HORUS...HE WHO IS ABOVE

The name Horus comes from the Egyptian word 'Hor', which translates as 'face'. The name 'Horus' stems from the ancient Egyptian word 'hr' (her) which in its simple form was the preposition 'above'. Horus, as the falcon headed god, soars above all the land and its inhabitants, and was, the natural symbol of the King who reigns over all Egypt.

The falcon embraces the King with its wings in order to fly with him to the Sky (Heaven). The Kings of the predynastic Egypt were known as the followers of Horus. In this period, Horus was known as the son of Isis and Osiris and inherited the throne of his father. The followers of Horus invaded Egypt in pre-dynastic history, at this time he was venerated as a victorious warlord. He became a part of the state religion and was associated with the sun god, Ra. Horus was so important to the state religion that Pharaohs were considered his human manifestation and sometimes took on the name Horus. In the more popular religious beliefs of the Osiris cults he was the son of Isis and Osiris. The avenger of his father's murder and the model of a dutiful son. It is in these myths that we find him doing battle with his uncle, Seth. This is a mythological tale of creation.

According to legend Horus 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. Therefore the pharaoh in Ancient Egypt became Horus on Earth, the ruler of the two lands (Upper and Lower Egypt). Horus was connected with the goddess Hathor. She was the eye of the Sun god Re, the wife of the living King, and the mother of coming King. Her name was written with the hieroglyph of the Horus falcon inside a rectangle-mean 'house' or 'mansion' of Horus.

Important for us in comparisions with our "Jesus Story" are the solar and lunar symbolism found associated with Horus:

• Horus - foresighted- where one eye represents the Sun and other represents the Moon. The Sun was Known as 'Horakhty', or 'Horus in the Horizon'. He was considered as the god of the east and the rising Sun. Horus has the Shape of a falcon or a hawk or can take a human shape with a falcon.
• Mekhenti-irry (He who has on his brow Two Eyes) - the sun and moon representing his eyes, on nights when there is no moon. In this form he was considered the god of the blind.
• Haroeris (Horus the Elder) An early form of Horus - God of light. His eyes represented the sun and moon. He was the brother of Osiris and Seth. Sometimes he was the son, or the husband of Hathor.
• Horus Behudety In the form of Horus of Edfu, he represented the midday sun. This Horus was worshipped in the western Delta and later, as his cult spread south into Upper Egypt, a cult center was established in Edfu. Horus of Edfu fights a great battle against Seth and an army of conspirators. He is pictured as a winged sun-disk or as a hawk headed lion.
• Ra-Harakhte (Horus of the two horizons) - He was identified with Ra and the daily voyage of the sun from horizon to horizon. The two deities combined to become Ra-Harakhte. He was represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man wearing the solar disk and double crown or the uraeus and the atef crown.
• Harmakhet (Horus in the Horizon) In this form he represented the rising sun and was associated with Khepri. He was also considered to be the keeper of wisdom. He was sometimes pictured as a man with a falcon's head, or a falcon headed lion. But his most recognizable form is that of a sphinx, or as a ram-headed sphinx.
• Harsiesis (Horus son of Isis) This Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. He was conceived magically after the death of Osiris and brought up by Isis on a floating island in the marshes of Buto. The child was weak and in constant danger from the scheming of his wicked uncle Seth, who sent serpents andmonsters to attack him. But his mother, Isis was great in themagical arts and she warded off this evil by using a spellagainst creatures biting with their mouths and stinging withtheir tails, and the young Horus survived and grew.
• Harendotes (Horus the avenger of his father)
• Har-pa-Neb-Taui (Horus Lord of the Two Lands)
• Harpokrates (The infant Horus) As a child he represented the new born sun and was often pictured being suckled by Isis. he was usually represented as a seated child, sucking his thumb, his head was shaved except for the sidelock of youth. Even as a child, he wore the royal crown and uraeus.

Answer for yourself: When we notice the many parallels between Horus and our "Jesus Story" then we have to remember that the Egyptian Horus was symbolic for the Sun and Moon. What implications does this make for our current understanding of a supposed "literal" and "historical" Jesus Christ?

Let us continue our studies.

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