One of the plots of the war between Horus and Set is associated with the famous amulet - the Eye of Horus and the lunar cycle. The myth says that during the battle, Set in the form of a hippopotamus defeated Horus and tore out his eye, putting his nephew to flight. Then Set cut the eye of Horus into 64 pieces and scattered it across Egypt (as we can see, Set is very consistent in his habits). Thoth comes to the aid of Horus: he collects all the parts and returns the eye safe and sound. He is associated with the cults of the Moon, therefore the mythological story about the torn out oce is often associated with the lunar cycle: when Set scatters parts of the eye - the Moon decreases, when He connects them - the Moon grows. The returned Eye of Horus possessed magical properties, becoming a powerful wajat talisman: with its help, Horus was able to resurrect Osiris, who, however, did not want to remain in this world, bequeathing to Horus the throne and revenge. We will cite their last conversation, using the presentation of I. V. Cancer:
“- Which of the actions, in your opinion, is the most noble? Osiris asked Horus.
“Help the innocent victim,” Heru replied without hesitation.
- Which of the animals participating in the battle do you consider the most useful? - asked Osiris his second question.
“The most useful animal in battle is the horse,” Heru said.
- Why a horse? - Osiris was surprised. - Why did you name not a lion, but a horse? After all, the most powerful of the beasts is the lion.
“The lion is needed by the one who defends himself,” Heru replied. - And the horse is chasing the fleeing one.
Satisfied with his son's answer, Osiris exclaimed:
“Truly, you are ready for battle! Go and defeat Set!"
Armed with his father's parting words, Horus continued his battles with Set. The struggle of the gods went on with varying success, Horus managed to defeat Set in the guise of a hippopotamus, a snake, a crocodile. Even chop his body to pieces, thus avenging his father. However, the stubborn Seth always resurrected and rushed into battle again.
The battles of Horus and Set in the images of cult animals are present in almost all versions of myths. Seth most often chose the appearance of a male hippo. In ancient Egypt, the female hippopotamus was embodied in the images of good goddesses (for example, Taurt or Opet), but the hippopotamus was always represented as the embodiment of evil and chaos, which must be defeated in order for divine order to prevail. On the walls of tombs of all periods of the history of Ancient Egypt, there are ritual scenes when the deceased appears as a spear-striking various chthonic creatures embodied in the images of crocodiles, snakes, hippos, sometimes birds (although at first glance the viewer is presented with everyday sketches - Nile hunting or fishing). For example, a gilded wooden statuette from the tomb of Tutankhamun depicted a young king standing on a boat and striking a hippopotamus with a spear as the very embodiment of chaos.
God Thoth with the head of an ibis was the god of knowledge and wisdom.
Note that there was a precedent in history according to which the divine animals of Set (hippos) were killed by the followers of Horus in the Delta region, which is confirmed by the inscriptions in the temple in Edfu. So the myth probably had a historical basis. But Seth also had other hypostases: a donkey, a black pig, a goose, a snake. The latter image reinforced in later representations, especially those that went through Greek processing, the connotation of Set with the evil, fire-breathing, many-headed Typhon.
Quite often, in myths about battles, Set appears in the form of a black boar (pig), which the Egyptians considered an unclean animal. The wild boar (Set) has always been the enemy of grain (Osiris): wild pigs interfered with the growth of cereals, tearing apart tender shoots, so the boars were killed. But they were not used for food, since there was a taboo. Sometimes pigs were sacrificed to Osiris: they were slaughtered in front of the door of the house, and the carcass was given back to the swineherd.
But let's return to the myth … Tired of eighty years of endless battles, having tried all the "bestial" possibilities, the rivals decided to turn to the court of the gods so that the Great Nine, led by Ra, would finally decide which of them to give the crown. Which, as we understand, is rather strange - after all, Ra promised power to Horus even before his birth, but … forgetfulness is peculiar to the gods. Not only forgetfulness, but also quarrelsomeness, and rancor: Ra, apparently, did not forget how Isis tricked him into revealing his secret name, and was in no hurry to satisfy the ambitions of her son.
The litigation further exacerbated the controversy, and other gods, who were divided in opinions, were involved in the quarrel. The gods Shu, Thoth and the goddess Isis put pressure on the court, persuading everyone to take the side of Horus. Ra pondered for a long time what gave Isis the opportunity to misinterpret his silence and, delighted ahead of time, to hasten to summon the North Wind to tell Osiris the good news: Horus received his father's crown! But Ra was in no hurry to fulfill his once promise.
