50 free Osiris trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Osiris trivia quiz covers the green-skinned god of the dead from every angle: his family — Geb and Nut, Isis, Set, Nephthys and Horus — the murder and dismemberment, Isis's search and the missing piece, the crook, flail and atef crown, and the meaning of titles like Khenti-Amentiu and Wenennefer. It also digs into how the Egyptians honoured him: the Pyramid Texts, the Ikhernofret Stela and the five-day festival at Abydos, the djed raised in Khoiak, Osiris beds and wheat-paste cakes, the ram of Mendes, the 42 judges and Ammit, and the god's afterlives as Ptah-Seker-Osiris, Serapis and, eventually, a NASA asteroid mission. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation. Enjoy this one? Try our Isis, Anubis, Horus and Egyptian Mythology quizzes next.
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Q 01Osiris was the ancient Egyptian god of which realm?
The afterlife and the dead
He was also lord of fertility, agriculture, resurrection and vegetation — death and new growth were two sides of one coin.
Q 02Which god murdered Osiris?
Set
His brother wanted the throne; in Plutarch's version he tricked Osiris into a chest sealed with lead and thrown into the Nile.
Q 03Who was Osiris's sister-wife, who searched Egypt for the pieces of his body?
Isis
She was helped by her sister Nephthys and recovered every part but one.
Q 04Which part of Osiris's body did Isis fail to recover?
His genitalia
Plutarch says fish had eaten it, which he claims is why Egyptians shunned fish; Egyptian sources say it was found intact.
Q 05Who was Osiris's posthumously conceived son?
Horus
Isis revived Osiris just long enough to conceive; Horus grew up to defeat the usurper Set.
Q 06Who were the parents of Osiris?
Geb and Nut
The earth god and sky goddess also bore Set, Isis, Nephthys and Horus the Elder.
Q 07What distinctive headdress does Osiris wear?
The atef
It is the white crown of Upper Egypt flanked by two curling ostrich feathers.
Q 08Which two objects does Osiris hold in his crossed hands?
A crook and a flail
The crook marks him as a shepherd god; the flail's meaning is less certain and may derive from the god Andjety.
Q 09What did Osiris's characteristic skin colour signify?
Rebirth
His green skin was the colour of rebirth; the alternative black alluded to the fertile mud of the Nile floodplain.
Q 10How is Osiris's body typically shown from the chest down?
Wrapped like a mummy
He was among the first gods associated with mummy wrappings; his legs are bound in bandages.
Q 11What does Osiris's epithet Khenti-Amentiu mean?
Foremost of the Westerners
The dead were 'westerners' because the sun set — and tombs lay — on the Nile's west bank; the title predates the god's cult.
Q 12From which royal house does the first evidence of Osiris worship date?
The Fifth
By its end, tomb offering formulas had switched from 'the king gives and Anubis' to 'the king gives and Osiris'.
Q 13Which Old Kingdom writings contain the earliest allusions to the Osiris myth?
The Pyramid Texts
Later sources include the Shabaka Stone, The Contendings of Horus and Seth, and Plutarch and Diodorus.
Q 21What was an 'Osiris bed', found in near-pristine condition in Tutankhamun's tomb?
A god-shaped tray of soil sown with seed
The germinating grain symbolised the god rising from the dead.
Q 22Which pillar symbol, seen as the god's backbone, was ritually raised at his festival?
The djed
Raising it upright in the month of Khoiak symbolised the god's restoration.
Q 23Which Twelfth Dynasty monument is our main source for the god's public rites?
The Ikhernofret Stela
Erected under Senwosret III around 1875 BC, it lays out five festival days ending with Osiris reborn at dawn.
Q 14Which Greek essayist's account has Set conspiring with 72 accomplices?
Plutarch
His essay On Isis and Osiris, part of the Moralia, is a crucial source though it differs from Egyptian versions.
Q 15In the Greek version, where did the chest containing Osiris's body wash up?
Byblos
A tree grew around it and was used as a pillar in the king's palace until Isis retrieved it.
Q 16How did Set trick Osiris into the chest, in the Greek telling?
He offered it to whoever fitted inside at a banquet
The chest had been made to Osiris's exact measurements; when he lay down, the lid was slammed shut and sealed.
Q 17By what Greek name is Set known in the Greek retelling of the myth?
Typhon
He used Greek names throughout, and had Isis and Hercules — meaning Horus — avenge Osiris in Diodorus's telling.
Q 18Into how many pieces did Set cut the body, in the version tied to the temple rites?
14
Diodorus says 26; the Papyrus Jumilhac has Isis taking 12 days to reassemble the pieces, matching the ploughing festival.
Q 19According to Diodorus Siculus, what did Osiris teach the Egyptians to abandon?
Cannibalism
He then travelled the world teaching people to grow vines, wheat and barley, accompanied by satyrs and the nine Muses.
Q 20Which city was the traditional burial place of Osiris and centre of his cult?
Abydos
The tomb of the First Dynasty king Djer there was reinterpreted as the god's own grave.
Q 24Which god led the procession and mock battle on the first day of the great festival?
Wepwawet
His name means 'opener of the way'; on day two the Neshmet bark carried Osiris's body to his tomb.
Q 25How many divine assessors judged the dead before they could enter Osiris's kingdom?
42
The dead had to name each judge and recite the sins they had not committed — the Negative Confessions.
Q 26Which demon devoured the hearts of those judged unworthy?
Ammit
The condemned were annihilated into non-being; there was no eternal torture in the Egyptian scheme.
Q 27Which goddess's principles did the dead need to have lived by to enter Osiris's kingdom?
Maat
She personified truth and right living; the heart was weighed against her feather.
Q 28At Mendes, Osiris's ba was worshipped in the form of which animal?
A ram
Called Banebdjedet, 'the ba of the lord of the djed', a living sacred ram was kept and mummified at death.
Q 29Which composite deity fused the god of the dead with Memphis's creator god and falcon god?
Ptah-Seker-Osiris
As the sun spent the night in the underworld and was reborn each dawn, the fused god became king of regeneration.
Q 30Which Hellenistic god did the Ptolemies create by blending Osiris with the Apis bull?
Serapis
Ptolemy I promoted him to unite Greek and Egyptian subjects; he became patron of Alexandria and consort of Isis.