Egyptian mythology: god Horus. Egyptian god falcon Horus with falcon head
Horus, Horus (ḥr, "height", "sky") - god in ancient Egyptian mythology son of Isis and Osiris. His wife is Hathor. His main opponent is Seth. Horus - the god of heaven, royalty; the living ancient Egyptian king was represented as the incarnation of the god Horus. Anubis, on the orders of the god Ra, gathered the scattered (and in another version - chopped by Set) members of Osiris, embalmed the body and swaddled it. Isis, in the form of a falcon, sank on the corpse of Osiris and, miraculously conceived from him, gave birth to a son, Horus. Horus is both conceived and born in order to act as a natural avenger for the death of his father. At the same time, he considers himself the only legitimate heir of the latter. Secretly fed and raised by his mother in the swamps of the Delta, Horus goes, "shod in white sandals," to a duel with Set, demanding before the court of the gods the condemnation of the offender and the return of Osiris' inheritance to him, the only son of the deceased king. After a long litigation, which lasted eighty years according to one version of the myth, Horus is recognized as the eligible (in Egyptian "right-handed") heir of Osiris and receives the kingdom; the god Thoth records the decision of the court of the gods. After that, Horus resurrects his father Osiris by letting him swallow his eye (see Wadjet). However, Osiris does not return to earth and remains the king of the dead, leaving Horus to rule the kingdom of the living. The myth of Horus is mentioned by a number of Greek authors. Son of Osiris, Egyptian deity. In Herodotus, he was identified with Apollo. The Greeks called the Horus constellation Orion. Legendary God of Light. He was also the god of heaven in ancient times. He was also the sun god. Depicted as a man with the head of a falcon. Or in the form of the falcon itself. In Egyptian mythology, the falcon god, the special patron of the royal house and the king personally. The name of Horus was included in the royal title and the word "Horus" before the name meant the same as "king". And the sign "falcon" denoted the term "god". The religion of the sun-worshippers that revered Horus arose back in the days of the pre-dynastic Egyptians, who moved to the North and united the country through conquests. There were several forms of the god Horus. This cult has absorbed many beliefs. One Horus was the brother of Osiris, the son of the heavenly cow Hathor. The second Horus is the son of the god Osiris and the goddess Isis. Nephew of the god Set. Ra in line with religious syncretism was also compared with the local deities of light: Amon (in Thebes), under the name of Amon-Ra, Khnum (in Elephantine) - in the form of Khnum-Ra, Horus - in the form of Ra-Horakhti. The last comparison was especially common. Horus was revered in Letopolis, a city that was located near Memphis. Horus was revered at Edfu. The Mountain of Two Eyes was revered in Shedenu (East Delta). In some myths, the scorpion goddess named Selkit appears as the wife of the god Horus. Merging the image of Horus with other gods: The God of Horus Two eyes, which were represented by the Sun and the Moon, was very popular in Egypt. The god Horus was associated with the god Harati (Gorakhuti or Gormakhis), and was called the Horus of Two Horizons. This Horus was united with Ra, as the solar god of Heliopolis, and became known as Ra-Harati. As a result, the symbol of the god Horus was not a falcon, but a solar disk. Like the golden Horus he became the god of the dawn
One of the oldest deities included in Egyptian mythology is Horus (Horus). The first mention of it dates back to 3000 BC. Horus represented the kingdom of heaven and was the patron saint of rulers in Ancient Egypt. All pharaohs were considered to be his earthly incarnations.
swift falcon
Horus, as one might suppose, was originally a tribal deity. He patronized hunters and was often depicted as a falcon or a man with a falcon's head. The bird of prey was often called the queen of heaven, and formidable leaders were identified with her, as was Horus. The mythology describing the heavenly reign of Horus, according to scientists, tells about the victory of Upper Egypt, where this deity was revered, over enemies. After conquering a vast territory, the falcon chief became the first pharaoh. Horus has since been revered as the patron of royal power, the ruler of a united Egypt.
Sun God
The god Horus in the mythologies of the peoples who inhabited Egypt was not always presented as the patron of hunters. Often he was depicted as sailing across the sky on a solar boat. In some versions of the myth, Horus is called the son of the sun. He embodies the forces of light, constantly fighting with darkness and winning. According to another version, the father of God is Osiris. The Horus battles his killer, Seth, the personification of darkness, night and chaos. In this battle, victory is not always on the side of the son of Osiris. At first success comes to Seth, but in the end it is always the Horus who wins. Mythology (photos of ancient images of the deity illustrate this well) describes him as a tireless fighter against the forces of evil.
