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Horus
by Stephanie Cass
The name "Horus" is a general catchall for multiple deities, the most
famous of whom is Harseisis (Heru-sa-Aset) or Horus-son-of-Isis
(sometimes called Horus the Younger) who was conceived after the death
of his father, Osiris , and who later avenged
him. In all the Horus deities the traits of kingship, sky and solar
symbology, and victory reoccur. As the prototype of the earthly king,
there were as many Horus gods as there were rulers of Egypt, if not more.
Horus
The oldest of the Horus gods is appropriately named Horus the Elder
(Heru-ur), and was especially venerated in pre-Dynastic Upper Egypt
along with Hathor . In this very ancient form,
Horus is also a creator god, the falcon who flew up at the beginning of
time. The pre-Pharaohnic rulers of Upper Egypt were considered
"shemsu-Heru" or "followers of Horus", and the original Horus is himself
considered in some myths to be the brother of Seth
and Osiris, second-born of the five children of
Geb and Nut (Osiris,
Horus, Seth, Isis , Nephthys
). Horus the Elder's city was Letopolis, and
his eyes were thought to be the sun and moon. When these two heavenly
bodies are invisible (as on the night of the new moon) he goes blind and
takes the name Mekhenty-er-irty, "He who has no eyes". When he recovers
them, he becomes Khenty-irty, "He who has eyes". A warrior-god armed
with a sword, Horus could be especially dangerous to those around him in
his vision-deprived state, and during one battle in particular he
managed to not only knock off the heads of his enemies but of the other
deities fighting alongside him, thus plunging the world into immediate
confusion that was only relieved when his eyes returned.
Other notable Horus gods are the previously mentioned Harseisis, as well
as Horus of Behdet (sometimes called simply Behdety) who was represented
as a winged sun disk, Anhur (a form of Horus the Elder and Shu
), Horakhety (Ra-Heru-akhety) who was a syncretism
of Ra and Horus, and Harpokrates (Heru-pa-khered) or Horus the Child. In
the form of Harpokrates, Horus is the danger-beset son of Isis with one
finger to his lips, signifying his childish nature (also evident in his
princely sidelock and naked status). Harpokrates represented not only
the royal heir, but also the newborn sun.
Horus deities are frequently depicted as hawks or hawk-headed men,
though some are represented as fully human. The pharaoh was considered
to be the Living Horus, the temporal stand-in for Horus in the earthly
domain. As the opponent of Seth (who, though initially an Upper Egyptian
deity himself, later came to represent not only Lower Egypt but the
desert surrounding Egypt), Horus is alternately a brother vying for the
throne and unification of Egypt (Horus the Elder), or a royal heir come
to reclaim his inheritance (Horus the Younger).
Horus can be seen at the top of the serekh of early kings, though in
very rare cases his place was usurped by Set (Peribsen, Dynasty 2) or
even shared with him (Khasekhemwy, Dynasty 2). Horus is also depicted on
the famous Narmer palette along with Bat, an earlier form of Hathor.
A passage from the Coffin Texts (passage 148) sums up Horus in his own
words:
"I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of
the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the
gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most
ancient bird could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my
place beyond the powers of Set, the foe of my father Osiris. No other
god could do what I have done. I have brought the ways of eternity to
the twilight of the morning. I am unique in my flight. My wrath will be
turned against the enemy of my father Osiris and I will put him beneath
my feet in my name of 'Red Cloak'."
/"Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt" by R.T. Rundle Clark, p. 216/
The name of Horus in hieroglyphs
The name of Horus in hieroglyphs.
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Article details:
* Also known as:
Hrw
Hr
* Pronunciation:
hohr'-uhs
* Image:
Horus
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Article "Horus" created on 21 May 1997; last modified on 16 January 2004
(Revision 2). 674 words.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/horus.html
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