Presented below is one of the four Greek Hymns to Isis, written by Isidorus at a temple in the Fayum
district of Egypt, dating from the early first century BC. This hymn was inscribed at the south gate of a large Greco-Egyptian
temple near a village in the extreme south of the Fayum, the modern name of the village is Medinet Madi. It is situated
below the dedicatory inscription to Ptolemy Theos Soter on the south face of the west pillar, facing the south portal of the
precinct from the Ceremonial Way.
Hymn I
O wealth-giver, Queen of the gods, Hermouthis, Lady
Omnipotent Agathe Tyche, greatly
renowned Isis,
Deo, highest Discoverer of all life,
Manifold miracles were Your care that you might bring
Livelihood
to mankind and morality to all;
(and) You taught customs that justice might in some measure prevail;
You gave skills
that men’s life might be comfortable,
And You discovered the blossoms that produce edible vegetation.
Because
of You heaven and the whole earth have their being;
And the gusts of the winds and the sun with its sweet light.
By
Your power the channels of Nile are filled, every one,
At the harvest season and its most turbulent water is poured
On
the whole land that produce may be unfailing.
All mortals who live on the boundless earth,
Thracians, Greeks and Barbarians,
Express
You fair Name, a Name greatly honored among all, (but)
Each (speaks) in his own language, in his own land.
The Syrians
call You: Astarte, Artemis, Nanaia,
The Lycian tribes call You: Leto, the Lady,
The Thracians also name You as Mother
of the gods,
And the Greeks (call You) Hera of the Great Throne, Aphrodite,
Hestia the goodly, Rheia and Demeter.
But
the Egyptians call You ‘Thiouis’ (because they know) that You, being
One, are all
Other goddesses invoked
by the races of men.
Mighty One, I shall not cease to sing of Your great Power,
Deathless Saviour, many-named, mightiest
Isis,
Saving from war, cities and all their citizens:
Men, their wives, possessions, and children.
As many as are
bound fast in prison, in the power of death,
As many as are in pain through long, anguished, sleepless nights,
All who
are wanderers in a foreign land,
And as many as sail on the Great Sea in winter
When men may be destroyed and their
ships wrecked and sunk…
All (these) are saved if they pray that You be present to help.
Hear my prayers, O One
whose Name has great Power;
Prove Yourself merciful to me and free me from all distress.
Isidorus wrote (it)
The translation above is from the book, "The Four Greek Hymns of Isidorus and the Cult of Isis,"
by Vera Fredericka Vanderlip, published by A. M. Hakkert, Ltd., Toronto, Canada, 1972.
