Set has been worshiped since prehistoric times, as evidenced by the fact that his images, statues and amulets have been found dating back to all periods of ancient Egyptian history. Moreover, these finds relate not only to Nagada, where, according to tradition, he was born, but to all other regions of Egypt.
One of the earliest known images of the god is on the mace of Scorpio (c. 3100 BC), the legendary first ruler of Egypt from pre-dynastic times.
During the Second Dynasty (c. 2890 – 2686 BC), Set was closely associated with Asch, the ancient god of the Upper Egyptian city of Ombos, whom he replaced as that city's chief deity.
Also during the Second Dynasty, the figure of Set appears on the serekh (rectangular tablet-stele with the name of the pharaoh) of Peribsen and on the serekh of Khasekhemwu, where the image of Horus the falcon was also located, thereby indicating a certain equality at this time with the great falcon god.
That is, in certain periods of the third millennium BC. Seth somewhat supplanted Horus as the guardian and patron of the pharaohs, forming a kind of tandem with him.
Both characters symbolized the gods of royalty and the deities of the North (Horus) and the South (Set).
They were often later depicted together with the pharaoh, symbolizing the unification of the two lands - Upper and Lower Egypt - on royal thrones, temple reliefs, etc., crowning and blessing the king to rule.
"Golden periods" of Seth worship
Set's popularity varied during different periods of Egyptian history. In addition to the several periods mentioned above in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. Two more periods can be distinguished when the influence of his cult of Set was especially significant.
The first occurs in the 2nd Intermediate Period during the reigns of the pharaohs of the XV-XVI dynasties (c. 1674 - 1567 BC), who came from the Hyksos, who conquered Lower Egypt. The Hyksos in the Delta probably identified him with their own god Baal.
The second surge of special veneration and attention to Seth was observed during the reign of the Ramessides (XIX and XX dynasties, c. 1293 - 1070 BC), when many Egyptian pharaohs bore the name of the god as their main and additional ones. Seti I (c. 1291 - 1278) is one of the most famous and famous rulers of Ancient Egypt.
The struggle between Set and Horus for the Egyptian throne
After the death of Osiris, who according to some myths was killed by Seth, for a long time - for 80 years - he fought with Horus (Horus, Horus), the son of Osiris, for the royal throne of Egypt.
Many myths of Ancient Egypt convey the intensity of the struggle between these two opponents, giving bloody details of the battle. In particular, Horus tried to kill Set with a spear, when the latter, in the guise of a hippopotamus, tore out Horus's left eye. Horus ultimately defeated the enemy by castrating Set (removing the man's testicles).
The Egyptian gods, concerned about the long-term feud between Set and Horus, gathered at a special tribunal to evaluate each claim to the royal title. The Council of Gods declared Horus the winner and made him ruler of Lower and Upper Egypt.
Set had to give the eye of Horus and, according to one mythological tradition, he was killed; according to another, he joined the retinue of the god Ra and became the voice of thunder; according to the third, he was modeled after Horus.
Seth is the personification of the hostile world and evil
In the beginning, Set was not a deity with such negative characteristics and an evil character. He acquired them over time, probably as a result of a series of political and social events that were reflected in myths, gradually significantly changing the original image of God and his perception.
Throughout Egyptian history, Set's reputation gradually became worse and worse until he became Set, the hideous god of evil.
The world outside the Nile Valley, deserts, foreign states - that is, what was hostile, dangerous for the Egyptians, a manifestation of chaos and disorganization was associated with Seth as their personification. In the world of Seth, the divine law of order - maat - does not apply.
The connection of the god with other states led to the fact that in Egyptian mythology he was sometimes connected by marital ties with the foreign cruel Semitic goddesses Astarte and Anat (among the Egyptian goddesses proper, Nephthys was considered his wife, sometimes the hippopotamus goddess Tauret, and “Pyramid Texts”, TP 1521 , even the warlike goddess Neith is mentioned as such).
Breaker of all taboos
New Kingdom texts credit Set with committing a series of blasphemous crimes, such as cutting down sacred trees and hunting sacred fish, birds and animals.
