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Ever heard of Isis? (Hint: you probably did.) Ranging from the Christian Roman Empire to the painting on Nefretiti’s tomb, Isis has been here, there, and everywhere. Interestingly, there seems to be a cyclical relationship between Isis and women. Isis represented the general autonomy of Egyptian women. Likewise, Egyptian royals, such as Cleopatra and Nefertiti, used Isis to legitimize their rule in Ancient Egypt. Over time, the appeal of Isis became so great that she became a protective figure from Dynastic Egypt to the Roman Christian World.
Hosted by:
Megan Vu, (Undergraduate, Brown)
Nyimah Thompson, (Undergraduate, Brown)
Selena Yuan, (Undergraduate, Brown)
Richard Fleming, (Undergraduate, Brown)
Transcript
INTRODUCTION (PART 1) (00:00:10-00:01:30)
Megan: Picture this, you’re at the Nile River. Maybe you’re fishing, where the sun hits the water at just the right angle to get that rainbowy-kaleidoscopic effect. Or maybe, you’re weaving baskets with the soft, but tough grass from the Nile Shore. While looking for the best grass to use, you stumble across a woman hiding a shiny, golden coffin among the reeds. But here’s the kicker; the coffin is carrying Osiris (the to-be God of the Underworld), but the woman is his wife: the goddess Isis.
Hello, fellow viewers! It’s Megan here, back with an episode for Now As Then. I’m a student from Brown University, right here in the beautiful city of Providence, Rhode Island. While I’m currently studying medicine, I also like studying classics and ancient civilizations in my free time (in this case, Ancient Egypt). I’m also joined by my other colleagues Selena, Richard, and Nyimah. Care to give yourselves a short intro?
Selena: Hi, I’m Selena, and I’m planning on studying applied-math and economics. I know, quite different from archaeology.
Nyimah: What’s up? I’m Nyimah, a freshman who’s planning to study psychology.
Richard: Hello, I’m Richard. I’m studying computer science, and I’m planning on working with machine learning.
INTRODUCTION (PART 2) (00:01:31-00:06:12)
Megan: Haha, this is one of the reasons why I love this class. It truly has the ability to draw people in from far and wide, and from various backgrounds! Now that we all got to know each other, let’s talk about the star of our show: Isis.
Nyimah: In general, Isis seems to be a protector, capable of unifying all of Egypt, and even has rejuvenating magic2. Now, let me bring up an interesting question: what’s her relationship with Egyptian women? Do we think that she empowers them? Or that she really doesn’t?
Megan: That is an interesting question. Before that though, who exactly was Isis?
Selena: Let’s start with her name. According to an Egyptologist named Joyce Tydesley, Isis’ original Egyptian name was Aset. It changed to Isis sometime during the Greco-Roman rule (332 BC -395 AD). Her name was depicted by a sign of a throne. She could also appear with a small throne on her crown. Both pictures usually symbolize royalty.
Richard: Yeah, and also her name quite literally translates to “Queen of the Throne.”
Nyimah: God, what a powerhouse. Remember the time that we went to the John Hay Library? We saw their special collections and found a huge compilation of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Megan: Yeah! I remember that. I also remember seeing an image where Isis had both the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, which is quite fascinating. It’s usually uncommon for a woman to hold this much power. But what’s her story like?
Selena: So, the legend of Isis had multiple variations, but in its most simplest form, it goes something like this. Isis was the sister and wife of the god Osiris. In fact, they were twins and were said to have fallen in love in the womb5. Their stories were actually one of the great romantic tragedies back then.
Nyimah: The most famous rendition that I know of is by Plutarch, a Greek philosopher. In his version, Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his jealous brother Seth. After, Isis
Megan: Oh! I remember hearing about this. In my version, though, Isis devoted herself to finding the different parts of Osiris. The gods were so impressed by her dedication that they helped put Osiris back together.
Richard: Oh yeah, that story was super fitting of what her initial powers were. She was the protector of women and creator of magic. And even after thousands of years, she became the Queen of the Universe.
Nyimah: That really is quite interesting. She also influenced different parts of Egyptian society, even mummification rites!
