A blog that seeks to extend the conversation outside the traditional classroom environment.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Who is Horus?
The God Horus Protecting King Nectanebo II, 360–343 B.C.E.; Dynasty 30, reign of Nectanebo II; late periodEgyptianGreywacke; H. 28 in. (71.1 cm), W. 8 in. (20.3 cm), D. 18 in. (45.7 cm)
17 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Okay, so, there are several answers about who Horus is. As a matter of fact, Cornell University actually has a website devoted to the Horus project, http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/Projects/HORUS/. The long and the short of it, Horus is the god of the sky. Since he's the sun god, he also controls the son and the moon. Not a bad job. So, that's the short answer. You can find the longer, more intersting and well researched answer(s) and theories on the Cornell website.
Since Horus was said to be the sky, it was natural that he soon was considered also to contain the sun and moon. It became said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it.
Kinda of like what retro said, but from a different place! Man, I wonder if he got all the ladies....
Horus is an Egyptian deity. It is usually depicted as a falcon. "Hor" means "the one on high" and Horus is known as being the sky god. It's left eye is the moon and the right eye is the sun. The feathers on it's chest are thought to be the stars, and it's wings are the wind. Horus is thought to protect the pharoah. This is just one depiction of the god, and many others can be found at http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/horus.htm
Almost every website is saying about the same thing, but here's what I found. Horus is typically found as a falcon headed god who has an earthly embodiment with a pharaoh. It is said that he was conceived by Isis after the death (murder) of Osiris, his father. He does revolve around a solar deity and it is said that because of conflict within Egypt at the time, at least 15 different forms of Horus were created. More indepth information can be found at: http://www.egyptianmyths.net/horus.htm
Horus, is the God of Kings. I read that from the most ancient times, the falcon seems to have been worshipped in Egypt as representative of the greatest cosmic powers... However, Horus wasn't the only falcon God. There were many others but Horus was the most important avian deities. Horus is also one of ancient Egypt's most-known god. Horus is also one of the oldest Egypt gods. It's weird to me that a bird was a God. Am I missing something?
Based on all the information I read, it seems unclear who the true Horus is. It seems to be mostly a general term for a large number of deities. here's a picture I found interesting: http://www.egyptmyway.com/no/images/photo/egmuseum/djoserhorus_b530.jpg
No one really knows really knows how to tell the differences between all the many forms of the Horus. Mostly are known as falcon gods, which are worshipped all over Egypt, and some just had local cults. Its suppose to mean the prince of gods and the specific patron of the living ruler.
Known as a "solar deity" Horus was a very important god in ancient Egypt. Maintaining a falcon-like appearance many Egyptian rulers modeled themselves after this entity. Said to be the god of the sun, war, law and so on, Horus was a god of gods. http://www.egyptianmyths.net/horus.htm
Seems that his children got the short end of the stick. Watching over the dissected body parts of old pharaohs. But, I guess you can't expect a normal lifestyle when your grandmother is also your mother.
"Horus, the son of Isis"
"his 'four sons' were grouped together and generally said to be born of Isis."
"It was believed that Anubis gave them the funerary duties of mummification, the Opening of the Mouth, the burial of Osiris and all men. Horus later made them protectors of the four cardinal points. In the Hall of Ma'at they sat on a lotus flower in front of Osiris. Most commonly, however, they were remembered as the protectors of the internal organs of the deceased. Each son protected an organ, and each son was protected by a goddess."
there is several links that explain who Horus was, links like wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus also a good source is any book involving gods and goddesses, mainly Egyptian ones, also mythology books, one famous mythology was Horus and Seth which shows the battle between good and evil, this mythology shows the birth of Horus and how he became ruler of Egypt, since this Mythology every king of Egypt was considered an incarnation of him, Horus shows a righteous god, while Seth is the contrary, Destruction and evil.
There are many descriptions of who/what Horus was. He was the son of Osiris and was the God of the Sky, which meant he controlled the sun and the moon. If you go to the website above, it gives you a brief but thurough description of Horus and how he came about.
