The Hourly Vigil of Osiris

The Mysteries of Osiris (or Sokar-Osiris, as they were more anciently known) was one of the most important national festivals of ancient Egypt. In this major festival celebrated at the close of the first season, the myths around the death of the god Osiris and his ascension not to rebirth, but to the kingship of the blessed dead in the underworld or afterlife called Duat, were reenacted over a series of public and private ceremonies held throughout ancient Egypt. The high point of these ceremonies was the Night of Sleep, the day when a complex, 24-hour temple vigil was enacted by multiple priests and two women playing the parts of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys as a formal re-enactment of the Osirian funeral rites. In The Hourly Vigil of Osiris, Tamara L. Siuda provides the first full modern English translation of the entire 24-hour vigil of the Osiris Mysteries liturgy, from original Egyptian hieroglyphic texts.