Megan: You’re right! Remember when we took that class trip to the Rhode Island’s School of Design, we went to their museum, and I remember seeing a cool artifact. I’m the furthest thing from an Egyptologist, but it was called a pectoral. And, for our listeners by the way, a pectoral was something strung around the neck of the deceased. It’s sort of an amulet that was believed to have powers of protection. It was carved to look like Isis, with her arms spread out. But what was interesting was that she had wings or feathers of some sort, aligning underneath her arms9.
Selena: I remember seeing that. Her wings were so intricate, and I found out her wings represented freedom. It would originally be sewn into the dead’s linen as a means of protection for their journey into the afterlife. Egyptians were huge on amulets, so whatever shape the amulets took on was representative of their powers. In other words, this pectoral was a symbol of Isis to protect their dead in the afterlife.
Richard: Yeah, it really feels like Isis is giving you a big hug. Her outstretched wings truly emphasize her status as a protector.
Nyimah: Speaking of the afterlife, let’s look at an example. There’s a tomb belonging to a New Kingdom pharaoh called Seti I. In his tomb there are depictions of Isis all around or right above the body11. Remember the story of her and Osiris from earlier? Isis was believed to restore the souls of deceased humans to wholeness as she did with her husband.
Megan: Isis was huge on magic. Overall, it seems as though she’s associated with the ideas of freedom and divine protection. This idea was so attractive. Over time, Isis became this sort of protective figure during Dynastic Egypt all the way to the Roman Christian world.
Selena: So, to sum it up, Isis was a symbol of female empowerment. She reflected the freedom and autonomy of Egyptian women, particularly in royalty like Nefertari, Cleopatra, and Hatshepsut.
EGYPTIAN WOMEN (00:06:14-00:16:21)
Megan: Now we all agree that Isis was an incredibly powerful goddess, right? From our earlier discussion, she’s associated with the ideas of freedom, divine protection, and motherhood. In fact, there’s a hymn for Osiris from the New Kingdom that accurately summarizes Isis’s character. “His sister was his guard, the mighty Isis who protected her brother, seeking him without tiring, not arresting until she found him.” Overall, we get this sense that Isis was dedicated, a protector and that’s what makes her so fascinating.
Nyimah: she was a powerful symbol of female independence. For now, it’s important to look closer at women’s rights. For example, they can learn to read and write freely, participate in trade and business, buy and own property, speak out in court, and even divorce their own husbands.
Selena: Right, It’s so fascinating how people tend to forget this. Like Greek women, especially those of the lower class were subjected to the home where they took care of children and performed domestic duties. They did this because they thought women were a sin in a sense.
Megan: And yes, I would agree. For another class, I did extra reading and stumbled across this article called Women in Ancient Greece. Essentially women were forced to stay inside the home because it was believed that they would be seduced by other men in societies like Ancient Greece. There was this idea that women were immoral and lacked self-restraint.
Selena: Exactly. Especially with the idea that the woman’s sole purpose was to bear children. So, forcing women to stay in the home was a means to reduce the chance of her getting seduced.
Richard: Yeah. But I think it would be difficult to give an exact answer. There’s no surefire way of knowing, except for looking at Egyptian art from the Dynastic period. Usually, upper-class women and daughters were included in these pieces of art by virtue of their relationship to a particular man. In this way, these women conform to the stereotypical view of the idea that the Egyptian female was a passive support for her husband or father from the Dynastic Egyptian tombs. Seems like they want to reinforce the idea that the man rather than his wife was the head of the household.
Megan: And I would agree. But there were exceptions to that rule. Let’s first go to our first woman from the old Kingdom. Her name was Lady Nebet and she worked as a supervisor and writer within Ancient Egypt. She was titled daughter of Gev, daughter of Thoth and daughter of Horus. Since Horus was the son of Isis. It’s like she’s claiming that she’s directly related to the goddess.
Nyimah: Isis was considered a powerful sorceress and healer. It was also said that she had taught women such skills. Egyptian women also worked as a supervisor or writer to help get income from outside the house. It gives a sense that Lady Nebet has a bunch of power and autonomy within society similar to Isis.
Richard: Yeah definitely, Isis represented the autonomy of women through funeral rites during the old kingdom. Women could work as professional mourners. Usually, they were specialists who were hired to enhance the status of the deceased by openly grieving at one’s funeral. Tyldesley says, “Two women were chosen to impersonate the two Isis and Nephthys, the sisters of Osiris who assumed the shape of birds while searching the world for their dead brother.”
