ISIS

Real Name: Isis

Identity/Class: Egyptian god

Occupation: Goddess of fertility and domestication

Group Membership: the Heliopolitan gods

Affiliations: Heket, Heptet, Horus, Osiris, Ra, Tait, and Thoth; 
Befen, Maatet, Mestet, Mestetef, Petet, Serqet, Tefen, Thetet (the scorpion goddesses)

Enemies: Seth

Known Relatives: Geb (father), Nut (mother), Osiris (brother/husband), Horus (alias Heru-Ur), Seth (brothers), Nephthys (sister), Khneum, Hapi (half-brothers), Hathor-Sekhmet (half-sister/grandaunt/daughter-in-law),
    Horus, Anhur, Neper, Min (sons), Sesmu (daughter), Anubis, Bata (step-sons),
    Duamutef, Hapi, Ihy, Imsety, Qebhshuf, Mihos (grandsons),
   Sakhmet (granddaughters),
   Qadesh, Hatmehyt (daughters-in-law),
     Sebek (alias Suchos), Babi (nephews), Edjo, Nekhbet (nieces)
Bast (grandaunt), Ammon Ra (great-grandfather), Thoth (great-granduncle), Nun (Demiurge, great-great-grandfather), Gaea (great-great-grandmother, alias Neith)

Aliases: Ament (literally means "hidden," as the goddess of the underworld that assisted in restoring the bodies of the blessed dead to live in the kingdom of Osiris), Ankhat (as the giver and producer of life), Anquat (as embracer of the land and the producer of fertility by her waters), Aset (Egyptian name), Ast (Egyptian name), Auset ("Throne"), Eset (Egyptian name), Esu, Isis Campensis (when worshipped in Rome), Kekhet (as goddess of fields and cultivated lands), Khut (as light giver) regina coeli (meaning "queen of heaven," a title given to her by the Latin author Apuleius in his work The Golden Ass), Renenet (as goddess of the harvest), Satis (as the power that shot from the flooding Nile), Tcheft (as goddess of the food offered to the gods), "the divine one," "the female Horus," "the female Ra," "the greatest of all the gods and goddesses," "the lady of heaven," "the light-giver of heaven," "the lady of the new year," "the maker of sunrise," Thenenet (as great goddess of Tuat), Urthekau, Usert (as the earth goddess)

Base of Operations: Celestial Heliopolis

First Appearance: Thor I#239 (September, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: Isis possesses the conventional powers of the Egyptian Gods. She has superhuman strength (Class 35), longevity and resistance to harm. She also has great mystical skills enabling her to manipulate the elemental forces of the universe. She can also raise and protect the spirits of the dead. There is some indication that for her to return gods back to life she must have the assistance of extra gods to assist her as when she, Horus, Heket, Heptet, Tait, and Anubis restored Osiris.

Height: 6'
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History: (Egyptian Myth) - Isis is the daughter of Geb, the earth-god and Nut, the sky-goddess. In ancient times, she was credited by helping to civilize the ancient Egyptians by showing them how to grind corn and how to spin and weave cloth. She also taught medicine and instituted the first rites of marriage. When her brother Osiris replaced his father as Pharaoh of Egypt, he took her to be his Queen without any objection from their parents. As Osiris spread the accomplishments of Egypt across the world, Isis also proved herself as a wise and just ruler in his absence.

After Seth, the god of misfortune, imprisoned Osiris, Isis cut off all her hair and fled to Chemmis where she was protected by her half-brother, Khnemu, the god of the Nile. He helped her to conceal Horus from Seth as Isis cut off all her hair and wore clothes of mourning as she searched for her husband’s body. She eventually heard a rumor from children about a sarchopagus that had been washed up from the Nile and caught in the branches of a tree. It was taken by the King of Byblos. Isis managed to endear herself to his servants to gain entrance to his court where the sarcophagus was displayed. To earn the right to claim it, she promised to make the Royal heir a immortal, but the Queen screamed as Isis attempted to burn off the child’s mortality. Frightened by the distraction, Isis revealed her godhood and demanded the return of her husband’s body.

She hid the body in a swamp, but Seth learned that his brother had been found. He appeared as Isis opened the tomb and cut Osiris up into several pieces that he scattered to the winds. Isis called upon the gods to collect the pieces and restore them as Anubis mummified them. With the aid of Anubis and several other gods, they were able to restore Osiris to life, but he had seen enough of the afterlife that he decided to return to rule it.

By now, Horus had grown to adulthood and deposed Seth as Ruler of Egypt. Isis took her place among the Egyptian Gods in Heaven.

(conjecture) - Ammon-Ra, the Lord of the Egyptian Gods, eventually retired and named Osiris as his successor. Seth meanwhile conquered the underworld in Osiris’ absence.

(Rise of Apocalypse#3) - <Circa 3000 BC> En Sabah Nur, a mutant in ancient Egypt, fell from a great height. A fall such as this would have killed a normal man, but Nur was the mutant who one day would become Apocalypse. Reviving from the fall, Nur saw Isis in a vision. She stated Nur had a destiny greater than that of being a slave. He had great power that could be used for light or darkness.

(Thor I#239-241) - Seth eventually deposed Osiris, Isis and Horus and the gods from Celestial Heliopolis and imprisoned them in a pyramid for all eternity. From within, they were eventually able to cause it to materialize on Earth in the Twentieth Century. The Asgardian gods Odin and Thor were able to free them as Odin defeated Seth. In return, the Egyptian gods initiated the Ceremony of Rebirth that made Odin the reincarnation of their ancestor Atum-Ra.

(Marvel Two-In-One#98 - BTS) - Seth imprisoned Isis and the Egyptian Gods in Heliopolis as he attempted to sacrifice Horus to the Devourer. Seth was defeated by Thor and the Thing.

(Thor I#398-400 - BTS) - Seth stole the life forces of the Heliopolitans to power his conquest in attacking Asgard. He used the god Bes to control probability to his advantage, but Thor eventually released Bes and the Egyptian Gods regained their life forces. Isis and the other Egyptian Gods then joined the Asgardians and the Tuatha Da Danaan to repel Seth and his armies from Asgard.

Comments: Isis was adapted by Roy Thomas, William Mantlo and Sal Buscema.

Just as among the Olympian Gods, converting a mortal to an immortal involves burning off their mortality. Demeter did it to Triptolemus and Thetis did it to Achilles.

In Egyptian myth and funerary practices Isis was said to have had four sons by Horus: Duamutef/Tuamutef, Hapi, Mesthi/Imsety, and Qebh-sennuf/Qebsnuf.  This has not been revealed or depicted in the Marvel Universe's interpretation of the goddess.

Profile by Will U and Kyle Sims

CLARIFICATIONS:
Isis should not be confused with:

• Isis, Andrea Thomas, mortal endowed with godly power in the 70's CBS tv series
• Isis, Catwoman's pet cat on Batman: The Animated Series
• Isis, the pet alien shapeshifter of Gary Seven on the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth"
• Eschu, african god, @ Dr. Strange II #17
• Esh-Uta, former slave of the Broker, @ Century: Distant Sons #1
• Eshu, true name of the Master, @ Heroes For Hire #3
• Eshun, of Indigo 2099, @ Doom 2099 #28

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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