EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. | 37 
Isis, the wife of Osiris, is represented in a variety of forms besides those 
already mentioned. Pl. 10, jig. 1, represents her head decorated with 
Egyptian ornaments. On pl. 8, fig. 10, she is seen in a youthful form, her 
head ornamented with the emblem of divine authority, seated upon the 
flower of the lotus, holding in her right hand a whip, the symbol of govern- 
ment. /%g. 13 represents her as a star in the heavens surrounded by the 
symbols of the four elements, the eagle (air), the salamander (fire), the 
lion (earth), and the fish (water). P/. 10, jig. 2, is a copy of a coin upon 
which she is represented as queen of the ocean, her garment agitated by 
wind and holding in her hand the sestrwm, while she is in the act of unfold- 
ing asail. In this form she was worshipped under the name of Pharia. 
The ststrum, of which we give two different drawings, one on pl. 8, jig. 28, 
and the other on pl. 9, jig. 23, was a musical instrument invented by Isis 
and made use of in the service of the temple for the purpose of beating 
time. It was of an oblong oval form, narrowed towards the lower end and 
hollowed out in the centre with four strips of metal fastened over it. 
Sometimes she is represented in her character of a mother, as in jig. 2, 
where she nurses, as some say, Osiris, who is seated upon her lap with the 
crescent on his head. Onthe back of her chair are two hoopoes, symbols of 
filial love, and upon the table before her is a vessel with a long spout and 
a handle in the shape of a serpent. This vessel was made use of in the 
ceremonies of the mysteries belonging to the worship of several gods of the 
elements, and was the jug which as a water vessel was sacred to the gods 
of that element, while the lamp attached to it indicated its use in the 
worship of fire, and the serpent called to mind the powers of nature ever 
growing and ever renovating themselves. Osiris is sometimes also found 
grasping a staff ornamented with the head of the hoopoe. Another figure 
of the same import is given in pl. 8, jig. 14, where Isis is seen with the 
head of a cow. 
Here it becomes necessary for us to say that the incongruity by which 
Osiris, the husband of Isis, is presented as her son must be either owing to 
a mistake in consequence of which his name has been substituted for that 
of Harpocrates, a younger son of the goddess, or must have had its origin 
at a later period when a new system assigned to Isis her original rank 
among the gods, while Osiris was placed among the deities of the second 
rank. Twice we find the goddess represented as nursing Horus; first on 
pl. 10, jig. 9, where she is seated upon a chair, without any attendants, 
holding the child upon her lap; and again pi. 9, jig. 3, where Horus, as a 
half-grown boy, stands by her side to be fed from her breast. Before her we 
see a priest apparently with an offering of lotus; immediately behind her 
sits Hermes, keeping the sacred records, and behind him Osiris holding 
the staff in one hand and the key to the Nile in the other. 
There are three very fine and even artistic statues of Isis which we have 
copied on our plates. PU. 8, fig. 11, represents her dressed in a closely 
fitting transparent garment holding a lotus or palm-branch in her left hand, 
her head and a part of the face almost concealed beneath the folds of a 
curiously wrought head-dress. Pl. 10, jig. 3, is a very elaborate work, 
ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPADIA.-—VOL. IV. 17 257 
