DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4689#0022
i6
THE OSIREION.
interesting explanation of this title (P.S.B.A. xx'i,
278). " Anzeti means the god of the nome Anzet,
just as Zehuti (Thoth) means the god of the nome
Zehut......Anzeti is therefore the figure of the
anthropomorphic Osiris (Anzti) of Dedu . . . . Osiris
of Dedu seems, from his headdress, to be a god of
birth, or of renewed birth, while Osiris of Abydos
(who always follows him in the funerary formulae)
is of death......In somewhat later times the
figure of this Osiris is the regular determinative of
At}% ' ruling prince,' a term applied only to the living
being.....Osiris of Dedu is the living king and a
god of birth or generation, presiding over the nomes
of the East, or Sunrise, while Osiris of Abydos is
the dead King and King of the Dead, chief of the
Westerners in the region of the Sunset."
17. Osiris in Sehet. In other texts this name is
given as Hesert, a sanctuary in Hermopolis Magna.
In the time of Rameses III there was a secret shrine
(kara sheta), dedicated to the worship of Osiris, in
the temple of Thoth in this place.
18. Osiris in Siut. Siut, the Lycopolis of the
Greeks, was the centre of the worship of the jackal-
god, Upuaut, who was identified with Osiris.
19. Osiris in Uzeft. Here is another mistake of
the scribe or sculptor. The word should be Nezeft,
a town in the Sethroite nome not far from Pithom.
20. Osiris in the South. This word is undoubt-
edly spelt Res, which means the South, and it is the
same in all the papyri ; but it is very probable that
in very early versions of this chapter it was read
Nekhen, for the title which follows is Osiris of Pe,
Pe being the religious capital of the North, Nekhen
of the South. The names of the two towns are con-
stantly used thus in juxtaposition when the writer
wishes to express North and South. The sign for
Nekhen, a plant with two leaves at the base, is very
like the hieroglyph for South, the same plant with
four leaves at the base, so it is not unnatural that
the two should be confused, especially as the meaning
is practically the same in this connection. In the
early hieroglyphs indeed no difference is made be-
tween the two signs. If this were the South we
should expect Osiris of the North to follow immedi-
ately after, but in all papyri Osiris of the South
and Osiris of the North have been mentioned
already.
21. Osiris in Pe. We have already had a mention
of Pe, the city of Isis in the marshes, but there it is
in opposition to Dep, which occurs further on, here
it is opposed to Nekhen. The two temples, one in
Pe and one in Dep, were dedicated, the one to
Horus, the other to Uazt. Chap, cxii of the " Book
of the Dead " is concerned with the Spirits of Pe, who
are Horus, Amset and Hapi; chap, cxiii gives the
Spirits of Nekhen as Horus, Duamutef, and
Qebhsennuf. In the Temple of Sety at Abydos, the
Spirits of Pe and Nekhen carry the king on a litter,
and at Bubastis the Spirits of both places are in
attitudes of praise. The Spirits of Pe are hawk-
headed, those of Nekhen jackal-headed.
22. Osiris in Neteru. Neteru is identified by
Brugsch with Iseum, the modern Behbeit, a place
specially devoted to the worship of Isis, and through
her to Osiris. Neteru is often determined with the
sign of a pool of water, and in the Pyramid texts it
is mentioned in connection with a lake. " Pepy has
washed himself in the four vessels filled at the divine
Lake which is in Neteru " (1. 334).
23. Osiris in Lower Sais. The town of Sais,
which was sacred to the goddess Neith, was divided
into Upper and Lower, hence it is often called the
Town of the North and South. In Sais, Osiris bears
the same name as at Busiris, Anzet)-, the Living
God.
24. Osiris in the town of the Double god. The
hawk sign being an ancient symbol for God, this
name probably means the town of Horus and Set,
which might mean the king, one of whose titles in
the early dynasties was Horus and Set. A tradition
connects Aphroditopolis with the god Set, who is
said to have been buried there. The name of the
nome, in which Aphroditopolis stands, is written
with the double hawk, the town itself being written
with the determinative of two fingers or two sandals.
