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HORUS (HOR)

from A Handbook of Egyptian Mythology by Geraldine Pinch

Horus was the celestial falcon and the embodiment of kingship. The conflict between Horus and Seth, the Two Lords, was an enduring theme in Egyptian myth. The name Horus probably means the “Distant One.” Two main forms of Horus appear in the sources. These are sometimes regarded as separate gods, belonging to different epochs, and sometimes as aspects of the same deity. Horus the Great or Horus the Elder (Harwer/Haroeris) was a primeval being who initiated creation. As Lord of the Sky, his wings spanned the heavens, and his eyes were the sun and the moon. This Horus is the son of a sky goddess, either Nut or Hathor. Horus the Younger was the son of Isis who grew up to avenge his murdered father, Osiris, and take his place as ruler of Egypt. He was usually shown as a falcon-headed man. Each king of Egypt was acclaimed as a “living Horus.”

Egypt’s earliest kings were shown as hawks preying on their enemies. Many Egyptian deities could be represented by birds of the hawk family. The cults of some of these gods, such as Nekheny of Hierakonpolis and Khenty-Khety of Athribis, were gradually assimilated with that of Horus. One of the earliest divine images known from Egypt is that of a falcon in a barque. This probably represents Horus as a star or planet crossing the Winding Waterway of the sky. Later texts paint a dazzling picture of the One of Dappled Plumage who opened his eyes to dispel darkness and chaos.

Like other primeval deities, the celestial falcon coalesced with the creator sun god. He then became Ra-Horakhty (Ra-Horus of the Double Horizon) who triumphed over his enemies to rise in the east. The union of these two powers could be symbolized by a falcon crowned with a sun disk or a sun disk with falcon’s wings. When a king appeared to his subjects, it was compared with the glorious rising of Horemakhet (Horus in the Horizon). The Two Lords, Horus and Seth, were either named as brothers or as nephew and uncle. Many theories have been advanced to explain the origins of their combat, from memories of an ancient civil war to observations of storms or astronomical phenomena. When the combatants are Horus the Elder, the celestial falcon, and Seth, the chaotic god of storms, the conflict seems to belong to the primeval age when opposing elements had to come together to create the divine order.

The necessity of Horus and Seth being reconciled is stressed in many sources. One of the key images of royal art was Horus the Uniter and Seth tying together the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt to symbolize the union of the Two Lands into one perfect kingdom. The figure of Seth is sometimes replaced by Thoth, an indication that Seth’s role as the slayer of Osiris could not always be overlooked. When the great conflict is presented as a dynastic feud between young Horus and his usurper uncle, Horus must triumph and Seth must be punished so that justice and kingship can be established for humanity. Harsiese (Horus, son of Isis) was destined to be king from the moment of conception. His epithet, “Horus who is upon the papyrus,” alludes to the myth that Isis hid the infant Horus in the papyrus thickets of Akh-bit (Chemmis), an island among the marshes. This “nest of Horus” was guarded by divine beings such as cow and scorpion goddesses. The young Horus grew up to become “the Pillar of his Mother” and the “Avenger of his Father.” Advised by Isis, Horus fought Seth in many different ways. He turned Seth’s sexual aggression to his own advantage and overcame the temporary loss of the power inherent in his eye (see “The Struggles of Horus and Seth” under “Linear Time” in “Mythical Time Lines”). Horus argued his father’s case before the Divine Tribunal led by Geb or the sun god Ra. Osiris is granted sovereignty over the dead and Horus over the living. Horus, the devoted son, becomes the prototype for all funerary priests when he performs a series of rituals to “raise up” Osiris. He also becomes an intermediary between the worlds of the living and the dead. Horus is shown in the Book of the Dead presenting deceased souls before the throne of Osiris. 

