Another important form of Horus was that known as Horus, son of Isis,
and of Osiris. He represented the rising sun, as did several other
forms of Horus, and possessed many aspects or variants. His shrines
were so numerous that at one epoch or another he was identified with
all the other Horus-gods, but he chiefly represented the new sun, born
daily, and he was son and successor of Osiris. He was extremely popular,
as being a well-marked type of resurrection after death. As Osiris
represented 'yesterday,' so Horus, his son, stood for 'to-day' in the
Egyptian mind. Although some texts state that Osiris was his father,
others claim this position for Ra, but the two in this instance are
really one and the same and interchangeable.
Osiris became the father of Horus after he was dead; such is the origin
of several sun-heroes. As has been said, the birth of such is usually
peculiar and obscure. Isis, while tending the infant Horus and in fear
of the persecutions of Set, took shelter in the swamps of the Delta, and
hid herself and her child amidst a dense mass of papyrus plants. To the
Egyptian of the Delta it would of course seem as if the sun took its
rise from amidst the papyrus-covered swamps which stretched on every
side to the horizon, so we may regard this part of the myth as allegory
pure and simple. The circumstances of the escape of Isis from Set have
already been detailed in the myth of Osiris.
The filial respect which Horus displayed for the memory of his father
Osiris won him much honour from the Egyptians. He it was who fixed the
details of the god's mummification, and who set the standard for the
pious Egyptian son. In this respect he was regarded as a helper of
the dead, and was thought to mediate between them and the judges of
the Taut. In his work of caring for the deceased he had a number of
helpers, known as the followers of Horus, who were regarded as gods of
the cardinal points. They are given positions of great importance in
the _Book of the Dead_, and shared the protection of the body of the
deceased, as has been mentioned in the paragraph concerning the mummy.
They were four in number and were named Hapi, Tuamutef, Amset, and
Qebhsennuf.
Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, was regarded as of such importance that
he absorbed the attributes of all the other Horus-gods, but in certain
texts he is represented as a child, with forefinger to lip, and wearing
the lock of hair at the side of the head which indicates youth. In later
times he was figured in a great many different fanciful forms.
The Black Hog
Ra, Set, and Horus are concerned in an Egyptian myth which attempts an
explanation of eclipses of the sun and moon. Set and Horus were bitter
enemies, yet Set did not dare to enter the fray openly, for he feared
Horus as evil must ever fear good. So he devised subtle and underhand
schemes whereby he might compass the fall of Horus, and this is how the
matter fell out.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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