Editing Osiris myth (section)

===Birth and childhood of Horus===
[[File:Egyptian - Isis with Horus the Child - Walters 54416 - Three Quarter Right.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Small statue of a seated woman, with a headdress of horns and a disk, holding an infant across her lap|Isis nursing Horus]]
In Egyptian accounts, the pregnant Isis hides from Set, to whom the unborn child is a threat, in a thicket of papyrus in the [[Nile Delta]]. This place is called ''Akh-bity'', meaning "papyrus thicket of the king of [[Lower Egypt]]" in [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]].{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=80–81}} Greek writers call this place ''Khemmis'' and indicate that it is near the city of [[Buto]],{{sfn|Griffiths|1970|p=313}} but in the myth, the physical location is less important than its nature as an iconic place of seclusion and safety.{{sfn|Assmann|2001|p=133}} The thicket's special status is indicated by its frequent depiction in Egyptian art; for most events in Egyptian mythology, the backdrop is minimally described or illustrated. In this thicket, Isis gives birth to Horus and raises him, and hence it is also called the "nest of Horus".{{sfn|Pinch|2004|pp=79–80}} The image of Isis nursing her child is a very common motif in [[Art of ancient Egypt|Egyptian art]].{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=80–81}}

There are texts such as the [[Metternich Stela]] that date to the Late Period in which Isis travels in the wider world. She moves among ordinary humans who are unaware of her identity, and she even appeals to these people for help. This is another unusual circumstance, for in Egyptian myth, gods and humans are normally separate.{{sfn|Meeks|Favard-Meeks|1996|pp=82, 86–87}} As in the first phase of the myth, she often has the aid of other deities, who protect her son in her absence.{{sfn|Pinch|2004|pp=79–80}} According to one magical spell, seven minor scorpion deities travel with and guard Isis as she seeks help for Horus. They even take revenge on a wealthy woman who has refused to help Isis by stinging the woman's son, making it necessary for Isis to heal the blameless child.{{sfn|Meeks|Favard-Meeks|1996|pp=82, 86–87}} This story conveys a moral message that the poor can be more virtuous than the wealthy and illustrates Isis's fair and compassionate nature.{{sfn|Baines|1996|pp=371–372}}

In this stage of the myth, Horus is a vulnerable child beset by dangers. The magical texts that use Horus's childhood as the basis for their healing spells give him different ailments, from scorpion stings to simple stomachaches,{{sfn|Meeks|Favard-Meeks|1996|p=73}} adapting the tradition to fit the malady that each spell was intended to treat.{{sfn|Pinch|2004|p=39}} Most commonly, the child god has been bitten by a snake, reflecting the Egyptians' fear of snakebite and the resulting poison.{{sfn|Pinch|2004|pp=79–80}} Some texts indicate that these hostile creatures are agents of Set.{{sfn|Griffiths|1960|p=50}} Isis may use her own magical powers to save her child, or she may plead with or threaten deities such as Ra or Geb, so they will cure him. As she is the [[archetypal]] mourner in the first portion of the story, so during Horus's childhood she is the ideal devoted mother.{{sfn|Pinch|2004|pp=147, 149–150, 185}} Through the magical healing texts, her efforts to heal her son are extended to cure any patient.{{sfn|Assmann|2001|p=133}}