Horus

Horus by by Ameban

Hieroglyphs

* 𓅃𓅆
* 𓅊
* 𓎛𓁷𓂋
* 𓅃
* 𓅃𓉥
* 𓈐𓀭
* 𓁷𓂋𓊹
* 𓄑𓂋𓅆

**Horus** was an ancient Egyptian god associated with the sky and kingship, notably the Pharaoh, as well as the protection of the state.

## Overview

Horus was one of the most important deities in ancient Egypt, who was worshipped under countless forms and aspects across the cities and regions of ancient Egypt.

### Horus the Cosmic Sky God

The name **Horus**, or **Her**, mean the "the one on high" or "the distant one", referring to his important role as a sky deity. One of the forms of the sky god was an enormous giant, cosmic falcon, with the various celestial bodies and features being merely part of his body: the sun was his right eye, the moon his left eye, and the stars were his speckled feathers.

This was one of his earliest forms, who was worshipped in the city of Nekhen (or Hierakonpolis) and is possibly depicted in the ancient Narmer Palette, which is dates to circa 3200–3000 BC.

### Horus the Sun God

Horus had several solar-aspects:

* **Horakhty**, the Horus of the two horizons, the god was seen as the of the rising and setting, and the dead Pharaoh was said to have become Horakhty after death. Eventually this aspect of Horus would merge with the Re, solar god of Heliopolis, forming the figure of **Re-Horakhty**.
* **Harmachis** or **Heru-em-aches**, Horus of the horizon, was local form of Hours depicted as either a falcon or lion. The Great Sphinx of Giza would also be associated with this form of Horus.
* **Behdety**, the winged sun, was another solar-aspect of Horus.

### Kingship and uniter of the two lands

**Har-Samu**, Horus the uniter, the god was also seen as the uniter of Upper- and Lower-Egypt, and was also called **Panebtawy**, the ruler of the two lands. Horus would often be depicted wearing the pschent, a double crown, as his symbol over his rulership over all of Egypt.

### Horus the child

Horus the child, or **Harpocrates**, was the child of Isis and Osiris, who was often depicted as small boy sheltered by his mother. This "beloved son" version of Horus would usually grow up to be a the vindicator and successor to Osiris.

## Mythology

### Osiris myth

Horus serves as main protagonist in the Osiris-myth as retold by the Greek historian and philosopher Plutarch.

Osiris was the king of the gods and first pharaoh of Egypt, until he was betrayed by his brother Set, who seeked to have the throne for himself. Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother, who scattered his body partsall over Egypt. The god would later be found, reassembled and revived by Isis and Nephthys, by being mummified, and he concieved **Horus** with the former. After this he decended into Duat, the underworld and became it's ruler.

Horus would go on to fight Set, and the struggle between them would last 80 years, and it is implied that Set had raped the younger god at some point in this time. During the battle Set would also tear one Hours' eyes out, while Horus in return managed to castrate him. Horus would in time avenge his father and reclaim the divine kingship, while Set is banished to the desert.

The struggle between Horus and Set has been compared to the struggle between Zeus and Typhon in Greek mythology.

## Syncretism

### Within Egypt

Horus has often bee syncretised with Re the solar deity of Heliopolis, forming the figure of **Re-Horakhty**. Another god with him Horus is syncretised is Min, the god of male sexual procreativity and fertility, forming the figure of **Hor-Min**. Min has also been proposed to be father of Horus, with Isis still being his mother.

Over centuries, Horus also absorbed lesser falcon deities into himself, such as as **Khenty-irty**, a local god of Khem and Letopolis, and **Khenty-khety**, a local god of the areas of Kem-wer and Athribis. Montu, former patron god Thebes, was also partially absorbed into Horus, especially after he was replaced by Amun as the patron of the city.

### Outside of Egypt

Besides absorbing aspects of lesser falcon-themed deities in the area Egypt, aspects the gods of Nubia were assimilated to Horus. One of these was Merwel, or Mandulis in Greek, who equated first with Horus, and through him, the Greek god Apollo.

The iconography Horus, or child form Harpocrates, has been used by other cultures, such as the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians and Hebrews. In the levantine regions Harpocrates has been compared to local deities, such as Ba'al or Baalshamin, a solar and sky deity, and YHWH, the single patron god of the Hebrews.

Arguments have also been made that Horus' conflict with Set could be paralleled with the Chaoskampf-myths of the Old Testament and Mediterranean, in which the storm god, either YHWH or Ba'al, defeats the chaotic dragon of the sea, which is either Leviathan or Lotan. For this Set would also take on the form of an aquatic creature, such as a crocodile or hippopotamus, in order to fit with the wider myth.

