 Brother of Nephthys and Seth, and the brother and husband of Isis. Osiris
was usually depicted in human form wrapped up as a mummy, holding a crook
and flail. He was often depicted with green skin, alluding to his role as
a god of vegetation. He wore a crown known as the 'atef', composed of the
tall conical white crown of Upper Egypt with red plumes on each side.
He was killed by his rival and brother, Seth. At a banquet of the gods,
Seth fooled Osiris into stepping into a coffin, which he promptly slammed
shut and cast into the Nile. Osiris was never seen again, walking in the
land of the living.
The coffin was born by the Nile to the delta town of Byblos, where it
became enclosed in a tamarisk tree. Isis, the wife of Osiris, discovered
the coffin and brought it back home to guard. Isis gave birth to Horus
after his death, having impregnated herself with semen from his corpse.
Taking advantage of Isis's absence from her vigil one day, Seth cut the
body to pieces and cast them into the Nile. Isis searched the land for
the body parts of Osiris, and was eventually able to piece together his
body, whole save for the penis, which had been swallowed by a crocodile
or a fish. Isis replaced the penis with a reasonable facsimile, and she
was often portrayed in the form of a kite being impregnated by the ithyphallic
corpse of Osiris.
Osiris became the great god of the underworld. He was associated with
funerary rituals, at first only with those of the Egyptian monarch, later
with those of the populace in general. The pharaoh was believed to become
Osiris after his death. Although he was regarded as a guarantor of continued
existence in the afterlife, Osiris also had a darker, demonic aspect associated
with the physiological processes of death and decay, and reflecting the
fear Egyptians had of death in spite of their belief in an afterlife.
Osiris was also a judge of the dead, referred to as the 'lord of Maat'.
We have more information on Osiris and other Egyptian Gods here:
Osiris
List of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
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