"Horus was sometimes known as Heru-sema-tawy, meaning Horus, uniter of two lands, since Horus ruled over the land of the dead, and that of the living. Since the tale became one of Horus' own death and rebirth, which happened partly due to his own actions, he became a life-death-rebirth deity. " This was just another interesting fact I found about Horus since who he is has pretty much been covered. There's some interesting notes about how there's similarties between Horus and Jesus on this site also if your interested.
This is interesting in an art historical context...
"And not only was the adoration of Isis restored under a new name, but even her image standing on the crescent moon was adopted by the Christians, while her well-known effigy with Horus in arms has descended to our time in the many pictures of the Madonna and child."
I vaguely remember something about Horus being a combination of his mother and father which explained his representation as a bird... because a bird can occupy both land and sky.
Marc, not only was their grandmother their mother, their grandmother's husband was her brother. Not uncommon in royal families throughout the ages.
I have found that Horus is not a single person. He has many differnt forms, he is shown as afalcon-headed man, but he is also shown as a falcon, a lion with the head of a falcon, or a sphinx. He is also shown as a falcon resting on the neck of the pharaoh. Horus who was conceived after the death of his father, Osiris. In all the Horus gods the traits of kingship and the sky reoccur.
Horus seems to be showing up a lot when the pharoh is involved. Horus is said to be the protector of the ruler and also the God of the Sun including the moon and sky.
Horus has many different symbolic meanings. Some that I came upon were the living Pharaoh, rulers, law, war, young men, light, the sun, and many ohters depending on the particular variant. He was said to be the god of the sky and rising sun(East). The egyptians would use him a great deal in their hieroglyphics. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/horus.htm
Every pharaoh was an incarnation of Horus, who according to legend conquered Seth the evil god of Upper Egypt. Seth was god of turmoil and confusion who murdered Osiris, Horus's father. Horus avenged his father's death and became the god of order and justice. Horus, represented by the hawk, was the god of the Sky, a symbol of divine Kingship, and protector of the ruling King.
17 comments:
Okay, so, there are several answers about who Horus is. As a matter of fact, Cornell University actually has a website devoted to the Horus project, http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/Projects/HORUS/. The long and the short of it, Horus is the god of the sky. Since he's the sun god, he also controls the son and the moon. Not a bad job. So, that's the short answer. You can find the longer, more intersting and well researched answer(s) and theories on the Cornell website.
heres a lil' somethin' somethin' from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus
Since Horus was said to be the sky, it was natural that he soon was considered also to contain the sun and moon. It became said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon, flew across it.
Kinda of like what retro said, but from a different place! Man, I wonder if he got all the ladies....
Horus is an Egyptian deity. It is usually depicted as a falcon. "Hor" means "the one on high" and Horus is known as being the sky god. It's left eye is the moon and the right eye is the sun. The feathers on it's chest are thought to be the stars, and it's wings are the wind. Horus is thought to protect the pharoah. This is just one depiction of the god, and many others can be found at http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/horus.htm
Almost every website is saying about the same thing, but here's what I found. Horus is typically found as a falcon headed god who has an earthly embodiment with a pharaoh. It is said that he was conceived by Isis after the death (murder) of Osiris, his father. He does revolve around a solar deity and it is said that because of conflict within Egypt at the time, at least 15 different forms of Horus were created. More indepth information can be found at: http://www.egyptianmyths.net/horus.htm
and
www.pantheon.org/articles/h/horus.html
Horus, is the God of Kings. I read that from the most ancient times, the falcon seems to have been worshipped in Egypt as representative of the greatest cosmic powers... However, Horus wasn't the only falcon God. There were many others but Horus was the most important avian deities. Horus is also one of ancient Egypt's most-known god. Horus is also one of the oldest Egypt gods. It's weird to me that a bird was a God. Am I missing something?
Based on all the information I read, it seems unclear who the true Horus is. It seems to be mostly a general term for a large number of deities.
here's a picture I found interesting:
http://www.egyptmyway.com/no/images/photo/egmuseum/djoserhorus_b530.jpg
No one really knows really knows how to tell the differences between all the many forms of the Horus. Mostly are known as falcon gods, which are worshipped all over Egypt, and some just had local cults. Its suppose to mean the prince of gods and the specific patron of the living ruler.
