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59-632: The Fortore (Latin: Fertor or Frento ) is a river which flows through the provinces of Benevento , Campobasso and Foggia in southern Italy . It is 110 kilometres (68 mi) long. The river rises from the slopes of Monte Altieri, which reaches 888 metres (2,913 ft) above sea level. The Fortore, on the Adriatic side of the Apennines , collects the waters of four small streams about 4 kilometres (2 mi) from San Bartolomeo in Galdo . From there it runs in

118-463: A Greek sculptural style , with attributes taken from Egyptian and Greek tradition. Some of these images reflected her linkage with other goddesses in novel ways. Isis-Thermuthis, a combination of Isis and Renenutet who represented agricultural fertility, was depicted in this style as a woman with the lower body of a snake. Figurines of a woman wearing an elaborate headdress and exposing her genitals may represent Isis-Aphrodite. The tyet symbol,

177-400: A sistrum rattle and a headdress of cow horns enclosing a sun disk. Sometimes both headdresses were combined, so the throne glyph sat atop the sun disk. In the same era, she began to wear the insignia of a human queen, such as a vulture-shaped crown on her head and the royal uraeus , or rearing cobra, on her brow. In Ptolemaic and Roman times, statues and figurines of Isis often showed her in

236-403: A candelabrum of 1311. A marble statue of the apostle San Bartolomeo, by Nicola da Monteforte, is also from the 14th century. The cathedral also contains a statue of St. Giuseppe Moscati , a native of the area. The cathedral was completely destroyed in 1943 because of bombardments: what remained of the cathedral were just the bell tower, the façade and the crypt. Another testimony of the cathedral

295-552: A cow—an origin myth explaining the cow-horn headdress that Isis wears. Isis's maternal aspect extended to other deities as well. The Coffin Texts from the Middle Kingdom ( c.  2055 –1650 BCE) say the Four sons of Horus , funerary deities who were thought to protect the internal organs of the deceased, were the offspring of Isis and the elder form of Horus. In the same era, Horus

354-454: A gesture of mourning, or outstretched around Osiris or the deceased as a sign of their protective role. In these circumstances they were often depicted as kites or women with the wings of kites. This form may be inspired by a similarity between the kites' calls and the cries of wailing women, or by a metaphor likening the kite's search for carrion to the goddesses' search for their dead brother. Isis sometimes appeared in other animal forms: as

413-703: A human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head. During the New Kingdom ( c.  1550  – c.  1070 BCE ), as she took on traits that originally belonged to Hathor , the preeminent goddess of earlier times, Isis was portrayed wearing Hathor's headdress: a sun disk between the horns of a cow . In the first millennium BCE, Osiris and Isis became the most widely worshipped Egyptian deities, and Isis absorbed traits from many other goddesses. Rulers in Egypt and its southern neighbor Nubia built temples dedicated primarily to Isis, and her temple at Philae

472-530: A looped shape similar to the ankh , came to be seen as Isis's emblem at least as early as the New Kingdom, though it existed long before. It was often made of red jasper and likened to Isis's blood. Used as a funerary amulet , it was said to confer her protection on the wearer. Despite her significance in the Osiris myth, Isis was originally a minor deity in the ideology surrounding the living king. She played only

531-515: A mother to the deceased, providing protection and nourishment. Thus, like Hathor, she sometimes took the form of Imentet , the goddess of the west, who welcomed the deceased soul into the afterlife as her child. But for much of Egyptian history, male deities such as Osiris were believed to provide the regenerative powers, including sexual potency, that were crucial for rebirth. Isis was thought to merely assist by stimulating this power. Feminine divine powers became more important in afterlife beliefs in

590-560: A northerly direction through a narrow and twisting valley between Daunian Mountains . After 22 kilometres (14 mi), near Castelvetere in Val Fortore , it exits from the province of Benevento. In its lower course it forms the border between the provinces of Campobasso and Foggia. The Fortore flows into the Adriatic Sea not far from Lake Lesina . Province of Benevento The province has an area of 2,071 km , and, as of 2017,

649-486: A population of 279,127. There are 78 comuni ( sg. : comune ) in the province. The biggest municipalities, the only ones over 10,000 inhabitants, are Benevento , Montesarchio , Sant'Agata de' Goti and San Giorgio del Sannio . The territory of the province of Benevento closely approximates that of the Principality of Benevento in the mid and late 11th century. It borders Molise ( province of Campobasso ) on

