Isis tricked Seth into judging that a dead father’s property should pass to his son, then revealed that the case represented Osiris, Horus, and Seth. The divine tribunal was forced to consider whether Horus should inherit Osiris’s authority.

Isis Secures Horus's Kingship

Isis bribed Anty, the ferryman of the gods, to carry her to the Middle Island, where the divine tribunal had moved. The account appears in Papyrus Chester Beatty I, which sets out the dispute between Horus and Seth. Set had excluded Isis from the court. She changed herself into a beautiful young woman, and Set approached her secretly. She told him that her husband, a shepherd, had died and left her with a young son who cared for his father’s cattle. A stranger had then threatened to beat the boy, take the cattle, and drive him away. Isis asked Set whether he would help the son against the stranger. Set agreed that the father’s property should pass to his son, and that the stranger should not take it. Isis then revealed that the story concerned Set himself. Osiris was the dead father, Horus was the son, and Set was the stranger who had seized what belonged to another. Set had judged the same case that divided him from Horus. The gods therefore had to consider whether Horus should inherit Osiris’s authority.

Isis Obtains the Secret Name of Ra

Isis gathered saliva that had fallen from the ageing Ra and mixed it with clay. The episode is preserved in the Turin Magical Papyrus, in a spell concerning the secret name of Ra. Using her magic, Isis made a serpent and gave it life. She hid it beside the path that Ra followed on his daily journey through the Two Lands. When Ra passed by, the serpent bit him and disappeared. Its fire entered his body. Ra cried out, and the gods who travelled with him came to his aid. He could not cure the wound because the serpent was a creature he had not made. His children could not help him either. They could only mourn his suffering. Ra told Isis that a serpent had attacked him. His body was hotter than fire and colder than water. He trembled, sweated, and lost his sight. Isis approached him as if she were concerned and said that her spells could overcome the poison. She asked him to tell her his name, claiming that anyone who spoke their own name would live. Ra recited his creative deeds and his public names. He said that he was Khepera in the morning, Ra at noon, and Temu in the evening. Isis knew that these were not the hidden name she sought. As the poison grew worse, Ra disclosed the secret name. Isis used it in her magic, drove out the venom, and healed him. The name gave her power over the sun god.

Isis Hides Horus from Seth

After ten months of pregnancy, Isis gave birth to Horus in the papyrus marshes of Chemmis. The magical accounts of his childhood are preserved in sources such as the Metternich Stela. Seth had murdered Osiris, so Isis hid the infant from him and raised him to avenge his father. This child was called Horus the Child, or Horus, son of Isis, to distinguish him from Horus the Elder. Isis was sometimes forced to leave him while she searched for food. On one such occasion, she returned to find Horus too weak and ill to suckle. She mourned and said that her family were either in another realm or hostile to her. The marsh-dwellers shared her sorrow but could not help. A local wise woman then arrived, consoled Isis, and offered guidance. The magical accounts usually describe Horus as suffering from poison after the bite of an earth-dwelling snake. Seth is generally treated as the instigator, since sending a dangerous animal against an enemy was a recognised Egyptian curse. Isis called on Nut, her mother, and Geb, her father, who controlled the earth snakes. In other versions, she challenged the creator sun god to heal the innocent child. The creator sent one of his manifestations or attendant deities. Other gods protected Horus whenever Isis had to be absent, and the marsh inhabitants could take their place in literary spells. Through hiding, magic, and this protection, Isis kept Horus alive in Chemmis. He grew there as Horus the Child and later confronted Seth.