In Egyptian mythology, Osiris is the god of the afterlife and resurrection.
Osiris was also associated with fertility, vegetation, agriculture, and the annual renewal of life. Egyptian myth presents him as a king murdered and dismembered by his brother Set. Isis, Osiris’s sister and wife, recovered and reassembled his body with help from other deities. His restoration made him the ruler of the dead rather than a permanently living king.
The myth connected Osiris’s death and renewal with the Nile’s cycles and the sprouting of crops. Egyptians hoped to join Osiris after death, provided they received proper funerary rites and were judged worthy. By the Middle Kingdom, this hope extended beyond kings to ordinary people, who could be identified with Osiris in funerary texts.
Osiris is often confused with Anubis, but their roles differ. Anubis is chiefly linked with embalming and funeral rites, while Osiris rules the underworld and judges the dead. His green skin, mummy-like body, atef crown, crook, and flail symbolize regeneration and kingship.