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Ausar

Ausar (Asar, Wasiri, Osiris) is an ancient Kemetic diety whose center of worship and study was Abydos, a town in the eighth nome of Egypt. Ausar became the central deity in all mortuary rituals. Ausar is ruler of the underworld (Dwt, Duat) and is the personification of the resurrection principle. He is also associated with agricultural renewal.

In addition, Ausar is one of the main figures in the creation myth, which includes Auset, Heru, Set, and Nebhet. The story contained in this myth (commonly called the Ausarian Drama) is the basis for many rituals and festivals and is alluded to several times in the Prt em Hrw (Book of the Coming Forth by Day). Ausar became a central figure in priestly life, and his shrine is located in one of the oldest predynastic cities in Ta-Merri, often referred to as Anu, Abju, or Abydos.

Origins

Many have speculated as to the origins of Ausar. The most prominent explanation is that he was imported from Waset (Thebes) and brought into Anu. Ausar is not attested to by name until the 50th dynastic period in the Pyramid Texts. The probable antiquity of many of the Pyramid Texts makes it plausible that he was recognized at an earlier period, perhaps under the name Khenti Amentiu (Lord of Amenta or Lord of the Perfect Black; Amen-the Hidden One-blackness).

A central element of the later Ausarian myth, the pairing of Heru and Set, is attested from the middle of the 1st dynasty, predating the first attestations of Ausar by six centuries or more. Abbe Emile Amelineau, a French Egyptologist, discovered a series of tombs in present-day Om El Gaab (Anu), in which the Tomb of Ausar was found. This makes probable the notion that Ausar may have been a real-life personage who was later deified by the people of Kemet.

Over the centuries, the temple of Ausar was successively rebuilt or enlarged by Pepi I, Ahmose I, Thutmose III, Ramses III, and Ahmose II. Statuettes of Ausar have been found as far away as in the Shaba region of the Republic of the Congo in Central Africa.

Worship

Among the centers of worship for Ausar were the temples at Abju, 8th Nome, Upper Egypt; Saqqara, 1st Nome, Lower Egypt; Hut-Heryib/Athribis, 1st Nome, Lower Egypt; Djedu, 9th Nome, Lower Egypt; Taposiris Magna, west of Alexandria, Lower Egypt; Djan'net Tanis, 19th Nome, Lower Egypt; Bigeh, 1st Nome, Upper Egypt; Waset, 4th Nome, Upper Egypt; and at Karnak there were five chapels built for Ausar.

The earliest depictions of Ausar are of his head and torso on a block during the 5th dynasty of King Isesi. Ausar's name is written in Mdw Ntr (hieroglyphics) on the block, and above it the symbol of an eye (Iri), which means “to do” or “to make,” and of a throne (As). Ausar is often depicted in human form, usually in a black or green color. When he is depicted in the black color, it is a representation of the people of Kemet, as well as the richness of the Earth. Often he is depicted green as a symbol of the resurrection principle in agriculture. At times he is in Wi (mummy) form with his arms protruding out holding the signs of kingship: staff and flail. The Atef crown (White) of Upper Kemet is also associated with Ausar.

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