On the relief that adorns the temple of the son of Osiris in the city of Edfu (reading option - Idfu, the ancient name is Behdet), Horus is depicted on the bow of the boat, controlled by the sun god Ra. He clears the way, driving away alligators and hippos representing darkness. The constant struggle with Set, according to researchers, is an allegorical description of the change of day and night. In mythology, the image of Ra and Horus often merges. On the walls of the temple of Edfu you can find the image of Horus in the form of a winged solar disk.
Resurrection of Osiris
In one of the most famous stories contained in Egyptian mythology, Horus appears as the son of Osiris and Isis. Seth in this version is his uncle. Treacherous, he killed his own brother Osiris, wanting to gain unlimited power. Isis found the body of her husband and miraculously conceived a son. She gave birth and raised Horus, hiding in the Nile Delta. The grown-up son of Osiris had to prove the right to the Egyptian kingdom.
After other gods recognized the justice of Horus's claims, he had to fight the main opponent, Set. This struggle probably describes a war between Upper and Lower Egypt. During the fight, Set snatched from However, after some time, he was defeated. Horus gave the eye to Osiris, as a result of which he was resurrected. From that moment on, the revived god began to rule the land of the dead. Horus was proclaimed king of a united Egypt.
The eye that resurrected Osiris is still one of the most famous protective symbols. In mythology, he often bore the name "Eye of Ra". In ancient times, he was credited with the ability to protect the owner from injury.
Ancient and mighty
The two images of the god that Egyptian mythology contains (Horus - the son of Osiris and Horus - the son of Ra) dominated in different historical periods. Horus was revered as the supreme deity until 2550 BC. Then more often he was mentioned as the son of Ra, personifying the sun. These changes reflect the socio-political characteristics of the time. Until the beginning of the 5th Dynasty, the most important posts in government were occupied by members royal family. Then the situation changed, apparently due to public dissatisfaction with the government. Ra took the role of the supreme god. His dominant position was reinforced by knowledge of astronomy. And Horus, whose incarnation was the pharaoh, began to have less importance - he acquired the status of the son of the supreme deity.
Despite these changes, and perhaps because of them, one of the most "stable" in was precisely Chorus. The mythology and history of the ancient state has known the royal falcon for thousands of years. There are several hundred gods in the Egyptian pantheon, and not all of them can boast of a permanent position on the upper levels of the hierarchy.
The image of a falcon in mythology, culture, religion
In ancient Egypt, several thousand years before the new era, the worship of animal gods was already widespread (in science, this form of religion was called "zoolatry"). At first there were gods worshiped by the inhabitants of individual cities or territorial units of Ancient Egypt - nomes: a ram, a cat, a crocodile, a mongoose, etc. At different times there were from 36 to 50 nomes, so there were many gods (in addition to the main ones, there were also and secondary). Over time, the Egyptians became more tolerant of local gods, and many of the gods became national. These were animals and birds, amphibians and reptiles, domestic animals and even insects.
The most powerful deity in Egypt was the falcon. Scholars once believed that one of the reasons the Egyptians chose the falcon for this role was that it could gaze at the Sun without blinking. According to the ideas of the ancients, only the gods could look at their own kind without blinking. And since the Sun is a god, it means that the falcon is a god.
In Egyptian mythology, the god of the Sun - Ra, like many other solar deities, was embodied in the form of a falcon. He was also depicted as a man with a falcon's head crowned with a solar disk. Ra personifies the divine Universal Soul in its manifested aspect - as an ever-burning light. Ra's cult center ancient egypt was the city of Heliopolis. Already in the XXV-XXVI centuries BC. e. Ra became the main god of the pantheon, and his cult acquired a general Egyptian character. The ancient Greeks also identified Ra with Helios (the Sun).
falcon bird amulet paganism
Now official science explains the “divinity” of the falcon differently. Once this bird was the totem of people who lived on the territory of one of the nomes. The veneration of the falcon-ancestor gradually developed into her deification. Nome subordinated other nomes to his influence and gave them his god - the falcon. Gradually, the cult of this bird spread throughout almost all of Lower Egypt. However, in Upper Egypt, the falcon was not recognized as a god, there was his own - in the guise of a snake.
The struggle of the rulers of the nomes in the North and in the South in the so-called Early period (3050-2715 BC) for dominance over all of Egypt was reflected in numerous legends, myths telling about the enmity between two deities - a falcon bird, whose name was Horus, or Horus (according to other sources, the falcon-headed Horus is the son of Osiris and Isis), and a snake named Set (the god of war and evil). In the end, both kingdoms united, and Horus became the main deity, the great god of the morning (rising) Sun, the ruler of all Egypt. He was depicted on sarcophagi and emblems, magnificent temples were erected in his honor and sacrifices were made. In some cities, live birds were kept at temples, which were served by priests. In the wild, these birds were carefully guarded, the killing of a falcon was punishable by death.