Nyimah: Funerary matters are usually where women can share their voices the most, especially in misogynistic cultures like those of the Greeks and Romans. Funerals and public mourning are one of the main ways women can share their voices.
Selena: Yeah, and there are also other women who can share their voices even louder. Egyptian queens. Egyptian queens and regents aren’t defined by their husbands. For instance, there’s a tomb from the fourth dynasty for a queen named Meresankh and it displayed her picking lotus blossoms while riding on a boat with her mother.
Richard: Yeah, and what’s significant about that, instead of her husband or brother, it was her mother that was with her in the tomb. This would imply that female queens could act independently, separately from their husbands.
Nyimah: That is very interesting, but what does she have to do with Isis? Does she resemble her at all?
Megan: Well, remember that story where Isis resurrected Osiris? Isis seemed to have the more dominant, ” heroic” role of that story. You don’t see Osiris doing anything, but it was Isis, the woman of the story, that was doing the heroic deeds. In other words, she made her own identity on her own terms. She acted independently, based on her own will, and separate from that of Osiris. I believe that’s what makes Isis so attractive. She didn’t need her husband to flourish. That would be similar to Meresankh. You don’t see her husband or brother on her tomb. She focused on her relationship with her mother.
Richard: Exactly. Also, Isis had a son with Osiris named Horus. After Osiris passed, Isis raised Horus until he was powerful enough to challenge his uncle, Seth, and become king of Egypt. Things like this happened with other Egyptian queens, particularly Hatshepsut and Nefertiti.
Selena: I briefly remember Hatshepsut from a class discussion. I think she’s from the 18th dynasty, and she was the only queen whose rule wasn’t followed by a period of chaos.
Megan: And you would be right. Hatshepsut was a force to be reckoned with. When Hatshepsut’s stepson, Thutmose III, succeeded his father’s throne at a young age, Hatshepsut served as a regent and supported him, offering him guidance and whatnot. Like that story from Isis earlier.
Richard: Yeah, the one where she raised and protected Horus when he was younger?
Megan: Exactly. Did you know that she eventually called herself Pharaoh? The way I see it, it could be a strategic move on Hatshepsut’s part to declare herself pharaoh. It’s like she’s fulfilling a divine duty, and thus she can portray herself as a protector and guide. And by portraying herself as a protector like Isis, she could legitimize her rule, and display herself as a ruler chosen by the gods.
Nyimah: Okay, I see. Hatshepsut guided her stepson and ruled alongside him, similar to how Isis helped Horus.
Selena: Okay, alright, so there’s this idea that Isis could be empowering women because women like Hatshepsut have real power and rights, which were rare in ancient societies. It’s because powerful women like Hatshepsut exist that Isis can become such a powerful symbol for women.
Megan: Oh yeah, but now I’m gonna break your brains just a little bit. There’s another queen, and I think you would all know her. Cleopatra. Tildesley wrote about her too. In her work, Cleopatra, the Last Queen.
Richard: Yeah, and I think we all know her and her fling with Mark Anthony.
Megan: And you would be right, but she was also an incredibly special queen. Similar to Hatshepsut, Cleopatra legitimized her rule by making it as though she and Isis were the same person, thus forging her own powerful and divine identity. And, it is similar in a way.
Nyimah: For instance, she tried to portray herself as a daughter of Ra, so she would have the divine right to rule. And now, Cleopatra associates herself with Isis, the Great Mother.
Selena: Whoa, that’s incredibly interesting. Does she share a similar protection story like that of Hatshepsut?
Megan: Mmm, it’s a little bit different from that. There were several artifacts where Isis had Horus sitting on her lap. Other times she would be suckling Horus. This image could be interpreted as Egyptian queens suckling their sons. Remember, there’s a strong connection between Isis and kingship, and Cleopatra used this well-known imagery to her advantage.
Nyimah: Really? How?
Megan: Well, during her rule, she printed this suckling image on Cybrian coins. When she had her son, Caesarion, Cleopatra portrayed herself in the same way. Her son was on her left, and she’s suckling him. Isis left was considered the throne of kings. So, by using this imagery, it’s like Cleopatra is telling us her lap is also the throne of kings and that she’s a goddess herself. In addition, since this image was incredibly common among the Egyptians, it just further solidified the idea that Cleopatra and Isis were the same.