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708-470: A sign of her identity. The symbol serves as a phonogram , spelling the st sounds in her name, but it may have also represented a link with actual thrones. The Egyptian term for a throne was also st and may have shared a common etymology with Isis's name. Therefore, the Egyptologist Kurt Sethe suggested she was originally a personification of thrones. Henri Frankfort agreed, believing that

767-426: A sign that Isis had the power to predict or influence future events, as did other deities who presided over birth, such as Shai and Renenutet . Texts from much later times call Isis "mistress of life, ruler of fate and destiny" and indicate she has control over Shai and Renenutet, just as other great deities such as Amun were said to do in earlier eras of Egyptian history. By governing these deities, Isis determined

826-598: A small role, for instance, in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus , the script for royal rituals performed in the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom. Her importance grew during the New Kingdom, when she was increasingly connected with Hathor and the human queen. The early first millennium BCE saw an increased emphasis on the family triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus and an explosive growth in Isis's popularity. In

885-415: A sow, representing her maternal character; as a cow , particularly when linked with Apis; or as a scorpion. She also took the form of a tree or a woman emerging from a tree, sometimes offering food and water to deceased souls. This form alluded to the maternal nourishment she provided. Beginning in the New Kingdom, thanks to the close links between Isis and Hathor, Isis took on Hathor's attributes, such as

944-494: A wealthy woman who has refused to help Isis by stinging the woman's son, making it necessary for the goddess to heal the blameless child. Isis's reputation as a compassionate deity, willing to relieve human suffering, contributed greatly to her appeal. Isis continues to assist her son when he challenges Set to claim the kingship that Set has usurped, although mother and son are sometimes portrayed in conflict, as when Horus beheads Isis and she replaces her original head with that of

1003-490: Is Osiris's wife as well as his sister , is his queen. Set kills Osiris and, in several versions of the story, dismembers his corpse. Isis and Nephthys, along with other deities such as Anubis , search for the pieces of their brother's body and reassemble it. Their efforts are the mythic prototype for mummification and other ancient Egyptian funerary practices . According to some texts, they must also protect Osiris's body from further desecration by Set or his servants. Isis

1062-541: Is in turn enclosed in a decagonal ring with eight white limestone pillars and two columns next to the entrance. The church has a fine cloister of the 12th century, constructed in part of fragments of earlier buildings. This cloister today is the location of the Museo del Sannio. The church interior was once totally frescoed by Byzantine artists: fragments of these paintings, portraying the Histories of Christ , can be still seen in

1121-754: Is the 12th-century bronze door, the Janua Major, composed of 72 tiles with bas relief, whose fragments were rebuilt after the Second World War. The current monument, with its modern aspect, was completed in 1965 and restored between 2005 and 2012. Mains sights of Montesarchio are: Mains sights of Sant'Agata de' Goti are: Mains sights of San Marco dei Cavoti are: 41°8′N 14°47′E  /  41.133°N 14.783°E  / 41.133; 14.783 Isis Meroitic : Wos[a] or Wusa B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W Isis

1180-564: Is the epitome of a mourning widow. Her and Nephthys's love and grief for their brother help restore him to life, as does Isis's recitation of magical spells . Funerary texts contain speeches by Isis in which she expresses her sorrow at Osiris's death, her sexual desire for him, and even anger that he has left her. All these emotions play a part in his revival, as they are meant to stir him into action. Finally, Isis restores breath and life to Osiris's body and copulates with him, conceiving their son, Horus . After this point Osiris lives on only in

1239-526: Is treated as the mother of Horus even in the earliest copies of the Pyramid Texts. Yet there are signs that Hathor was originally regarded as his mother, and other traditions make an elder form of Horus the son of Nut and a sibling of Isis and Osiris. Isis may only have come to be Horus's mother as the Osiris myth took shape during the Old Kingdom, but through her relationship with him she came to be seen as

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1298-592: Is vouched for by the many remains of antiquity which it possesses, of which the most famous is the triumphal arch erected in honour of Trajan by the senate and people of Rome in 114, with important reliefs relating to its history. Enclosed in the walls, this construction marked the entrance in Benevento of the Via Traiana , the road built by the Spanish emperor to shorten the path from Rome to Brindisi . The reliefs show

1357-445: The Duat , or underworld. But by producing a son and heir to avenge his death and carry out funerary rites for him, Isis has ensured that her husband will endure in the afterlife. Isis's role in afterlife beliefs was based on that in the myth. She helped to restore the souls of deceased humans to wholeness as she had done for Osiris. Like other goddesses, such as Hathor , she also acted as