He was also notorious as a notorious violator of sexual taboos. His lustful nature leads to inappropriate heterosexual and homosexual encounters.
In one myth, he is punished for copulating with the "semen goddess" who personified the creator's sperm. Another myth describes Set's attempt to sexually dominate his rival, Horus, leading to the unnatural birth of the moon god Thoth.
There is a mythological story according to which it was Set, in the guise of the crocodile Sobek, who swallowed the phallus of the god Osiris when he was thrown by the same Set into the Nile.
At Edfu, the clergy of Horus celebrated the day of Set's castration in response to Set's dismemberment of Osiris's body and the plucking out of Horus's eye.
During the Greco-Roman period, Set was severely criticized in most temples. The Greeks identified Set with the monster Typhon, who rebelled against the gods and was to be destroyed by Zeus.
Set as War God
However, Seth was not the embodiment of “pure evil” for the Egyptians. He was the lord of metals. Subsequently, when the Egyptians learned to produce iron, the hardest metal at that time, it was called the “bones of Set.”
Seth was the personification of strength, especially in the military sense. Set himself was considered a great warrior. Set's main weapon is a giant mace or scepter. He was also excellent with a spear.
This appearance could not but be attractive to the warlike Egyptian pharaohs, who turned for support to many gods with pronounced “military” features: Montu, Mihosu, Neith, etc.
The great conqueror Pharaoh of the XVIII dynasty Thutmose III (c. 1504 - 1450 BC) - “Napoleon of antiquity” - called himself “the favorite of Set.” There is an image on a relief from the temple at Karnak, in which Set helps Thutmose III to hit his enemies with arrows from a bow.
It is said about the famous pharaoh of the 19th dynasty Ramesses II (c. 1279 - 1212 BC) that during the battle of Kadesh he fought the enemies “like Set.”
Protector and guardian of the god Ra
Like any Egyptian god, even the most bloodthirsty, Set has many positive aspects in Egyptian mythology.
He was the one who, for example, every night struck with his spear the evil snake Apophis (Apophis), the sworn enemy of the sun god, when Apophis tried to attack the boat of the god Ra during the night voyage through the underworld.
And the very concept of “evil” for the Egyptians was necessary in order to ensure the existence of “good”. The struggle between evil and good, light and night, cold and heat, etc. is necessary for the existence of the entire universe from the point of view of the Egyptian worldview. Of course, this essentially correct philosophical idea could be expressed in those distant times only in mythological form. Therefore, Set is an important figure in ancient myths.
Overall, it appears that for the vast majority of Egyptians, Set remained an ambivalent deity at best for most of Egyptian history. In the Egyptian calendar, Set's birthday was considered a particularly unlucky day in all respects.
Cult centers of the god Set
Despite the odious nature of Set, the veneration of God is celebrated in all periods of Egyptian history, and not only when he was especially singled out from among other gods. Set had cult centers in various areas and especially in Upper Egypt, where he was often regarded as the divine patron of that part of the country, symbolically balancing the patronage of Horus over Lower Egypt.
The god's earliest cult center was perhaps at ancient Nubta, Greek Ombos, located about 30 km north of Luxor, at the entrance to Wadi Hammamat, the route through the eastern desert. It was believed that Seth was born in this area.
Seth was also especially respected in the 5th, 10th, 11th and 19th nomes (regions) of Upper Egypt (see Map of Ancient Egypt). However, Set was also popular in Lower Egypt, especially in the 14th nome, which is located in the northeast of Egypt.
A cult center of the god also existed in the royal city of Pi-Ramses in the Delta.
Iconography of Set
The Egyptian god Set is usually depicted with the body of a man and the head of a mythical animal resembling a donkey or anteater with unusual rectangular ears.
There are also images of the god when he has the body of a predatory beast or mammal with the head of the aforementioned mythical animal, with a long branched tail.
