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The earliest recorded form of Horus is the [[patron deity]] of [[Nekhen]] in [[Upper Egypt]], who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and [[Osiris]] in death.<ref name="oxford"/> The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of [[Isis]] and Osiris but in another tradition [[Hathor]] is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife.<ref name="oxford"/> Horus served many functions in the [[Egyptian pantheon]], most notably being a god of the sun, war and protection. |
The earliest recorded form of Horus is the [[patron deity]] of [[Nekhen]] in [[Upper Egypt]], who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and [[Osiris]] in death.<ref name="oxford"/> The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of [[Isis]] and Osiris but in another tradition [[Hathor]] is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife.<ref name="oxford"/> Horus served many functions in the [[Egyptian pantheon]], most notably being a god of the sun, war and protection. |
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Horus also has a negative 5 inch penis so that means he has a vagina that goes 5 inches in. |
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== Etymology == |
== Etymology == |
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Revision as of 19:15, 18 February 2015
| Horus | |
|---|---|
God of the sun, sky and kingship | |
 Horus was often the ancient Egyptians' national patron god. He was usually depicted as a falcon-headed man wearing the pschent, or a red and white crown, as a symbol of kingship over the entire kingdom of Egypt. | |
| Major cult center | Nekhen, Behdet Edfu |
| Symbol | The wedjat eye |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Osiris and Isis in some myths, and Nut and Geb in others. |
| Siblings | Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys (as Horus the Elder) |
| Consort | Serket (as Haroeris), Hathor (in one version) |
| Offspring | Imsety, Hapi, Duamutef, Qebehsenuef (as Haroeris), Sekhemet (as Horus) |
Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists.[1] These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality.[2] He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head.[3]
The earliest recorded form of Horus is the patron deity of Nekhen in Upper Egypt, who is the first known national god, specifically related to the king who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death.[1] The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris but in another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife.[1] Horus served many functions in the Egyptian pantheon, most notably being a god of the sun, war and protection.
Horus also has a negative 5 inch penis so that means he has a vagina that goes 5 inches in.
Etymology
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| ḥr "Horus" in hieroglyphs | ||
|---|---|---|
Horus is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs as ḥr.w; the pronunciation has been reconstructed as *Ḥāru, meaning "falcon". Additional meanings are thought to have been "the distant one" or "one who is above, over".[4] By Coptic times, the name became Hōr. It was adopted into Greek as Ὧρος Hōros. The original name also survives in later Egyptian names such as Har-si-ese literally "Horus, son of Isis".
Horus was also known as Nekheny, meaning "falcon". Some[who?] have proposed that Nekheny may have been another falcon-god, worshipped at Nekhen (city of the hawk), with which Horus was identified from early on. Horus may be shown as a falcon on the Narmer Palette dating from about the 31st century BC.
Note of changes over time
In early Egypt, Horus was the brother of Isis, Osiris, Set and Nephthys. As different cults formed, he became the son of Isis and Osiris. Isis remained the sister of Osiris, Set, and Nephthys.
Horus and the pharaoh
Pyramid texts ca. 2400–2300 BC[5] describe the nature of the Pharaoh in different characters as both Horus and Osiris. The Pharaoh as Horus in life became the Pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he was united with the rest of the gods. New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new Pharaohs.
The lineage of Horus, the eventual product of unions between the children of Atum, may have been a means to explain and justify Pharaonic power; The gods produced by Atum were all representative of cosmic and terrestrial forces in Egyptian life; by identifying Horus as the offspring of these forces, then identifying him with Atum himself, and finally identifying the Pharaoh with Horus, the Pharaoh theologically had dominion over all the world.
The notion of Horus as the Pharaoh seems to have been superseded by the concept of the Pharaoh as the son of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt.[6]
Origin mythology
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Horus was born to the goddess Isis after she retrieved all the dismembered body parts of her murdered husband Osiris, except his penis which was thrown into the Nile and eaten by a catfish,[7][8] or sometimes by a crab, and according to Plutarch's account (see Osiris) used her magic powers to resurrect Osiris and fashion a gold phallus[9] to conceive her son (older Egyptian accounts have the penis of Osiris surviving).
Once Isis knew she was pregnant with Horus, she fled to the Nile Delta marshlands to hide from her brother Set who jealously killed Osiris and who she knew would want to kill their son.[10] There Isis bore a divine son, Horus.
Mythological roles
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| rˁ-ḥr-3ḫty "Ra-Horakhty" in hieroglyphs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Sky god
Since Horus was said to be the sky, he was considered to also contain the sun and moon. It became said that the sun was his right eye and the moon his left, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it. Later, the reason that the moon was not as bright as the sun was explained by a tale, known as the The Contendings of Horus and Seth. 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.
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, then a new eye was created by part of Khonsu, the moon god, and was replaced.
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'.
The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, in this case from Horus or Ra. The symbol is seen on images of Horus' mother, Isis, and on other deities associated with her.
In the Egyptian language, the word for this symbol was "Wedjat".[11][12] It was the eye of one of the earliest of Egyptian deities, Wadjet, who later became associated with Bast, Mut, and Hathor as well. Wedjat was a solar deity and this symbol began as her eye, an all seeing eye. In early artwork, Hathor is also depicted with this eye.[13] Funerary amulets were often made in the shape of the Eye of Horus. The Wedjat or Eye of Horus is "the central element" of seven "gold, faience, carnelian and lapis lazuli" bracelets found on the mummy of Shoshenq II.[14] The Wedjat "was intended to protect the king [here] in the afterlife"[14] and to ward off evil. Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern sailors would frequently paint the symbol on the bow of their vessel to ensure safe sea travel.[15]
God of war and hunting
Horus was also said to be a god of war and hunting. The Horus falcon is shown upon a standard on the predynastic Hunters Palette in the "lion hunt".
