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In one tale, Horus is 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, or sometimes depicted as instead by a crab, and according to Plutarch's account used her magic powers to resurrect Osiris and fashion a phallus to conceive her son (older Egyptian accounts have the penis of Osiris surviving). | In one tale, Horus is 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, or sometimes depicted as instead by a crab, and according to Plutarch's account used her magic powers to resurrect Osiris and fashion a phallus to conceive her son (older Egyptian accounts have the penis of Osiris surviving). | ||
After becoming pregnant with Horus, Isis 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. There Isis bore a divine son, Horus. As birth, death and rebirth are recurrent themes in [[Egyptian religion|Egyptian lore]] and cosmology, it is not particularly strange that Horus also is the brother of Osiris and Isis, by [[Nut]] and [[Geb]], together with [[ | After becoming pregnant with Horus, Isis 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. There Isis bore a divine son, Horus. As birth, death and rebirth are recurrent themes in [[Egyptian religion|Egyptian lore]] and cosmology, it is not particularly strange that Horus also is the brother of Osiris and Isis, by [[Nut]] and [[Geb]], together with [[Nephthys]] and [[Set]]. This elder Horus is called ''Hrw-wr'' - as opposed to ''Hrw-P-Khrd'' - the younger Horus, at some point adopted by the Greeks as Harpocrates. | ||
==Forms of Horus== | ==Forms of Horus== | ||
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===Historicity of the conflict=== | ===Historicity of the conflict=== | ||
Egyptologists have often tried to connect the conflict between the two gods with political events early in Egypt's history or prehistory. The cases in which the combatants divide the kingdom, and the frequent association of the paired Horus and Set with the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, suggest that the two deities represent some kind of division within the country. Egyptian tradition and archaeological evidence indicate that Egypt was united at the beginning of its history when an Upper Egyptian kingdom, in the south, conquered Lower Egypt in the north. The Upper Egyptian rulers called themselves "followers of Horus," and Horus became the tutelary deity of the unified polity and its kings. Yet Horus and Set cannot be easily equated with the two halves of the country. Both deities had several cult centers in each region, and Horus is often associated with Lower Egypt and Set with Upper Egypt. | Egyptologists have often tried to connect the conflict between the two gods with political events early in Egypt's history or prehistory. The cases in which the combatants divide the kingdom, and the frequent association of the paired Horus and Set with the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, suggest that the two deities represent some kind of division within the country. Egyptian tradition and archaeological evidence indicate that Egypt was united at the beginning of its history when an Upper Egyptian kingdom, in the south, conquered Lower Egypt in the north. The Upper Egyptian rulers called themselves "followers of Horus," and Horus became the tutelary deity of the unified polity and its kings. Yet Horus and Set cannot be easily equated with the two halves of the country. Both deities had several [[cult]] centers in each region, and Horus is often associated with Lower Egypt and Set with Upper Egypt. | ||
Other events may have also affected the myth. Before even Upper Egypt had a single ruler, two of its major cities were Nekhen, in the far south, and Nagada, many miles to the north. The rulers of Nekhen, where Horus was the patron deity, are generally believed to have unified Upper Egypt, including Nagada, under their sway. Set was associated with Nagada, so it is possible that the divine conflict dimly reflects an enmity between the cities in the distant past. | Other events may have also affected the myth. Before even Upper Egypt had a single ruler, two of its major cities were Nekhen, in the far south, and Nagada, many miles to the north. The rulers of Nekhen, where Horus was the patron deity, are generally believed to have unified Upper Egypt, including Nagada, under their sway. Set was associated with Nagada, so it is possible that the divine conflict dimly reflects an enmity between the cities in the distant past. | ||
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The 4th-century Roman author Macrobius mentions another annual Egyptian festival dedicated to Horus in his Chronicon. Macrobius specifies this festival as occurring on the [[winter solstice]]. The 4th-century Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis also mentions a winter solstice festival of Horus in his Panarion. However, this festival is not attested in any native Egyptian sources. | The 4th-century Roman author Macrobius mentions another annual Egyptian festival dedicated to Horus in his Chronicon. Macrobius specifies this festival as occurring on the [[winter solstice]]. The 4th-century Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis also mentions a winter solstice festival of Horus in his Panarion. However, this festival is not attested in any native Egyptian sources. | ||
==Four sons of Horus== | |||
The four sons of Horus were a group of four deities in ancient [[Egyptian religion]] who were believed to protect deceased people in the afterlife. The were especially connected with the four canopic jars that housed the internal organs that were removed from the body of the deceased during the process of mummification. The canopic jars were given lids that represented the heads of the sons of Horus. | |||
* [[Imsety]] (human) - liver | |||
* [[Hapy]] (baboon) - lungs | |||
* [[Duamutef]] (jackal) - stomach | |||
* [[Qebehsenuef]] (falcon) - intestines | |||
The four sons were also linked with [[Egyptian decans|stars in the sky]], with regions of Egypt, and with the cardinal directions. | |||
The worship of the sons of Horus was almost entirely restricted to the funerary sphere. They were first mentioned late in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC) in the [[Pyramid Texts]] and continued to be invoked in funerary texts throughout ancient Egyptian history. Their connection with the canopic jars was established in the First Intermediate Period, and afterward they became ubiquitous in the decoration of canopic chests, coffins, and sarcophagi. Although they were increasingly closely associated with the internal organs, they continued to appear in burial equipment even after the use of canopic jars was abandoned in the Ptolemaic Period (303–30 BC), disappearing only in the fourth century AD with the extinction of the ancient Egyptian funerary tradition. | |||
[[Category:Egyptology]] | [[Category:Egyptology]] | ||
[[Category:Deities]] | [[Category:Deities]] | ||
[[Category:Egyptian gods]] | |||