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about our name
One ritual containing theatrical elements was enacted in ancient
Egypt for nearly 2,000 years, from around 2500 B.C. to around 550
B.C., at a sacred place called Abydos. The evidence suggests that
every year thousands of Egyptians made their way to Abydos to see
this ceremony. The ritual drama performed at Abydos deals with the
Egyptian god Osiris, who became the ruler of Egypt and married his
sister Isis. Osiris's brother later became jealous of him and killed
him, scattering the parts of his body throughout the Egyptian kingdom.
Isis recovered the pieces and, with the aid of another god, brought
Osiris back to life. Osiris could not remain on earth, however,
and so his body was buried at Abydos. His spirit then went to dwell
in the underworld, where he became the most human of the Egyptian
gods, the god who judged people's souls.
The tale of Osiris is a virtually universal religious
story, recurring in societies throughout the world: a story of betrayal,
death, and life after death. We do not have the actual text of the
Abydos ritual, but we do have a partial account by someone named
Ikhernofret, who participated in it sometime between 1887 B.C. and
1849 B.C. It is clear from this account that the ceremony had unmistakable
theatrical elements: people played the roles of characters in the
story and acted out episodes from the life of Osiris.
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