ancient Egyptian representations, was the very symbol of life. Annually, according to the myth, she restored the life of Osiris, her brother-husband, god of the Nile, who in turn inundated the land, rejuvenating its fertility and pro­ viding sustenance for its inhabitants. Little wonder, then, in a land so dependent on the river for its existence, that her creative powers were deemed limitless, that she was identified with every living thing, and that she became all things to all men. Isis was the Great Lady, the Queen of Heaven, the Moon-goddess, protectress and mother of all the pharaohs. Her hieroglyph s.t. or Aset meant throne, a symbol frequently adorning her head in Egyptian portrayals. Originally she may have personified the royal throne. l She was the corn goddess, the rain goddess, and the wind goddess. She invented spinning and weaving. She was skilled as a sorceress and a healer. The ordinary Egyptian could turn to her in an infinite number of troubles. Isis's union with Osiris, too, existed from all time, and it was of the deepest intimacy. Plutarch tells of the sexual union of the two already in their mother's womb before their birth. 2 The doctrine of Heliopolis makes the two, along with Seth, or Typhon as Plutarch calls him, and Nephthys, the children of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. Typhon's plot against Osiris, Isis's wanderings in search of her husband, her discovery of him, and the birth of Horus from the seed of his dead father are well known from Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride. 3 In legend Isis showed herself the ideal wife, characterized by her complete love of and devotion to Osiris, and the ideal mother in her relationship with Horus, known in the Graeco-Roman world as Harpocrates; the three formed a model family, the object of Egyptian admiration. In all of her very human aspects Isis was to touch the hearts of many 1 s. A. B. Mercer, The Religion of Ancient Egypt (London 1949) 198. I Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride 12 (356A). a Ibid., 12ff. (355D ff.). 2 mSTORICAL PERSPECTIVES in the post-Alexandrian period and her faith was to spread itself through­ out all of Europe and Asia Minor. 4 But first a transformation took place among the three divinities, and it was the resultant Hellenistic goddess who took hold of the Graeco-Roman world. The Greeks who first learned of the cult, refusing to accept any gods who did not correspond to the Greek conceptions of the divine, identified Isis and her new husband Sarapis with their own deities; so these Egyptian gods took on new attributes. Certain aspects of the cult, particularly those con­ cerning animals, found no place in the Greek worship and were discarded, and other typically Greek practices found their way into the cult. Out­ wardly Isis in various art forms took on a new appearance, but her most basic characteristics and much of the Egyptian ritual were retained. It has generally been believed until very recently that Ptolemy I Soter, at some point during his reign as king of Egypt (305-283 B.C.), sought a god in whose worship both Egyptians and Egyptian-based Greeks might join together. The legend was that in a dream Ptolemy had a vision of a colossal statue bidding him to bring it to Alexandria immediately; when described, the statue was said by a certain traveler or travelers to be that of Pluto in Sinope. 5 This, says Tacitus, is the most , For the widespread influence of the cult see G. Lafaye, Histoire du culte des divi­ nites d'Alexandrie (Paris 1883); T. A. Brady, The Reception of the Egyptian Cults by the Greeks (330-30 B.C.) (University of Missouri Studies X; Columbia, Missouri 1935); V. Wessetzky, Die iigyptischen Kulte zur Romerzeit in Ungarn (Leiden 1961); M. F. Squarciapino, I culti orientali ad Ostia (Leiden 1962); V. Tran Tarn Tinh, Essai sur le culte d'lsis a Pompei. Images et cultes (Paris 1964); G. y. Bellido, Les religions orientales dans l'Espagne romaine (Leiden 1967); E. and J. R. Harris, The Oriental Cults in Roman Britain (Leiden 1965); L. Zotovic, Les cultes orientaux sur le territoire de la Mesie Superieure (Leiden 1966); G. Grimm, Die Zeugnisse iigyptischer Religion und Kunstelemente im romischen Deutschland (Leiden 1969); V. Tran Tarn Tinh, Le culte des divinites orientales a Herculanum (Leiden 1971); id., Le culte des divinites orientales en Campanie (Leiden 1972); M. Malaise, Inventaire preliminaire des documents egyptiens retrouves en Italie (Leiden 1972); id., Les conditions de penetration et de diffusion des cultes egyptiens en Italie (Leiden 1972); F. Dunand, Le culte d'lsis dana le bassin oriental de la Mediterranee : I. Le culte d'lsia et les Ptolt!mees; H. Le culte d'lsis en Grece; HI. Le culte d'lsis en Asie Mineure. Le clerge et rituel des sanc­ tuaires isiaques (Leiden 1972); and the works continually being published in the series Etudes preliminaires aux religions orientales dans ['empire romain edited by M. J. Vermaseren. For a quick view of the spread of the cult see the maps in R. E. Witt, Isis in the Graeco-Roman World (London 1971) 56-57. I Piu., DIO 28 (361F-362B); Tac., Hist. 4.83-84. .
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