The mystery of the Great pyramid : traditions concerning it and its connection with the Egyptian Book of the dead : with numerous illustrations

MYSTERY OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

In due course Osiris became king of Egypt, and exercised such beneficent sway that he was beloved by his people. He had one bitter enemy, however, namely his brother Set, who longed to possess his wife (and sister), Isis, and the throne. Thwarted in his designs, Set planned the murder of Osiris by treacherously inveigling him to lie down in a chest, the lid of which was then rapidly fastened down and Osiris entrapped. The chest was then set adrift on the Nile+

Isis eventually finds the chest and, assisted by Thoth and her sister Nephthys, opens it and, by means of incantations, restores Osiris to life. Horus, his son, then seeks to take revenge upon Set for the murder of his father, and a terrible contest ensues between them, victory falling first to one, then to the other.

Set then turns the struggle into a legal contest, and brings Horus and Osiris before the tribunal of the gods to be judged according to their code of procedure. Thoth appears in the judgment hall, and by his eloquence proves that Osiris and Horus were fighting the cause for the gods.

As a reward for his sufferings, the gods appoint Osiris as Judge of the Dead, and it is thus he is represented in the Book of the Dead, swathed in mummied form, and wearing on his head the white crown, and holding in his hands the emblems of sovereignty and power—the crook, whip, and sceptre (see illustration at p. 97. In this he holds only the crook and whip : in the vignette to Hymn to Ra (ch. xv in the Ritual) he is depicted holding all three emblems).

As advocate and helper of Osiris, so did the ancient Egyptians believe Thoth would also help them at the trial of the last judgment. Their hope was to dwell in the “ beautiful Amentet ”, or divine region, with Osiris for ever, analogous to the “ Garden of Allah” of the Mohammedans.

1 Another version says that Set waylaid Osiris while the latter was out hunting, and slew him, dismembering the body into fourteen pieces. Isis discovered the parts and, by the aid of Thoth, put them together and restored them to life.

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