Finally, Seth sometimes appears in the form of animals about which people had mixed feelings, such as a hippopotamus, a crocodile or a pig. Also depicted as a dog, donkey, antelope, etc.
Mythology tells us that he had red eyes and hair, a color traditionally associated with the hot sands of the desert. Interestingly, animals with red fur, even men with red hair, were considered followers of Set.
Amulets and Set
Amulets depicting the god were not widespread, but nevertheless exist. They were apparently used to resist the influence of other unfriendly gods or to protect themselves from the negative influence of Set himself.
His head in images and amulets is sometimes crowned with the White Crown of Upper Egypt or the Double Crown of all Egypt.
Also called Seth and Sutekh in literature, he was one of the most important characters in the pantheon. A large number of myths and legends are associated with him; they asked for mercy and were afraid of him.
This god is considered the patron of chaos and disorder. He could send bad weather and storms to villages. He was the creator of deserts. He was considered treacherous and cruel.
Set was born from the gods Geb and Nut. He had a brother Osiris and sisters Isis and Nephthys. The latter also became his wife.
This character of ancient Egyptian mythology had many things, but the main one among them was the donkey. That’s why Seth himself was depicted as a tall, slender man with a donkey’s head. He had red hair and eyes, which was considered the color of the dead land - deserts. A spear was depicted in the hands of the god.
There was a belief that Seth originally had good qualities and was not the patron of evil. But envy of his elder brother increasingly sharpened the heart of God, draining all the good from him. Mythology tells about the confrontation between brothers. Set tried to get rid of Osiris. And one day he came up with the most insidious of all ideas.
Seth's Betrayal
At a time when they believed in Set, it was customary to start taking care of your afterlife in advance. Even in my youth, sarcophagi were ordered and tombs were built. When the construction was completed, it was time to celebrate. So Seth ordered a sarcophagus for himself. But it turned out to be too big for God.
As mythology tells, Seth invited guests to his house and said that he would give a beautiful sarcophagus to whoever needed it at the right time. Then all the guests of the insidious god began to take turns trying on the gift. But he only approached Osiris. As soon as he lay down in the sarcophagus, the lid closed. Seth doused the sarcophagus with lead and threw his brother's body into the waters of the Nile.
Osiris' wife Isis put on mourning. She searched for her husband for a long time and wandered through different lands. Finally, she learned that her husband’s coffin had become a column in one of the palaces. Isis hid her divine origin and became a nanny, just to be near her husband’s body. But her deception was soon revealed. And then Isis asked to give her the coffin.
The goddess was able to hide her journey and its outcome from her cruel brother. She also did not tell Seth about her pregnancy, and then about the birth of her son Horus.
Seth vs Horus
As mythology tells, Horus grew up to be a strong young man, a mighty warrior. And he wanted nothing more than to avenge his father.
The battle between the two gods is reflected in myths. Initially, the son of Osiris suffered defeats. Seth tore out his nephew's eye. He, in turn, castrated his uncle. The gods were concerned about this bloody battle. And then they decided to hold a trial to decide who was right - the son of Osiris or Seth. Mythology tells that victory was given to Horus. His eye was returned to him, which helped revive Osiris. Seth was punished for his treachery.
The revived Osiris could again become a ruler. But he did not want to remain among the gods after his experience. Then he became the ruler of the underworld, and transferred his former power to his son Horus.
Seth - warrior and protector
Seth was not the only patron of evil. Mythology rarely includes heroes who have only negative qualities. Likewise, the donkey-headed god had features that made him attractive to the ancient Egyptians.
Set was the patron of metals, and iron was named after him. And since this god was also strong, the warriors chose him as their ruler. He knew how to fight with a spear and often prevailed over his rivals. His power also attracted the attention of the pharaohs. Therefore, Seth also had a hand in power. He was depicted next to the pharaohs.
According to mythology, Set played an important role in the change of day and night. With his spear he killed a snake that wanted to attack the chariot. Despite his character, Seth returned sunlight to people.
