Page "Osiris myth" Paragraph 17

Osiris ' death is followed either by an interregnum or by a period in which Set assumes the kingship.

Meanwhile, Isis searches for her husband's body with the aid of Nephthys.

When searching for or mourning Osiris, the two goddesses are often likened to falcons or kites, possibly because kites travel far in search of carrion, because the Egyptians associated their plaintive calls with mourning, or because of the goddesses ' connection with Horus, who is often represented as a falcon.

In the New Kingdom, when Osiris ' death and renewal came to be associated with the annual flooding of the Nile that fertilized Egypt, the waters of the Nile were equated with Isis ' tears of mourning, or with Osiris ' bodily fluids.