The views held by the Egyptians about Osiris from about B.C. 3800 to the Roman Period may be thus summarized:—=Legend of Osiris.=—Osiris, in Egyptian ȦSȦR 𓁹𓐰𓊨, was once a king who reigned in the south of Egypt; his sister-wife was called =Isis=, in Egyptian ȦST 𓊨𓏏, and their son Horus, in Egyptian ḤERU 𓅃. He did great good to all his people, and taught them the arts of agriculture, and made good laws for them, and ruled them justly. Now Osiris had a twin brother called =Set= 𓊃𓐰𓏏𓐱𓈜, the SÊTH of Plutarch, who was very jealous of him, and who lost no opportunity of undermining his authority and reviling him, for he wished to see Osiris removed from his path, so that he might seize his brother’s throne and wife. At length, by a stratagem, he managed to kill Osiris, by drowning him in the Nile. The river, however, carried the dead body of Osiris to the papyrus swamps in the Delta, where the waters deposited it on the lower branches of an acacia tree, which grew up round it and concealed it. Isis discovered, by magical means, where her husband’s body was, and went to the place and took possession of it. Wishing to visit her son Horus, so that she might urge him to take vengeance on Set, she hid the body in a secret spot, and went off to the city of Buto to Horus. During her absence, Set found the body one night when he was out hunting, and recognizing it, he tore it into fourteen pieces, which he scattered about the country. Isis, having heard what Set had done, set out and collected the portions of the body of Osiris, and wherever she found one of them she buried it, and built a shrine over it. [Illustration: Osiris rising from the sarcophagus with “life” in each hand. On each side are two of the children of Horus.] Now Isis was a great enchantress, and she learned from Thoth the knowledge of magical ceremonies and of most potent words of power. She was able to transform herself into any kind of creature, and to travel through earth, air, fire, or water with equal ease. Instructed by his mother, Horus, with the assistance of a number of his “followers,” performed a series of ceremonies connected with the burial of his father, which had the effect of raising Osiris from the dead, and of establishing him as king in Ȧmenti, _i.e._, the “Hidden Place,” or the Other World. When this was done, Osiris appeared to Horus and urged him to avenge him on Set, and shortly afterwards a great fight between Horus and Set took place. Set was defeated and, according to the XVIIth Chapter of the Book of the Dead, mutilated by Horus, who suffered no injury whatsoever. The great fight took place near the modern city of Asyûṭ, and lasted three days; each god fought in the form of a wolf or bear. (Fourth Sallier Papyrus in the British Museum.)