Isis - Excerpt: Isis as Protectress

Isis as Protectress

Excerpt from the Great Hymn to Osiris

On the Stela of Amenmose, Louvre D 286

His sister [Isis] was his guard,

She who drives off the foes,

Who stops the deeds of the disturber

By the power of her utterance.

The clever-tongued whose speech fails not,

Effective in the word of command,

Mighty Isis who protected her brother,

Who sought him without wearying.

Who roamed the land lamenting,

Not resting till she found him,

Who made a shade with her plumage,

Created breath with her wings.

Who jubilated, joined her brother,

Raised the weary one’s inertness,

Received the seed, bore the heir,

Raised the child in solitude,

His abode unknown.

Who brought him when his arm was strong

Into the broad hall of Geb.

Source: Lichtheim, Miriam, “Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume II: The New Kingdom”, University of California Press, Ltd., Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA and London, UK, 1976

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