Isis

Principal goddess of ancient Egypt; the daughter of Geb and Nut (Earth and Sky); and the personification of the throne of her brother-husband Osiris. She searched for the body of Osiris after he was murdered by his brother, Set. Her son, the sky god Horus, defeated and captured Set, but beheaded his mother because she would not allow Set to be killed. She was later identified with Hathor, and by the Greeks with Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and Zeus' lover Io.

Worship The cult of Isis spread to Greece early in the 3rd century BC, and was introduced to Rome by the Roman general and politician Sulla around 80 BC, although resisted by the government until the reign of Caligula (AD 37-41). Her temple, built at Philae, south of Aswân, by King Ptolemy II, was the last centre of pre-Christian worship in Egypt, being closed by the Roman emporer Justinian in the 6th century AD.