The Story of Osiris
priest was given the charge and upbringing of the new-born King, and a feast was made, to be kept forever in his honour, and it was called the Pamylia, after his name. And as the years passed on, the good Osiris married his sister Isis, for such was the custom among the Kings of Egypt, and the wicked Set also married his sister Nephthys; but though she was married to him she loved him not, but all her heart was still with her good brother Osiris and her sister Isis. So in the fulness of the time, it came to pass that Osiris was made King of Egypt. But in those days Egypt was not as it is now—a land of diligent and peaceful men, tilling the soil and reaping its fruits, and pious above all others in building temples to the gods. It was a land of fierce and cruel men, ever at strife with one another, living lives but little better than those of the beasts that perish, and even in their vileness eating human flesh. So Seb, the god of the earth, seeing the land’s need of a good ruler, gave over to Osiris the government of the two Egypts to guide the lands into prosperity: the water, the air, the plants, the herds, all that flies and all that hovers, its reptiles and its wild beasts—all were given in charge to the son of Nût, and the two lands were contented therewith. For Osiris was a ruler among rulers, most excellent in wisdom and in goodness; he shone forth on his throne like the sun when he arises on the horizon, and sheds light on those who sit in darkness. He 173