Isis in the Ancient World

Before you is the first and still exemplary study by Professor R. E. Witt, dedicated to Isis. Open worship of her lasted three thousand years, flourishing throughout the Roman world and beyond, from Great Britain to Afghanistan. The great goddess of polytheism united the faces of many goddesses under her wide wings, patronizing all who followed their hearts, no matter how different their paths were. The incredible influence that the Many-Named Goddess had on the Western world cannot be overstated, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the best in European and Christian ethics, art, and concepts of the sacred and the worthy emerged from the form molded in the image of her cult.