The Myths of Horus and Set - Term Paper Example

Introduction The myths of Horus and Set also pertain to ancient perspective and cover a wide aspect of Egyptian traditions and customs directed to supreme love and the development of good values (Hart, 1997). The myths of Horus and Set have been pertained to as a body of knowledge by the well regarded Egyptian deities. Horus and Set, both ancient Egyptian deities who established the basic foundations of the Upper and Lower Egypt, provided us a body of knowledge whose goal is the cleansing of a person’s heart and shying away from all temptations to become pleasing to the eyes of the gods. In short, the myth of Horus and Set is a body of knowledge through which a person can learn the way towards being with the company of the gods, cleanse one’s inner self from impurities and fill it with good and pleasant characteristics. The value of the myths of Horus and Set cannot be classified in every structure and quality, and therefore cannot be seen, yet it remains with the world from every structure and situation either living or dead. It is most of the time the basic understanding of Egyptian rulers that each situation is an element and the will of the gods and at the same time the developing of bad feelings as to why it happened is not correct. The main lesson of the myths of Horus and Set therefore is to prevent the entry of all negative attitudes brought about by worldly temptations, including a belief of personal identity, and to value and respect the existence of the gods (Muller, 2004). The myths of Horus and Set have made utilization of stories, parables, and poetry, and it is stated by Egyptian historians that implications can only be attained through a procedure of searching what is right, and learning of the personal identity. Even though concepts and theories of the myths of Horus and Set differ among various sects, the myths of Horus and Set in their entirety are initially concerned with direct individual experience. Conflict between Horus and Set The story of Set's quarreling with Horus and other gods is existent in majority of the historical texts in Egypt, involving the Pyramid Texts, writings on the walls of the Horus shrine, and other historical references. The Chester Beatty Papyrus No. 1 is the famous historical text that reveals the myth popularly named as The Contention of Horus and Set. Various historians also provided the details of the myth. These stories normally present Osiris as an intelligent leader and the head of the society, contented with his simple life while being attached to his sister Isis. Set was his always jealous younger sibling, and Set murdered and dishonored Osiris. Isis reconstructed Osiris' dead body and another god (uncertain whether it was Thoth or Anubis) did the embalming process. As the mummy, Osiris lorded over the Hades as the leader in this world. Osiris' son Horus was born through Isis with Osiris' dead body, or in some stories, only with some parts of his dead body. Horus obviously transformed as the nemesis of Set, and many stories provide details of their quarrels. In some of these stories Set is viewed as Horus' elder sibling rather than a relative. In one of their conflicts Set removed Horus's left eye, which symbolized the moon; probably this story acted to serve as the reason why the moon does not shine so bright as the sun (Pinch, 2004). The story integrated valuable learning for interactions between fathers and sons, siblings and lovers. Probably the story also cites valuable phenomena that happened in the past. Based on the Shabaka Stone, Geb halved Egypt into two distinct divisions, distributing Upper Egypt to Set and Lower Egypt to Horus, in order to amend the conflicts of the two. However, based on the Shabaka Stone, in a subsequent ruling Geb mandated the entire Egypt to Horus. Analyzing the meaning of this story as a factual aspect would lead a person to discover that Lower Egypt which was owned by Horus took away Set’ Upper Egypt; but in reality Upper Egypt really dominated Lower Egypt. So the story cannot be easily deciphered. Various stories are present to provide meanings to the huge gap. For example, since both gods were being respected in Upper Egypt before the unity, probably the story identifies a conflict within Upper Egypt before the unity, wherein a Horus-respecting society objected a Set-respecting society. What is acknowledged is that after the First Dynasty, there was a time where the Leaders’ name - which had been decorated by a Horus bird - was for a period decorated by a Set pet, indicating some type of misunderstanding based on religious issues (Budge, 2001). It was stopped at the conclusion of the era by Khasekhemui who decorated his crown with both the symbolical animals of Horus and Set, illustrating some type of agreement had been achieved. Subsequently, once the two territories were united, Seth and Horus were most of the time viewed together welcoming the new kings, as a sign of their leadership over both Lower and Upper Egypt. Female leaders of the early periods brought respect to both Horus and Set. The Pyramid Texts illustrate the king as an integration of the two gods. As a result, kings of Egypt were convinced that they controlled and managed conflicting cosmic theories. Later on the dual-deity Horus-Set evolved, integrating elements of both gods (as was normal in Egyptian religion). Later Egyptian historians decoded the story of the quarrel between Set and Osiris / Horus