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SOME ANCIENT AND EXTINCT FAITHS
Osiris was murdered according to an Egyptian le gend by his brother Seth which means typhoon. The coffin containing his body was then launched into the Nile. It drifted away thence to a place where it was discovered by Isis and was taken thence by her to Egypt. Here Seth found the corpse and cut it into pieces, which he cast into the Nile. Isis resumed her search for it, and she raised a tomb over every fragment of the body wherever she found it. Then Horus, the son of Osiris, Thoth and Anubis, his friends, came to Isis' help to avenge Osiris; they justified him before the court of gods, and restored his mummified body to life and immortality. Thus could Osiris hand over his realm to his son, Horus, who became the patron and ancestor of the Pharaohs (ERE. vol. ix. p. 74).
The scheme of the Osirian Mysteries that has now been partially reconstructed with the aid of an old account, dating from the year 1875 B. C., runs as follows:
(1) Isis and Nephthys have searched and found the body of Osiris upon the river of Nedit; and there is prolonged lament.
(2) On hearing the cries, the gods come in haste; Horus, Anubis and Thoth carry magical implements and vases filled with fresh water; Osiris is cleansed of all stains by four libations and fumigations.
(3) Divine magic effects a series of miracles (a) the dismemberment of the body of Osiris is
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