Set is the god of what in the ancient. Ancient Egyptian mythology: Set and his confrontation with the gods
He is depicted as a man with the head of a mysterious animal. This “beast of Set” has a narrowed muzzle, standing, but shortened, as if “cropped” ears. Some scientists consider this image to be the fruit of the fantastic imagination of the Egyptians. Others try to guess in him one of the real representatives of the African fauna. The “Beast of Set” was at various times associated with the African fennec fox, okapi, tapir, or (the most likely hypothesis) with the aardvark.
In myth, Set represents chaos, disorder and upheaval. These qualities of his were also emphasized by ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, where the sign of the “beast of Set” was included in the spelling of the words “storm”, “disease”, “cruelty”, “rage”, “despotism”, etc.
Is the aardvark the “animal of Set”?
Set is best known as the hero of the Osiris myth. According to this legend, Osiris and Set were brother gods, sons of the sky goddess Chickpeas and the earth god Geb. Osiris began to reign in Egypt. He glorified his reign with many benefits, the spread of knowledge and civilization. Seth, who was jealous of his brother, insidiously persuaded him to lie down in a luxurious box and killed him by throwing him into the Nile. However, Osiris' wife, Isis, found her husband's body and, through magical spells, managed to conceive a son, Horus (Horus), from the dead man. Having given birth to a baby, Isis had to hide with him in the papyrus of the Nile swamps, for Seth wanted to kill the heir of his victim. The choir happily avoided terrible dangers, and when it grew up, it entered into a long and fierce battle with Seth. In this battle, Seth tore out Horus's eye, which turned into a magical amulet wadget, and the Horus castrated Seth and finally defeated him. He overthrew Seth from the Egyptian throne, which he had seized after the murder of Osiris, and forced him to retire from the fertile lands around the Nile into the surrounding desert. Set remained in power over these alien territories hostile to Egypt. His castration by Horus explained the sterility of these lands, devoid of living vegetation.
Isis and the baby Horus hide from Set in a swamp papyrus
There are a number of explanations for the myth of the fight between Horus and Set. According to some assumptions, this legend reflected the events of the political unification of Egypt at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. During this era, two parts of the country fought with each other - the southern (Upper Egypt) and the northern (Lower Egypt, around the Nile Delta). The result, however, was the conquest of the North by the South - and this contradicts the meaning of the myth, where Horus, on the contrary, personified the North, and Set the South.
According to another interpretation, the myth was associated with even more ancient historical events - the unification of the South of Egypt alone, which had previously been fragmented into a number of principalities (nomes). Chronologically, it preceded the conquest of the North by the South. According to this hypothesis, the god Horus was worshiped in the Upper Egyptian city of Nekhen, and Set - in Nagada, located lower along the Nile. In the struggle for hegemony over the south of Egypt, Nekhen conquered Nagada, which was expressed in the legendary tale.
Researchers note that in the minds of the ancient Egyptians, Horus and Set were eternal rivals - but also inseparable to the point of interdependence. It was impossible to imagine them without each other; they seemed to represent two sides of one essence - royal power. The image of the Choir embodied her creative, ordering, merciful sides, and Seth embodied her destructive, harsh, punishing sides. The opposition of these two gods brings to mind F. Nietzsche’s reasoning about the Apollonian and Dionysian principles as the two fundamental principles of life.
The image of Set was demonized only at the end of the story Ancient Egypt, whereas at the beginning this cult of this god carried a lot of positive things. Legends have been preserved about how, thanks to his desperate courage, Seth defended the heavenly barge of the solar god Ra from the attacks of the evil serpent. Apopa. The Egyptians apparently believed that without destruction and violence, creation itself was impossible, neither statehood nor world order in general was possible.
Probably, in ancient Egyptian mythology, Set and Horus were represented as opposite, but equally necessary principles, whose constant conflict creates universal balance. If we consider Seth to be a purely negative deity, then it is impossible to explain why his cult was preserved in Egypt for many centuries and enjoyed great veneration. There is vague information that in the first time after the creation of a unified Egyptian monarchy (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC), Set continued to challenge Horus for the rank of the main state god. During the 1st dynasty of pharaohs, the worship of Horus prevailed, but one of the representatives of the 2nd dynasty, Peribsen, put Set in first place in his royal title. This religious struggle ended under Pharaoh Khasekhemui, who included Horus and Set in his title at the same time - apparently as some kind of religious compromise.
