Egypt Loved Osiris!

Egypt loved Osiris because he was a wise and gentle king. He taught Egyptians law and order and led them away from savage practices like cannibalism and human sacrifice. Osiris also taught them the art of agriculture and the appropriate rites for worshipping the gods. When he was done civilizing the people in Egypt, he left the country to his wife Isis and made peace in many other places. When he finished his job, he then returned to Egypt.

And so in The Deadliest Lie, Miriam tells us that everyone in Alexandria would participate in the Fall Festival:

The Festival of Seeking and Finding is a reenactment of Isis’s search for the strewn body parts of her murdered and dismembered brother and husband Osiris. Egyptians believe her tears over his death account for the annual flooding of the Nile. During the festival, she is said to use her magic powers to resurrect him.

And Miriam tells us how she and Phoebe would celebrate:

Phoebe and I would go to the Isis festival together. Afterward we’d crowd into The Flamingo’s Tongue, the smoke-filled restaurant just east of the Heptastadion that seasons the neighborhood with the aroma of fried onions. There we’d dine with a view of the lighthouse and the thousands of ships moored in the Great Harbor, their bumboats swaying in synchrony with the lapping tide and their rubbery shadows quivering on the crinkled skin of the water. We’d enjoy the luxury of a latrine on the premises and a private dining room crammed with plump couches. A host of jostling waiters would bear platters of grilled fish, smoked meats, and fried fowl lithely shouldering their silvery trays above the clatter of dishes, the chink of goblets, and the shouts of swilling celebrants.

To join the party, just click here.