as a symbol for the conflict between Set’s barren land and the waters of the Nile of Osiris/Horus. Since Horus was mentioned to be the sky, it was ordinary that he eventually was categorized also to represent the sun and moon. It was mentioned that the sun and the moon was his vision, and that they passed through the sky when a bird went over it. Thus he was also pertained to as Harmerty - Horus of two eyes. Eventually, the reason that the moon did not shine so brightly as the sun was illustrated by a new story, pertained to as the conflicts of Horus and Set, beginning as a story for the control of Upper Egypt by Lower Egypt. In this myth, it was mentioned that Set, the leader of Upper Egypt, and Horus, the leader of Lower Egypt, had warred for the control of Egypt viciously, with no one claiming triumph, until finally the gods supported the claim of Horus (Spence, 1990). As Horus was the triumphant leader he was pertained to as Harsiesis, but normally transformed to as Horus the Elder. In the conflict Set had his testicle eliminated, which is the reason why the land that Set symbolizes is barren. Horus' left vision had also been eliminated, which is the reason why the moon, which it symbolized, was so inferior in comparison to the sun. It was also mentioned that in a new-moon, Horus lost his vision, while when the moon can be seen again, his vision came back as well. While being in as state of poor vision, it was mentioned that Horus was seriously offensive, and there are instances where he even hurt his allies which he thought as rivals. By the Nineteenth century, the past short conflict between Set and Horus, where Horus eliminated one of Set's testicles, was reborn as a distinct myth. Based on the Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, Set was pertained to as being homosexual and is viewed as making efforts to assert his power by sexually attracting Horus and then doing sexual intercourse with him. However, Horus puts his arm between his legs and takes hold of Set's seminal fluid, then immediately drags it down the river, making it impossible for Horus to have be fertilized by Set. Horus then forcefully sprinkles his own seminal fluid on some vegetables, which was Set's preference for food (Bonnefoy, 1992). After Set has devoured the plants, they proceed to the goods to fix the conflict over the right leader of Egypt. The gods first heed Set's assertions of leadership over Horus, and commands his seminal fluid, but it heeds from the river, nullifying his assertions. Then, the gods heed to Horus' assertion of having overpowered Set, and command his seminal fluid, and it heeds from within Set. As a result, Horus gains the leadership of Egypt. What relevance did the myth have for the kings of Egypt? The growth of the power of Egyptian kings would eventually involve the deliberate extension of its power by territorial advantage or through the foundation of financial and/or political sovereignty over other states. Therefore, the myth of the conflicts between Horus and Set virtually made the territorial domination of Egypt impossible to stop. Egypt’s territory flourished in the early centuries when they started to gain leadership of other non-modernized states and territories. The "Era of Colonization" normally pertains to the Ancient Egyptian era, when Egyptian kings aspired for dominance over the other regions of the world. In investigating and analyzing the impacts of the myth of Horus and Set on the Egyptian rulers, it is easy to deduce that there is a connection between the conflict and the greed for power of Egypt that was rampant during those times. Therefore, it is easy to identify that myth of Horus and Set gives an accurate and logical outline that includes independent Egyptian wars in various areas of the world. This outline is critical due to the fact that the myth of Horus and Set has the capability to identify initiatives and operations as situations that are well-liked and induced by people who like to sow terror (Sharpe, 1997). The myth of Horus and Set gives capability and the valid explanation to Egyptian kings that handle wars based on territorial disputes. Thus, the myth of Horus and Set was a phenomenon and an outline where all initiatives and operations done by warring states were classified and categorized altogether. With the tremendous growth of the Egyptian territories and the desire of the Egyptian kings to control all states, the impacts of the myth of Horus and Set were definitely inevitable. During those times the term "colonization" came to be utilized in Egypt as a polemical manner to distinguish their domestic and local dominating plans. The major mistake or failure of the Egyptian kings, in an ancient tradition to identify themselves from the continent, is that they did not classify their own growth of power properly to other states (Remler, 2006). They did explain the purpose of their "colonization", the growth of their territories from the continent to other regions of the world, paving the way to a “larger Kingdom” of Egyptian population. Dominating other nations was not yet connected with the policy of individuals that do not dwell in the Egyptian territories. Majority of Egypt’s kings also failed to find benefits in organized, domestic colonization: great economic and industrial cartel desired for colonizing aid to secure their domestic assts against rivalry and international political conflicts overseas; bureaucrats desired and searched for government