Wesir

Other Names:
Ausar, Osiris

(Ausar; G/R Osiris) - (unclear; possibly "He Sees the Throne") A Name of obscure origin Who, like Aset, rose to prominence over antiquity to become one of the most lasting Names of all time, Wesir is first noted in the Pyramid Texts as a shadowy figure to which the deceased ruler is promised not to be abandoned (a rather undesired state is given to "Wesir and His spirits" in a dark and airless underworld). In later times, Wesir absorbed the forms and functions of nearly all other Names associated with death and the afterlife including Wepwawet, Yinepu, Sokar and Sebek to become Foremost of Westerners, Judge of the Dead and overseer of the blessed spirits (those who had died and been judged favorably in the Hall of Double Truth). Eventually Wesir would embody the "popular religion" of the people as final arbiter of destiny after death; the story of Wesir's death, from which life came nonetheless (note that it was not his OWN life or resurrection, as Wesir is the Lord of the Dead - he is NOT the lord of resurrection, a "green man" or a "Christ" figure in this sense) was borrowed and retold in both the Greek mysteries and other mystery cults abroad in the ancient world. In addition to His associations with death and afterlife, Wesir is the firstborn son of Geb and Nut (alternately Ra and Nut) and embodies the Black Land of the Two Lands itself, the fertile soil which yearly is "murdered" by the encroachment of the Red Land (Set's desert), yet returns to growth at the rising of the Sopdet-star attributed to Aset, Wesir's sister-wife. "Corn mummies" of seeded dirt formed in the shape of Wesir were placed in tombs to germinate in the darkness, demonstrating Wesir's power; such a corn-mummy in Tutankhamen's tomb was carried into the light by Carter and Carnarvon's team to reveal sprouts of barley and emmer, frozen forever in time.