God of Egypt Set
Set- brother and antagonist of Osiris, the personification of the evil principle. He was the patron of hostile foreigners, the god of thunderstorms and the desert that incinerated all living things. He was depicted with the head of his sacred animal - a donkey.
A number of myths are dedicated to the struggle of Set with the son of Osiris, whom he destroyed, Horus. One of the later versions of the myth tells that Horus and Set were reconciled by the earth god Geb, dividing power between them and making Set king of Upper Egypt, and Horus of Lower Egypt. This explained the existence of two historically established regions.
But in most tales about Horus and Seth, they wage a difficult and irreconcilable struggle, ending in the complete victory of Horus. (See Osiris and Horus for the subjects).
The sacred animals of Seth were considered to be the pig (“disgust for the gods”), antelope, giraffe, and the main one was the donkey. The Egyptians imagined him as a man with a thin, long body and a donkey's head. Some myths attributed to Seth the salvation of Ra from the serpent Apophis - Seth pierced the giant Apophis, personifying darkness and evil, with a harpoon.
As the personification of war, drought, death, Seth also embodied the evil principle - as the deity of the merciless desert, the god of foreigners: he chopped sacred trees, ate the sacred cat of the goddess Bast, etc. IN Greek mythology Set was identified with Typhon, the dragon-headed serpent, and was considered the son of Gaia and Tartarus.
Set is two-faced: he is both a protector and a destroyer, both beneficent and treacherous. However, his images are almost always the same and do not convey all the inconsistency of his character. Set is a very complex god.
Cruel to those close to him, protective of his power, both in heaven and on earth, Set was a god about whom the ancient Egyptians had mixed feelings. Of course, Seth is a relative greatest gods pantheon. But this god was rightly mistrusted because of his relationship with his brother Osiris (whom he eventually killed) and his nephew Horus (whom he would envy forever). Seth was not renounced only because it was he who protected Ra during his night journey. The images that have come down to us often convey precisely this function. After all, Seth, like any person, cannot only be evil!
Images of God
Set is most often depicted as an anthropomorphic creature. His strange head is that of a mythical animal, half dog, half tapir. Both of his ears stick out vertically.
Seth has a heavy wig on his head. Fantastic or the most ordinary animals replace the traditional image of God in those cases when Seth protects Ra from the monstrous serpent Apophis, chaos in the guise of a reptile. Finally, when Seth is identified with Baal, the Syrian-Palestinian deity of thunder and storms, he is depicted with a head adorned with a tiara with horns and holding a bow and arrows.
Myths about Set
The myths surrounding Seth portray him as an ambitious conspirator and manipulator, or simply a murderer. This god was not very virtuous, but Ra tirelessly defended him against the advice of his entire family. This can be explained very simply, because Seth was the savior of the sun.
Set appears in two famous myths of Ancient Egypt: the Heliopolitan myth, where he appears alongside Ra, and the myth of Osiris, where he becomes the murderer of his own brother. The deceit that this god demonstrates more than once, the legal battle that he is trying to win - the whole story of Seth makes him unusually similar to a person!
Set defender of the solar rook
From the very first day, Ra traveled across the sky on a boat, which carried him from east to west during the day, and from west to east at night. And, if the daytime journey passed unhindered, the night journey through the underworld was much more dangerous. After all, Apep, the serpent of chaos, was watching the boat quickly cutting through the darkness from the deep darkness. Suddenly this terrible monster appeared from the darkness and blocked the path of the sun. The snake seemed huge compared to the boat. But Seth was sitting on the bow, who with one swift blow threw the terrible serpent away, and he returned to the ends of the world. However, the scene was repeated again and again, just as day each time gives way to night, and night gives way to day. This endless struggle symbolized in the eyes of the Egyptians the victory of order over chaos. Now we understand why Ra had respect for Seth. And this respect was so great that the god of all gods supported the murderer of Osiris even when his cause was obviously a losing one!
Set's Claims
After the murder of the god Osiris, king of Egypt, Set, tormented by insatiable envy, turned the full force of his hatred on his nephew, Horus. Since Osiris died and became the ruler of the underworld, the question of the succession to the Egyptian throne inevitably arose. In those days, the gods still had political power on earth. Pharaoh will become their heir when the first people appear. The story of Seth was the story of a man rather than a god, so similar were his shortcomings to our own.
Set and Horus: endless struggle!
