Legend has it that the beautiful young goddess of heaven, Nut, fell in love with Geb, god of the earth.
Ra, sun-god and Nut's father, could not approve that marriage, because a fortune-teller had told him that the child born of that union would rule mankind. Of course, he would never allow such a thing.
What did RA do? He lifted a curse on Nut saying, “Nut, I forbid you to have a child with Geb within a year of 360 days. You won't have it either day or night.
Nut, desperate, ran for help from his very cunning friend Thot. Thot knew that a mandate from the chief of all gods could not be disobeyed, but he plotted a plan to help Nut.
Thot met with Selene, the goddess of the moon, on the excuse of playing cards. They both bet heavily, but Selene bet a little on his light. Seventeenth part of his illuminations, and he lost them.
For this reason the moonlight is weaker in certain periods and cannot compete with sunlight.
With the light Thot beat Selene, he created five more days that he added to the year, which by then, was only three hundred and sixty days. Those five days did not belong to any month or year.
Nut, through that scheme and without disobeying his father, was able to have his children during those days.
On the first day he had Osiris, the second day he had Horus, the third to Set, the fourth to Isis and the fifth to Nephtis.
Legend has it that when Osiris was born, a voice was heard, proclaiming from heaven: The lord of all the earth is born!
Over the years, Osiris became a great king for his goodness and wisdom. He dedicated himself to the task of civilizing his people, who at that time had primitive customs and practiced cannibalism.
His teaching methods were so interesting and pleasing that his subjects did not find it difficult to understand and adopt the new rules of behavior.
When Osiris finished the civilizing task with his people, he traveled to other lands for the same purpose, gaining the respect and admiration of those who knew him.
The more they knew him, the more they revered him. This generated great envy in his evil brother Set.
While Osiris traveled faraway stacks, his wife Isis ruled Egypt. Set tried to take part in the government without getting it, but when Osiris finally returned, Set began to come up with a plan to get rid of his brother, the king.
To achieve his goal Set managed to associate with Aso, the queen of Ethiopia and a group of seventy-two traitors.
Then he took the task of carefully measuring his brother's body in absolute secrecy and, with those measures, he had built a richly carved and decorated chest.
Seth then organized a great banquet where he invited his brother Osiris and the seventy-two conspirators.
In the middle of the party, Set said funny, “Do you see this delicious chest?” I'll give it to anyone who can fit full body in it.
The traitors quickly formed a long line to measure themselves within, but no place. When it came to Osiris, who did not suspect at any time that he was being a victim of treason, lay down inside. The conspirators pounced into the chest, nailed the lid and then threw melted lead, so that there could be no opening left where Osiris could breathe.
Later they loaded the chest with their precious cargo to the river Nile and threw it into its waters at the mouth of the Tanaitic.
When Isis learned of what happened, as a sign of pain she dressed in black and cut off a strand of hair.
Isis was convinced that the dead could not rest until they were buried and the funerals were performed with the corresponding rites, for that reason, accompanied by her son Horus, also called Harpocrates, went to look for the chest with the remains of her missing husband.
Upon arriving on the island of Buto, he begged King Uadyet, to take care of Horus, as he feared that Seth's hatred would also reach his son. Then he set off to explore Egypt trying to find out how many people came in his way if anyone had seen the chest, but no one knew anything about it.
As he was about to lose his hopes, it occurred to him to ask a group of children who were playing happily on the banks of the river. They replied that they had seen Seth and other men throw a chest near the mouth of the Tanaitic.
Upon learning, Isis ran to visit her sister Neftis to tell her what the children had said. Arriving at the house, Isis saw the branches of a medicinal plant that her husband Osiris wore on his crown and that he had left at Nephtis' house. Thus she discovered that her husband had had a relationship with her sister, confusing her with her, as they were very similar. From that illegitimate union, Anubis was born, but Neftis kept it secret by hiding it at birth fearing a possible retaliation from Seth.
Isis looked for the creature with the help of dogs and when she found him, she cared for him and fed him and from that moment on, Anubis always accompanied her everywhere looking after her as if she were her real son.
Isis, knew where the chest was thrown, but did not know if it had sunk in the waters of the Nile or if the stream of the river had taken him far away.
He continued to collect information and through his magical powers he learned that the chest had been dragged by the stream to Biblos and was deposited there next to a tamarisk bush that grew into a giant tree and that the precious chest was hidden in its trunk.
When the king of the place, Melcarthus, saw this splendid tree, he decided to cut it down and use the trunk as a column to support the roof of his palace.
Thus and unknowingly, Melcarthus had hidden in the column of his mansion, the body of the late King Osiris.
Isis then went to Byblos. When he arrived, he sat on the edge of a fountain while braiding his hair. As the queen's maidens passed by, they became curious about this beautiful foreigner and began to converse. She responded by firing perfume to flowers from her mouth.
So subdued were the maidens with this encounter that they ran to tell the queen, and immediately asked them to bring her to the palace.
When she saw her, the queen was also struck by her beauty and grace and immediately appointed her governess of her younger son.
Let's not forget Isis had magical powers. She fed the child by giving him to suck one of his fingers. At night, when everyone slept, he poured wood into the fire, then placed the child in the flames, without any harm. While this was happening, Isis was transformed into a swallow and thus transfigured, she was engaged in singing heartfelt lamentations for her missing husband. The maidens informed the queen about what was happening every night and Astarte, seeking to know the truth, hid behind a curtain to spy on her.
Isis did as she did every night, but when she threw the child into the fire, the queen came out of her hiding place to rescue her son from the flames as she cried, “What are you doing with my son?” Have you lost your mind?
Isis replied, “Your son could have been immortal. But, thanks to your action, you took away that privilege.
Isis had no choice but to reveal his true identity and tell the tragic story of King Osiris. Then he asked him to give him the column containing the chest with the king's body.
Melcarthus agreed favorably and soon Isis was able to cry next to her husband's chest.
Later, the goddess decided to take the chest to Egypt by sea, accompanied by Melcarthus's eldest son.
When he arrived, believing he was alone, he opened the chest and began to cry and mourn, kissing and caressing the corpse. But the prince was close. When Isis discovered, he looked at him in such a way that the prince fell like lightning struck him.
Isis, he closed the chest again and hid it in one of the marshes of the Nile River.
Unfortunately. Set's hatred knew no bounds. One night he was hunting through the swamps, he discovered the chest. So much was his anger, that he opened it, cut his brother into fourteen pieces and distributed them along the Nile to feed the crocodiles.
Upon discovering this new grievance to her husband's remains, Isis began a new search, but this time she was accompanied by her sister Neftis.
They boarded a ship built with pairo reeds and embarked on the Nile. She was accompanied on the journey by seven scorpions who dedicated themselves to protecting her. The crocodiles did not touch the pieces of the king, which Isis was able to recover one at a time, except for the virile limb that was devoured by three kinds of fish, which thereafter became cursed forever.
Every time Isis recovered a piece of her husband, she wrapped it in perfumed wax and handed it to the local priests for worship, as if he were alive.
With his magical powers, Isis resembled the virile limb and later rebuilt the body completely. Anubis embalmed him by becoming the first mummy of Egypt.
Isis hid it again, and no one to this day has been able to find it.