The stories of the gods involve the eternal struggle between good and evil, just like any other mythology. Seth appears in it as the personification of evil, but they did not forget him and worshiped him. It was believed that he was capable of any deceit. But he could also protect from evil. He was considered the patron saint of warriors, but was also associated with mysterious lands beyond the borders of Egypt.
There are many myths about Seth. And not in all of them he appears as a villain. Set is considered one of the most important gods. The mythology of Egypt tells the story of its rise and fall.
Among the lords of Earth and Sky who terrified the Egyptians was the god Set, who was represented as a man with the head of a donkey or a dragon. At the same time, even the mention of him caused awe, and his significance was so great that he was put on a par with Horus, the patron saint of the pharaohs. In many images found in the territory, both of these deities are depicted on either side of the ruler of the country.
Egyptian god Set
According to Egyptian mythology, Seth was the son of the gods of earth and sky, Geb and Nut. True, he became famous not for his good deeds, but for the fact that he killed his brother Osiris and ate the sacred cat, after which he acquired a bad reputation as a murderer and became associated with the forces of evil. At the same time, the ancient Egyptian god Set retained his status as the patron of the powerful, as evidenced by the images of the god standing next to the pharaoh.
What natural element did the god Seth personify?
He was worshiped in different parts of the country, but everywhere he evoked mystical horror. Like any other deity associated with one of the natural elements, he carried a negative element within himself. Set, the god of the desert, was the patron and ruler of sandstorms and drought, plunging farmers into fear. But other Egyptians were also afraid of him, since the onset of chaos, hostility towards all living things, war and other misfortunes were associated with him.
Wife of the god Set
Legends say that the god of chaos had several wives, one of which was Nephthys. Seth and Nephthys were brother and sister. However, there are no clear indications of their marital relationship. As for the goddess herself, her image is usually associated with funeral customs, the performance of funeral rites and the reading of funeral prayers. Ancient historians believed that the goddess Nephthys in ancient Egypt reigned over the immaterial and unreal. At the same time, she was often considered the patroness of the feminine principle and the goddess of creation, who “lives in everything.”
What did the god Seth patronize?
The peoples of Egypt were afraid of Set and, wanting to appease him, they erected palaces and temples in his honor, fearing his wrath. Cruelty, rage and death - this was the main thing that the god Seth personified, and although the inhabitants of the country tried in every possible way to appease him, he did not patronize them, but foreigners, inhabitants of distant countries. However, it would be wrong to portray Seth as the embodiment of evil. He patronized valor and courage, instilling courage in the hearts of warriors.
What does the god Set look like?
God Set, who belonged to the cohort of supreme gods, was depicted as a creature that combined a human body and the head of an animal. In various images he looked differently: either with the head of a crocodile or a hippopotamus, but most often he was depicted with the head of a jackal or a donkey, which for the inhabitants of Eastern Egypt was considered a symbol of power. Its distinctive feature is its long ears. The appearance of the god Set is complemented by a scepter - a symbol of power. Moreover, for most ancients, the animals in which Seth was depicted symbolized connections with demonic otherworldly forces.
How was the god Set worshiped?
Despite such a formidable and unpleasant character, history has preserved information about how the god Set was worshiped. He enjoyed special favor among the pharaohs. Written artifacts indicate that the rulers of Egypt were named after him, and temples were built in his honor. True, their number is small, but they were distinguished by the richness of their decoration and the majesty of their architecture. The inhabitants of Eastern Egypt had warm feelings for the deity and even considered him their patron, creating cult centers in his honor.
Symbol of the god Set
Despite his power and belonging to the highest gods, the symbols and cult of the god Set are little known. Perhaps precisely because he took under his protection not the Egyptians, but foreigners and representatives of the supreme power of the state. For some time, he even constituted a kind of competition to the supreme god Horus, as evidenced by the found images of pharaohs sitting on a throne, on both sides of which stand these two deities. God Set does not have his own symbols and attributes. In all images, he holds in his hands a rod - a symbol of power and a cross.
