Isis is the most enduring and beloved goddess of ancient Egypt, whose cult was especially popular in Greek and Roman periods. Her name means "the seat". She was also called Weret-Hekau, "The Great of Magic", and Mut-netjer, "The Mother of the Gods".
Isis' cult began in the delta, but as the Osiris mythology developed she became his wife. Isis is supposed to have civilised Egypt with her king husband, teaching agricultural techniques and medicine to the people. She is also credited with having instituted marriage in the Nile Valley.
When Osiris was slain by the God Seth, Isis began a journey to discover his remains. The coffin in which Osiris had died was engulfed by a fragrant tamarisk tree, and Isis soon found the box and the divine body in Byblos, where it had floated on the mediterranean sea. Many adventures accompanied this search. Returning to the swamplands of Buto, Isis hid the coffin of Osiris, but Seth discovered it and dismembered the body into 14 pieces. Isis still persisted and began to look for the parts of her husban. She found all of his remains apart from his phallus, which had been devoured by a Nile fish.
Fashioning the body together, Isis became impregnated by the corpse. She then fled to Chemmis, where Wadjet, the goddess protector of lower Egypt, kept her and her newborn child, Horus, safe from the agents of Seth. In time, however, Seth attacked Horus as a serpant, and Isis had to call upon the God Re for aid. Re sent Thoth to be her ally. He was able to exorcise the poison from the child by reciting the cosmic disasters that would result if the baby did not recover. Horus was then cured and given to the local inhabitants to be cared for and to become their leader, thus uniting the cultic myth to the real populance of the delta.
In another myth the Goddess Isis discovered the secret name of the God Re, viewed always as the most potent of magical weapons. She thus provided herself with additional powers, all of which she dedicated to the service of mankind. Isis was the epitome of the selfless woman, the charmer, the endurer, and the loyal spouse. To the Egyptians of every generation she was the fertile plain, the arbor and the gentle pool of life giving waters. The cult of Isis endured because she fostered honour, courage and loyalty in the people,, while evoking sympathy, admiration and a recognition of injustice. [1]