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In honor of Earth Day, TIME takes a look at some of the more interesting mama deities.</p> </header> <div class="entry-sharing group"> <div class="ad-unit sm"> <script> responsiveAd({ ads: [ { // Desktop 468 type: "desktop", min: 468, size: "88x31", position: 8 } ] }); </script> </div> <ul class="entry-share-buttons"> <li> <a href="#">Share</a> <ul> <li class="share-fb" data-omniture-event="fb-like"> <div class="fb-like" data-href="https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" data-send="false" data-layout="button_count" data-width="90" data-show-faces="false"></div> </li> <li class="share-tw" data-omniture-event="tweet"> <a href="https://twitter.com/share" data-url="https://ti.me/1fhUMEs" data-counturl="https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" data-via="TIME" data-text="Isis - Top 10 Earth Goddesses - TIME" data-count="horizontal" data-related="TIMEPolitics,techland" class="twitter-share-button">Tweet</a> </li> <li class="share-gp" data-omniture-event="google+"> <div class="g-plusone" data-size="medium" data-href="https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" data-callback="plusone_vote"></div> </li> <li class="share-in" data-omniture-event="linkedin"> <script type="IN/Share" data-url="https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" data-counter="right"></script> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="item-container gallery has-titles"> <nav class="item-nav has-view-all"> <a href='#' class='item-prev is-disabled'>Prev</a> <p class="photo-numbering dig-2"> <span class="current-num">1</span> <span class="divider">of</span> <span class="total-num">10</span> </p> <a href='/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066821,00.html' class='item-next'>Next</a> <a href="/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2066721,00.html" class="view-all">View All</a> </nav> <div class="item selected"> <header class="item-header group"> <span class="entry-category hub-title"><a href="/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724,00.html">Are You My Mother?</a></span> <h2 class="item-title">Isis</h2> <div class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-byline">By Frances Romero</span><span class="entry-date">Friday, Apr. 22, 2011</span></div>  </header> <div class="entry-content group"> <figure class="entry-thumb entry-thumb-m"> <img src="https://content.time.com/time/photoessays/2011/top10_mother_earth/isis_alt.jpg" class="small-width attachment-article wp-post-image" alt="dek" /> <figcaption><small class="entry-thumb-credit">ANDREW WINNING / Reuters / Corbis</small><p class="entry-thumb-caption"></p></figcaption> </figure> <p>  One of the most important deities of ancient Egypt, Isis held several roles. Not only was she a principal deity in the rites connected with the dead, but she was also a magical healer, and as a mother figure and arbiter of fertility rites, she was a role model for women. Isis was the daughter of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut and was married to Osiris, King of Egypt, whom she restored as a mummy after his brother Seth threw him in the Nile and then chopped him into pieces. </p> <p class='next-item'><span>Next</span> <a href='/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066821,00.html'>Durga</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <div class="entry-tools group"> <ul class="share-tools content-actions group"> <li class="email ca-1"><a href="https://cgi.timeinc.net/cgi-bin/mail/mailurl2friend.cgi?path=/time/emailFriend&url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html?artId=2066721?contType=article?chn=specials&group=time&title=Isis" title="Email this story" data-omniture-event="email" target="_blank"><span class="icon"></span>Email</a></li> <li class="print ca-2"><a href="/time/specials/packages/printout/0,29239,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" data-omniture-event="print" title="Print this story"><span class="icon"></span>Print</a></li> <li class="share ca-3"> <a href="#"><span class="icon"></span>Share</a> <ul class="share-icons"> <li class="facebook"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html?xid=fbshare&t=Isis" title="Add to Facebook">Facebook</a></li> <li class="twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://ti.me/1fhUMEs&text=Isis&via=TIME" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li> <li class="tumblr"><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/share/link?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html&name=Isis" target="_blank" title="Add to Tumblr">Tumblr</a></li> <li class="linkedin"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html&title=Isis&summary=One%20of%20the%20most%20important%20deities%20of%20ancient%20Egypt%2C%20Isis%20held%20several%20roles%2E%20Not%20only%20was%20she%20a%20principal%20deity%20in%20the%20rites%20connected%20with%20the%20dead%2C%20but%20she%20was%20also%20a%20magical%20healer%2C%20and%20as%20a%20mother%2E%2E%2E&source=TIME" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li> <li class="stumbleupon"><a href="https://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html&title=Isis" target="_blank" title="Add to StumbleUpon">StumbleUpon</a></li> <li class="reddit"><a href="https://reddit.com/submit?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html&title=Isis" target="_blank">Reddit</a></li> <li class="digg"><a href="https://digg.com/submit?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" title="Digg" target="_blank">Digg</a></li> <li class="mixx"><a href="https://mixx.com/submit?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html&title=Isis" target="_blank">Mixx</a></li> <li class="delicious"><a href="https://del.icio.us/post?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html&title=Isis&notes=One%20of%20the%20most%20important%20deities%20of%20ancient%20Egypt%2C%20Isis%20held%20several%20roles%2E%20Not%20only%20was%20she%20a%20principal%20deity%20in%20the%20rites%20connected%20with%20the%20dead%2C%20but%20she%20was%20also%20a%20magical%20healer%2C%20and%20as%20a%20mother%2E%2E%2E" title="Del.i.cious" target="_blank">Del.i.cious</a></li> <li class="google"><a href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066721_2066724_2066713,00.html" target="_blank" title="Google+">Google+</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <div class="follow"> <p><span class="icon twitter"></span> Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/TIME/" target="_blank">@TIME</a></p> </div> </div> </footer> <div class="featured-content group"> <div class="module ad-primary" data-set="sidebar-ad"></div> <div class="module-area" data-set="sidebar-widget"></div> </div> </article>   <div id="taboola-below-article-thumbnails"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://content.time.com/time/js/taboola-body.js?v=3"></script> <section class="taboola" style="clear: both;"> <div id="taboola-horizontalx4-responsive"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> window._taboola = window._taboola || []; 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