Aset (Isis)
The Throne
"Throne". Egyptian mother goddess. Daughter of Geb
and Nut according to the Heliopolitan genealogy. Sister
and wife of Asar (Osiris). Mother of Heru (Horus).
She was depicted in human form, crowned either by a throne or by cow horns
enclosing a sun disk. A vulture was also sometimes incorporated in her Crown.
She is sometimes depicted as a kite above the mummified body of Asar (Osiris). As the
personification of the throne, she was an important source of the pharaoh's
power. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt, but the most important sanctuaries
were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta. Aset (Isis) later had an important
cult in the Greco-Roman world, with sanctuaries at Delos and Pompeii. Her Latin
epithet was Stella Maris, or "star of the sea".
It was Aset (Isis) who retrieved and reassembled the body of
Asar (Osiris) after his murder and dismemberment by Seth.
In this connection she took on the role of a goddess of the dead and of funeral
rites. Aset (Isis) impregnated herself from the corpse and subsequently gave birth to
Heru (Horus). She gave birth in secrecy at Khemmis in the Nile delta and hid the child
from Seth in the papyrus swamps. Heru (Horus) later defeated
Seth and became the first ruler of a united Egypt. Aset (Isis), as mother of Heru (Horus), was
by extension regarded as the mother and protectress of the pharaohs. The
relationship between Aset (Isis) and Heru (Horus) may also have influenced the Christian
conception of the relationship between Mary and the infant Jesus Christ. The
depiction of the seated holding or suckling the child Heru (Horus) is certainly
reminiscent of the iconography of Mary and Jesus.
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