- Egyptian:
- Hor, Har, Her, or Heru
Horus
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Who is Horus in ancient Egyptian mythology?
In ancient Egyptian religion, Horus was a falcon-headed god of the sky, embodying divine kingship, war, and hunting. The reigning king was considered a manifestation of Horus.
According to the Osiris myth, Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, avenged his father's murder by Seth. During their battles, Horus's left eye was damaged and then healed by Thoth. The right eye symbolized the sun, while the left represented the moon, explaining lunar phases.
Horus appeared as a local god with different names, such as Harmakhis and Haroeris. From the 1st dynasty, Horus and Seth were perpetual antagonists reconciled in the harmony of Upper and Lower Egypt.
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What did Horus look like, and how is he usually shown in art?
Horus, an ancient Egyptian deity, typically appears as a falcon or a man with a falcon's head. As a sky god, he was associated with war, hunting, and divine kingship; in some eras, the reigning king was believed to be his manifestation.
In art, Horus is also depicted with the wedjat eye (the restored eye). Additionally, kings were portrayed with a hovering Horus above their heads or as a winged sun disk, symbolizing the Horus of Behdet.
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What was Horus the god of?
Horus was an ancient Egyptian god, often depicted as a falcon or a man with a falcon's head. He was primarily a sky god associated with war and hunting. The right eye of Horus symbolized the sun or morning star, representing power, while his left eye represented the moon or evening star and symbolized healing.
According to the Osiris myth, Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. He avenged his father's murder by defeating Seth, becoming the ruler of Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed the reigning king was a manifestation of Horus, and the king's Horus name identified him with the god.
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How are Horus and his parents, Osiris and Isis, connected in Egyptian myths?
In Egyptian mythology, Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. Osiris was king of Egypt, and Isis was his wife. Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, who tore his body into pieces. Isis found all the pieces except one. She used her magic to revive Osiris, and they conceived Horus. After Osiris' death, he became the ruler of the underworld.
Isis hid Horus in the Nile delta to protect him from Seth. Horus grew up and eventually fought Seth to avenge his father's death and claim his throne. Horus became the embodiment of divine kingship, and the living king was seen as his manifestation.
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What role did Horus play in the myth about battling Set?
In ancient Egyptian religion, Horus is a falcon-headed god who plays a central role in the myth involving his uncle Seth, who murdered Horus' father, Osiris. Horus then battled Seth to avenge his father's death and reclaim his rightful place as ruler. During their conflict, Horus lost his left eye, which was later restored by the god Thoth. Horus' victory over Seth symbolizes the triumph of order over disorder. Afterward, Horus assumed the throne of Egypt.
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How did the ancient Egyptians honor Horus, and why was he important to their pharaohs?
The ancient Egyptians revered Horus, a falcon-headed god, in various forms and places. They honored him through festivals, hymns, ritual dances, and by associating him with the pharaoh, who was seen as the embodiment of Horus.
The pharaohs had a particularly close connection to Horus. The reigning king was considered a manifestation of Horus, a concept that became dogma after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The most important name of an Egyptian king was his Horus name, which identified him with Horus and appeared on monuments and tombs. As the son of Osiris, Horus was also central to the pharaoh's role in dispensing justice and maintaining cosmic order (Maat). The Eye of Horus symbolized protection, health, and restoration, further emphasizing Horus's importance.
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Horus, in ancient Egyptian religion, a god in the form of a falcon whose right eye was the sun or morning star, representing power and quintessence, and whose left eye was the moon or evening star, representing healing. Falcon cults, which were in evidence from late predynastic times, were widespread in Egypt.
Horus appeared as a local god in many places and under different names and epithets—for instance, as Harmakhis (Har-em-akhet, “Horus in the Horizon”), Harpocrates (Har-pe-khrad, “Horus the Child”), Harsiesis (Har-si-Ese, “Horus, Son of Isis”), Harakhte (“Horus of the Horizon,” closely associated with the sun god Re), and, at Kawm Umbū (Kom Ombo), as Haroeris (Harwer, “Horus the Elder”).
At Nekhen (Greek: Hierakonpolis), however, the conception arose that the reigning king was a manifestation of Horus, and, after Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt had been united by the kings from Nekhen, this notion became a generally accepted dogma. The most important of an Egyptian king’s names (the number of which grew from three in early dynastic times to five later) was his Horus name—i.e., the name that identified him with Horus. This name appeared on monuments and tombs in a rectangular frame called a serekh.
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In addition to being characterized by a Horus name, the king was typically depicted with a hovering form of Horus above his head. Sometimes Horus is shown as a winged sun disk, representing the Horus of Behdet, a town in the Nile River delta where the falcon-god enjoyed a cult.
From the 1st dynasty (c. 2925–2775 bce) onward, Horus and the god Seth were presented as perpetual antagonists who were reconciled in the harmony of Upper and Lower Egypt. In the myth of Osiris, who became prominent about 2350 bce, Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis and was the nephew of Seth, Osiris’s brother. When Seth murdered Osiris and contested Horus’s heritage (the royal throne of Egypt), Horus became Seth’s enemy. Horus eventually defeated Seth, thus avenging his father and assuming the rule. In the fight, Horus’s left eye (i.e., the moon) was damaged—this being a mythical explanation of the moon’s phases—and was healed by the god Thoth. The figure of the restored eye (the wedjat eye) became a powerful amulet. Horus is also associated (sometimes as son, sometimes as partner) with the ancient cow-goddess Hathor, who is often depicted with cow’s horns, sometimes with cow’s ears.
In the Ptolemaic period the vanquishing of Seth became a symbol of Egypt triumphing over its occupiers. At Idfū, where rebellions frequently interrupted work on the temple, a ritual drama depicting Horus as pharaoh spearing Seth in the guise of a hippopotamus was periodically enacted.
Horus was later identified by the Greeks with Apollo, and the town of Idfū was called Apollinopolis (“Apollo’s Town”) during the Greco-Roman period.
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