1 00:00:07,086 --> 00:00:11,086 It was a feast like Egypt had never seen before. 2 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The warrior god Set and his wife, the goddess Nephtys, 3 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 decorated an extravagant hall for the occasion, 4 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 with a beautiful wooden chest as the centerpiece. 5 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They invited all the most important gods, dozens of lesser deities, 6 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and foreign monarchs. 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But no one caused as big a stir as Set and Nephtys’s older brother Osiris, 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the god who ruled all of Egypt and had brought prosperity to everyone. 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Set announced a game – 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 whoever could fit perfectly in the chest could have it as a gift. 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 One by one, the guests clambered in, but no one fit. 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Finally, it was Osiris’s turn. 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As he lay down, everyone could see it was a perfect fit— 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 another win for the god who could do no wrong. 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Then Set slammed the lid down with Osiris still inside, sealed it shut, 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and tossed it into the Nile. 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The chest was a coffin. 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Set had constructed it specifically to trap his brother 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and planned the party to lure him into it. 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Set had long been jealous of his brother’s successful reign, 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and hoped to replace him as the ruler of all Egypt. 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The Nile bore the coffin out to sea and it drifted for many days 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 before washing ashore near Byblos, where a great cedar grew around it. 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The essence of the god within gave the tree a divine aura, 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and when the king of Byblos noticed it, 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 he ordered the tree cut down and brought to his palace. 27 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Unbeknownst to him, 28 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the coffin containing Egypt’s most powerful god was still inside. 29 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Set’s victory seemed complete, but he hadn’t counted on his sisters. 30 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Set’s wife Nephtys was also his sister, 31 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 while their other sister, the goddess Isis, was married to their brother Osiris. 32 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isis was determined to find Osiris, and enlisted Nephtys’s help behind Set’s back. 33 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The two sisters took the shape of falcons and travelled far and wide. 34 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Some children who had seen the coffin float 35 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 by pointed them to the palace of Byblos. 36 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isis adopted a new disguise and approached the palace. 37 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The queen was so charmed by the disguised goddess 38 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that she entrusted her with nursing the baby prince. 39 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isis decided to make the child immortal by bathing him in flame. 40 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the horrified queen came upon this scene, 41 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isis revealed herself and demanded the tree. 42 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When she cut the coffin from the trunk and opened it, 43 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Osiris was dead inside. 44 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Weeping, she carried his body back to Egypt and hid it in a swamp, 45 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 while she set off in search of a means of resurrecting him. 46 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But while she was gone, 47 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Set found the body and cut into many pieces, 48 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 scattering them throughout Egypt. 49 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isis had lost Osiris for the second time, but she did not give up. 50 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 She searched all over the land, traveling in a boat of papyrus. 51 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 One by one, she tracked down the parts of her husband’s dismembered body 52 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in every province of Egypt, holding a funeral for each piece. 53 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 At long last, she had recovered every piece but one – 54 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 his penis, which a fish in the Nile had eaten. 55 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Working with what she had, Isis reconstructed and revived her husband. 56 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But without his penis, Osiris was incomplete. 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He could not remain among the living, 58 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 could not return to his old position as ruler of Egypt. 59 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Instead, he would have to rule over Duat, the realm of the dead. 60 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Before he went, though, he and Isis conceived a son to bear Osiris’s legacy – 61 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and one day, avenge him.