Known as a "solar deity" Horus was a very important god in ancient Egypt. Maintaining a falcon-like appearance many Egyptian rulers modeled themselves after this entity. Said to be the god of the sun, war, law and so on, Horus was a god of gods. http://www.egyptianmyths.net/horus.htm
Seems that his children got the short end of the stick. Watching over the dissected body parts of old pharaohs. But, I guess you can't expect a normal lifestyle when your grandmother is also your mother.
"Horus, the son of Isis"
"his 'four sons' were grouped together and generally said to be born of Isis."
"It was believed that Anubis gave them the funerary duties of mummification, the Opening of the Mouth, the burial of Osiris and all men. Horus later made them protectors of the four cardinal points. In the Hall of Ma'at they sat on a lotus flower in front of Osiris. Most commonly, however, they were remembered as the protectors of the internal organs of the deceased. Each son protected an organ, and each son was protected by a goddess."
http://www.egyptianmyths.net/horus.htm
there is several links that explain who Horus was, links like wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus
also a good source is any book involving gods and goddesses, mainly Egyptian ones, also mythology books, one famous mythology was Horus and Seth which shows the battle between good and evil, this mythology shows the birth of Horus and how he became ruler of Egypt, since this Mythology every king of Egypt was considered an incarnation of him, Horus shows a righteous god, while Seth is the contrary, Destruction and evil.
http://www.sculpturegallery.com/sculpture/egyptian_god_horus.html
There are many descriptions of who/what Horus was. He was the son of Osiris and was the God of the Sky, which meant he controlled the sun and the moon. If you go to the website above, it gives you a brief but thurough description of Horus and how he came about.
"Horus was sometimes known as Heru-sema-tawy, meaning Horus, uniter of two lands, since Horus ruled over the land of the dead, and that of the living. Since the tale became one of Horus' own death and rebirth, which happened partly due to his own actions, he became a life-death-rebirth deity. " This was just another interesting fact I found about Horus since who he is has pretty much been covered.
There's some interesting notes about how there's similarties between Horus and Jesus on this site also if your interested.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/thebook/index.php/Horus
This is interesting in an art historical context...
"And not only was the adoration of Isis restored under a new name, but even her image standing on the crescent moon was adopted by the Christians, while her well-known effigy with Horus in arms has descended to our time in the many pictures of the Madonna and child."
http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/ancientlandmarks/OsirisIsisHorusAndSet.html
I vaguely remember something about Horus being a combination of his mother and father which explained his representation as a bird... because a bird can occupy both land and sky.
Marc, not only was their grandmother their mother, their grandmother's husband was her brother. Not uncommon in royal families throughout the ages.
I have found that Horus is not a single person. He has many differnt forms, he is shown as afalcon-headed man, but he is also shown as a falcon, a lion with the head of a falcon, or a sphinx. He is also shown as a falcon resting on the neck of the pharaoh. Horus who was conceived after the death of his father, Osiris. In all the Horus gods the traits of kingship and the sky reoccur.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/horus.html
touregypt.net/godsofegypt/horus.htm
This post has been graded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus
Horus seems to be showing up a lot when the pharoh is involved. Horus is said to be the protector of the ruler and also the God of the Sun including the moon and sky.
Horus has many different symbolic meanings. Some that I came upon were the living Pharaoh, rulers, law, war, young men, light, the sun, and many ohters depending on the particular variant. He was said to be the god of the sky and rising sun(East). The egyptians would use him a great deal in their hieroglyphics.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/horus.htm
Every pharaoh was an incarnation of Horus, who according to legend conquered Seth the evil god of Upper Egypt. Seth was god of turmoil and confusion who murdered Osiris, Horus's father. Horus avenged his father's death and became the god of order and justice. Horus, represented by the hawk, was the god of the Sky, a symbol of divine Kingship, and protector of the ruling King.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9041143/Horus
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