Unable to find a solution, the gods turned for advice to the god of fertility Benebjet (he was revered in the form of a ram in Mendes). But he advised to turn to the great mother of the gods - Neith, who gave an unequivocal answer: the throne should be given to Horus. And she also offered an “alternative” and compensation for Set: “… otherwise I will be so angry that the sky will fall to the ground…. And let them say to the Lord of All That Is (Ra - ed.): Double the possession of Set, give him Anat and Astarte, your daughters, but put Horus on the throne of his father Osiris "(quoted from: Ya. Lipinskaya, M. Martsinyak" Mythology of Ancient Egypt ").
Note that the myth is associated with the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy, when the paternal clan becomes dominant. Let us pay attention to the words and arguments of the supporters of Horus: "Will the title (king) be given to a mother's brother, while there is a son according to the flesh?"; "Will the title of Osiris be given to Set, the great power, while the son of (Osiris) Horus is present?" (quoted from: M. Mathieu "Ancient Egyptian myths"). From reading the text of "The Dispute of Horus with Set", it is clear that paternal rights have triumphed. In this regard, the verdict of Geb in the lawsuit between Horus and Set from the text of the Mysteries of Set is extremely indicative. And Geb said: “Look, I give an inheritance to the son of my son's heir, the first-born, the discoverer of the ways, just as Ra-Atum did it for Shu, the eldest son of the Almighty, just as Shu did to me. So do I. Look, I gave all my things to the son of Osiris Horus, the son of Isis … This is the heir, the son of the heir "(quoted from: M. Mathieu" Ancient Egyptian myths ").
But Nate's answer did not like and did not convince Ra of the need to give the throne to Horus. He considered that Horus was still too young to rule Egypt, but Seth was older and more experienced, and in addition, every night he helped to overthrow the serpent Apophis. The intensity of passions reached such a level that the ruler of the universe - Ra - was insulted: the god Babai announced that "the sanctuary of Ra is empty" (in the sense that from now on no one will listen to him). This dragged out the proceedings considerably, since the supreme ruler was offended and did not speak with Ennead (Nine) for many days until the goddess Hathor amused him. Seth and Horus were again given the floor, but they could not agree. However, Seth tried to use rather serious arguments: "I will grab my scepter of 4500 debens and I will kill one of you every day!" (quoted from: M. Mathieu "Ancient Egyptian myths"). Then the gods decided to retire to the island and think there, so as not to be subjected to pressure from rival parties, forbidding the carrier Anti to transport the cunning Isis there. But the goddess deceived the hapless carrier by assuming the form of an old woman, and, seducing him with a golden ring, made her way to the island. It was not for nothing that Seth did not want Isis to interfere in the process: she outwitted him too, starting an ambiguous word game. Taking the form of a beautiful maiden, in which her brother did not recognize her, she asked to judge the dispute. She said to him: “… I was the wife of a shepherd of the flocks, and I gave birth to a son. My husband died, and the young man took his father's cattle. Then a stranger came, sat in my hut and so he said to my son: "I will beat you, and I will take your father's cattle away from you, and I will drive you out." So he told him. But I want you to be a fighter for him. " And Seth said to her: "Will the cattle be given to a stranger, while the owner's son is present?" And Isis took the form of the bird Hut, sat on the top of the acacia, called Seth and told him: “Cry for yourself! For behold, your own mouth has said this, and your own mind has condemned you! " (quoted from: M. Mathieu "Ancient Egyptian myths").
The fact is that in the ancient Egyptian language the words "cattle" and "san" have the same pronunciation ("iaut"), so the disputants, of course, talked about different things. Nevertheless, the gods decided that Set had passed judgment on himself and should give power to Horus. However, honesty and fidelity to the word were not among Seth's virtues: he immediately renounced his words, and also consoled himself with the fact that he ordered to punish the carrier Anti (“taking the soles of his feet,” that is, to beat him on the heels with sticks) disobeyed and violated the ban. Result: Anti forever hated gold (such gifts were forbidden in his temples), and the dispute between Horus and Set continued.
God Sebek with the head of a crocodile.
Without coming up with anything new, they decided to compete in the guise of hippos: dive under the water ("deep in the Great Greenery") and wait for who will hold out for less than three months. But the hippo, as we remember, is the sacred animal of Set, and Isis was afraid that he would find unprecedented strength in him, so she decided to help Horus. She tied the harpoon to a rope to hit Seth, but the harpoon hit Horus. Realizing her mistake, the goddess tried again, but Seth-hippopotamus from sea waters appealed to her sisterly feelings - and Isis retreated. For this, Horus was angry with his mother and, emerging, attacked her and beheaded her, fleeing with the severed head into the mountains. In another folklore cycle, we are faced with something similar: Horus, having defeated Set, led him in chains to Isis, but she took pity on his brother and released him; then Horus in anger tore off the crown from his mother's head.