Horus, the son of Osiris, was his heir: the crown of the Egyptian kingdom belonged to him by right. But the envious Seth took possession of her by force. Horus, supported by his mother, Isis, convened a court of the gods to resolve this dispute at any cost. Ra became chairman, and Thoth acted as secretary. Eighty years passed before things made any progress! The gods were divided into supporters of legitimate power (that is, Horus) and Ra, for whom Seth was the eternal protector from Apep! The trial was deadlocked and an outsider's opinion was needed. And Thoth turned to Neith, the goddess of the city of Sais, known for her wisdom. Her answer was clear: the crown belongs to Horus. However, so that Seth would not remain offended, Neith advised him to give him two goddesses, Anat and Astarte, as his wife. The gods liked this decision, but Ra had doubts. Is Horus too young to rule the kingdom with dignity? Isis, exasperated by the endless delays, proposed moving the proceedings to Heliopolis, where Atum and Khepri could take part in the trial. The situation is heating up! An enraged Seth rejected her proposal and demanded that the meetings take place without Isis. But the goddess was too stubborn! She made her way to the court again, taking on the guise of beautiful woman, which immediately charmed Seth. They even started a conversation. Confused by such beauty, Seth made speeches that compromised him, and in the end even recognized the legitimacy of Horus’ claims! Isis immediately revealed herself.
From surprise, Seth was speechless. Ra condemned the imprudence of Seth, who carelessly trusted a stranger. So Horus received the crown of Egypt from the hands of Ra himself.
Revenge
But Seth did not want to come to terms with the decision of the supreme god. He suggested that Gore organize sports competitions. One of them was a competition in water: two gods, having turned into hippopotamuses, had to simultaneously dive under water while holding their breath. Whoever lasts longer will receive the Egyptian kingdom! But Isis, who closely followed the misadventures of her son, prevented her rivals, ultimately causing discontent in both! A furious argument ensued between the three deities. The sun god Ra, desperate to wait for reconciliation, invited the opponents to meet at a feast. But, as you might guess, the celebration did not last long! The dispute resumed with renewed vigor. Finally, Osiris, who had until now remained silent, intervened in the endless litigation and accused the judges of inaction. Being the lord of vegetation, Osiris threatened to leave all of Egypt without food! The gods bowed to his power and immediately made a decision favorable to Horus.
However, Seth was not forgotten. Ra brought him closer to himself, and he became “the one who shouts to the heavens” so that everyone clears the way before the creator god!
Stone boats
Among the many competitions that Seth proposed to Horus were... stone boats! It's a strange idea to try to launch a ship carved out of stone. While Set was savoring his plan, Horus got ahead of the game by making a wooden boat and covering it with stone-like plaster. Victory clearly should have gone to him. But Seth could not come to terms with the fact that someone was more cunning than him. He turned into a hippopotamus and capsized his enemy's boat!
Cult of Set
Despite all the unflattering myths, Set was a revered god. And although few temples were dedicated to him in Ancient Egypt, there was always a place for Seth in the rituals performed by the pharaoh. At first, Seth played a significant role in religious life, but the spread of the cult of Osiris naturally led to the decline of the cult of his killer.
Seth's personality is very multifaceted: a benefactor and protector, he was at the same time an insidious destroyer god. Therefore, it is not surprising that Pharaoh worshiped him most zealously of all. After all, in the pharaoh, due to the nature of his power, there is as much from Horus as from Set! Paradox? Not at all.
Set, patron of the pharaoh
The pharaohs did not remain indifferent to the unbridled and terrifying temper of Set. These qualities of nature could also be characteristic of a powerful conquering king.
In addition, Set, like Horus, was the protector of the first “five names” of the ruler. Seti I and the Ramesses who succeeded him on the throne (XVIII and XIX dynasties) had special reverence for Seth.
Seth participated in the coronation ceremony of each pharaoh. On the occasion of this great event, Set and Horus performed the rite of semataui (“unification of the Two Lands”), symbolizing the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Seth was even called “the ruler of the Two Lands,” although in fact, Upper Egypt alone was subordinate to him, because Lower Egypt went to Horus. The arid and desert lands of the first and the fertile fields of the second contained the very essence of the confrontation between Set and his nephew! And just as the terrifying, unknown and indomitable sea was the domain of Set, the breadwinner Nile belonged to his brother, Osiris!