1416-742: The Fifth Dynasty ( c.  2494–2345 BCE ). An inscription that may refer to Isis dates to the reign of Nyuserre Ini during that period, and she appears prominently in the Pyramid Texts , which began to be written down at the end of the dynasty and whose content may have developed much earlier. Several passages in the Pyramid Texts link Isis with the region of the Nile Delta near Behbeit el-Hagar and Sebennytos , and her cult may have originated there. Many scholars have focused on Isis's name in trying to determine her origins. Her Egyptian name

1475-458: The Navigium Isidis , as well as initiation ceremonies resembling those of other Greco-Roman mystery cults . Some of her devotees said she encompassed all feminine divine powers in the world. The worship of Isis was ended by the rise of Christianity in the fourth through sixth centuries CE. Her worship may have influenced Christian beliefs and practices such as the veneration of Mary , but

1534-704: The North, Apulia ( province of Foggia ) on the East, the province of Avellino and the metropolitan City of Naples on the South, and the province of Caserta on the West. The lowest point is in the comune of Limatola (44 meters above sea level), while the highest point is Monte Mutria (1822 meters), one of the mountains of the Matese range, which separates the province of Benevento from Molise . The importance of Benevento in classical times

1593-541: The Osiris myth. Isis is part of the Ennead of Heliopolis , a family of nine deities descended from the creator god, Atum or Ra . She and her siblings—Osiris, Set , and Nephthys —are the last generation of the Ennead, born to Geb , god of the earth, and Nut , goddess of the sky. The creator god, the world's original ruler, passes down his authority through the male generations of the Ennead, so that Osiris becomes king. Isis, who

1652-537: The archbishop Romano Capodiferro) dates from the 9th century. It was rebuilt in 1114, the façade inspired by the Pisan Gothic style. Its bronze doors, adorned with bas-reliefs , are notable example of Romanesque art which may belong to the beginning of the 13th century. The interior is in the form of a basilica , the double aisles carried on ancient columns. There are ambones resting on columns supported by lions, and decorated with reliefs and coloured marble mosaic, and

1711-525: The civil and military deeds of Trajan. A great part of the arch is decorated with scenes in bas relief: particularly the pillars directed to the town represent scenes of peace and military scenes. The two faces of the Arch are identical in the arrangement of the reliefs. That the reliefs are for the most part not merely fanciful, nor chiefly conventional and decorative in theme and treatment, is also clear at first sight. They plainly refer to actual events and actions in

1770-404: The dead enter the afterlife as she had helped Osiris, and she was considered the divine mother of the pharaoh , who was likened to Horus. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. Originally, she played a limited role in royal rituals and temple rites, although she was more prominent in funerary practices and magical texts. She was usually portrayed in art as

1829-464: The distinctive traits of their deity more than on her universality, whereas some Egyptian hymns to Isis treat other goddesses in cult centers from across Egypt and the Mediterranean as manifestations of her. A text in her temple at Dendera says "in each nome it is she who is in every town, in every nome with her son Horus." In Ancient Egyptian art , Isis was most commonly depicted as a woman with

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1888-527: The epitome of maternal devotion. In the developed form of the myth, Isis gives birth to Horus, after a long pregnancy and a difficult labor, in the papyrus thickets of the Nile Delta. As her child grows she must protect him from Set and many other hazards—snakes, scorpions, and simple illness. In some texts, Isis travels among humans and must seek their help. According to one such story, seven minor scorpion deities travel with and guard her. They take revenge on

1947-471: The evidence for this influence is ambiguous and often controversial. Isis continues to appear in Western culture , particularly in esotericism and modern paganism , often as a personification of nature or the feminine aspect of divinity. Whereas some Egyptian deities appeared in the late Predynastic Period (before c.  3100 BCE ), neither Isis nor her husband Osiris were mentioned by name before

2006-448: The foremost Egyptian deity during the Middle and New Kingdoms, also took on the role of Kamutef, and when he was in this form, Isis often acted as his consort. Apis , a bull that was worshipped as a living god at Memphis , was said to be Isis's son, fathered by a form of Osiris known as Osiris-Apis. The biological mother of each Apis bull was thus known as the "Isis cow". Isis was said to be

2065-431: The frontier with Nubian peoples who raided Egypt, she was described as the protectress of the entire nation, more effective in battle than "millions of soldiers", supporting Ptolemaic kings and Roman emperors in their efforts to subdue Egypt's enemies. Isis was also known for her magical power , which enabled her to revive Osiris and to protect and heal Horus, and for her cunning. By virtue of her magical knowledge, she

