When these effigies were taken up again at the end
of a year or of a shorter interval, the corn would be found to have
sprouted from the body of Osiris, and this sprouting of the grain
would be hailed as an omen, or rather as the cause, of the growth of
the crops. The corn-god produced the corn from himself: he gave his
own body to feed the people: he died that they might live.
And from the death and resurrection of their great god the Egyptians
drew not only their support and sustenance in this life, but also
their hope of a life eternal beyond the grave. This hope is
indicated in the clearest manner by the very remarkable effigies of
Osiris which have come to light in Egyptian cemeteries. Thus in the
Valley of the Kings at Thebes there was found the tomb of a royal
fan-bearer who lived about 1500 B.C. Among the rich contents of the
tomb there was a bier on which rested a mattress of reeds covered
with three layers of linen. On the upper side of the linen was
painted a life-size figure of Osiris; and the interior of the
figure, which was waterproof, contained a mixture of vegetable
mould, barley, and a sticky fluid.
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