| Horus Biography |
| The head of a hawk is
a reference to Horus's daily flight as the sunbird, east to west. At the
close of each day he passes into the earth to become reborn the next day. This daily
rebirth made Horus a helper of the dead and he was thought to mediate between them and the
judges of the Taut. The Egyptian god Horus is the
son of Osiris and Isis who was begot after his father
was murdered by his father's brother Seth. As a youth Horus engages
Seth in battle to avenge the murder of his father, gain his inheritance and ascend to the
throne of Egypt. During the battle Seth transforms himself into a black pig surrounded by
a whirlwind of fire. When Horus looks upon Seth, in the form of the black pig, his left
eye is burned out. This sacred left eye of Horus is presented as an offering to the mummy of Osiris which brings the deity to life, an eternal life, beyond the cycle of death and generation. The Eye of Horus, later restored to him by the god Thoth, symbolized that one thought to be dead is disclosed to himself and to all to be in fact alive eternally, both in himself and in the person of his son. From then on the Eye of Horus was presented to the embalmed pharaohs for their resurrection into the Netherworld. Horus is a identified with Apollo by the Greeks and represented by a falcon or a falcon-headed god of caring for the deceased. He had a number of helpers, known as the followers of Hours. In later times he is thought to be reincarnated in the person of each new Pharaoh. Egyptians referred to Horus as the falcon which they saw soaring high above their heads. Many thought of the sky as a divine falcon whose two eyes were the sun and the moon. Whenever the followers of the falcon settled, Horus was worshipped. Over the course of time his roles and attributes varied, which is why there are some twenty Horuses in the Egyptian pantheon. It is important though, to distinguish Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, from Horus the Elder "Haroeris," and the other falcons of a solar character such as Hor Behdetite and Horus of Edufu. |
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