2124-465: The king nursing at Isis's breast; her milk not only healed her child, but symbolized his divine right to rule. Royal ideology increasingly emphasized the importance of queens as earthly counterparts of the goddesses who served as wives to the king and mothers to his heirs. Initially the most important of these goddesses was Hathor, whose attributes in art were incorporated into queens' crowns. But because of her own mythological links with queenship, Isis too

2183-500: The late New Kingdom. Various Ptolemaic funerary texts emphasize that Isis took the active role in Horus's conception by sexually stimulating her inert husband, some tomb decoration from the Roman period in Egypt depicts Isis in a central role in the afterlife, and a funerary text from that era suggests that women were thought able to join the retinue of Isis and Nephthys in the afterlife. Isis

2242-427: The length and quality of human lives. Horus was equated with each living pharaoh and Osiris with the pharaoh's deceased predecessors. Isis was therefore the mythological mother and wife of kings. In the Pyramid Texts her primary importance to the king was as one of the deities who protected and assisted him in the afterlife. Her prominence in royal ideology grew in the New Kingdom. Temple reliefs from that time on show

2301-558: The life of Trajan, whose effigy, sometimes decapitated, appears in all but two of them, one of which is the only one on all the Arch that is substantially defective. The height of the monument is of 15,60 meter, with an arch of 8 meter, a structure composed of limestone rocks and a marble covering. The arch was put during the Middle Age in the fenced area of the town, in order to represent the Porta Aurea, on account of its fair proportions and

2360-585: The moon, possibly because she was linked with the Greek lunar goddess Artemis by a shared connection with an Egyptian fertility goddess, Bastet . In hymns inscribed at Philae she is called the "Lady of Heaven" whose dominion over the sky parallels Osiris's rule over the Duat and Horus's kingship on earth. In Ptolemaic times Isis's sphere of influence could include the entire cosmos. As the deity that protected Egypt and endorsed its king, she had power over all nations, and as

2419-553: The mother of Bastet by Ra . A story in the Westcar Papyrus from the Middle Kingdom includes Isis among a group of goddesses who serve as midwives during the delivery of three future kings. She serves a similar role in New Kingdom texts that describe the divinely ordained births of reigning pharaohs. In the Westcar Papyrus, Isis calls out the names of the three children as they are born. Barbara S. Lesko sees this story as

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2478-529: The primary roles to local deities. At Philae, Isis is described as the creator in the same way that older texts speak of the work of the god Ptah , who was said to have designed the world with his intellect and sculpted it into being. Like him, Isis formed the cosmos "through what her heart conceived and her hands created". Like other deities throughout Egyptian history, Isis had many forms in her individual cult centers, and each cult center emphasized different aspects of her character. Local Isis cults focused on

2537-509: The provider of rain, she enlivened the natural world. The Philae hymn that initially calls her ruler of the sky goes on to expand her authority, so at its climax her dominion encompasses the sky, earth, and Duat. It says her power over nature nourishes humans, the blessed dead, and the gods. Other, Greek-language hymns from Ptolemaic Egypt call her "the beautiful essence of all the gods". In the course of Egyptian history, many deities, major and minor, had been described in similar grand terms. Amun

2596-463: The start of the Nile flood , gave Sopdet a close connection with the flood and the resulting growth of plants. Partly because of her relationship with Sopdet, Isis was also linked with the flood, which was sometimes equated with the tears she shed for Osiris. By Ptolemaic times she was connected with rain, which Egyptian texts call a "Nile in the sky"; with the sun as the protector of Ra's barque; and with

2655-453: The story seems to treat her as having such abilities even before learning his name. Many of the roles Isis acquired gave her an important position in the sky. Passages in the Pyramid Texts connect Isis closely with Sopdet , the goddess representing the star Sirius , whose relationship with her husband Sah —the constellation Orion —and their son Sopdu parallels Isis's relations with Osiris and Horus. Sirius's heliacal rising , just before

2714-404: The throne was considered the king's mother, and thus a goddess, because of its power to make a man into a king. Other scholars, such as Jürgen Osing and Klaus P. Kuhlmann, have disputed this interpretation, because of dissimilarities between Isis's name and the word for a throne or a lack of evidence that the throne was ever deified. The cycle of myth surrounding Osiris's death and resurrection

2773-642: The two side apses. Santa Sofia was almost destroyed by the earthquake of 1688 , and rebuilt in Baroque forms by commission of the then cardinal Orsini of Benevento (later Pope Benedict XIII ). The original forms were hidden, and were recovered only after the discussed restoration of 1951. In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.) . The Benevento Cathedral , with its arcaded façade and incomplete square campanile (begun in 1279 by

