| ḥr "Horus" in hieroglyphs |
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Horus is a god of the Ancient Egyptian religion, most commonly known by the Greek version Horus, of the Egyptian Heru/Har. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Egypt from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages Horus was an ancient and important deity and the Eye of Horus became an important Egyptian symbol of power. The Eye of Horus ( Wedjat) (previously Wadjet and the Eye of the Moon; and afterwards as The Eye of Ra) or (" Udjat " Horus had a man's body and a falcon's head. One of Horus' eyes became injured as after Osiris was murdered by his brother Set, Horus fought with Set for the throne of Egypt. Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Set (also spelled Seth, Sutekh or Seteh) is an ancient god who was originally the god of the Desert In this battle one of his eyes was injured and later it was healed by Thoth. This healing of the eye became a symbol of renewal. Horus united Egypt and bestowed divinity upon the pharaoh. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods Pharaohs were viewed as the incarnation of Horus.
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Origin of name
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Horus is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs as ḥr. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek w and is reconstructed to have been pronounced *Ḥāru, meaning "Falcon". By Coptic times, the name became Hōr. Coptic or Coptic Egyptian ( MetRemenkīmi) is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt It was adopted into Greek as Ὡρος Hōros. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The original name also survives in later Egyptian names such as Har-Si-Ese literally "Horus, son of Isis".
Mythology
Sky god
Horus is the god of the sky, and the son of Osiris. Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir His mother is Isis. Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners [1][2][3]
Since he was god of the sky, Horus became depicted as a falcon, or as a falcon-headed man, leading to Horus' name, (in Egyptian, Heru), which meant The distant one. A falcon (fɔlkən or fælkən is any Species of raptor in the Genus Falco. Horus was also sometimes known as Nekheny (meaning falcon), although it has been proposed that Nekheny may have been another falcon-god, worshipped at Nekhen (city of the hawk), that became identified as Horus very early on. Hieraconpolis redirects here for the ancient fortress in Egypt called Hieracon see Hieracon Nekhen, ( Greek:, Strabo xvii In this form, he was sometimes given the title Kemwer, meaning (the) great black (one).
As Horus was the son of Osiris, and god of the sky, he became closely associated with the Pharaoh of Lower Egypt (where Horus was worshipped), and became their patron. The association with the Pharaoh brought with it the idea that he was the son of Isis, in her original form, who was regarded as a deification of the Queen. Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners
It was said that after the world was created, Horus landed on a perch, known as the djeba, which literally translates as finger, in order to rest, which consequently became considered sacred. On some occasions, Horus was referred to as lord of the djeba (i. e. lord of the perch or lord of the finger), a form in which he was especially worshipped at Buto, known as Djebauti, meaning (ones) of the djeba (the reason for the plural is not understood, and may just have been a result of Epenthesis, or Paragoge). Buto or Butos or Butosos ( Greek:, Herod ii 59 63 155, Steph B In Phonology, epenthesis (/əˈpɛnθəsɪs/ Ancient Greek ἐπένθεσις - epenthesis from epi "on" + en "in" Paragoge is the addition of a sound to the end of a word Often this is due to Nativization, and a logical counterpart of Epenthesis, particularly vocalic epenthesis The form of Djebauti eventually became depicted as an heron, nevertheless continuing to rest on the sacred perch. The herons are wading Birds in the Ardeidae family Some are called Egrets or Bitterns instead of herons
Sun god
| rˁ-ˁḫr-3iḫṯ " Re-Harachte" in hieroglyphs |
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Since Horus was said to be the sky, it was natural that he was rapidly considered to also contain the sun and moon. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. It became said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it. Thus he became known as Harmerty - Horus of two eyes. Later, the reason that the moon was not as bright as the sun was explained by a tale, known as the contestings of Horus and Set, originating as a metaphor for the conquest of Upper Egypt by Lower Egypt in about 3000BC. Upper Egypt (صعيد مصر Sa'id Misr) is a narrow strip of land that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan to the area between Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet In this tale, it was said that Set, the patron of Upper Egypt, and Horus, the patron of Lower Egypt, had battled for Egypt brutally, with neither side victorious, until eventually the gods sided with Horus (see below). In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Set (also spelled Seth, Sutekh or Seteh) is an ancient god who was originally the god of the Desert
As Horus was the ultimate victor he became known as Harsiesis, Heru-ur or Har-Wer (ḥr. w wr 'Horus the Great'), but more usually translated as Horus the Elder. In the struggle Set had lost a testicle, explaining why the desert, which Set represented, is infertile. The testicle (from Latin testiculus, diminutive of testis, meaning "witness" virility plural testes) is the male A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. Female infertility|Male infertility Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a Man or a Woman to contribute to conception. Horus' left eye had also been gouged out, which explained why the moon, which it represented, was so weak compared to the sun. It was also said that during a new-moon, Horus had become blinded and was titled Mekhenty-er-irty (mḫnty r ỉr. ty 'He who has no eyes'), while when the moon became visible again, he was re-titled Khenty-irty (ḫnty r ỉr. ty 'He who has eyes'). While blind, it was considered that Horus was quite dangerous, sometimes attacking his friends after mistaking them for enemies.