The falcon, a noble bird of prey, is a symbol of the sun and light, victory and superiority, protection and freedom. A glorious martial artist was often compared with a fearless bird of prey, implying such qualities as chivalry, courage, strength, dexterity, intelligence, and courageous beauty. An example of this is the hero of Russian fairy tales, the hero Finist Yasny Sokol, or the invincible red-skinned warrior Zorkiy Sokol, whose noble image was brilliantly embodied on the screen by the actor Goiko Mitich. With even greater reason, the brave Soviet aces pilots who beat the fascist vultures in the formidable sky of the Great Patriotic War were called falcons.
Emblematics reveals additional symbolic nuances relating to the image of the bird. A falcon chasing a hare (the personification of lust) is a symbol of the victory of the spirit over base passions. The falcon that attacked a defenseless heron is an allegorical image of a bloody tyrant who brutally oppresses ordinary people, but a bird of prey carrying prey compressed in its claws to its owner is an emblem of fidelity and exemplary performance of duty. The falcon, which refused to pursue the sparrow, is a symbol of a generous warrior who neglects easy prey.
A free bird soaring in the sky with outstretched wings is a vivid expression of freedom; sitting with a cap on her head - the emblem of the hope of gaining freedom. We also encounter similar symbolism in the romantic-revolutionary genre of literature, for example, in Maxim Gorky's Song About the Falcon, which sounds like a solemn hymn to freedom.
In mythology, the status of a noble bird of prey is unusually high. Only the most significant gods-rulers (the German Wodan and the Hindu Thunderer Indra), the gods of fire (the Scandinavian Loki and the West Slavic Rarog) and warriors (the Iranian Bepetragna and the Malay Singalang Burong), as well as the great werewolf heroes (Finist, Volkh Vseslavich and etc.).
AT Christian religion, where violence is not honored, the feathered predator personified evil, cruelty and godlessness, but the tamed falcon personified the converted pagan.
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AT Eastern religions the attitude towards this bird is fundamentally different: the ancient Egyptians, Persians and Arabs raised the falcon to the top of a symbolic pedestal, making it the emblem of royal power.
In the ancient Egyptian iconography, there are so many gods in the guise of a falcon or with the head of a falcon that they could well form a separate falcon pantheon. At the head of this brilliant assembly, the radiant Ra, depicted with a golden disk of the sun above his head, should have been placed. on the right and left side on his solar throne would be the sky god Horus and the god of war Montu (in a crown decorated with two blue feathers), and a little further, at the foot of the throne, and all the other divine falcons: the ruler of the 12th nome of Supreme Egypt Nemti; the patron of the city of Athribis Khentikheti; defender of the eastern borders of the state of Sopdu; the god of the Libyan deserts Ash and the lord of the Dead Sokar. Male society could be slightly diluted with two lovely falcons: the goddess of water and wind, Isis, arm in arm with her strange sister Nephthys, the goddess without certain place residence and clearly defined functions. Under the high vaults of the white-stone hall, in the form of falcons with human heads, thousands of righteous souls (bau) would certainly soar, allowed to see all of the above sacred-divine persons.
In Christian iconography there is not even a shadow of Egyptian splendor. The falcon is considered here only as a bird of prey, accompanying the saints - the patrons of falconry: Bavo, Hubert and Julian Hospitalita.
In the history of Japan, the falcon is closely associated with the imperial dynasty founded by the ancient leader Jimmu Tenno. An old legend says that the mighty Prince Nagasune greatly hindered the future emperor in the unification of the country. In the very first battle with him, Tenno was defeated, but the gods sent him a messenger in the form of a golden falcon, advising him to hit Nagasune's army from the east at dawn. The emperor heeded the divine advice and attacked the enemy as soon as the sun rose. The enemy soldiers were blinded by the glow of a golden falcon that spread its wings over the banners of the Jimmu Tenno, and the battle ended in his complete and final victory. Two and a half thousand years after the events described in this legend, in 1890, the Order of the Golden Falcon was established in Japan. This high award was presented for outstanding military services performed for the glory of the emperor, but after the defeat of Japan in World War II, the order was abolished.
In modern state heraldry, the graceful figure of a falcon, as a majestic emblem of supreme power, flaunts in the arms of several Arab countries: Egypt, Libya, Kuwait, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. In European coats of arms, the emblem of power in the form of a falcon sitting on the hand of a knight distinguishes high-born titled persons (dukes, counts and margraves), and the crowned falcon in the coat of arms of ancient Russian Suzdal recalls the power of the Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal in the troubled era of feudal fragmentation.
