The purpose of my paper is to construct a picture in your mind of the cult of Isis during the fourth century. In an attempt, I will describe Isis, the cult ceremonies, and the society around them dealing with the cultIsis was known to be the goddess of fertility and motherhood. Egyptians say that she was the daughter of the god Keb (Earth) and the goddess Nut (Sky), wife and sister of Osiris, the sister of Seth, Nepythys, and the mother of Horus, the god of day. Isis shown in many photographs with miniature thrones or horns from her head and sometimes with a solar disc between the cows horns like Hathor. She was known to have taught Osiris all the aspects to agriculture. She taught the women to spin, weave, and flax and cure diseases. The cult of Isis date backs to the fourth century originating from in the delta town of Perehbet and spread all over Egypt. The cult of Isis spread from Alexandria throughout the Hellenistic world after the 4th century BC. It appeared in Greece in combination with the cults of Horus, her son, and Serapis, the Greek name for Osiris.The cult had its own priests, dressed in long white garments. They had bald shaved heads and a sistrum in their hands. The sistrum was a musical instrument with the form of a tennis racket. These priests led the special ceremonies, the sacra aegyptiaca, celebrated from 28 October until 1 November. Becoming one with the gods was the main aspiration in these mystery of the cult. The cult pleased the tastes of a cosmopolitan, urban, and sophisticated society, satisfying the intellectual and spiritual needs of their members. Which god to serve was a matter of personal choice. In other words, one did not belong to a mystery religion by birth, but rather by initiation. They were appealing in the turbulent times of the Roman Empire because they also claimed to save their adherents from the worst that fate could throw at them in this world while promising immortality in the nex...
