No comments Horus Egyptian God Story part 2
Of all Egyptian mythological symbols the most enduring is the eye actually there were two eyes in the early myths-one associated with Ra and another with Horus God . We have seen the myth in which Ra himself had two eyes, the sun and the moon. Since Horus God was at times amalgamated with Ra, it is not surprising that Ra’s second eye became the Eye of Horus God . This eye became the particular object of Seth’s aggression during the battle between Horus God and his uncle; when the red god, using his magical powers of deception, had captured the eye, he threw it into the darkness beyond the edge of the world. Thoth, who had been watching the fight and who was the guardian of the moon, observed where it fell and went to fetch it. When he found it, it was in pieces, but he located them all and put them together to form a full moon and thereby restored the night light. This eye was called the wadjet and ancient Egyptians could take the eye apart into its pieces. In fact, the various pieces were used in early writing to represent fractions (the eyeball, for example, represented one quarter).
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| Horus Egyptian God History |
Other myths gave Horus God duties as a creator, protector of kings, and agent of the dead in the underworld. It was the Book of Gates, a lesser-known collection of instructions for dealing with the next life that assigned Horus God a role as creator, in particular, of the black race. According to this myth, the Egyptians were once the only race on earth. Then Horus God and Sekhmet joined together to create those people who dwelled in the desert beyond the so- called Black Land, obviously named for the rich soil along the Nile. The text is confusing in parts, but apparently Horus God created the black race and Sekhmet created the fair-skinned Libyans. The two gods consequently became responsible for protecting the souls of their creations in the afterlife. According to Siegfried
Morenz, Thoth then created the multiplicity of languages that was to separate the races. Thoth also seems to have acted as something of an interpreter when foreigners came to the gates of the underworld seeking eternal life, although it must have been Horus God and Sekhmet who acted as their advocates during their trials.
The role of protector of kings was another assigned to Horus God rather early in history. It was through association with Horus God that the king gained his divinity, and the names of some early kings show that they were thought of as Horus God while they reigned. This association gave them the power and authority of the gods while they were still alive. Since the king was believed to be Horus God here on earth, an interesting problem arose: How could the immortal god Horus God die when the king as Horus God passed from mortal life? Everyone knew that a god could not die, yet every so often Horus God , as the king, did just that. The answer to this theological problem was probably found in the Heliopolitan mythology into which Horus God was assimilated. It came to be believed that while the king was alive, he was Horus God , but when he died he immediately became Osiris and his successor became Horus God in his turn.
Horus God earned his reputation as protector of the dead through his efforts in behalf of his father in the underworld. It was Horus God who received the parts of Osiris’ body as they were recovered by Isis, and he, Anubis, and Thoth embalmed the body, reassembled the pieces, and wrapped them in mummy cloth. Horus God then originated the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth when he fed his own eye to Osiris in order to assure eternal life for the slain god. In the Book of the Dead, Horus God had substantial duties in the underworld, although his role never rivaled that of Anubis or Thoth, much less that of Osiris. Horus God was the guide of the dead through the early stages of their trial, and was shown in vignettes leading the recently deceased person by the hand. He was involved sometimes in the Opening of the Mouth, and had the important duty of presenting the souls that passed the trial to Osiris for final acceptance.
The myths of Horus God can be variously interpreted. They share several themes common to other mythologies and folklores: the hiding of the infant, the young adult’s search for his true father, the great battles. Horus God is an early example of a hero typical of much epic poetry. But Horus God transcends the heroic archetype. He was the savior of the world, who in restoring the vitality of the
A colossal statue of Horus God in falcon form, representing the sun god, from the Temple of Edfu king brought renewal to the earth itself. He was the protagonist in the struggle between the forces of good and evil, and his victory assured the salvation of the earth and its inhabitants. Triumph over Seth placed evil “under his sandals,” as the Coffin Texts put is.
The worship of Horus God was widespread, which is not surprising given the numerous forms in which he could be found. At Abu Simbel, over the entrance to the Temple of Ramses II, there is a falcon representing the sun god with the baboons of Thoth in respectful attendance. At Luxor many of the tombs contain murals of Horus God , usually in human shape with a falcon’s head. In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo there is a large number of statues of Horus God , most often in falcon form. The chief cult center for Horus was, of course, Edfu, and the temple there, begun by Ptolemy III, is the most perfectly preserved of all Egyptian temples. The black granite statue of Horus God at the entrance is one of Egypt’s most valuable works of art.
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