Places of the cult of Set
In several cities and oases there was a real cult of Set. Su, a city in the Faiyum oasis, and Oxyrhynchus in Upper Egypt were in dispute about the birthplace of the god. He was revered in the guise of a fish, which for this reason was not recommended to be eaten! And in the oases of Kargeh and Dakhla, in the southwest of the country, residents listened carefully to the answers of the oracles of Set.
Set, the warrior god
Set was considered the "lord of the king's armies", and the pharaoh's battle cry was often compared to the terrible roar of Set. The rulers of the New Kingdom were increasingly striving for conquest. But it is not the battle cry that decides the outcome of the battle! Gradually, a real professional army was created in Egypt. However, the development of a standing army did not prevent the pharaoh, when circumstances forced him to do so, from resorting to conscription. These divisions of “conscripts” found themselves under the patronage of Ra, Amun, Ptah and, of course, Set. Equating him to the most important gods of the pantheon, the Egyptians emphasized the importance of the “lord of thunderstorms and storms.”
The banner with the image of Set undoubtedly aroused the fear of some enemies... So this god had to be thanked for the subjugation of foreign peoples. But some invasions (Hittites, Hyksos, etc.) were blamed on him. At such moments, Seth became a malevolent deity. This is why there were particularly difficult periods in Egyptian history!
Favorable and unfavorable days and Seth
The ancient Egyptians did not practice astrology. However, they still believed in the existence of favorable and unfavorable days, which partly determine the destinies of people. These days corresponded to the most outstanding events in the life of the Egyptian gods. Seth, of course, was also affected by this belief. Thus, the twenty-seventh day of the month Atir (September-October) is favorable, because it was on this day that Horus and Set made peace. Conversely, the second of the five epagomenal days (“extra” days at the very end of the year) was traditionally considered extremely unfavorable. After all, it was then that Seth was born in agony from his mother’s thigh! The Egyptians remembered this because of the great fear that such an event instilled in them. On such a day, it was recommended to do nothing if possible, not leave the house and wait better day, which will not be slow to come.
Male hippopotamus - the subject of ridicule by Seth's enemies
The female hippopotamus was identified with good goddess Taurt, the patroness of pregnant women and mothers, while all the hatred that people could feel for Seth was directed at the male - it was with him that this animal was associated. It must be said that this hostility was largely justified, because hippos often destroyed precious crops and sometimes even dared to attack livestock when they crossed the river. The Egyptians organized ritual hunts for them. First of all, the beast was driven into the Nile, where several people in a papyrus boat began to pursue it. In the river, the hippopotamus felt much more confident than on land, and quickly disappeared under water. But when he needed to breathe, he floated to the surface again, where the hunters killed him with harpoons.
Like Seth, the hippopotamus was famous for its unbridled temper. He often overturned the fragile boats that bothered him. And then woe to the unfortunate hunter! “Seth” could easily have given them lunch!
Prayer
"ABOUT! My strong child, your head is like the crown of the god Ra, your neck is like the god Osiris, your forehead is like the goddess Satis, your hair is like the goddess Neith, one shoulder is like the god Horus, the other is like the god Set..."
A prayer that protects a child from all diseases.
At first sight ancient Egyptian god Seth is the classic bad guy. But a careful study of Egyptian mythology shows that the image of this deity is more than contradictory. What sets him apart from other gods of the Egyptian pantheon?
Set or Seti is the god of the desert, chaos, rage, war, destruction and death. He personified evil in all its manifestations. The famous Book of the Dead ascribes to Set the misfortunes caused by natural disasters. The sign of the "beast of Set" was used to write words such as "disease", "cruelty", "despotism" and "storm".
It was Seth who was the main rival of Horus, who was considered the god of the sky and the sun. According to Egyptian mythology, Set and Horus could merge into a single deity, Kheruifi. This shows that in the minds of the Egyptians these two characters were inseparable. According to one popular interpretation, they represented 2 sides of royal power. Horus embodied order, creativity and mercy, while Set symbolized the harsh, destructive and punitive traits of the ruler.
And although Seth invariably plotted against people and gods, there are some bright moments in the Egyptians’ understanding of him. There was a time when he was revered as the “protector of the sun” and the patron of royal power. He was often awarded the epithet "mighty." He also patronized foreigners. It is not surprising that after the conquest of Egypt by the Hyksos, it was he who became the main god. In addition, he was known as the god of metals. For example, the Egyptians called iron “the bone of Set.”
