Goddess Isis as Model for Virgin Mary by Horst Tran Good witnesses for the origin of Marian devotion from polytheistic cults are early Christian church fathers like Epiphanius and Anastasius, who opposed the Marian devotion, exactly because it had a pagan background, but without success, since the need among the people for a replacement for the forbidden mother goddesses (in Ephesus: Artemis) was too strong to be ignored by the clerical side. The Church Father Cyril of Alexandria succeeded in establishing the dogma of Mary's motherhood of God against all odds at the Council of Ephesus in 431 CE. ´Isis´ is the Grecized version of the original Egyptian name ´Aset´. Here are some arguments for the isomorphism of Mary and Isis. The cult of Mary first deleloped intensily in the Coptic community in Egypt, i.e. in the immediate sphere of the Egyptian Isis cult. The above mentioned influential Marian worshipper Cyril, who as Patriarch of Alexandria is said to have taken extremely brutal action against the Isis cult (with whom, however, he made use of some characteristics of Isis by transferring them to Mary, e.g. the title ´God Bearer´ = theotocos), can be attributed to the Coptic Church. The earliest prayer to the ´God Bearer´, written around 300 CE, is Coptic and reads: Under the protection of your multiple mercy we flee, Mother of God. Do not despise our petitions when we are in need, but deliver us from all dangers, you alone are blessed. The first depictions of milk-giving Mary and Child (clearly based on Isis-Horus depictions) were of Coptic origin. The ´Ave Maria´ was probably created in Egypt, too. The temple of Philae was consecrated to Mary in the 6th century. In Italy, temples of Isis, Juno, Minerva and Diana were also converted into churches of Mary. One of them is even called "Santa Maria sopra Minerva" (= above (the temple) of Minerva). The Cypriot temple of Aphrodite was converted into a Church of Mary, too, where Mary is still today venerated under the name of Aphrodite, "Panhagia Aphroditessa". The celebration of the birth of Jesus takes place on the feast of Horus, son of Isis (winter solstice). Statues of Isis and Horus were reinterpreted as figures of Mary and Jesus. The Isis-Epitheta "Queen of Heaven", "Sweet Mother", "Mother of Sorrows", "Mother of God" and