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The falcon, like the eagle, is a solar symbol of victory. The personification of superiority, strong spirit, light, freedom. In ancient Egypt, the falcon was a sacred symbol of the Sun, temples were dedicated to it, killing a falcon was considered a grave sin. In Western tradition, the falcon is a symbol of hunting. A falcon with a cap on its head is a symbol of hope for light and freedom. The falcon as a symbol of aggression is rare. Among the Slavs, this bird is a symbol of strength, courage, a good fellow. The falcon is opposed to the crow (as the embodiment of evil forces): "Where the falcons fly, they don't let the crow in."
Gore- one of the solar gods, his name means "height", "sky". Horus was depicted with the head of a falcon, and his symbol was the sun with outstretched wings.
The son of Osiris and Isis, Horus was born after the death of his father. By that time, the insidious Set, who had killed Osiris, seized power over Egypt. Isis fled from his anger to the Nile Delta and there, among the swamps, in solitude and secret, she began to educate Horus. When Horus matured, Osiris himself appeared to him from the realm of the dead and blessed his son to fight Set.
In the first duel, Horus was defeated - Seth tore out his eye. "Eye of Horus" - one of the most important symbols in Egyptian mythology, the focus of divine power. After a long struggle, Horus regained his Eye and used it to revive Osiris. But Osiris preferred to remain the ruler of the kingdom of the dead, so that Horus became the king of the living.
Some versions of the myth end with Horus becoming the king of Egypt, and Set Ra taking with him to heaven and making him the lord of the storm. In other versions, the plot develops further: Set offers Horus various trials - turning into hippos, sitting under water for three months, sailing along the river in stone boats, trying to discredit Horus before the gods, quarrel him with Isis, etc.
Finally, a decisive battle takes place between them, Horus defeats Set and throws him at the feet of Osiris. Light Osiris triumphs over the dark Seth.
Horus may seem familiar to us, because we all remember his famous image as a man with a falcon head. In fact, the divine essence of Horus is more complicated.
Horus took many incarnations and was identified with other gods, so in Egyptian art he appears before us in different guises and under different names.
Horus is the most important character in the Egyptian pantheon, so his appearance, mythology, and especially his cult are difficult to describe. All Egyptians knew that Horus was the god who became the ruler of the earth, the god from whom the pharaoh descended, the god whose earthly life in many respects was very human: love affairs, rivalry ... In his story, everyone could find something close to himself.
Images of Horus
The most famous (and most common in art) incarnation of Horus is the man with the head of a falcon. This god is depicted standing or kneeling; on his head he may have one of the three Egyptian crowns (white, red or pshent), the atef crown (it also crowns Osiris, the father of Horus), or the crown of hemhemet.
The oldest image of Horus in the form of a man with the head of a falcon is kept in the Louvre Museum: this is the stele of Pharaoh Kahejet (III dynasty, Old Kingdom).
There are other drawings, some very ancient, dating back to the beginning of the history of kingship: a falcon with a crown (or without it), a winged sun disk and a uraeus in front of it, and, finally, a child.
Myths about Gor
Horus, one of the greatest and most ancient gods of the Egyptian pantheon, is also distinguished by the number of his images. In fact, we should not talk about one Mountain, but about several! Each of his incarnations or deities identified with him had given name and even appearance.
However, multiple incarnations need not necessarily mean multiple myths. And although Horus is mentioned in an impressive number of mythological cycles, there are many coincidences in them, which serves as proof of the presence of common roots. One of these common places is the legend of Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, a direct descendant of the god of royal power Ra, the distant divine ancestor of the pharaohs. The epic of Horus is one of the key in ancient Egyptian mythology.
Gore's difficult family background
Gore's history is inextricably linked to the twisted history of his family. It is full of rivalry, hatred and murder! Of course, this is a legend about the gods, but at the same time it reminds us of the weaknesses of the human race.
Horus was born under dramatic circumstances. The young god lost his father long before his birth. The great Osiris, a direct descendant of Ra, was treacherously killed by his own brother Set. The wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus, Isis, tirelessly protected her child, even while it was still in her womb. She gave birth to a son secretly from the killer. A vain precaution - Seth found out about everything. Having got rid of his brother in order to take the Egyptian throne instead, this god expected to do the same with his little nephew. After all, the young falcon was a new - and legitimate - contender for power over the Egyptian kingdom!
Seth knew this. Isis too. Horus also knew: “I am Horus, the great falcon ... Far is my place from Set, my father's enemy ... I go to war against his killer, I will place him under my sandals in the name of my rage. For I am Horus, and my place is far from men and from gods. I am Horus, the son of Isis,” he said thus, reminding himself of himself to those who wished to listen to him. But God was still very young, not to say fragile.
Pretty normal kid...