As the head of the pantheon and god of kinship, both divine and human, Horus also shared a lot imagery and titles with other Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern gods, such as the Egyptian gods Amun, Ptah, Re and Osiris, the Mesopotamian Gods Anu, Enlil, Enki, Ninurta, Marduk and Ashur, the Semitics god El, Yamm and Ba'al or the Israelite god YHWH.

## Gallery

Heru-ur or Horus the ElderHarpocrates or Horus the ChildHorus depicted as the temple of EdfuHorus depicted as Re-HorakhtyHorus Harmachis and Horus the Younger
## Pop Culture

* Horus is a major figure within Rick Riordan's *Kane Chronicles*-book series.
* Horus is one of the Egyptian gods in Neil Gaiman's *American Gods*-novel.
* He appears under the name "Orus" in John Milton's epic *Paradise Lost*, where is one of the many fallen angels turned pagan gods, alongside Baal, Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Dagon, Rimmon, Vulcan, Azazel, Belial, Osiris and Isis.
* He is a recurring figure in both Marvel and DC-comics.
* Horus' form is taken by several aliens within the *Stargate*-universe.
* In *Shin Megami Tensei II*, Horus appears as demon.
* In the 2016 movie *Gods of Egypt* he is portrayed by the Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
* Within the *Chronicles of the Nephlim*-book series by author Brian Godawa, Horus, alongside all other pagan deities of the world, was a Watcher-angel who rebelled against the God of the Bible. Within the book *Moses: Against the Gods of Egypt* he is identified with the fallen angel Abezethibou.
* Within the universe of the SCP-Foundation, Horus appears in the article of SCP-5333, where he is identified as PoI-5333-2.

## Links

* Horus - Wikipedia
* Horus - Myths and Folklore Wiki
* Horus - Myths and Legends Wiki
* Horus - Mythology Wiki
* Horus - Ancient Egypt Online
* Horus - Religion Wiki
* Horus - Myths & Legends Wiki
* Horus - Godchecker
* Horus - Historica
* Horus - Art and Popular Culture
* Horus - Gods & Goddess Wiki
* Horus - Gods-and-Goddesses.com
* Horus - Deities Wiki
* Horus - Global mythology Wiki
* Horus - WikiPagan
* Horus - Demopedia Wiki
* Horus - Pagan Gods Wiki
* Horus - Unnatural World Wiki
* Horus - Assassin's Creed Wiki
* Horus - Megami Tensei Wiki
* Horus - DC Database
* Horus - Marvel Database
* Horus - Riordan Wiki
* Horus - American Gods Wiki
* Horus - Gods of Egypt Wikia
* Horus - Destiny of Spirits Wiki
* Horus - Age of Empires Series Wiki
* Horus - Smite Wiki
* Horus - Tomb Raider Wiki
* Horus - Comic Vine
* Horus - McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia
* Horus - Mysteries of Egypt
* Horus - Tour Egypt
* Horus - Ancient Egypt: the Mythology

## References

1. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
2. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
3. ↑ Van Voss, M. Heerma, *Horus* (p.426), in Toorn, Karel van der; Bob Becking; Pieter W. van der Horst. *Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible*
4. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
5. ↑ Van Voss, M. Heerma, *Horus* (p.426), in Toorn, Karel van der; Bob Becking; Pieter W. van der Horst. *Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible*
6. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
7. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
8. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
9. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
10. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
11. ↑ Van Voss, M. Heerma, *Horus* (p.426), in Toorn, Karel van der; Bob Becking; Pieter W. van der Horst. *Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible*
12. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
13. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
14. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
15. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
16. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
17. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
18. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
19. ↑ Goodwin, William Watson. *Plutarch's Moralia: Of Isis and Osiris, or Of the Ancient Religion and Philosophy of Egypt*
20. ↑ Stanhope, Ben. *First Temple Hebrew Seals and Bullae Identifying Biblical Persons: A Study of their Iconographic and Historical Significance*
21. ↑ Goldwasser, Orly. *Canaanites reading hieroglyphs: Horus is Hathor?—The invention of the alphabet in Sinai*
22. ↑ Day, John. *God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament*
23. ↑ Cotro, Hugo A. *A tale of two monsters: The Chaoskampf myth and Revelation 13*
24. ↑ Redding, Jonathan. *Revelation 12 as Combat-Creation Myth*
25. ↑ Smith, Gary V. *The Concept of God/The Gods as King in the Ancient Near East and the Bible*