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A Note on the Origin of Osiris Author(s): T. J. Colin Baly Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 17, No. 3/4 (Nov., 1931), pp. 221-222 Published by: Egypt Exploration Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3854764 Accessed: 09/08/2009 18:03
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T. J. COLIN BALY
Osiris' name is of some interest in the study of origins. The reading irw 4.t, "He who makes (his) throne," ignores the fact that in early times it is usually written A, not , and Sethe's suggestion1 of s.t ir.t, "The place of the Eye," is preferable; his later development of "Augenfreude," however, is not so attractive, despite the parallel of s.t ib, and the sense may well be quite literal. Now the most important "Eye" in early Egyptian religion is that of Horus. If Osiris is "The Place of (Horus') Eye" there must have been some connexion between them prior to the date at present supposed. An early connexion would, however, explain why an Osiris, murdered by Set, is already in alliance with Horus while the latter is still at peace with Set. It is noted above that in the Shabako Stone Osiris is apparently drowned accidentally and Horus and Set are still at peace. What more natural than that when Horus and Set became enemies the latter should become the cause of Osiris' death? In further explaining the meaning of Osiris' name on this assumption the nature of the Horus-eye comes into question, and a study of this problem in the early texts has led me to the conclusion that it may have been originally connected with that Ladanum to which Newberry refers in Journal, xv, 86 if. Ladanum was used in making incense and incense is closely connected with the Eye. Horus fumigates himself over the Eye, and in Pyr. 2075 we find: "Ho N., I have come. I have brought the Horus-eye which is in its t. Its perfume is on thee, 0 N. Its perfume is on thee. The perfume of the Horus-eye is on thee, 0 N., and thou art a ba thereby, thou rulest thereby, and thou takest thy wrr-t-crown thereby among the gods." The first part of this passage assumes that the Eye is sweet smelling and the second part may well refer to incense in view of its divinizing qualities. Further, in Pyr. 133 and 695 we read: "The Horus-eye weeps upon the dnw-bush." There is no further information in this passage but it is at least possible that the dnw-bush is the Gum-cistus and that the weeping of the Eye is the exudation of the Ladanum. If this is so it follows that Osiris must originally have been this Gum-cistus, and it is of interest in this connexion that incense was considered as an exudation of Osiris2. Osiris brought in as part of his insignia goat's-horns (Sethe, Urgesch., 81) and is early connected with a goat or ram at Mendes. Note also that at a very early period a beard, presumably the king's, was deified (Borchardt, Sahure, i, 97), and that it was so important that despite the habit of clean shaving both the kings and the gods wore long thin false beards with curled tips (Erman-Ranke, Aegypten, 251-2) not unlike a matted goat's beard. Now Newberry (ibid.) has pointed out that the goats' beards got matted with Ladanum and that this was one way of collecting it. It is not difficult to imagine the importance, and even the deification, of an object so impregnated with a sacred substance, and hence the deification of the goat itself. If Osiris were originally the Ladanum-bearing Cistus he would naturally be of the ordinary vegetation type, and the two stories of his death would be quite normal. A vegetation god is frequently spoken of as drowned, and what is more natural for a tree-god than that his death should be spoken of as "felling"? His identification with Andjety, and hence his kingship, is easy to explain when one considers the latter's connection with Ladanum.
1 Rechtsund Links, 233, and Urgesch.,79.
2 Blackman, A.Z., L, 69 ff.