Egyptian goddess whose cult was widespread until a late date. Isis, together with her husband (and brother) Osiris and their son Horus, were the only gods worshipped throughout Egypt. According to the myth related in its fullest form by Plutarch, Isis was the daughter of Geb the earth god and Nut the sky goddess. Osiris ruled peacefully over Egypt until Set, his envious brother, killed him and'then made his corpse disappear. Isis searched desperately for the 14 pieces of her husband's body; when she found them, she put them together again with help of Anubis, the god who invented mummification. After a long lament over the corpse, the prototype of all later funeral lamentations, Isis flew over Osiris in the form of a bird and fanned him with her wings.

He returned to life, but henceforth his kingdom was to be that of the Underworld. He was destined to be succeeded on his earthly throne by his son Horus, born posthumously. The second part of the myth tells how the goddess, after having given birth to Horus in the swamps of the Delta, protected him from the snares of Set, who was eager to ascend the throne of his brother. When Horus grew up and began his struggle with Set, the goddess aided him by using tricks and magic. Finally she brought him to the great tribunal of the gods where she pleaded his cause until Thoth declared him the victor. The great humanity of the goddess, her love for her husband and son, and her skill in the magic arts made Isis one of the best loved deities in the Egyptian pantheon. Her worship survivied in the form of mysteries even in the Greek and Roman eras, and indeed spread to all parts of the then known world. In the course of time Isis came to be regarded as the perfect woman, the model wife and mother. She may indeed have been the prototype of the Madonna.