The construction of the king's identity and the origins of it's identification with Osiris

Abstract

For the Ancient Egyptians the myth was the only way to legitimize and explain why the world achieved a special form and order. The change from a huntergatherer economy to an agricultural one, induces a mentality change where the figure of the king appeared as order-guarantor. In this article we analyze the construction of the king's identity based in two questions: the topographical origins of Osiris's cult and how the myth produces the identification between Osiris, father- dead-king, with Horus, alive-king-son, and, closely linked with the state formation