Although Horus was a god, the son, grandson and great-grandson of a god, his childhood was the same as that of any little Egyptian. He played, learned to read and count, he even got sick! From this misfortune he suffered especially often. Illnesses and accidents were a continuous succession. But the gods were watching, and first of all, his mother. It is worth noting that the place where Isis and Horus lived was very unusual. And indeed, the goddess decided to raise her child away from Set - in the swamp of Hemmis. She knew that he would never dare to climb into such places. But it is not very pleasant and useful to live in a swamp! Constant fevers and intestinal diseases often caused Isis to worry.
...but surrounded by care
One evening, returning home, Isis found her son lifeless. He couldn't even suck on his mother's breast. And then the goddess discovered a bite mark: probably Horus was stung by a scorpion. The boy was on the verge of death, and Isis called for help from other gods. Nephthys, her sister, and Selket, the scorpion goddess, immediately answered the call and came to her. “Ra needs to intervene,” they decided. “He must stop his run at any cost and stop time.” Said "time" - so turned to Thoth! The god of wisdom came to Isis and reassured her: “Fear nothing, Isis! I have come to you armed with the breath of life that will heal the child." Turning to the boy, He said: “Come out, poison! Ra will be able to exorcise you. His boat has interrupted its path and will not budge until our patient is cured. Wells will be dry, crops will dry up on the vine, people will be left without bread until health returns to Horus. But things have not gone to such extremes. Horus recovered quickly. However, this was only one of the small troubles that awaited Horus on his difficult life path.
Sandals to trample your enemy
“Far is my place from Set,” Horus said. "I'm going to war against his killer, I'll put him under my sandals in the name of my fury." This strange expression testifies to the widespread custom of ancient Egypt. Indeed, it was customary to write the name or even draw a portrait of one's worst enemy on the soles of the sandals. In this way it could be easily, without the slightest difficulty, trampled under foot.
eye wadget
The eye of the wadget, one of the most common Egyptian amulets, refers to one of the mutilations Horus received during his lifetime. Here's how it happened: during the battle, Set tore out the eye of his opponent Horus and cut it into many pieces. The good god Thoth gathered them, restored the eye and made it healthy (wadjet). This lunar eye became a protective amulet that the Egyptians wore on the body for protection and were buried along with mummies.
Existence Poisoned by Set
Seth poisoned, both literally and figuratively of this word, the existence of Horus. It was not enough for the insidious god to kill Osiris: he was filled with terrible hatred for Horus, who became the heir of his father by law and reigned over all of Egypt. Seth, brother of Osiris and uncle of Horus, did not want to accept this. Power should have returned to him! Means do not matter, the main thing is to achieve the goal. Outraged by what is happening, the gods convened a divine court. However, the interests of some do not always coincide with the interests of others: the voices in the court were immediately divided. The situation, which was getting worse every day, was getting out of control! Set and Horus fought each other relentlessly, setting one trap after another. It seemed that their confrontation would never end and would last forever.
In this regard, Seth's imagination never ran out! He suggested sports to Horus. One of them was a competition in the water: two gods, having turned into hippos, had to dive under the water, holding their breath. Whoever lasts longer will get the Kingdom of Egypt! But Isis, closely following the misadventures of her son, prevented her rivals, causing discontent among both! A furious dispute ensued between the three deities. Ra, desperate to wait for reconciliation, invited the opponents to arrange a feast. But the festivity did not last long: soon the lawsuit was resumed with no less bitterness. Isis hurried the court, interfering with its meetings and protesting against the passivity of the gods. However, all the merit in this matter belongs to Osiris: it was he who managed to resolve the situation.
The Lord of the Kingdom of the Dead, who had remained silent until now, intervened in the litigation, accusing the judges of inaction. Being the lord of vegetation, Osiris threatened that he would leave Egypt without food! The gods bowed before his might and carefully reviewed the matter. But since they could not make any definite decision, a draw was declared in the dispute between the rivals. Horus, of course, became king of Egypt; in the future, he will transfer his right to the throne to the pharaohs. But Seth did not lose either: he was appointed the herald and protector of Ra. From now on, it is he who, standing on the bow of the boat of the sun god, with his terrible cry will notify the whole world of the approach of dawn. It seems that Ra has always had a special affection for Set!
Horus, the cripple... and the crippling god
Mutilation was also part of Horus' existence. This god has suffered enough... And not always at the hands of their enemies. In this regard, a number of episodes connected with the eye and hands of Horus are especially indicative.
Once Seth once again invented a trap for Horus: as a result, the hands of the latter were defiled by the seed of his uncle. Mad with disgust, Isis cut off her son's hands and threw them into the deepest of the swamps. Horus, dismayed by such disfavor, turned to the crocodile god Sebek, who with great difficulty found his hands. To avoid the wrath of the adamant Isis, Sebek took the hands of Horus to the god Ra, and he created exactly the same: one pair became a relic in the sanctuary of Nekhen (Greek: Hierakonpolis), and the other was returned to Horus.
