Was Osiris A Real Person Deified After Death Or A Mythical God?
Who was Osiris? Was he a mythological God in ancient Egypt before Christianity began, or was he a real person, a King of Egypt? Dr Ken Jeremiah provides his thoughts on the existence of a real person who was named Osiris (wsir), and Dr Rachel Medina argues he was a mythical god.
Osiris the Man – Dr Ken Jeremiah
The Egyptian God Osiris, properly called wsir, was originally known as an agricultural God and the God of fertility. In time, He took the place as supreme ruler of the Egyptian pantheon, and he became known as the God of the afterlife and resurrection. He is associated with natural cycles, which included agricultural ideas, as well as notions regarding the cycle of life, death, rebirth, and then re-death. He was killed by his brother Set, whose name later became Satan in Christianity. He was often called the ‘Lord of Silence’ or ‘Foremost of the Westerners’, and at one point, during the Old Kingdom period (2686-2181 BC), there appeared symbolic representations of him joining Ra in the sky after his death. According to some sources, citizens first began worshipping him during the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC), but other authors, including the current author, believe that his real origins lie with the life and death of a real human being who lived during pre-dynastic times (5500-3100 BC), and that he was deified after his death.
Original Holy Trinity, Osiris, Isis and Horus ( lurs / Adobe Stock)
The Original Holy Trinity
Although it might seem odd, there are different types of deities in the world. Some were mythological beings, others were actually human beings who were deified after their deaths, and others were created to teach concepts, like the Guardian Kings (Myoo) in Buddhism. Osiris was unique. The story involving him evolved into the Christian story of the Holy Trinity due to his wife Mary (Meri) who was called Isis, and his son Horus, who was crucified between two thieves. It is the Christian story of Issa, normally known as Jesus, but it played out thousands of years before. Almost everything that occurred in Christianity actually occurred in the Egyptian religion and most of it was from Osiris, Meri (otherwise known as Isis), and their son Horus. This was the original Holy Trinity.
Much about history is convoluted, and people fuse faiths, because no faith stands alone. The Buddha was not Buddhist, he was Hindu, and Issa (more popularly known as Jesus), was not Christian. He was Jewish. All faiths blend. That is why there are elements of Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, and ancient Egyptian religion in Christian faith. There is nothing wrong with this. There is only one truth, and all faiths point at the same God. Anyone who says they are worshiping the wrong God is polytheistic and believes in multiple gods, but all the world religions point to one truth, so the big question is, “Was Osiris a real person or was he deified after his death?”
Based upon the exigent historical records, it seems like he, his wife Meri, popularly known as Isis, and his son Horace were actually human beings, and they were deified after their deaths.
Egyptian relief: Horus and the Pharaoh (Jose Ignacio Soto / Adobe Stock)
Evidence of Osiris the Man
Originally history was never written. It was conveyed verbally, so if one asserts Osiris was not an actual person just because it is not in writing at first, then the same can be said about Jesus (Issa). Is there real evidence? The truth is, there is more evidence to support the existence of Osiris than Jesus, and he does appear in historical texts, even though no evidence of Jesus ever showed up before the second ecumenical council approximately 800 years after his death. That is not historical evidence, just like a 21st century author could not be a historical witness to something that happened in the 1200s.
