Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology. She was
most prominent mythologically as the wife of
Osiris and mother of Horus, and was worshipped
as the archetypical wife and mother.
Her name literally means (female) of throne, i.e.
Queen of the throne, which was portrayed by the
emblem worn on her head, that of a throne.
However, the hieroglyph of her name originally
meant (female) of flesh, i.e. mortal, and she may
simply have represented deified, historical
queens.
Her origins are uncertain but are believed to have
come from the Nile Delta; however, unlike other
Egyptian deities, she did not have a centralised
cult at any point throughout her worship. First
mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth dynasty of
Egypt which is when the first literary inscriptions
are found, but her cult became prominent late in
Egyptian history, when it began to absorb the
cults of many other goddesses. It eventually
spread outside Egypt throughout the Middle East
and Europe, with temples dedicated to her built
as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her
worship remained in Christian Europe as late as
the 6th century.
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