25. Osiris in Syene. We have here the cult of
Osiris at the most southerly point of Egypt.
Plutarch mentions Philae as a place specially sacred
to Osiris, and the Ptolemaic ritual inscribed in the
temple at Dendereh gives directions for the Osiris-
worship at Elephantine. The temple at Philae
itself preserves—or perhaps I ought to say, did
preserve—inscriptions showing that so late as the
Roman period, the worship of Osiris played a large
part in the religious life of the place.
26. Osiris at the Mouth of the Canal, i.e. Illahun.
Osiris had a special worship in the Fayum, and his
most celebrated temple was at Illahun. As god of
the Fayum he is identified with Sebek and is depicted
as a crocodile, as on the sarcophagus of Ankhrui,
which was found at Hawara in the Fayum (Petkie,
Harvard, pi. ii, p. 21.) where there is a picture of
l<* great P^
< which tho
* lever'' I
**&**
''water fro11
< Neter
0) it is
p water-god, it*
, kke as at 1
• Thi
wprovisi°;
■Lamentations oi
&"*«%
,, come to b,
,:;-hy mother N<
iOsirisinQefnu, or ^
:,|itis Sokar in tl
•;jjanthropomorph
:h with Ptah a
;: the tee together
■Sokar-Osiris. The d
ue 4th and 5th divisi
■';::)[, Jequier sh<
: :riginally quit
is, ad that the two
-2in the "Book 1
is, The Papyrus
action between the
# of the god Sol
I; is the tow
Osiris). W
■e) to see 0
°f the can;
'V and at Herr
yict^og. l69.)
S chief of his to
J"klW
J* fo Places i:
°Wethe North
M in his places i,
■'«i(
:>hea<
^■ns in
•ven.
earth,
0
0
be
in h^ pC
THE OSIREION.
interesting explanation of this title (P.S.B.A. xx'i,
278). " Anzeti means the god of the nome Anzet,
just as Zehuti (Thoth) means the god of the nome
Zehut......Anzeti is therefore the figure of the
anthropomorphic Osiris (Anzti) of Dedu . . . . Osiris
of Dedu seems, from his headdress, to be a god of
birth, or of renewed birth, while Osiris of Abydos
(who always follows him in the funerary formulae)
is of death......In somewhat later times the
figure of this Osiris is the regular determinative of
At}% ' ruling prince,' a term applied only to the living
being.....Osiris of Dedu is the living king and a
god of birth or generation, presiding over the nomes
of the East, or Sunrise, while Osiris of Abydos is
the dead King and King of the Dead, chief of the
Westerners in the region of the Sunset."
17. Osiris in Sehet. In other texts this name is
given as Hesert, a sanctuary in Hermopolis Magna.
In the time of Rameses III there was a secret shrine
(kara sheta), dedicated to the worship of Osiris, in
the temple of Thoth in this place.
18. Osiris in Siut. Siut, the Lycopolis of the
Greeks, was the centre of the worship of the jackal-
god, Upuaut, who was identified with Osiris.
19. Osiris in Uzeft. Here is another mistake of
the scribe or sculptor. The word should be Nezeft,
a town in the Sethroite nome not far from Pithom.
20. Osiris in the South. This word is undoubt-
edly spelt Res, which means the South, and it is the
same in all the papyri ; but it is very probable that
in very early versions of this chapter it was read
Nekhen, for the title which follows is Osiris of Pe,
Pe being the religious capital of the North, Nekhen
of the South. The names of the two towns are con-
stantly used thus in juxtaposition when the writer
wishes to express North and South. The sign for
Nekhen, a plant with two leaves at the base, is very
like the hieroglyph for South, the same plant with
four leaves at the base, so it is not unnatural that
the two should be confused, especially as the meaning
is practically the same in this connection. In the
early hieroglyphs indeed no difference is made be-
tween the two signs. If this were the South we
should expect Osiris of the North to follow immedi-
ately after, but in all papyri Osiris of the South
and Osiris of the North have been mentioned
already.
