(West Asian mythology)

Literal meaning: ‘seat’. The mother goddess of Egypt; the daughter of Nut, the wife and sister of Osiris, and the mother of Horus. She was depicted as a woman, often suckling the child Horus on her lap. When represented with the solar disc and cow's horns, she was identified with Hathor. A legend tells how Isis discovered the ineffable name of Re, the sun god. Weary of worldly affairs, she determined to become a goddess by using the name of the sun god, already in his dotage. She collected some of his spittle, mixed it with earth and so created a serpent, which she placed in Re's path. Bitten and poisoned, the sun god was advised by Isis to utter his own name since its divinity bestowed life on whoever spoke it. At last the working of the venom compelled Re to speak, and Isis appropriated a portion of his power. Thereafter she sparkled as the constellation Sirius, while her cult spread to Greece and Rome.

2. Egyptian representation of Isis wearing cow horns and the sun disc

A Dictionary of World Mythology. Copyright © Arthur Cotterell 1979, 1986, 2003. All rights reserved.