The god of life and death, Osiris is nearly the greatest god in the Pharaonic and Muhorandi pantheon—hindered only by the fact that he is dead. Had his brother Set not murdered him, Osiris would occupy the throne of the gods now held instead by his son Re-Horakhty (formally Horus). Osiris rules over the world of the dead as his son rules the living.
Osiris appears as a human mummy swathed in strips of linen. He wears the crown of rulership over the dead and holds a scepter and a flail, symbolizing his kingship and his power over the forces of nature. These include the cycle of crops and vegetation and the primal elemental forces of air and earth, control of which Osiris inherited from the elder deities. Osiris is a son of Geb and Nut, and the brother of Set, Isis, and Nephthys. He is the father of Anubis by Nephthys, and of Re-Horakhty by Isis.
Osiris's clergy are probably the most important clerics in the daily life of those who follow the Pharaonic/Muhorandi pantheon. While Re-Horakhty's clerics may be viziers or even kings, Osiris's clerics are leaders of the common folk, and the centers of a religion that cares more about an individual's eternal reward than about a king's right to rule. In public, clerics of Osiris always defer to clerics of Re-Horakhty, but they do so with the smug knowledge that they don't have to. Like most Pharaonic/Muhorandi clergy, Osiris's clerics wear white robes and shave their heads if they are male (which most are).
Osiris usually shares grand temples with Isis and Re-Horakhty, though each deity has a separate inner court within the temple. Such temples are found everywhere the Pharaonic/Muhorandi pantheon is revered. Many clerics serve all three deities.
Osiris is the god of the afterlife. Having himself endured death and risen to reign in the afterlife, Osiris promises a place in the same afterlife to those who follow him. All who die must face Osiris's stern judgment, however. Osiris demands adherence to basic principles of order and goodness in order to win admission into the Offering Fields. Each soul that appears in his Hall of Truth must recite a long confession, proclaiming, "I have not sinned against others. I have not wronged my family. I have not done wrong instead of right. I have known no worthless folk..." and so on. The monster Am-mit, a servant of Anubis, devours those who fail in Osiris's judgment.
Osiris appears as a man wearing a tall white crown with red feathers at both side of the crown and his body wrapped in white mummy wrappings. His skin is green or black in color symbolizes resurrection and fertility flooding of the Nile River. He holds the crook and flail which signified divine authority. He was represented as a mummified king.
Osiris was the first son of Geb and Nut and the brother of Set, Horus (the elder), Isis and Nephthys.
