The Goddess Isis & Wisdom

by Sorita d’Este & David Rankine

Isis means Throne and she was depicted as a beautiful woman crowned with a throne headdress, sometimes winged.  ‘Isis’ is the Hellenic name for the goddess who was also known as ‘Isa’ or ‘Aset’ to her followers in ancient Egypt.  Her cult subsumed that of many other goddesses, as was often the case with deities who had a strong following and with time she also assumed the horned disk of the cow-headed Hathor together with most of Hathor’s key roles.  Isis was also depicted sometimes as kneeling on the hieroglyph for the metal gold which was linked to her through its funerary use.  Although very well known as the Mistress of Magic, Isis was also very much seen in her role as protective mother and loyal wife.

Her influence was spread throughout the ancient world, and became especially important as part of the Greco-Egyptian worldview; with cult centres throughout the ancient Hellenic world.  Through studying her myths and cult history it is nearly inevitable to come to the understanding that there would be clear connections between the Goddess Isis and the Wisdom Goddess tradition – so then it is no surprise to find definite connections between Isis and a number of other wisdom goddesses, as well as wisdom literature.

The influence of Isis on Wisdom Goddess literature is primarily from the Greco-Egyptian or Hellenic Isis, rather than the earlier Egyptian depictions and descriptions of her.  It is important to differentiate, as the Hellenic Isis’ mythology, roles and functions assimilated not only that of the original Aset or Isa, but also that of other Egyptian goddesses such as Hathor, Ma’at and Sekhmet.[1]

The Egyptian goddess of truth, justice and cosmic harmony, Ma’at, was syncretised with Isis to form Isis-Ma’at.   The name Ma’at means ‘Truth’ and this goddess embodied the concepts of truth, justice and cosmic order – natural balance.  In the Pyramid Texts she is described as standing behind the sun god Re, implying that she holds the key to his power and kingship.  In later times she became seen as the daughter of Re and also as the wife of the God of Magic, Thoth.  Her shrines were present in the temples of other deities, rather than being distinct, but this should be seen in context as a sign of her power and authority rather than as a weakness. One of her key symbols was the hieroglyph for the plinth on which statues stood, which emphasises her authority and the order she represents as being something that even other deities strived to perceive, which is summed up nicely in statements such as “The gods live on Maat”.

This process of Isis being linked to and merged with Ma’at may have been a stage in the development of the view of Isis as the wisdom saviour goddess:

“By identification with Maat, Isis takes over this function and adds soteirological motifs taken from her role in the myths of Horus and Osiris. The wisdom hymn in Proverbs 8:22, like the similar hymn in Sirach 24, reflects this general cosmic pattern of myth.”[2]

Indeed the aretalogical[3] pattern seen in the Wisdom of Solomon 6:22-10:21 mirrors earlier Isis aretalogies, as does the later Gnostic text The Thunder, Perfect Mind.[4] In addition to such aretalogical literature numerous significant writers in the ancient world promoted the view of Isis as multi-powered saviour.[5]

The role of saviour is something also attributed to Sophia in Gnostic writings and Hekate (as Soteira, meaning saviour) in the Chaldean Oracles.  With all these goddesses, this emphasis on a female saviour which occurred in the ancient world is something which has been largely lost until recent times.

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[1] The Cosmic Shekinah, d’Este & Rankine, 2011:73.

[2] Ibid, 1970:54.

[3] An aretalogy is a first person deity list of attributions in poem or hymn form.

[4] Isis and Sophia in the Book of Wisdom, Kloppenborg, 1982:59-61.

[5] The Cosmic Shekinah, d’Este & Rankine, 2011:74.

The above is based on the material in the book
The Cosmic Shekinah by Sorita d’Este and David Rankine- for details see: www.cosmicshekinah.co.uk