21. Osiris in Pe. We have already had a mention
of Pe, the city of Isis in the marshes, but there it is
in opposition to Dep, which occurs further on, here
it is opposed to Nekhen. The two temples, one in
Pe and one in Dep, were dedicated, the one to
Horus, the other to Uazt. Chap, cxii of the " Book
of the Dead " is concerned with the Spirits of Pe, who
are Horus, Amset and Hapi; chap, cxiii gives the
Spirits of Nekhen as Horus, Duamutef, and
Qebhsennuf. In the Temple of Sety at Abydos, the
Spirits of Pe and Nekhen carry the king on a litter,
and at Bubastis the Spirits of both places are in
attitudes of praise. The Spirits of Pe are hawk-
headed, those of Nekhen jackal-headed.
22. Osiris in Neteru. Neteru is identified by
Brugsch with Iseum, the modern Behbeit, a place
specially devoted to the worship of Isis, and through
her to Osiris. Neteru is often determined with the
sign of a pool of water, and in the Pyramid texts it
is mentioned in connection with a lake. " Pepy has
washed himself in the four vessels filled at the divine
Lake which is in Neteru " (1. 334).
23. Osiris in Lower Sais. The town of Sais,
which was sacred to the goddess Neith, was divided
into Upper and Lower, hence it is often called the
Town of the North and South. In Sais, Osiris bears
the same name as at Busiris, Anzet)-, the Living
God.
24. Osiris in the town of the Double god. The
hawk sign being an ancient symbol for God, this
name probably means the town of Horus and Set,
which might mean the king, one of whose titles in
the early dynasties was Horus and Set. A tradition
connects Aphroditopolis with the god Set, who is
said to have been buried there. The name of the
nome, in which Aphroditopolis stands, is written
with the double hawk, the town itself being written
with the determinative of two fingers or two sandals.
25. Osiris in Syene. We have here the cult of
Osiris at the most southerly point of Egypt.
Plutarch mentions Philae as a place specially sacred
to Osiris, and the Ptolemaic ritual inscribed in the
temple at Dendereh gives directions for the Osiris-
worship at Elephantine. The temple at Philae
itself preserves—or perhaps I ought to say, did
preserve—inscriptions showing that so late as the
Roman period, the worship of Osiris played a large
part in the religious life of the place.
26. Osiris at the Mouth of the Canal, i.e. Illahun.
Osiris had a special worship in the Fayum, and his
most celebrated temple was at Illahun. As god of
the Fayum he is identified with Sebek and is depicted
as a crocodile, as on the sarcophagus of Ankhrui,
which was found at Hawara in the Fayum (Petkie,
Harvard, pi. ii, p. 21.) where there is a picture of
l<* great P^
< which tho
* lever'' I
**&**
''water fro11
< Neter
0) it is
p water-god, it*
, kke as at 1
• Thi
wprovisi°;
■Lamentations oi
&"*«%
,, come to b,
,:;-hy mother N<
iOsirisinQefnu, or ^
:,|itis Sokar in tl
•;jjanthropomorph
:h with Ptah a
;: the tee together
■Sokar-Osiris. The d
ue 4th and 5th divisi
■';::)[, Jequier sh<
: :riginally quit
is, ad that the two
-2in the "Book 1
is, The Papyrus
action between the
# of the god Sol
I; is the tow
Osiris). W
■e) to see 0
°f the can;
'V and at Herr
yict^og. l69.)
S chief of his to
J"klW
J* fo Places i:
°Wethe North
M in his places i,
■'«i(
:>hea<
^■ns in
•ven.
earth,
0
0
be
in h^ pC