Bas-relief kept in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin
During the reign of the Ramsesids (13-11 centuries BC) he was revered as a god who bestows courage and military valor. It was he who fought with the serpent, protecting the boat of the god Ra. But since Seth began to be associated with the Hyksos, hostile to Egypt, his negative traits began to appear much more strongly. He finally turned into a hated villain and source of evil in the Ptolemaic era (4th-1st centuries BC).
How was Seth portrayed?
Set was most often depicted in a human body, with a red mane, long ears and red eyes. It is worth noting that red was considered a symbol of death in Ancient Egypt. Sometimes this god looked like a crocodile, hippopotamus or pig. If he was depicted next to Horus, then he certainly stood behind. Set's celestial image was the planet Mercury.
Seth's head deserves special attention. Logically, she should have personified something associated with a deity. Some scientists consider this image to be a figment of the artists’ imagination, others are trying to guess in it a real representative of the African fauna. The most likely hypothesis so far is the association of Seth with an aardvark.
Horus and Set flanking Ramses III, Cairo Museum
How was Seth revered?
Before becoming a purely negative character, he was the patron saint of Upper Egypt. His cult flourished in Ombos, Kom-Ombos and Hypsel. In the oasis of Dakhla for a long time There was an oracle of Set.
Mostly they feared God and tried to appease them as much as possible. So, before starting a war, the pharaohs tried to get the support of this particular god of Egypt. For this purpose, special sacrifices were organized.
To protect themselves from hostile forces, the Egyptians made amulets with his image. He was painted with a double crown - a symbol of supreme power over the country. Thus, the owners of the amulets wanted to achieve the favor of the deity. At the same time, the Egyptians considered Seth's birthday unlucky. On this day we tried to avoid important matters.
Myths about Set
Let's start with Set's mythological lineage. He was the youngest son of the earth god Geb and. Seth was also a brother. He had several wives, among whom was his sister Nephthys. However, nothing is known about his children.
One of the most famous legends about Set tells how he killed Osiris to take his throne. But as a result, he found his main opponent - Horus, the son of Osiris, who wants to avenge his father and regain the throne. During one of the confrontations, Seth tore out an eye from Horus, which later became an Udjat amulet. According to another myth, Seth spat in the eyes of Horus, taking the form of a black pig. Therefore, the Egyptians considered pigs unclean.
Egyptian mythology also connects some very material events with this god. For example, one of the legends tells how, having defeated Set, Horus founded the city of Edfu. It was here that the temple was located, the walls of which are richly decorated with reliefs representing the struggle of two deities.
A number of historians note that the myths about Seth and Horus reflected the social and political events of Egyptian history. In particular, the unification of the country, which occurred at the turn of 4-3 thousand BC. e. Then there was a fierce struggle for power between the rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt.
November 11, 2017
A cruel tyrant, in whose heart there is only anger and envy - this is how the Egyptian god Set appears in most modern works. In fact, from the moment of birth, the brother served as an assistant and support to the supreme god. Alas, the good deeds of the deity have long since faded against the background of a long-term war for the throne, which was accompanied by the murders and torture of relatives and friends.
Origin story
The origins of the cult glorifying Set are hidden in the city of Nagada, where idolatry of the controversial god originated. The first depiction of a man dates back to 3100 BC. The image of Set is carved on the mace of the ruler of Egypt named Scorpio.
During the reign of the second dynasty, Set extended his own influence to the Upper Egyptian cities, displacing Hashem from the pantheon of gods. Mythology confirms that during this period Seth was revered as the protector god of Ra and the patron of the pharaohs.
The demonization of men occurred in the New Kingdom. Such a transformation is associated with political events in Ancient Egypt - the state came under the influence of the Hyksos, for whom Seth was associated with the national god Baal. The city of Avaris was declared the main place of worship of the character.
The appearance of Assyrians and Persians on the borders of the state only aggravated the negative significance of Seth. Now the god personified the patron saint of strangers for the Egyptians, ruled over the desert and became known as the god of destruction.
Seth's appearance has also undergone changes. Initially, God was depicted as an animal similar to a fox or jackal. Later, Seth acquired the appearance of a thin man with the head of a donkey (in other sources - an aardvark). Then red eyes were added to the appearance, which symbolized death.