The presence of cult centers in certain areas of Egypt indicates that the evil god Set, nevertheless, was revered by the local residents. Interestingly, in some areas of the country it was represented as a sacred fish, so the use of fish dishes was prohibited here. In addition, the image of this warlike god was close to those who took part in battles and hoped for his protection. The distinctive feature of the warrior god was: blood, pressure and hot desert soil.
It is difficult to find a person who would not be interested in mythology. A beautiful fairy tale that reflects the prejudices of people who lived before our era. Tourists visiting the lands of Egypt try not only to pay attention to the sights, architectural delights and beauty of this land, but also to understand the mythology of Egypt.
Since the ancient people were quite devout, interest immediately appeared in the gods they worshiped and stood in awe of.
Let's reveal some secret about the god Seth.
God Set, according to Egyptian mythology, is represented by the deity of the desert, the lord of sandstorms. In addition, he is the personification of evil, patronized disorder and chaos. By origin, Seth belongs to the supreme gods. His parents were the Sky goddess Nut and Geb. According to myth, Seth's wife was the goddess Nephthys, who was the fourth child of this divine couple. Set's great desire, according to the legends and myths of ancient Egypt, was to win the throne from Osiris, who was his brother.
Seth's cunning.
To resolve his plans, Seth resorted to some tricks. On his order, a sarcophagus was made of gold (according to some legends it was a chest), which corresponded to the dimensions of Osiris. Having invited guests and Osiris to his house, he offers this golden sarcophagus to anyone who can fit in it. As soon as Osiris lay down in this sarcophagus, Seth's minions closed it with a lid and threw it into the waters of the Nile. Some time later, the sarcophagus landed on the Phoenician shores. Here his wife Isis was able to find him. Osiris was immediately returned to the Nile Delta. But even now the insidious Set did not leave Osiris alone. Seizing the moment, he cuts Osiris into many pieces. And, having won the throne in such an insidious way, Seth becomes the rightful master of Egypt.
Revenge for father.
The god Horus, the son of Osiris, trying to take revenge on Seth for the death of his father, enters into battle with him. He defeats Set with the help of the god Ra. However, the god Set survives and his opponents turn to the divine court, where the issue of kingship is decided.
For eighty years they have been trying to find the right solution. But only the revived Osiris made it possible to make the necessary and correct decision. Seth was deprived of the throne of Egypt, and the god Amon Ra, in order to influence everyone with frightening measures, took Seth with him to heaven.
Cult of Set.
The cult of this god flourished in such areas of Egypt as Kom Ombos, Ombos, Gipsel, and also in the oases of Kharga and Dakhla. His cult especially flourished in the northeast of the Nile Delta. The Oracle of Set existed in the oasis of Dakhla until the XXII dynasty. Already from the 26th dynasty, Seth became the most ardent “evil”.
For everything that was hostile to the Nile Valley, Seth became the ruler. He was revered along with the Assyro-Phoenician goddesses Ashtoret or Astarte and Anat, as the patron saint of foreigners and distant countries. Already during the New Kingdom, these goddesses were considered the wives of Set.
Birth of Seth.
According to the Heliopolis cosmogony, the birth of Seth occurred on the third New Year's day from the side of his mother, the goddess Nut. This day was considered unlucky for Egypt. But even then, the Egyptians did not perceive Set as something hostile and evil than the serpent Apep or the crocodile Magus. Although Seth is considered the lord of chaos and disorder, this is in any case a necessary addition to order. The crimes committed by Seth and the lost dispute did not affect the fact that he was the only ruler of the southern region in Egypt. He remained the master of the power of sandstorms and bad weather, subject only to him. Seth received special veneration as the lord of military valor and courage from the Ramsessides.
Images of Seth.
Images of Seth were always in the form of an animal. It is interesting that in terms of zoological meaning it is very difficult to determine which animal Seth embodied. These interpretations started from the aardvark through the canine family and the okapi, ending with the image of an antelope. But most often his image resembled that of a donkey.
Even the image of this animal for the nomads of Upper Egypt was the personification of power, and for the farmers of Lower Egypt it was the main symbol of trouble. This made it possible for Seth, along with his partner and tribesman Horus, to rule in another part of Egypt.