Richard: Yeah, exactly. Cleopatra created her own divine identity and proved herself able to rule all over Egypt with the power of Pharaoh. Also, this makes me think more about Egyptian queens and how they further exemplify Isis.
Nyimah: Really? How?
Megan: It has something to do with the relationship between pharaohs and their gods. Tildesley had this idea about a contract between the two parties. The gods keep everything in order, a.k.a. maat, in Egyptian terms, and they’re treated like gods. This was because it was believed that they could ward off chaos, and thus the Egyptians established their own sense of justice.
Selena: And in return, they give sacrifices and temples and all of that for the gods. But because the pharaohs had this immense power, they established order, justice, and united all of Egypt. They’re usually associated with or worshipped as though they’re a god. Isis does help empower these women, such as Cleopatra because it’s like these female pharaohs could create order and
Richard: Interesting. I think I have another queen who relates to this idea. Queen Nefertari. Particularly, I want to look at a painting of her tomb in the Met Museum in New York City.
Selena: Sounds amazing. What did the painting look like?
Richard: On Nefertari’s tomb, there was an inscription showing Isis holding her hand, leading her into the afterlife.
Nyimah: That does make an interesting picture. What about her husband, Ramses III?
Megan: And that’s the fun part! Her husband was nowhere to be found! The painting also demonstrates Isis’s importance in leading royals to the afterlife. The Editions believe that the afterlife isn’t the end, but it’s the beginning to the next part of one’s life.
Selena: That’s really cool. I think that it shows that Nefertari’s identity wasn’t shaped by her husband. In fact, it also shows how Isis had the power and importance equivalent to that of a husband. It also further demonstrates Isis ability to nurture royals as she’s helping Nefertari into the next part of her life.
Richard: This is all really fascinating, but it also makes me wonder, do these ideas about Isis continue into other eras, like the Roman Christian world?
Nyimah: Well, to answer that question, we have to explore ancient Rome. Let’s go! ASIDE TO THE AUDIENCE (00:16:22-00:17:04)
Megan: Wait, wait, hold up. This may sound like a lot of information, but let’s have a recap. First, Egyptian women had more rights than other women in other civilizations. They can own property, divorce their husbands, work outside the home, etc. Because of that, Isis rose as a symbol for women’s empowerment. Egyptian royals like Hatshepsut and Cleopatra used the appeal of Isis’s divinity to legitimize their role. Hatshepsut represents Isis’s protection and guidance. Cleopatra became associated with Isis and developed her own divine identity, something unheard of in other civilizations. Now that we got that straight, let’s head to the beautiful city of Rome.
ISIS X MOTHERHOOD (00:17:05-00:21:21)
Nyimah: We have arrived in Rome, the empire of vast knowledge, eternal beauty, and acceptance. As you walk around the streets of this ancient empire, notice some of the things around you. Feel the warmth of the morning sun on your face, and a cool breeze rushing past you. Look at the multitudes of people starting their day.
Selena: The men going to whatever job awaited them at their destination, the women are flowing through the market and talking with everyone around them, and the children are making their way to school to be educated. Breathe in the dust from the number of carts being dragged along the dirt streets. Now, take a moment and bask in your imagination. When you close your eyes can you see yourself there?
Richard: Absolutely, I can.
Megan: Oh yeahhhh, I can see it. Rome is absolutely gorgeous.
Nyimah: Great! Now, as we continue I want you to keep this picture in the back of your minds. It’s going to be very helpful in the discussion during this next part. Ancient Rome was an Empire full of curiosity, especially toward other cultures and the specific characteristics of those cultures, like religion. In this section of the podcast, we will discuss the Roman view of two prominent female figures in two very different religions. The Goddess Isis from the Egyptian world and The Virgin Mary from the Christian world.
Megan: Sounds amazing! What would the Virgin Mary have anything to do with Isis?
Nyimah: Great question! These two women shouldn’t even be brought up in the same conversation when they have nothing to do with each other, right? But, this statement is not totally true. Even though Isis and the Virgin Mary represent different characteristics of their respective religions, they do share one similarity: the importance of motherhood.
Megan: Oooohhhhh! What an interesting connection! The Ancient Egyptians did think of Isis as the Great Mother, or the Mother Goddess.
