Osiris was an ancient Egyptian god of growing things, like the Greek goddess Demeter. That's why sometimes his face is green, like the Nile river whose floods made a good harvest in Egypt. Osiris was the oldest son of the earlier Earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut; this makes sense because that's how plants grow - the earth works together with the sky. As the king of the gods, Osiris wears a pharaoh's hat and carries a shepherd's crook and a flail for beating barley. Like Demeter, Osiris had brothers and sisters. As Demeter had her daughter Persephone with her brother Zeus, Osiris married his sister Isis.
As early as the Old Kingdom, about 2000 BC, people were already thinking of Osiris as the god of the afterlife and rebirth, as well as the god of growing things. Growing things come up out of the earth and go back under the earth as seeds, and then come up again, so many cultures think of plant gods as also the gods of rebirth.
Taken from: www.britannica.com
As early as the Old Kingdom, about 2000 BC, people were already thinking of Osiris as the god of the afterlife and rebirth, as well as the god of growing things. Growing things come up out of the earth and go back under the earth as seeds, and then come up again, so many cultures think of plant gods as also the gods of rebirth.
Taken from: www.britannica.com