Horus on the Crocodiles
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/CippusOfChildHorusWatchedOverByBes_RosicrucianMuseum.png/220px-CippusOfChildHorusWatchedOverByBes_RosicrucianMuseum.png)
The Horus on the Crocodiles or Horus cippus or Horus stele is a group of ancient Egyptian amulets, or healing statues, from the Third Intermediate Period until the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Well known specimens include the so-called Metternich stela (MET Museum), the Banobal stele and Djedhor healing statue (Egyptian Museum in Cairo) and the Priest of Bastet status (Louvre).[1][2][3]
The Horus cippus usually takes the form of a stone slab depicting god Horus in the form of a child (Harpocrates) standing on two crocodiles and holding other dangerous animals such as snakes and scorpions. In older specimens, the head of the protective god Bes is depicted above the child's figure, protruding from the body of the cippa, which later became part of the frame. The stelae contain Egyptian hieroglyphs with mythological and magical texts recited in the treatment of diseases and for protection against bites, stings or bites.[4] This portrayal is thought to follow the myth of Horus triumphing over dangerous animals in the marshes of Khemmis (Akhmim).[5][1]
Gallery of notable depictions
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Priest of Bastet (Louvre)
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Banobal stele (Egyptian Museum in Cairo)
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Djedhor healing statue (Egyptian Museum in Cairo)
Bibliography
Broad
- Sternberg-el-Hotabi 1994. C. Sternberg-el-Hotabi. Der Untergang der Hieroglyphenschrift, Chronique d'Egypte 69 (1994). 218-248
- Andrews, Carol, 1994. Amulets of Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press.
- Gasse, Annie, 2004. Les stèles d’Horus sur les crocodiles. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux.
- Quack, Joachim, 2002. “Review of Sternberg-el Hotabi 1999,” Orientalische Literaturzeiting 97:6, 713-39.
- Ritner, Robert K., 1989. “Horus on the Crocodiles: a Juncture of Religion and Magic in Late Dynastic Egypt.” In Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt, ed. William Kelly Simpson. New Haven: Yale University Press. 103-16.
- Draycott, Jane (2011-10-30). "Size matters: Reconsidering Horus on the crocodiles in miniature". Pallas (86). OpenEdition: 123–133. doi:10.4000/pallas.2124. ISSN 0031-0387.
- Seele, Keith C. (1947). "Horus on the Crocodiles". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 6 (1). University of Chicago Press: 43–52. doi:10.1086/370811. ISSN 0022-2968. JSTOR 542233. S2CID 161676438.
Individual steles
- Kákosy, László; Moussa, Ahmed M. (1998). "A Horus Stela with Meret Goddesses". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 25: 143–159. JSTOR 25152758.
- Berlev/Hodjash 1982. O. Berlev/S Hodjash. Egyptian Stelae in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Moscow
- Berlandini 2002. J. Berlandini. Un monument magique du "Quatrieme prophete d'Amon" Nakhtefmout. in Y. Koenig. La Magie en Egypte: a la recherche d'une definition. Paris. 83-148
- Grzegorz, First (2013). "The Horus cippus from the National Museum in Poznań". Folia Orientalia. 50: 323–334.
References
- ^ a b Seele 1947.
- ^ Lacau, Pierre (1921). "Les statues «guérisseuses » dans l'ancienne Égypte". Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot. 25 (1): 189–210. doi:10.3406/piot.1921.1824.
- ^ [1], UCL
- ^ Hotabi, H.S.E.; Sternberg-El-Hotabi, H. (1999). Untersuchungen zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der Horusstelen: ein Beitrag zur Religionsgeschichte Ägyptens im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Untersuchungen zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der Horusstelen: ein Beitrag zur Religionsgeschichte Ägyptens im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr (in German). Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-04132-4. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ Gay., Robins (2008). The art of ancient Egypt (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 244. ISBN 9780674030657. OCLC 191732570.