Originally posted by Diogenes
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Isis was the image of fecundity, which in Egypt was linked most prominently with the water of the Nile. She was, therefore, embedded in Egyptian village religion and was popular, especially among women, as Isis lochia – ‘she who brought forth a new-born babe’...The cult of Isis emphasized mediation, the possible disposition of the divine to incline kindly towards humans. ...Above all, with her protective power and her nurturing force, Isis was a much loved domestic presence, worshipped in domestic shrines, where figures and painted panels were placed....The representation of Mary in Egypt benefited from the prevalence and familiarity of this mother-goddess with the powerful attributes of physical prowess and life-giving energy. The fifth-century inscriptions show just how the process of conversion worked: ritual forms used in Hellenistic times to address Isis in spaces previously her own were now used by Christians and for Mary. A later inscription invokes the Egyptian month, yet appeals to the blessing of "our Lady of all, the holy God-bearing Mary of Philae", the very formula used in temples dedicated to Isis: "to the Lady Isis of Philae". [See Miri Rubin, Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary, YUP, 2009]
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