Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Osiris- God Of The Dead

Mark A Cella is a world renowned archeologist and professor of Egyptology as Cal State Dominguez University in Los Angeles. He’s led over a dozen digs and expeditions to the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings over the past fifteen years.

Today Osiris

Husband of Isis and Father of Horus Osiris - God of the Dead dressed in white with crook and flail and white crown

Osiris is shown as a man with a beard wearing white mummy wrappings. His crown is the white crown of Upper Egypt surrounded by red feathers. His skin is green to represent vegetation. He holds the symbols of supreme power, the flail and crook. The crook is used by shepherds to catch their sheep. The flail is used in threshing, to separate the grains from the outer husks. Osiris was the God of the Dead. You would expect that such a god would be gloomy or even evil, but the Egyptians thought about death a lot. They mummified their dead and buried them with their belongings so they could enjoy themselves in the afterlife.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Amen... I Mean Amun

Mark A Cella is a world renowned archeologist and professor of Egyptology as Cal State Dominguez University in Los Angeles. He’s led over a dozen digs and expeditions to the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings over the past fifteen years.

Today: Amun

Amun was an important god, but there are no stories about him. He created all things. At the same time, he remained apart from creation, totally different from it, and fully independent from it. In fact, he was invisible, so you couldn't have a picture of him! However, if you called him Amun-Re, this allowed people to see him. Then he had a hat with ostrich feathers on, and like all gods with human heads, a beard. Re is another way of spelling Ra, the sun god.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

O Mighty Isis

Mark A Cella is a world renowned archeologist and professor of Egyptology as Cal State Dominguez University in Los Angeles. He’s led over a dozen digs and expeditions to the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings over the past fifteen years.


Isis was the great mother-goddess. Her son was Horus, the enemy of Seth. Sometimes she has the baby Horus on her lap. Sometimes she has a throne on her head, as she is Queen of the goddesses. Sometimes she has a sun disk and horns, like Hathor. Isis was also a great healer and magician. She got her magic powers by tricking Ra (see Ra's webpage). This story begins on Nut and Geb's page. The war between Horus and his enemy Seth had lasted a long time.

Isis decided to help her son Horus. She met Seth, and asked for his help. She described someone killing a man and taking all he had away from the man's son. Seth said that killer should pay for his crimes. Isis said that Seth himself was the killer, and he had condemned himself. The other gods agreed, and Seth was driven out into the Sahara Desert. This is the end of the story.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Here Comes The Sun - God

Mark A. Cella is a reknowed Eygptologist, archeologist and professor. He has written and lectured extensively on the dynastic periods of Egypy

Ra - Sun God, King of the Gods a falcon crowned with a sun disk or a man with a falcon's head
Ra was the God of the Sun. He sailed across the heavens in a boat called the 'Barque of Millions of Years'. At the end of each day Ra was thought to die and sailed on his night voyage through the Underworld, leaving the Moon to light the world above. The boat would sail through the twelve doors, representing the twelve hours of night-time. The next dawn, he was born again.

But it was not always smooth sailing. During the day Ra had to fight his chief enemy, a snake called Apep. He was helped by the other gods, such as Seth and Basset. The sun disk on Ra's head often has a cobra round it. A cobra appears on the forehead of Pharaohs, like Tutankhamun.

Ra was the greatest of the gods and he kept his power in his secret name, which only he knew.
He had started to grow old, and sometimes he dribbled. Isis collected some of his saliva and made it into a snake. She hid the snake where Ra would walk. When Ra trod on it, it bit him, and Ra screamed in pain. All the gods gathered round, but none could heal him. Isis said "If you tell me your secret name, this will give me enough magic power to heal you." Ra didn't want to do this, but eventually the pain was so bad that he had to. Isis healed him, and ever since then she has the magic powers that Ra had.

Next: Isis