How Did The Cult Of Isis Change
The cult of Isis originated at the time of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. From this time until her acceptance in Rome, the influence of Isis and her meaning changed and grew.
During Egypt’s Old Kingdom, Isis’ role was a funerary one. She had a relatively small amount of influence in Egyptian religion, garnering most of what she had from her husband Osiris, god of the dead. Worship of Isis was constricted to funerary rituals.
However after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, many cults were merged together as Egyptian religion became more standardized. This lead to Isis’ influence growing as her role was changed. Originally depicted as the spouse of Osiris, Isis was now more recognized as the mother of Horus, the pharaoh deified.
During the New
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Only the clergy and initiates were allowed in this inner sanctum and their secrets were closely guarded. However there were public festivals in honour of Isis in Rome, i.e.
• On March the 5th a costumed procession of people, especially sailors, marched to port and ritually blessed a boat. This was in honour of Isis sailing the seas in search of the pieces of Osiris.
• From October 28th to November 3rd the cult of Isis held an ancient passion play. Costumed actors paraded the streets re enacting the death and resurrection of Serapis. (an amalgamation of Isis and other greco-egyptian gods)
The Roman view of Isis changed and grew, reflecting the growth of the cult itself. Rome originally came into contact with the cult of Isis through Hellenistic sailors and Egyptian slaves. This contact happened not too much longer after Ptolemy Soter attempted to create a universal religion through merging Egyptian gods, i.e. Isis, with other Hellenistic gods. When Isis came to Rome, her unfamiliar Egyptian mysticism offered the Romans something their religion could not, ways to cheat both fate and
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In this extract from “Shares and Memorable Words” Valerius Maximus shows how the cult of Isis was viewed by the lower classes of Rome.
“The senate decreed the demolition of the temples of Isis and of Serapis, but none of the workers would stretch out their hands to do so. The consul P. Aemilius Paulus, taking off his toga praetextus, took a hatchet and struck the doors of the temple with it” Shares and Memorable Words – Valerius Maximus
Through examining this text it is clear to see how the cult of Isis had become popular amongst the lower strata of Rome. However it also shows how the Roman Senate and consuls negatively viewed Isis. Especially during the early years of Roman Isiac worship, senate alignment was against the cult. This was because they feared a mass conversion to the cult of Isis amongst the poorer classes of Rome, which could lead to a unified opposition against the original gods of
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