Everything about Har-sa-iset totally explained
Horus is an ancient god of the
Ancient Egyptian religion. The most well known name is the
Greek Horus, representing the
Egyptian Heru/
Har, which is the basic element in most of the other names of Horus. Horus was so important that the
Eye of Horus became an important Egyptian symbol of power. He had a man's body and a falcon's head. He only had one eye because after
Osiris was murdered by his brother
Set, Horus fought with Set for the throne of Egypt. In this battle Horus lost one of his eyes and later this became a sign of protection in Egypt. Horus united
Egypt and bestowed divinity upon the
pharaoh. The pharaohs were viewed as the reincarnation of Horus.
Origin of name
Horus is recorded in
Egyptian hieroglyphs as ḥr.w and is reconstructed to have been pronounced *Ḥāru, meaning "Falcon". By
Coptic times, the name became
Hōr. It was adopted into
Greek as Ὡρος
Hōros. The original name also survives in later Egyptian names such as
Har-Si-Ese literally "Horus, son of Isis".
Mythology
Sky god
Horus is the god of the sky, and the son of
Osiris. His mother is
Isis.
Since he was god of the sky, Horus became depicted as a
falcon, or as a falcon-headed man, leading to Horus' name, (in Egyptian,
Heru), which meant
The distant one. Horus was also sometimes known as
Nekheny (meaning
falcon), although it has been proposed that Nekheny may have been another falcon-god, worshipped at
Nekhen (city of the hawk), that became identified as Horus very early on. In this form, he was sometimes given the title
Kemwer, meaning
(the) great black (one).
As Horus was the son of Osiris, and god of the sky, he became closely associated with the Pharaoh of Lower Egypt (where Horus was worshipped), and became their patron. The association with the Pharaoh brought with it the idea that he was the son of
Isis, in her original form, who was regarded as a deification of the Queen.
It was said that after the world was created, Horus landed on a perch, known as the
djeba, which literally translates as
finger, in order to rest, which consequently became considered sacred. On some occasions, Horus was referred to as
lord of the djeba (for example
lord of the perch or
lord of the finger), a form in which he was especially worshipped at
Buto, known as
Djebauti, meaning
(ones) of the djeba (the reason for the plural isn't understood, and may just have been a result of
Epenthesis, or
Paragoge). The form of Djebauti eventually became depicted as an
heron, nevertheless continuing to rest on the sacred perch.
Sun god
Since Horus was said to be the sky, it was natural that he was rapidly considered to also contain the
sun and
moon. It became said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it. Thus he became known as
Harmerty -
Horus of two eyes. Later, the reason that the moon wasn't as bright as the sun was explained by a tale, known as the
contestings of Horus and Set, originating as a metaphor for the conquest of
Upper Egypt by
Lower Egypt in about 3000BC. In this tale, it was said that
Set, the patron of Upper Egypt, and Horus, the patron of Lower Egypt, had battled for Egypt brutally, with neither side victorious, until eventually the gods sided with Horus (see below).
As Horus was the ultimate victor he became known as
Harsiesis,
Heru-ur or
Har-Wer (ḥr.w wr 'Horus the Great'), but more usually translated as
Horus the Elder. In the struggle Set had lost a
testicle, explaining why the
desert, which Set represented, is
infertile. Horus' left eye had also been gouged out, which explained why the moon, which it represented, was so weak compared to the sun. It was also said that during a new-moon, Horus had become blinded and was titled
Mekhenty-er-irty (mḫnty r ỉr.ty 'He who has no eyes'), while when the moon became visible again, he was re-titled
Khenty-irty (ḫnty r ỉr.ty 'He who has eyes'). While blind, it was considered that Horus was quite dangerous, sometimes attacking his friends after mistaking them for enemies.
Horus was occasionally shown in
art as a naked boy with a finger in his mouth sitting on a
lotus with his mother. In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as
Neferhor. This is also spelled
Nefer Hor,
Nephoros or
Nopheros (nfr ḥr.w) meaning 'The Good Horus'.
War god
Horus was also said to be a war god and a hunter's god; since he was associated with the falcon. Thus he became a symbol of majesty and power as well as the model of the pharaohs.
Furthermore
Nemty (also a war god meaning "He who travels") was later identified as Horus.
Conqueror of Set
After Set killed his father,
Osiris, Horus had many battles with Set, not only to avenge his father, but to chose the rightful ruler of Egypt. One scene stated how Horus was on the verge of killing Set; but his mother (and Set's sister), Isis, stopped him. Isis injured Horus, but eventually healed him. (Citation: Book, Mythology)
By the
Nineteenth dynasty, the previous brief enmity between Set and Horus, in which Horus had ripped off one of Set's testicles, was revitalized as a separate tale. According to
Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, Set is depicted as trying to prove his dominance by seducing Horus and then having
intercourse with him. However, Horus places his hand between his thighs and catches Set's
semen, then subsequently throws it in the river, so that he may not be said to have been inseminated by Set. Horus then deliberately spreads his own semen on some
lettuce, which was Set's favorite food (the
Egyptians thought that lettuce was
phallic). After Set has eaten the lettuce, they go to the gods to try to settle the argument over the rule of Egypt. The gods first listen to Set's claim of dominance over Horus, and call his semen forth, but it answers from the river, invalidating his claim. Then, the gods listen to Horus' claim of having dominated Set, and call his semen forth, and it answers from inside Set. In consequence, Horus is declared the ruler of Egypt.
This myth, along with others, could be seen as an explanation of how the two kingdoms of Egypt (Upper and Lower) came to be united. Horus was seen as the God of Upper Egypt, and Set as the God of Lower Egypt. In this myth, the respective Upper and Lower deities have a fight, through which Horus is the victor. However, some of Horus (representing Upper Egypt) enters into Set (Lower Egypt) thus explaining why Upper Egypt is dominant over the Lower Egyptians.
But the battle wasn't over yet, and the other gods were getting tired from over eighty years of fighting and challenges. Horus and Seth challenged each other to a boat race, where they each raced in a boat made of stone. Horus and Seth agreed, and the race started. But Horus had a secret weapon: his boat was made of wood, not stone. Seth's boat, being made of heavy stone, sank, but Horus's didn't. Horus then won the race, and Seth stepped down and officially gave Horus the throne of Egypt. (Citation: Book, Mythology)
Heru-p-khart (Horus the Younger)
Horus the Younger, Άρποκράτης to the Greeks, is represented in the form of a youth wearing a lock of hair (a sign of youth) on the right side of his head. In addition, he usually wears the united crowns of Egypt,He is a form of the rising sun, representing its earliest light.
This is thought to be the original form of Horus. His name meaning 'high' or 'distant' reflects his sky nature.
Heru-ur (Horus the Elder)
In this form he represented the god of light and the husband of
Hathor. He was one of the oldest gods of ancient Egypt. He became the patron of Nekhen (Heirakonpolis) and the first national god (God of the Kingdom). Later he also became the patron of the pharaohs. He was seen as a great falcon with outstretched wings whose right eye was the sun and the left one was the moon.
Further Information
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