God Anubis with a jackal head.
Isis turned into a stone statue without a head, in such a deplorable state and was found by the gods. It was immediately decided to find and punish the mother-killer. Seth was the first to find Horus while he was sleeping under the Shenush tree in the land of the Oasis, and, taking advantage of the opportunity and the absence of witnesses, tore out and buried Horus's eyes. This story ended happily: the good goddess Hathor returned the sight of the Mountain by pouring gazelle milk into his eye sockets.
And again, the rivals appeared before the court, where Ra demanded that they give the gods peace and briefly interrupt their competitions. Seth used this time to try to get around his nephew in a different way - not by force, but by cunning, planning to "do the deed of victory over him." To this end, he invited Horus to his house, having arranged a feast and inviting him to spend the night. And at night he tried to persuade Horus to sodomy and "sow his seed in him," thereby turning him symbolically into a woman (and there certainly could not be women on the throne, even in later times the female pharaohs had to change their name to masculine and hide the feminine nature under men's robes). But Horus collected the seed of Set in his hand and turned to his mother for help. By that time, thanks to the magic of Thoth, Isis had ceased to be a stone statue, and, apparently, had time to forgive her son. She cut off his defiled hand with a copper knife and threw it into the swamp, magically summoning a new hand, and poured the seed of Horus on Seth's favorite delicacy - lettuce, which he treated with pleasure, being sure that his cunning had succeeded. In The Book of the Dead, we see a more dramatic story, where Isis in anger chops off both of her son's hands, which are then caught by the crocodile god Sebek, Lord of the Backwaters. Having coped with anger, Isis extends his arms to the body of Horus.
Appearing at the divine judgment, Seth announced his "work of victory" and enjoyed the way the gods "spat in the face of Horus."But not for long … until Horus asked Thoth to call on the seed of Set and his own. Then the seed of Set responded from the swamp, and the "divine outflow" of Horus came out in a golden disk over the head of the shocked Set.
The gods rejoiced and hastened to put the crown on the head of Horus. Seth, of course, did not agree, and the rivals decided to arrange races on stone boats. That is, only Seth thinks so, breaking off a decent piece of stone from the rock and carving out of it a boat 138 cubits long. And Horus, having become adept in cunning during the disputes with his uncle, plasters a pine (according to another version, cedar) boat with plaster, giving an external resemblance to a stone. Predictably, Set's rook sinks and Horus wins the competition. Realizing that he was deceived, Seth turned into a hippopotamus and sank Horus's boat.
The dispute has not been resolved, the divine judgment has reached a dead end, revealing its inconsistency; it was time to go on stage to Osiris, to whom a message was sent on behalf of the judgment of the gods. Twice they sent messengers to the ruler of Duat, twice he made it clear that he was on the side of his son (this is a surprise!), The last letter had an effect. Especially the unequivocal threat it contains. Osiris writes: “As for this country where I am, it is full of ferocious messengers, and they are not afraid of any god or any goddess. And I will make them go out, and they will bring me the heart of everyone who does evil deeds, and they will stay here with me”(quoted from: M. Mathieu“Ancient Egyptian Myths”).
“Enough, have fun,” the gods decided. They called Seth and again asked why he did not give the rank to Horus, and he humbly said: "Let them call Horus, the son of Isis, and give him the rank of his father Osiris." They put a crown on Horus's head and told him: “You are the beautiful king of Egypt and you are the beautiful ruler of each land forever and ever” (quoted from: M. Mathieu “Ancient Egyptian myths”). But Seth did not remain without a throne: Ra called him his son, invited him to sit on the throne with him, helping to fight the enemies of the sun god (“let him rumble in the sky and be afraid of him!”).
In the Jumillac papyrus (300 BC), you can find additional storylines of the myth, see the role of Anubis in this drama. And also to find out that Set did not sit on the throne with Ra, but being tied hand and foot was presented to Osiris as the original throne, but fled in the guise of a panther. Anubis' supporters grabbed him and burned him, and then flayed his skin, and Anubis climbed into it. Then he burned his mark on it - this is how the spotted leopard appeared. And since then, the uab priest, who participates in funeral rituals, wears a leopard skin. There are other discrepancies in the later papyrus.
But the previous interpretation is much less bloody …
So the two sworn enemies were reconciled and the Two Lands united. And we, following the ancient Egyptian scribe, can summarize: "It is finished safely in Thebes, the place of Truth."
This, it turns out, was what the ancient gods of Egypt were doing. Amazing, isn't it?