positions; people in the security wished for higher responsibilities and ranks; and the usual but striving desired for improved income for their businesses, ranks, and public office responsibilities. It was the influences of the myth of Horus and Set that really triggered this colonizing mindset of Egyptian kings, so they are the ones to blame. And considering the reputation of the Egyptian kings, having a no retreat, no surrender attitude, the war between other nations meant quarrels that included multiple countries in a fight to totally decimate each other’s army and even the innocent people behind it (Storm, 2000). The aims of the Egyptian kings include the initiatives and actions being done together with its other allied nations to fight and eliminate rival communities, continue to wreak havoc and sow terror. The objective of combating rivals is rooted from the catastrophic events such as the myth of Horus and Set which ended the lives of many innocent individuals. Egypt faced various government and political changes and dilemmas as a result of the influences of the myth of Horus and Set. There had been four (4) major political issues that had been evident from the myth of Horus and Set. These included: (a) the emergence for the importance of power and colonization; (b) improved participation of the Egyptian people and their clamor for changes; (c) increased responsibility and vigilance of the Egyptian people; (d) shaping up of the ideas of governance and politics. Also, the types of political cultures gradually changed from a bipolar (huge government-huge enterprise) to a tri-polar framework (leaders - private communities– citizens). For some historians, the myth of Horus and Set is considered as a highly controversial idolatry topic at present and has actually faced various disapprovals and rejections all over the world, because of the following reasons: A. The myth of Horus and Set bases its teachings on things (image, stupas, temples and relics, Egyptian devotion and cosmology) and aspects of human life that cannot be deciphered by numbers (such as the purity of the mind and heart). The myths of Horus and Set most of the time utilized symbolical things like the moon and the sun and cosmology which was hard to be decoded by an ordinary individual to understand these principles (Barker, 1999). This utilization of symbolical and hard to understand language and images and the presence of various implications by individuals who possessed inadequate knowledge in the myth of Horus and Set itself result to the rejections and disapprovals being cast over the authenticity of the myth of Horus and Set as a component of idolatry. In addition, some sects arose that categorized themselves above and portrayed the myth of Horus and Set as a process of intervening the principles of God in order to be saved immediately. This was rejected by modern experts. B. Egyptian leaders have established various specific chants and activities into their teaching grounds. The symbolical and often absurd language utilized by the myth of Horus and Set in their teachings when deciphered by ignorant individuals opens channels for various misinterpretations of idolatry and chaos. Conclusion The myth of Horus and Set is a story where both gods’ past or previous happenings and occurrences in their everyday dealings and cultural heritage was portrayed to provide additional information and background to the characters. Along the way, Horus and Set’s evolution to their positions as leaders of Egypt was attained because of their consistent efforts to find out what they really wanted in their lives. The myth enhances learning because the author passes on the responsibility to the reader to understand the logic of the myth of Horus and Set through studying and hearing historical facts. Even though such information are to be changed into interpretations of the present for effective utilization, integral aspects of myth of Horus and Set are still connected with current events, therefore providing the readers the chance to know what the people in the past had known. The myth of Horus and Set simply pertains to the field of stating situations and phenomena of reminiscing Egyptian cultural heritage as they happen. For example, in this story it is Horus who is the one pondering over his cultural heritage, his family, as well as the living and the dead in his life. Such stating includes Horus’ gathering, investigation, authentication, and illustration of his life collected in relation to current events, topics, individuals, and conditions that had an impact on his cultural heritage. REFERENCES Barker, H, 1999. Egyptian gods & goddesses. Grosset & Dunlap Bonnefoy, Y, 1992. Greek and Egyptian Mythologies. University Of Chicago Press Budge, E, 2001. The Gods of the Egyptians or Studies in Egyptian Mythology: Volume 1. Adamant Media Corporation Hart, G, 1997. Egyptian Myths. University of Texas Press; 1st edition Muller, F, 2004. Egyptian Mythology. Dover Publications; New edition Pinch, G, 2004. Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA Remler, P, 2006. Egyptian Mythology a to Z. Facts on File; 2nd Revised edition Sharpe, S, 1997. Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity. Kessinger Publishing; Facsim.of 1896 edition Spence, L, 1990. Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends. Dover Publications Storm, R, 2000. Egyptian Mythology: Myths and Legends of Egypt, Persia, Asia Minor, Sumer and Babylon. Lorenz Books Read More