What was the role of Osiris in the Egyptian concepts of immortality and life after death?

Osiris, as the god of death, vegetation and fertility, became an increasingly prominent figure in the lives of the Egyptian people and became core to their concepts of immortality and life after death. Osiris was depicted in human form clad in mummies wrappings. The fact that he takes human form allows the Egyptian people to identify with him much more easily, thus allowing the supposed transformation into him more readily accepted. The mummy's wrappings are …

…after death. He serves as judge and jury in deciding the fates of every man, woman and child in the weighing of the heart. Not only this but every man, woman and child actually becomes Osiris after they pass the test, while his own death is mirrored in the most important event in Egyptian life, the flooding of the Nile. This serves as a living reminder of his, and their, eventual immortality in the afterlife.