In the modern, but doubtless ancient,
Arab custom of burying "the Old Man," namely, a sheaf of wheat, in
the harvest-field and praying that he may return from the dead, we
see the germ out of which the worship of the corn-god Osiris was
probably developed.
The details of his myth fit in well with this interpretation of the
god. He was said to be the offspring of Sky and Earth. What more
appropriate parentage could be invented for the corn which springs
from the ground that has been fertilised by the water of heaven? It
is true that the land of Egypt owed its fertility directly to the
Nile and not to showers; but the inhabitants must have known or
guessed that the great river in its turn was fed by the rains which
fell in the far interior. Again, the legend that Osiris was the
first to teach men the use of corn would be most naturally told of
the corn-god himself. Further, the story that his mangled remains
were scattered up and down the land and buried in different places
may be a mythical way of expressing either the sowing or the
winnowing of the grain.
Pages:
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068