Horus was occasionally shown in art as a naked boy with a finger in his mouth sitting on a lotus with his mother. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Nymphaea is a Genus of Aquatic plants in the family Nymphaeaceae. In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as Neferhor. This is also spelled Nefer Hor, Nephoros or Nopheros (nfr ḥr. w) meaning 'The Good Horus'.
War god
Horus was also said to be a war god and a hunter's god; since he was associated with the falcon. Thus he became a symbol of majesty and power as well as the model of the pharaohs. [4]
Furthermore Nemty (also a war god meaning "He who travels") was later identified as Horus. In Egyptian mythology, Anti ( Antaeus in Greek but probably not connected to the Antaeus in Greek mythology) was a God whose worship [5]
Conqueror of Set
After Set killed his father, Osiris, Horus had many battles with Set, not only to avenge his father, but to chose the rightful ruler of Egypt. Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir One scene stated how Horus was on the verge of killing Set; but his mother (and Set's sister), Isis, stopped him. Isis injured Horus, but eventually healed him. [6]
By the Nineteenth dynasty, the emnity between Set and Horus, in which Horus had ripped off one of Set's testicles, was represented as a separate tale. The Eighteenth Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title New Kingdom. According to Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, Set is depicted as trying to prove his dominance by seducing Horus and then having intercourse with him. ChesterBeattyLibaryInside1jpg|right|thumb|Atrium]]The Chester Beatty Library was established in Dublin, Ireland in 1950 to house the collections of mining magnate Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract However, Horus places his hand between his thighs and catches Set's semen, then subsequently throws it in the river, so that he may not be said to have been inseminated by Set. Physiological aspects Internal and external fertilization Depending on the Species, spermatozoa can fertilize Horus then deliberately spreads his own semen on some lettuce, which was Set's favorite food (the Egyptians thought that lettuce was phallic). Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa) is a Temperate annual or Biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. This article is about the contemporary North African ethnic group The word phallus can refer to an erect Penis, or to an object shaped like a penis After Set has eaten the lettuce, they go to the gods to try to settle the argument over the rule of Egypt. The gods first listen to Set's claim of dominance over Horus, and call his semen forth, but it answers from the river, invalidating his claim. Then, the gods listen to Horus' claim of having dominated Set, and call his semen forth, and it answers from inside Set. [7]
This myth, along with others, could be seen as an explanation of how the two kingdoms of Egypt (Upper and Lower) came to be united. Horus was seen as the God of Upper Egypt, and Set as the God of Lower Egypt. In this myth, the respective Upper and Lower deities have a fight, through which Horus is the victor. However, some of Horus (representing Upper Egypt) enters into Set (Lower Egypt) thus explaining why Upper Egypt is dominant over the Lower Egyptians.
But the battle wasn't over yet, and the other gods were getting tired from over eighty years of fighting and challenges. Horus and Seth challenged each other to a boat race, where they each raced in a boat made of stone. Horus and Seth agreed, and the race started. But Horus had a secret weapon: his boat was made of wood, not stone. Seth's boat, being made of heavy stone, sank, but Horus's didn't. Horus then won the race, and Seth stepped down and officially gave Horus the throne of Egypt. [8] His name meaning 'high' or 'distant' reflects his sky nature.
Heru-ur (Horus the Elder)
In this form he represented the god of light and the husband of Hathor. In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Pronounced Hah-Thor ( Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way He was one of the oldest gods of ancient Egypt. He became the patron of Nekhen (Heirakonpolis) and the first national god (God of the Kingdom). Later he also became the patron of the pharaohs. [9] He was seen as a great falcon with outstretched wings whose right eye was the sun and the left one was the moon.
References
- ^ Ancient Egyptian Culture
- ^ The Gods of Ancient Egypt - Horus
- ^ Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Horus
- ^ Egypt: Gods of Ancient Egypt Main Menu
- ^ The Contendings of Horus and Seth
- ^ [Mythology, published by DBP, Chapter: Egypt's divine kingship]
- ^ Theology WebSite: The 80 Years of Contention Between Horus and Seth
- ^ [Mythology, published by DBP, Chapter: Egypt's divine kingship]<ref></ref>
Heru-p-khart (Horus the Younger)
Horus the Younger, Άρποκράτης to the Greeks, is represented in the form of a youth wearing a lock of hair (a sign of youth) on the right side of his head. In addition, he usually wears the united crowns of Egypt,He is a form of the rising sun, representing its earliest light.
This is thought to be the original form of Horus. <ref>The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Richard H. Wilkinson, Thames and Hudson, page 200. </li> <li id="cite_note-8">'''[[#cite_ref-8|^]]''' [http://www. ancientegyptonline. co. uk/heruur. html Heru-ur; Horus the Elder<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li></ol></ref>
See also
External links
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