Thus he became a symbol of majesty and power as well as the model of the pharaohs. The Pharaohs were said to be Horus in human form.
Furthermore Nemty, another war god, was later identified as Horus.[16]
Conflict between Horus and Set
Horus was told by his mother, Isis, to protect the people of Egypt from Set, the god of the desert, who had killed his father Osiris.[17][18]
Horus had many battles with Set, not only to avenge his father, but to choose the rightful ruler of Egypt. In these battles, Horus came to be associated with Lower Egypt, and became its patron.
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. After Set had eaten the lettuce, they went to the gods to try to settle the argument over the rule of Egypt. The gods first listened to Set's claim of dominance over Horus, and call his semen forth, but it answered from the river, invalidating his claim. Then, the gods listened to Horus' claim of having dominated Set, and call his semen forth, and it answered from inside Set.[19][20]
However, Set still refused to relent, and the other gods were getting tired from over eighty years of fighting and challenges. Horus and Set challenged each other to a boat race, where they each raced in a boat made of stone. Horus and Set agreed, and the race started. But Horus had an edge: his boat was made of wood painted to resemble stone, rather than true stone. Set's boat, being made of heavy stone, sank, but Horus's did not. Horus then won the race, and Set stepped down and officially gave Horus the throne of Egypt.[22] But after the New Kingdom, Set still was considered Lord of the desert and its oases.[23]
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 Lower Egypt.[24][25] Set's regions were then considered to be of the desert.
Heru-pa-khered (Horus the Younger)
Horus the Younger, Harpocrates to the Ptolemaic Greeks, is represented in the form of a youth wearing a lock of hair (a sign of youth) on the right of his head while sucking his finger. In addition, he usually wears the united crowns of Egypt, the crown of Upper Egypt and the crown of Lower Egypt. He is a form of the rising sun, representing its earliest light.
Her-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 (Hierakonpolis) and the first national god (God of the Kingdom). Later, he also became the patron of the pharaohs, and was called the son of truth.[26] – signifying his role as an important upholder of Maat. He was seen as a great falcon with outstretched wings whose right eye was the sun and the left one was the moon. In this form, he was sometimes given the title Kemwer, meaning (the) great black (one).
The Greek form of Her-ur (or Har wer) is Haroeris. Other variants include Hor Merti 'Horus of the two eyes' and Horkhenti Irti.[27]
Gallery of images
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Horus, patron deity of Hierakonpolis (near Edfu), the predynastic capital of Upper Egypt. Its head was executed by means of beating the gold then connecting it with the copper body. A uraeus is fixed to the diadem which supports two tall openwork feathers. The eyes are inlaid with obsidian. (6th dynasty). -
Horus represented in relief with Wadjet and wearing the double crown – Temple of Hatshepsut -
Horus relief in the Temple of Edfu -
![Statue of Horus from the reign of Amenhotep II (18th century B.C.) in the fr [Musée royal de Mariemont] (Belgium)](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Horus_R01.jpg/105px-Horus_R01.jpg)
![Statue of Horus from the reign of Amenhotep II (18th century B.C.) in the fr [Musée royal de Mariemont] (Belgium)](/wiki/File:Horus_R01.jpg)
See also
References
- ^ a b c "The Oxford Guide: Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology", Edited by Donald B. Redford, Horus: by Edmund S. Meltzer, p164–168, Berkley, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X
- ^ "The Oxford Guide: Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology", Edited by Donald B. Redford, p106 & p165, Berkley, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X
- ^ Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 202.
- ^ Meltzer, Edmund S. (2002). Horus. In D. B. Redford (Ed.), The ancient gods speak: A guide to Egyptian religion (pp. 164). New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
- ^ Allen, James. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. ISBN 1-58983-182-9.
- ^ Samuel Noah Kramer. Mythologies of the Ancient World. Quadrangle Books: Chicago, 1961. pp. 35–43
- ^ New York Folklore Society (1973). "New York folklore quarterly". Vol. 29. Cornell University Press. p. 294.
- ^ Ian Shaw (2003). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-815034-2.
- ^ Piotr O. Scholz (2001). Eunuchs and castrati: a cultural history. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 32. ISBN 1-55876-201-9.
- ^ Roy G. Willis (1993). World mythology. Macmillan. p. 43. ISBN 0-8050-2701-7.
- ^ Pommerening, Tanja, Die altägyptischen Hohlmaße (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, Beiheft 10), Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag, 2005
- ^ M. Stokstad, "Art History"
- ^ "Lady of the West". hethert.org. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ^ a b Silverman, op. cit., p.228
- ^ Charles Freeman, The Legacy of Ancient Egypt, Facts on File, Inc. 1997. p.91
- ^ The Contendings of Horus and Seth
- ^ Ancient Egyptian Culture
- ^ Ancient Egypt: the Mythology – Horus
- ^ Scott David Foutz. "Theology WebSite: Etext Index: Egyptian Myth: The 80 Years of Contention Between Horus and Seth". theologywebsite.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ^ Fleming, Fergus, and Alan Lothian. The Way to Eternity: Egyptian Myth. Duncan Baird Publishers, 1997. pp. 80–81
- ^ "Figure of a Horus Falcon". The Walters Art Museum.
- ^ Mythology, published by DBP, Chapter: Egypt's divine kingship
- ^ Set, God of Confusion, by TeVelde
- ^ = Stockdale, Nancy. "Menes." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
- ^ Pinch, Geraldine. "Horus." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
- ^ Wilson, Erasmus (January 1, 1877). Cleopatra's needle: With brief notes on Egypt and Egyptian obelisks. London: Brain & Company. p. 208. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ^ Patricia Turner, Charles Russell Coulter, Dictionary of ancient deities, 2001
External links