Nyimah: To help get a better understanding, I want to include a brief explanation from the undergrad Katherine Burdick’s thesis on The Power of Mothers: A Comparison of the Egyptian Goddess Isis and Virgin Mary. She talks about how both Isis and the Virgin Mary were famous religious figures in the Roman Empire during similar time periods. And through this, as time progressed people (at least in the European world) people were unable to decide which one came before the other, and eventually, both women started to represent similar things.
Selena: What kind of things?
Nyimah: Well, do you all know the story of the Virgin Mary?
Richard: Yeah, of course! She was visited by the archangel Gabriel one night and was told that God had chosen her to bring his son into the world.
Nyimah: Right, and the message that this story conveys is that Mary represents the ideal mother. She was personally chosen by God to raise the son that would liberate the world. I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds like an overwhelming amount of pressure that I would not be able to handle. But, for Mary it was her calling.
Megan: And in a similar way, in all of the stories told about Isis and Osiris, it seems that other than wanting her husband to be whole, Isis wanted to find his body so that she could conceive a child (a.k.a. Horus the enemy of his uncle Seth). And, this child would accompany his father in the afterlife and his mother in the mortal world.
Selena: Right, again, we see this theme of a woman’s main purpose being the opportunity to bring a child to life, and these children, in some way, end up affecting the world they’re entering.
Nyimah: I want to mention two pictures from the article Mothers: The Influence of Isis on the Virgin Mary. The two pictures show statues of both Isis and Mary. The first statue was made in the 7th century CE and shows the Virgin Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus. The second statue shows the same image, but instead it depicts the Goddess Isis and was made in 7th-6th century BCE. Both statues were made in different time periods and depict both women showing her care for a child. It’s clear what the message being conveyed is.
Richard: Yeah, messages like these have been passed down for centuries in their respective cultures. We can really see that the concept of giving birth (especially to sons) was something celebrated. People strongly believed that their kids change the world, and it was a woman’s honor and duty to give life to them.
CONCLUSION (00:21:22-00:26:28)
Megan: Although the ancient world doesn’t currently exist, Isis is farrrr from forgotten. We can still see glimpses of her in the modern day! For instance, there was the cult of Isis. Yeah, did you all think we would forget about that?
Nyimah: Isis was seen as “The Mother Goddess,” and her influence spread from outside of Egypt, from the Roman Empire all the way to Afghanistan! 36
Selena: These days, people use Isis for more commercial uses. In 2014, singer Katy Perry created a music video for her single “Dark Horse” (which, by the way, I really liked). Around the end of the video, Katy Perry ascends to the top of Pyramid with wings alongside her arms37. Remember that pectoral from RISD we talked about? Where Isis had wings outstretched? I believe Perry was trying to emulate Isis’ power, but purely for commercial purposes.
Richard: Yeaahh, the same can be said for Hollywood movies. In the movie “Gods of Egypt.” They talk about the battle between the god Horace and Seth to determine who would be pharaoh over Egypt. Katheryn Blake played Isis in that movie.
Nyimah: Oh yeahh, I remember that! It does remind us that people use Ancient Egypt for commercial means. All the actors were white, so there was truly a lack of Egyptian dialogue.
Megan: Yeaahh, sadly. I remember that movie getting a lot of hate for being incredibly whitewashed. I remember the reviews were also pretty brutal. Mostly, it was because, and you’re right, because of the lack of the Egyptian voice and actors.
SELENA: Yeah, I also think it’s important to note that while it sucks that modern depictions of Isis are farrrrr from what she originally represented, it can be argued that without this exaggerated imagery, people might forget about Isis and Ancient Egypt altogether.
RICHARD: I feel like we can talk about Isis forever, but these topics sound like they’re for another episode. Thank you for joining us today on an episode of “Now as Then.” If you’re interested in learning more about Ancient Egypt, just visit our website and watch other episodes from us. The team and I here are truly excited to have you here with us today, and we hope that we gave you an interesting take on the intersection of Isis and Egyptian women.
MEGAN: I would also like to thank the people who made this episode possible. Special thanks to our professor Robyn Price, who made this opportunity possible and introduced us to Audacity! Thanks to Izzy of the Rockefeller Library to help us with the studio room (and giving us tips for editing audio). Also, to Karen Bouchard of the John Hay Library and helped us look at the Library’s Special Collections. Honestly, you all are super amazing, super kind people. Thank you so much for listening to us!
Everyone: Goodbye!!!
OUTRO MUSIC (00:26:28-00:26:38)
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