Mythology of Egypt.
Not only in the mythology of Egypt, but also in any other, there is a good principle and an evil one. In Egyptian mythology, the god Set is assigned an evil nature. True, there is a character who is endowed with an even greater element of evil - this is the serpent Apep. But he is identified with various elements, and Seth was endowed with human vices - envy, cruelty, deceit. His image in mythology appears as a god-man.
There is also something positive to note about Seth. An example of this is the strength and valor attributed to him. This legend is about how he saved the god Amun Ra from the serpent Apophis. It tells how, sitting in the boat of the god Ra, Seth strikes the serpent with a spear.
Over time, Seth gains evil qualities. This allowed him to become a god for countries hostile to Egypt. In addition, he is personified with a harmful god and ruler of the desert.
Most likely, the gods originally had great similarities with people. That is, they, like people, were contradictory. Everything that is considered normal for people is not appropriate for divine symbols. After some time, divine and human traits began to separate. And thus, the consciousness of the Egyptians, in the god Seth, expressed the process of continuous desertification of the earth. This process is associated with active human activity and lasts for several millennia.
Comparison of Set with other gods of Egypt and deities of other peoples.
The Egyptian people identified Seth with Beban. Among the Libyan people it was the god Ash. On the Sinai Peninsula - Nemti. For the Hurrians it was Tusheb.
Set was identified with Baal under the Hyksos, and the city of Avaris became the site of his cult. As E.P. suggests. Blavatsky Seth is also identified with the god Yahweh. The set had wives named Anat, Asherah or Astarte. They identify the names of the wives of Yahweh and Bal.
In the mythology of Ancient Greece, this is Typhon. The same theory was supported by theosophists of the twentieth century, who suggest that Seth is Seth, is the son of Adam, and this is the second name of Typhon.
Nemti, or in the previous reading Anti, is the most revered and famous god of Ancient Egypt. His image was found in the form of a falcon standing on a crescent, which symbolizes a rook. He was considered a symbol for the 18th Upper Egyptian nome (the city of Khut Nesu). He was treated with great respect in the 10th and 12th Upper Egyptian nomes. For these places he was a divine carrier.
Here is some legend about the litigation between Set and Horus. In this legend, Seth appears as a simple boatman who was seduced by the gold of Isis. For this he was found guilty, and received punishment from the gods of the Nine. The punishment consisted of beating the heels with sticks. In the Zhumilyak papyrus, the punishment of Nemti is covered - all the skin was removed from his bones. Having thus undergone some “purification”, Nemti appears before us in a new quality: this is a skeleton made of silver, which stands above its flesh of gold. According to these myths, Nemti, after such a cruel punishment, placed a curse on gold and subsequently, in places where Nemti was revered, a strict taboo was imposed on gold. Nemti is considered one of the incarnations of Set.
Egyptian horoscope.
According to this horoscope, people born from May 28 to June 18 and from September 28 to October 2 have supernatural abilities, such as the ability to read the signs of fate and, having interpreted them, draw the correct logical conclusion. They have a gift for fortune telling, and for this they can use various means: coffee grounds, cards. These are people you can trust even with your own life. The main features of these people are that they create obstacles for themselves, and then, having heroically overcome them to become somewhat stronger, they, being in an eternal struggle, strive for conquest. Overcoming the created obstacles, they get great pleasure from it. They look forward to a better tomorrow rather than remembering yesterday. They are not ready to learn from the mistakes of others, and these people do not learn from their own mistakes. Therefore, they always start everything from scratch or from a “clean slate”. They achieve their internal balance through their own contradictions. In every matter they can rely solely on themselves. They do not tolerate any infringement, that is, an unlimited desire for freedom in love and in professional activity.
In almost all religions of the world, the light and good principle is opposed to the dark and evil. In Egyptian mythology, this role is assigned to Set (Sethu, Sutekh). True, there are also cosmic dark forces, for example the serpent Apep. But they can be identified with the elements, while Seth is endowed with human negative qualities, in particular, deceit, cruelty, envy, and appears most often in human form.
