Horus
Egyptian · deity · old kingdom · Recorded classification
Egyptian falcon-headed sky god; son of Isis and Osiris. The living pharaoh IS Horus from the foundational doctrine of pharaonic kingship onward — Dynasty 0 already used "Horus-name" titulary. Mythologically the avenger of his father against Set; the Horus-Set conflict for kingship was structurally the original political-legitimation narrative of Upper-and-Lower Egypt unification. Wounded eye (the wedjat) restored by Thoth — the most ubiquitous protective amulet in Egyptian iconography. Edfu is the best-preserved Ptolemaic temple, dedicated to Horus of Behdet.
Parentage
Children
Domains
- kingship pharaonic
- sky and sun
- avenger of father
- healing
Powers
- Embody pharaonic kingship as the living king
- Avenge Osiris and win the kingship from Set
- Hold the sun and moon as his two eyes across the sky
- Heal snakebite and scorpion-sting
Epithets
- ḥr-ꜣḫty Horus of the two horizons; the solar falcon of the sky-realmPyramid Texts; solar temple liturgies (often Ra-Horakhty) (primary)
- ḥr-sꜣ-ꜣs.t Horus son of Isis; the avenging heir of OsirisCoffin Texts; Contendings of Horus and Seth (P. Chester Beatty I) (primary)
- ḥr nḏ-jt.f Horus who protects/avenges his father; vindicator of OsirisEdfu temple texts; Osiris mysteries (primary)
- ḥr-pꜣ-ẖrd Horus the Child; the infant god protected by IsisMetternich Stela; cippi of Horus; cf. Plut. De Is. et Os. 19 (primary)
- ḥr-bḥdty Horus of Behdet (Edfu); the great winged sun-disk falconEdfu temple, the Myth of the Winged Disk (primary)
- ḥr-m-ꜣḫt Horus in the Horizon (Harmachis, the Great Sphinx)Dream Stela of Thutmose IV, Giza (primary)
Relations
- equated with: ApolloEgyptian Horus ↔ Greek Apollo per Greek Hellenistic-era interpretatio Aegyptiaca. Both are sun-associated, both are youthful gods of healing and order. Hdt. 2.156 has the Egyptian Apollo as son of Egyptian Dionysus and Demeter (i.e., Horus son of Osiris and Isis).Hdt. 2.144, 2.156 (the Egyptian Apollo = Horus); Plut. De Iside 12; Diod. 1.25.7 (primary)
- interpretatio: ApolloReciprocal of greek_hesiod_apollo.interpretatio — Hdt: 'Horus, called Apollo in Greek,' son of Osiris-Dionysus and Isis-Demeter. Preserves the divine-son and solar-falcon brightness; breaks on Horus's kingship ideology — every pharaoh IS Horus.Herodotus, Histories 2.144, 2.156 (primary)