The reign of Horus as king of Egypt was considered the model for all subsequent reigns. The semidivine kings who came after him in mythical history were called the Followers of Horus. In a few magical texts a scorpion goddess called Ta-Bitjet is called the wife of Horus. A passage in the Coffin Texts makes Horus the Elder and his sister, Isis, the parents of the four protective deities known as the Sons of Horus. A festival at Edfu temple celebrated the “Beautiful Union” between Horus and Hathor, Lady of Dendara. Here, Horus is an aspect of the sun god uniting with the goddess who was his mother, his consort, and his daughter to renew the cosmos.

Texts and scenes at Edfu illustrate the diversity of myths centered on Horus. A mythical history of the temple relates how two mysterious beings subdued the primeval swamp by cutting down reeds. When they stuck a reed in the ground, it became a perch for the celestial falcon. The reed hut built to house the falcon was said to be the center of the world and the first temple. In the Legend of the Winged Disk, Horus (the Distant One) takes the role usually given to the Distant Goddess and transforms himself into a fiery disk to blind and destroy the sun god’s enemies. In the ritual drama known as the Triumph of Horus, Horus, son of Isis, harpoons Seth in hippopotamus form. After a series of battles by land and water, he drives Seth and his followers out of Egypt, just as Egyptian kings hoped to drive out foreign invaders.

See also Birds; Cattle; Djed Pillar; Eyes of Horus; Hathor; Horus the Child; Isis; Kings and Princes; Min; Osiris; Serqet; Seth; Sons of Horus; Sopdu; Stars and Planets

from http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/horusbehedet.html

Hor Behedety (Horus of Behedet)

Hor Behedety (Horus of Behedet) Hor-sema-tawy (Horus Uniter of the Two Lands, Harsomptus) Hor-iwn-mwt-f (Horus pillar of his mother) Horus of Behdet (often known as Behdety) was a god of the midday sun. The name Behedet is rather problematic. The first time that the god "Horus of Behedet" is mentioned it is on a carving in the Step Pyramid of Djoser and the reference makes it clear that Behedet is associated with Upper Egypt. However, Behedet is also a place in Lower Egypt. In any case, Behedet soon became associated with Edfu (Upper Egypt) the location of a major cult of Horus.

Horus of Edfu was locked in a perpetual battle with Set and his army of darkness to make sure that the sun rises every morning.

In Edfu, he was considered to be the husband of Hathor and the father of Hor-sema-tawy ("Horus Uniter of the Two Lands" also known as Harsomptus). After eighty years of battle, he was awarded the kingship of Upper and Lower Egypt by the tribunal of gods. In Edfu and Kom Ombo he was also known as Panebtawy ("lord of the two lands") and in Behedet he was worshipped as Hor-Iwn-Mutef ("Horus pillar of his mother").

Horus Behdety was represented as a winged sun disk on temples all over Egypt, just as Ra had apparently decreed. However, he was also depicted as a lion, a lion with the head of a hawk and as a hawk hovering over the pharaoh during battle carrying a flail (representing royal power) and the shen (representing eternity) grasped in his claws. As a hawk he was given the epithet "Great God, Lord of Heaven, Dappled of Plumage". In addition, he was frequently depicted as a man with the head of a falcon wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. In this form he often carries a falcon-headed staff, representing the form he took when he killed Set.

Horus Behdet

According to myth it was discovered that the followers of Set were plotting against Ra during his earthly reign. Ra sent his son, Horus, who flew into the sky in the form of a winged sun disc. From the sky he could see all of Ra´s enemies and he swooped down like a falcon and attacked so ferociously that they ran away. Horus was then given the town of Edfu for his efforts. The plotters then changed themselves into crocodiles and hippopotami and attacked Ra's solar boat. Horus (and friends) drove them away with harpoons. To protect the solar boat, Horus took the form of a winged-sun disk and perched on the ships prow. This began the superstition that it was good luck to paint eyes on the bow of your ship. Horus chased the fleeing army and beheaded the leader (named as Set) before dragging him by the feet throughout Egypt.