Although in this case there were serious contradictions and logical inconsistencies, and Seth was sometimes given positive traits, most often he acted as the personification of the evil principle, the killer of Osiris, the harmful god of the desert, hostile “foreign countries”.
According to his pedigree, Seth belonged to the highest caste of gods: he was the third child (after Osiris and Isis) of Geb and Nut. The fourth child - Neftida - according to some myths, was his wife. By right of birth, Seth could claim royal power, but only after the death of his elder brother. The thirst for power prompted Seth to commit a crime - the murder of Osiris. According to one version, Seth's wife cheated on him with Osiris and gave birth to Anubis (the god of embalming and patron of the dead). In this case, one can assume the motive of Seth’s jealousy of Osiris.
There are reasons for such an assumption. In one of the most remarkable legends of Ancient Egypt, “About Two Brothers,” the action takes place both on earth, among people, and in the world of the gods. The main characters have the names of gods: Anupu (Anubis) and Bata - a shepherd who later takes the form of a bull (although at first he is likened to a bull in strength and endurance). Anupu's treacherous wife, after an unsuccessful attempt to seduce Batu, slanders him, and the elder brother, in a fit of jealousy, almost kills his younger brother...
We also cited this story because its example clearly shows how myths and legends change, and with what complex connections they can be intertwined. Moreover, there are “standard”, so-called wandering stories that pass from century to century, from country to country. One of them is connected with the struggle for the throne, which forms the central core of the story of Set and Osiris.
Set caught the unsuspecting Osiris in a trap (lured into a painted box). Set tried to poison the young son of Isis, Horus, by turning into a snake. However, the child grew up and challenged the murderer of his father, who did not rightfully occupy the Egyptian throne. In a fierce battle, Seth managed to snatch the Eye from Horus.
Here again a digression and clarification are required. In this case, the Eye is written with a capital letter, because it is not just a natural eye, but also a magical, divine one. Often the Sun was called the Eye of Ra (and the Moon was called the second Eye). However, the mystical meaning of the Eye of Horus helps to understand the amulet with this name. It was worn by the living (but also placed on the dead). In this way, a person acquired the favor of heaven and, above all, the divine Sun, which bestows strength, vigor, health, and safety.
According to R. Antes, the Eye was identical to the serpent Uraeus, whose image was attached to the front part of the king’s crown or on the forehead to the head scarf. This symbol of royal power was a magical talisman that protected the pharaoh and ensured peace and order in the lands under his control. In this case, the period during which Seth took possession of the Eye of Horus should be interpreted as a time of chaos and unrest in the country (“time of troubles”). On the other hand, the rise of Seth can also be interpreted as an allegory of the victorious invasion of foreigners from the deserts that framed the fertile Nile Valley.
However, in any case, one cannot completely rely on a rational, extremely logical explanation of mythological events. They could mean not only earthly, but also celestial phenomena. In some cases, the Moon was called the Eye of Horus, and its disappearance from the sky meant that this Eye was stolen by Set... However, too often individual myths about certain gods (heroes) are not interconnected by the unity of the plot and characters, their thoughts and characters . These are not fragments of some grandiose work, but individual narratives in which the author’s individuality is manifested and current events of those distant centuries are reflected - sometimes in a bizarre poetic or fantastic form. Often, a researcher, according to the rules of scientific analysis, introduces order, harmony and completeness into disparate myths, which collectively do not possess such qualities.
Nevertheless, in cases where we are talking about a completed work, their analysis gives interesting results. Let us refer to R. Antes. He believed that many myths and legends belonged to the category of entertaining works. “The most sophisticated and extensive example of this kind of literature,” he wrote, “is the history of the struggle of Horus and Set for the right to reign in Egypt. It significantly expands our knowledge of mythological details, since it sets out in detail episodes to which we find only hints in other sources. Moreover, it sheds light on the question of how mythological narratives arose. All the characters in this story are divine beings, as one would expect in an Egyptian text, but they are all completely human, including the sorceress Isis.
