Isis
Isis, the Egyptian throne-goddess Aset, became through the sanctuary of Philae the supreme goddess of the whole Nubian frontier and of the Blemmyes of the Eastern Desert. Though Egyptian in origin, she was so thoroughly embraced by the ancestors of the Beja that a formal treaty with Rome guaranteed them the right to borrow her cult image and bear it in procession into their own country; her pilgrims from the desert continued their devotions long after the rest of the empire had turned to Christianity, making the Blemmyes her final worshippers until Justinian ordered Philae closed. Sources present her as mistress of magic and healing, guarantor of the Nile flood, wife and reviver of Osiris at the neighbouring Abaton, and the divine centre around whom the Nubian gods Mandulis, Arensnuphis and Ptiris were gathered.
Domains
- magic
- fertility
Powers
- work great magic and healing
- protect and revive the dead
Epithets
- nbt Pr-jrk — Lady of PhilaeSolange Ashby, Calling Out to Isis (Gorgias Press, 2020). (secondary)
- Mistress of the Abaton — Mistress of the Pure MoundWilliam Y. Adams, Nubia: Corridor to Africa (1977). (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: OsirisIsis and Osiris were worshipped together at Philae and the neighbouring Abaton on Biga.William Y. Adams, Nubia: Corridor to Africa (Princeton University Press, 1977). (secondary)
- companion: MandulisMandulis shared the Philae sanctuaries with Isis.Solange Ashby, Calling Out to Isis (Gorgias Press, 2020). (secondary)
- companion: ArensnuphisArensnuphis was styled her companion and protector.Solange Ashby, Calling Out to Isis (Gorgias Press, 2020). (secondary)
Sources
- Isis of Philae was the great goddess whose island sanctuary drew Nubian and Blemmyan pilgrims; by treaty the Blemmyes obtained the right to carry her cult statue in procession, and they were her last worshippers before the temple's closure in the sixth century AD.: R.T. Updegraff, 'The Blemmyes I', ANRW II.10.1 (1988). (secondary); Solange Ashby, Calling Out to Isis (Gorgias Press, 2020). (secondary)