Gore seems to have inherited his mother's unrestrained temperament. While still a teenager, he raped Isis out of uncontrollable impulses. Obviously, it is with this episode that the identification of Horus and Min, the god of fertility, is connected. On another occasion, Isis, to her misfortune, sympathized with Seth, and Horus cut off the head of his own mother! According to legend, the goddess ascended to heaven and turned into a headless constellation. So sometimes beautiful myths are born from the most disgusting deeds!
Sons of Horus
Horus the Elder and the goddess Isis (mother of the great Horus, son of Osiris) had four sons: they were called Gormesut, which means “children of Horus” in ancient Egyptian. All four looked like mummies, but differed in names and heads: the first deity, Amset, had a human head; the second - Hapi - the head of a baboon; the third - Duamutef - the head of a dog; and, finally, at the last - Kebeksenuf - the head of a falcon. Not a single myth was devoted to these creatures, which had neither sanctuaries nor separate cults, in ancient Egypt. Nevertheless, they are known to guard the internal organs of the dead. The canopic vessels, in which the liver, stomach, lungs and intestines of the deceased were stored after his embalming, were molded in the form of the children of Horus, who were rightly considered the protectors of the dead.
So, the sons of Horus saved the deceased from suffering, for example, from hunger or thirst. Legend has it that by order of the good god Anubis, the children of Horus guarded Osiris. It was they who helped the future ruler of the Kingdom of the Dead to ascend to heaven. There they turned into stars and settled down not far from the constellation Ursa Major (Feet of Set) to tirelessly follow it: it was considered extremely unfavorable, because it was associated with Set ... How could it be without it!
Cult of Horus
Horus was worshiped by all of Egypt, starting with the pharaoh, who enjoyed the patronage of the falcon god. The people also remained faithful to this deity. But each city or region had its own Horus: in different parts of the country, the names and holidays that were attributed to it differed markedly.
Belief in the falcon god is explained by the large number of birds of prey that lived in Egypt, as well as the admiration that they aroused among people. The Falcon holds many records, and first of all, the speed record: over two hundred kilometers per hour when diving! The peregrine falcon, a rather rare bird in modern Egypt, seems to have been much more common in ancient times.
At the origins of faith
Without a doubt, Horus was born out of the admiration that the ancient Egyptians had for the majestic and amazing flight of the falcon in the skies of Hierakonpolis (“the city of the falcon,” as the Greeks called it in the Late Period). Fast forward to the earliest dynasties of the Egyptian kingdom. The hegemony of the rulers of the city of Horus gradually spread to all of Egypt, and the process of unification began. Gradually, under the wing of the falcon from Hierakonpolis, the whole country turned out to be, including the pharaoh himself, whose patron and divine ancestor Horus became. A statue of Pharaoh Khafre from the 4th Dynasty, kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, immortalized these relationships in stone: the famous ruler sits on a throne with his hands on his knees, and behind him spreads the wings of a protective falcon. It seems that man and bird are one being. From now on, the glorious Horus and the great pharaoh are bound by inseparable bonds.
Horus and pharaoh
The patronage of Horus, loyalty to Horus, identification with Horus, the pharaoh and the falcon god are always connected. Horus protecting the pharaoh is an iconographic plot that is found in many works dedicated to the ruler of Egypt! On the bas-relief depicting Pharaoh Sakhura (V dynasty) and discovered in his pyramid (Berlin Museum), we can read the name of the king. The hieroglyph is inscribed in a cartouche, like a map of a city surrounded by a fortress. On the wall sits the falcon Horus, guarding the name of the pharaoh. Unas, another king from the 5th dynasty, has come down to us with an alabaster vase with a cartouche guarded by Horus, depicted with widely outstretched wings (Louvre).
Loyalty to Horus in Egypt was written literally on everything that had to do with the pharaoh. Evidence of this is the palanquin of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Cheops (IV dynasty). The inscription on it reads: "The mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, faithful to Horus, instructing the lord, merciful, the one whose orders were always fulfilled, the daughter of the flesh of God, Hetepheres."
Horus and the name of the pharaoh
And finally, identification with God becomes obvious when reading the full name of the lord. The name of the pharaoh is actually more complex than one might think from its Greek transcription. The "Great Name", as it is usually called, consists of five title names (repeated among different pharaohs), which are supplemented by five nicknames (which were formulated during the coronation by a scribe from the House of Life). Full name Ramses I actually sounds like this: “Horus, a mighty bull, beloved by justice, Two mistresses, protecting Egypt and conquering foreign lands, golden Horus, rich in years, great in his victories, lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra, strong with truth, chosen by Ra, the son of Ra, Ramesses, beloved by Amun, who, like his father Ra, is granted every day immortal life". Twice the pharaoh is called Horus, he is identified with him. This is how the people understood it. All the people, from a simple fellah to a temple priest, from a palace servant to a noble vizier, saw in the name the divine essence of the pharaoh.