The center of the story is a trial between the clumsy, masculine guy Seth, who acts as the brother of Isis, and the smart child Horus, who is helped by his inventive mother. The trial is carried out, of course, because of the legacy of Osiris - the royal power that Horus and Isis demand by law, and Seth by the right of the strong... The story begins with the decision of the court, and it ultimately happily ends the history of the dispute with the coronation of Horus as king Egypt. A characteristic feature of the ending is the appearance of Set, reconciled with his fate... Since the decision is final, he willingly obeys it, and he is assigned to Ra... so that Set will remain with him, like a son, a formidable fighter in the solar boat.
It is significant that the trial is described as a long litigation in which many gods are involved. Therefore, Anthea called this story a parody of slow trials and red tape. One of the small gods (from among the judges) insults Ra, and he lies down in his tent and sulks, capricious, until the arrival of his daughter Hathor (Hathor), who appeared naked before him, made him laugh. Such events delay the legal process. Isis insults Seth, and he refuses to attend the trial while Isis is there. The trial is transferred to an island where it is forbidden to transport women, but Isis overcomes the ban with cunning. It was decided to end the dispute with a duel, for which Seth and Horus turn into hippopotamuses. Isis strikes Seth with a spear, but immediately repents, feeling sorry for her brother, and heals him. For this, Horus beheads his mother. Seth overpowers him and pulls out the Eye. This time Isis helps her son (as if he had not cut off her head). The next competition - on boats - with the help of Isis, Horus wins. But the final decision depends, as it turns out, not on all these trials, but on the opinion of Osiris, who testifies in favor of his son Horus.
According to ethnographer S.A. Tokarev: “This myth reflects not only a well-known natural phenomenon - the struggle of the evil forces of the desert with the fertility of the valley - but also social motives: the son of Osiris disputes his heritage from his brother (family versus tribal).” As we see, these versions do not so much deny as complement the explanation proposed by Antes. After all, even if a given myth is primarily a literary and partly a satirical work, a variety of themes could appear in it. One of them, the most ancient, is associated with the division of Egypt into the Upper and Lower Kingdoms.
The pharaohs of the second dynasty were called "Horus and Set" or "Two Falcons". According to this version, Seth was the ruler of Upper Egypt (where deserts predominate), and Horus was the ruler of Lower Egypt. During the period of the Old Kingdom, Seth was not at all the embodiment of evil and deceit. He was endowed with valor and strength, for he was credited with saving Ra from the monstrous serpent Apophis: being on a solar boat, Seth hit this enemy with a harpoon.
The main sacred animals of Set were considered to be the donkey and the pig (“disgust for the gods”), as well as the antelope and giraffe.
During the invasion of the Hyksos, Seth acquired the traits of a negative character, alien to the Nile valley. His name was associated with the titles of the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty and meant “mighty.” Gradually, Seth acquired more and more distinct features of an evil and treacherous god. It got to the point that he was now sometimes identified with Apep!
Such “shifters” are quite characteristic of spiritual culture. It is believed that those animals that were initially revered as sacred (echoes of totemic beliefs) and whose meat was for this reason prohibited for consumption, subsequently turned into “dirty”, “unclean”, not pleasing to the gods (perhaps in the fight against archaic religious remnants ).
As we see, initially the gods were seen as similar to people; they had contradictory features, which is natural for living characters, not symbols. Over time, however, there was a distance between the images of gods and people (and also, we would add, the natural elements). Now the gods began to live their own special lives, and the contradictory legends about them required a certain order. As a result, the image of Seth, in particular, turned into the personification of evil, approaching the image of the biblical Satan.
In this sense, people's consciousness could reflect the process of ever-increasing desertification of the territories adjacent to the Nile Valley. This lasted for about ten thousand years due to human activity (primarily burning and cutting down vegetation). By creating deserts, man simultaneously created the image of an evil and cruel deity, who embodied not so much natural as human traits.