Set was also depicted as a bloodthirsty crocodile, snake or hippopotamus, but the semi-zoomorphic image of the deity remained the most memorable image.
Myths and legends
Seth is the youngest child of the married couple Nut and Geb. The god's parents already raised three children: Osiris and Nephthys. The children grew up together and did not experience a lack of love. However, unlike his brother and sisters, Seth did not feel joy and gratitude towards his family.
The grown brothers and sisters took their destined places. Osiris began to rule Egypt, Isis married her older brother and helped rule the country. Nephthys connected her life with Seth, and younger god Together with his own great-grandfather, Ra traveled through the territory of the underworld, protecting God from the monster Apep.
But soon Seth's heart was filled with envy. The man longed to gain the throne of Egypt and take possession of his older brother's wife. Realizing that the pharaoh could not be defeated in a fair fight, the god of rage developed an insidious plan. By order of Set, the great craftsmen created a sarcophagus that surpasses all known products in beauty and perfectly matches the height of Osiris.
Seth, who often visited the pharaoh, invited his brother to try on the sarcophagus. The man proclaimed that he would give the precious coffin to anyone who found the item to be the right size. Osiris tried on the sarcophagus with pleasure. Taking advantage of the situation, Seth locked the man and threw the coffin into the sea.
Egypt was left without a ruler. Isis, fearful for the fate of her unborn son, fled from the palace. So Seth began to rule the state, establishing strict rules and high taxes in the country.
For a long time, nothing threatened the tyranny of God. The first blow awaited Seth during the hunt. A man accidentally stumbled upon a sarcophagus in which the body of the dead Osiris lay peacefully. God realized that Isis had found her own husband and did not give up trying to revive her lover. In a rage, Seth tore his older brother's body into pieces, which he scattered around the world.
The gods, dissatisfied with the usurper, tried to resist the god of chaos. But Seth, who managed to form his own bloodthirsty army, repelled all the blows. He became one of God’s ardent opponents, supporting Isis and helping her raise her son.
Soon Horus, the long-awaited descendant of Osiris, matured and entered into battle with the tyrant. Men fought for the Egyptian throne for 80 years. The remaining gods decided not to interfere in the conflict, watching the battles from afar. The cunning Set distracted the attention of Horus and tore out the eyes of the pharaoh's heir, in which he was hiding Magic force God.
The man will put the magical Eyes of Udjat (eyes of Horus) into a box, which he placed in the rock. Not even trusting his own subordinates, Seth took on the form of a crocodile and personally guarded the treasures. Anubis, who saw what the god had done, took the form of a winged serpent and stole the eyes of Horus.
The fight resumed, but this time Horus was victorious. With the last blow, the son of Osiris cut off Seth's manhood. At the council, the gods decided to exile the defeated god into the desert, where they allowed the tyrant to rule the lands according to his own understanding.
Film adaptations
The multi-part cartoon "The Adventures of Papyrus", released in 1998, used the image of the desert god as the main antagonist. The exiled Seth makes every effort to prevent the young fisherman Papyrus from resurrecting Horus from oblivion.
Seth's next appearance took place in the animated series "Tutenstein". The cartoon tells the story of a boy pharaoh who is suddenly resurrected in the modern world. God Set uses various tricks to take possession of the scepter of Uas, which guarantees power over all living things. Russian dubbing of Seth was entrusted.
In 2016, Seth became the hero of the science fiction film “Gods of Egypt.” The plot of the film is based on the myth of the confrontation between the god of rage and the son of Osiris. Set seizes the throne of Egypt and establishes his own rules in the state. The role of the tyrant god was played by the actor.
In 2017, the premiere of the film “The Mummy” took place, in which the god of the desert again became the main antagonist. The film is a restart of the series about a resurrected mummy. Princess Ahmanet, in pursuit of her father's throne, accepts a cursed blade from Set. After millennia, royalty returns to modern world, wanting to regain his own power and resurrect the god of destruction. The actor embodied the image of Seth on the screen.
- Set's sacred animal is the black pig.
- After demonization, Seth had a second wife, who did not play a noticeable role in the man’s life. God married Taurt, the goddess of pregnant women.
- In addition to destruction and rage, Set was considered the patron saint of sexuality. At the same time, God did not have any children.
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.
Because ancient people was quite devout, then an interest immediately appears in the gods they worshiped and were 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 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 tried to find correct 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 originated 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 main symbol troubles. 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 Amon 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 mythology 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 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.