Cult of Haroiris
One of the first, earliest incarnations of the divine falcon, Haroeris - Horus the Elder - was the object of a very complex cult, especially strong in Kom Ombo and Letopolis. This god was worshiped, first of all, on the second epagomenal day - the day of his birth.
Lush festivities were held, at which they honored "The one who returns to his city (Kom-Ombo) after staying in the northern country (Letopol)." A solemn procession passed through the streets of the city of Gora. Other holidays were dedicated to the Falcon - the twentieth day of the month Tibi (November-December) and the fourth month of Pakhon (March-April). Kinship (and, moreover, very close) with Ra connected him with the divine eye, therefore it was believed that Haroeris heals eye diseases. So, in Letopole, the knowledge of practitioners in ophthalmology (recognized by modern specialists), apparently, was often perceived as miracles of the falcon god.
Edfu - City of Horus
Edfu, one of the great cities of ancient Egypt, was dedicated to Horus. Mount Edfu is also called Mount Behdet.
Here they worshiped the god-falcon in the incarnation of Horus Bekhdetsky, Horus of the Throne. The last pharaohs of Egypt, the Ptolemies Euergetes, erected a magnificent huge temple here. This sanctuary was founded in 237 BC. e., grew until 57 AD. e. The complex testifies to the importance that the cult of Horus had even after great era pharaohs. The temple of Edfu is an impeccable example of an Egyptian temple: pylons, courtyards, hypostyle halls, chapels, a sanctuary... All structures, down to the naos (the center of the temple) and the nilomere, survived to tell us about the rites of the past, while from other temples only ruins remain.
On the inner wall of the left pylon, the visitor can still admire the reliefs depicting the day of the “holy union”, a holiday during which Egypt celebrated the union of spouses: Horus from Edfu and Hathor from Dendera.
Holy Union Feast
The reliefs of the temple allow you to feel the atmosphere of one of the most famous holidays in Egypt. The great goddess, the Eye of Ra, visited her husband Horus every year in the month of Epiphi (May-June); for her, it was an opportunity to leave the sanctuary at Dendera for three whole weeks while the celebrations lasted. The statue was immersed in a large boat "Beautiful Love" specially designed for this, which rose along the Nile almost one hundred and sixty kilometers to the city of Edfu, where the goddess's husband lived. Meanwhile, the priests of Horus at Edfu were making all the necessary preparations so that Horus and his temple could adequately welcome Hathor.
When the long-awaited day came, a huge crowd gathered on the path along which Horus walked from the temple to the banks of the Nile. The reunion of the spouses took place in small temple, built to the north of the city, a little away from it. Interestingly, the Egyptians calculated the moment of the meeting with incredible accuracy! Exactly at eight o'clock new moon On the eleventh month of every year, neither earlier nor later, Horus regained his divine consort. A jubilant crowd of believers accompanied the statues, which, each in its own boat, slowly floated along the river to the main sanctuary of the city. When the boats finally approached the temple, they were lifted out of the water and carried in their arms to the sacred walls of the temple.
On the occasion of this meeting, every year the "sacred union" of the two great deities was celebrated anew; then there was the wedding night. From that moment on, for fourteen days, while the moon continued to grow in the sky, endless celebrations continued in Edfu, accompanied by religious rites. The couple also visited other temples dedicated to her in the vicinity of the city. After two weeks, after a great feast that ended the holiday, Horus returned to his sanctuary, and Hathor set off on her way back down the Nile to Dendera. Another year of separation awaited the divine spouses.
Mountain identifications
Syncretism is a phenomenon very characteristic of the ancient Egyptian faith, and Horus is no exception. Thus, Horakhty was very different from Horus. He had the same appearance and a similar name, but was associated with Ra, one of the incarnations of which he was considered. Horakhti is Ra. He is the god of the sun, easily crossing the sky. His other name is "Mountains of the Gods". Khorakhty was worshiped in On ( biblical name ancient Heliopolis). Gor-Nedjitef, "Horus-protector of his father", was especially revered in Abydos, and in the city of Khent-Min he was likened to Min and became known as Gor-Min-Akht, "Horus-Min the Mighty".
