Through the Eras

ReligionDepiction of Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld, inside a tomb located in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt.© AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS, INC. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.B.C.E.), his temple at Kom el-Sultan was taken over byOsiris. Also in the Twelfth Dynasty, the First-dynasty(3100–2800 B.C.E.) mastaba of King Djet in Abydos wasmistakenly interpreted as the tomb of Osiris. Every year,Abydos was the site of a huge festival during which adramatic presentation of the myth of Osiris took place.In order to participate vicariously in this festival, kingswould build cenotaphs (“false tomb memorials”) forthemselves at Abydos. Along the festival route, privateindividuals erected small chapels for themselves. Thesechapels, called mahat, could contain a small stele orstatue of the owner. This object would become the conduitthrough which the individual could magically sharein the bounty of the festival.SOURCESJ. Gwyn Griffiths, The Origin of Osiris and his Cult (Leiden,Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1980).Eberhard Otto, Egyptian Art and the Cults of Osiris andAmon (London: Thames and Hudson, 1968).SEE ALSO Music: Musical Deities; Theater: TheOsirian Khoiak Festival DramaMYTHS OF HORUS, SETH, AND AMUNHORUS THE SKY GOD. Horus, in the form of a falcon,or falcon-headed human, is one of the oldest godsof the Egyptian pantheon. He was the god of the sky,whose right eye was associated with the sun, and whoseleft eye was the moon. A First-dynasty (3100–2800B.C.E.) comb found in a tomb shows the sky as the twowings of a bird, probably Horus. Horus was also associatedwith the king, and from the First Dynasty onwardsone of the king’s names was preceded by the Horus fal-218 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)