2832-415: The typical attributes of a goddess: a sheath dress, a staff of papyrus in one hand, and an ankh sign in the other. Her original headdress was the throne sign used in writing her name. She and Nephthys often appear together, particularly when mourning Osiris's death, supporting him on his throne, or protecting the sarcophagi of the dead. In these situations their arms are often flung across their faces, in

2891-417: The wealth and excellence of its sculptural adornments. The church of Santa Sofia is a circular Lombard edifice dating to c. 760, now modernized, of small proportions, and is one of the main examples of religious Lombard architecture . The plan consists of a central hexagon with, at each vertex, columns taken from the temple of Isis ; these are connected by arches which support the cupola. The inner hexagon

2950-524: The wider Mediterranean world. Isis's Greek devotees ascribed to her traits taken from Greek deities , such as the invention of marriage and the protection of ships at sea. As Hellenistic culture was absorbed by Rome in the first century BCE, the cult of Isis became a part of Roman religion . Her devotees were a small proportion of the Roman Empire 's population but were found all across its territory. Her following developed distinctive festivals such as

3009-785: The wrong. In later texts, she uses her powers of transformation to fight and destroy Set and his followers. Many stories about Isis appear as historiolae , prologues to magical texts that describe mythic events related to the goal that the spell aims to accomplish. In one spell, Isis creates a snake that bites Ra, who is older and greater than she is, and makes him ill with its venom. She offers to cure Ra if he will tell her his true, secret name —a piece of knowledge that carries with it incomparable power. After much coercion, Ra tells her his name, which she passes on to Horus, bolstering his royal authority. The story may be meant as an origin story to explain why Isis's magical ability surpasses that of other deities, but because she uses magic to subdue Ra,

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3068-566: Was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world . Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom ( c.  2686  – c.  2181 BCE ) as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth , in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris , and produces and protects his heir, Horus . She was believed to help

3127-454: Was a religious center for Egyptians and Nubians alike. Her reputed magical power was greater than that of all other gods, and she was said to govern the natural world and wield power over fate itself. In the Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE), when Egypt was ruled and settled by Greeks , Isis was worshipped by Greeks and Egyptians, along with a new god, Serapis . Their worship diffused into

3186-560: Was first recorded in the Pyramid Texts and grew into the most elaborate and influential of all Egyptian myths . Isis plays a more active role in this myth than the other protagonists, so as it developed in literature from the New Kingdom ( c.  1550 –1070 BCE) to the Ptolemaic Period (305–30 BCE), she became the most complex literary character of all Egyptian deities. At the same time, she absorbed characteristics from many other goddesses, broadening her significance well beyond

3245-463: Was given the same titles and regalia as human queens. Isis's actions in protecting Osiris against Set became part of a larger, more warlike aspect of her character. New Kingdom funerary texts portray Isis in the barque of Ra as he sails through the underworld, acting as one of several deities who subdue Ra's archenemy, Apep . Kings also called upon her protective magical power against human enemies. In her Ptolemaic temple at Philae , which lay near

3304-520: Was most commonly described this way in the New Kingdom, whereas in Roman Egypt such terms tended to be applied to Isis. Such texts do not deny the existence of other deities but treat them as aspects of the supreme deity, a type of theology sometimes called " summodeism ". In the Late, Ptolemaic, and Roman Periods, many temples contained a creation myth that adapted long-standing ideas about creation to give

3363-460: Was said to be "more clever than a million gods". In several episodes in the New Kingdom story " The Contendings of Horus and Set ", Isis uses these abilities to outmaneuver Set during his conflict with her son. On one occasion, she transforms into a young woman who tells Set she is involved in an inheritance dispute similar to Set's usurpation of Osiris's crown. When Set calls this situation unjust, Isis taunts him, saying he has judged himself to be in

3422-428: Was syncretized with the fertility god Min , so Isis was regarded as Min's mother. A form of Min known as Kamutef, "bull of his mother", who represented the cyclical regeneration of the gods and of kingship, was said to impregnate his mother to engender himself. Thus, Isis was also regarded as Min's consort. The same ideology of kingship may lie behind a tradition, found in a few texts, that Horus raped Isis. Amun ,

3481-569: Was written as 𓊨𓏏𓆇𓁐 ( ꜣst ), the pronunciation of which changed over time: Rūsat > Rūsaʾ > ʾŪsaʾ > ʾĒsə , which became ⲎⲤⲈ ( Ēse ) in the Coptic form of Egyptian , Wusa in the Meroitic language of Nubia, and Ἶσις , on which her modern name is based, in Greek . The hieroglyphic writing of her name incorporates the sign for a throne, which Isis also wears on her head as

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