Considered the patron saint of hunters. Traditions about him have been preserved since the time when the main occupation for men was the extraction of food. Initially, Horus was worshiped by warlike hunters, who eventually established their dominance over other tribes. He was considered a powerful god of the sky and the sun. The falcon-god Horus was often depicted with the head of this bird. It was believed that this symbolized victory and great power. In later periods, it was depicted as a solar disk with outstretched falcon wings.
Conception and birth of Horus
The god Horus in ancient Egypt has a separate mythical story about his conception. His father and mother were Osiris and Isis. In those days, the battle for power was quite fierce. Osiris had a brother - Seth, who killed him even before the conception of Horus, in order to take over the country. Although, according to one of the legends, Set was considered not an uncle, but a brother of Horus. But Isis, with her magic, brought her husband back to life in order to have time to conceive a child. But Seth did not calm down on this, and for the second time he bloodthirstyly killed Osiris, dismembering his body. Thus, he expected that it would no longer be possible to resurrect him. Isis had to hide in the papyrus swamps of the Nile in order to endure and give birth to Horus, since Set dreamed of killing her along with the child.
According to legend, when he was born ancient god Horus, at this time in the east caught fire bright Star. Isis protected her son with her magic until he reached adolescence. During this time, he not only successfully studied himself, but also helped others acquire knowledge. At the age of 30, Horus received a spiritual initiation from Anubis. According to legends, the young god had 12 disciples, with whom he healed the sick together.
Horus becomes full-fledged Egyptian king
At first, Horus fought in a duel with Seth. This is how he avenged his father's death. Horus' eye was damaged during the battle. Set won a small victory by wresting the divine eye from the young god. But Horus did not concede in a duel, and took the eye back, and at the same time grabbed the masculine nature of the enemy. With his eye, God managed to revive his father. After which Osiris was able to transfer his throne to him. Horus then conquered all of Egypt. After the victory over Seth, he was recognized as a full-fledged king. As a result, the young pharaoh became the personification of victory, strength and justice.
Horus and Set
According to one of the legends, Seth personified the night and darkness, and Horus - the sun and light. According to legend, their match was not the only one, but it lasted constantly. They fought, dispersed, and after a while they fought again. The fight usually began at sunrise, when Horus won. And it ended in the evening, when the power of Set began, and he sent God to underworld. They both personified the struggle of light and darkness, good and evil.
Clairvoyant Eye of Horus
Horus was depicted with the head of a falcon and a large (intact) eye. Horus - the Egyptian god - had a clairvoyant eye that helped him see the truth. The Egyptians believed that he could put his eye on a person, and he gained clear vision and vision of the most difficult situations. He also opened up all the ways to correct even the worst situation. It was believed that the magic of Horus consisted in the ability to "see with the eyes of love" - to look at others with pure thoughts and a bright heart.
Names and hypostases of Horus
The god Horus had many names. He was called Horus, Garendot, Garoyres, Gar, Harmakhet, Harpocrates, Horus, Gar-pa-Neb-Tauy, Ra-Hamkte and Garseisis.
God Horus had several hypostases. He was both the king of the gods and the lord of heaven. He was called the sun god and earthly pharaoh. Horus was considered the shepherd of God, the truth, the lamb of the Lord. This is a kind of Egyptian trinity, consisting of a falcon, an earthly pharaoh and the lord of heaven. Horus was depicted as the god of light, entering the fight against the forces of evil. In the temple of the city of Edfu, he was depicted standing on the boat of Ra, with a harpoon that hit any evil spirits. Sometimes the images of Horus and Ra merged into one.
Bringing up Horus
While Horus was growing up, he was under the auspices of almost all the gods. Thoth favored him the most. He was considered the god of magic, wisdom and writing. The young king was thus able to receive an excellent upbringing. Subsequently, Horus acquired great power in Egypt. But running the country without a state apparatus was difficult.
Power in Egypt
Initially, only royal persons were endowed with all power. So it was in the time of Cheops, and in the future - under his successors. But with the onset of the fifth dynasty, government posts began to be occupied by people not of the royal family. As a result, the position of the pharaohs changed. As a consequence, the concept of Mountain as a supreme god, relegated to the background. Instead, the sun (Ra) began to be considered a deity, and the king was simply his son, Re.
Great changes began to take place in the country, ideas about the gods began to lose their importance. Myths and legends were overgrown with new invented additions. A new worldview was imposed on them. And they interpreted it differently.
Immortal God Horus
According to one version, Horus was once betrayed by Tephon. Here opinions differ. Some describe Tephon as one of the disciples of Horus. Most modern Egyptologists are inclined to this opinion. And there is a theory that Set was called Tephon. After the betrayal, Horus was crucified. Then he was buried and he was dead for three days. After that, the god Horus resurrected again. This story is reminiscent of the Bible, which tells of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is an opinion that in different faiths and mythologies we are often talking about the same character.
