Set's animal. God set in ancient Egyptian mythology
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Items with the image of an animal symbolizing Seth, appeared in the Predynastic period, during the era of Naqada I (3800-3600 BC). Homeland Seth there was Ombos, and the necropolis was in Naqada. In those times Set was the deity of metals and the patron saint of Upper Egypt, and negative traits had not yet appeared in his perception. The planet Mercury was considered a celestial image Seth- "Seth in the evening twilight, God in the morning twilight." Color Seth- red-red, subject side of the world - south.
First literary mentions Seth associated with two famous myths: Heliopolis, where Set acts as an ally of Ra, and in the myth of Osiris, where he becomes the killer of his own brother. In the Early Dynastic period and at the beginning of the Old Kingdom, the concept of the Heliopolis myth prevailed (since Heliopolis was the main center of political power) and Set acted as the patron god of the power of the pharaohs (together with Horus - a combination of names Seth and Hora means "king"). This was first mentioned in the titles of the pharaohs of the 2nd dynasty. The "Pyramid Texts" depict Seth also a warrior god, assistant to Ra in his battles with Apep. There are texts that say that Apep once managed to hypnotize all the gods with his gaze. Even Ra couldn't resist. And only one Seth It turned out to be strong enough to withstand Apep's gaze and pierce him with his harpoon.
With the political rise of Thebes and the spread of the cult of Osiris in it, towards the end of the Old Kingdom Set became associated with war, disasters and evil forces. Setu begin to attribute violations of all kinds of taboos. His lustful nature begins to lead to inappropriate heterosexual and homosexual encounters: in one myth, he is punished for copulating with the "goddess of seed" who personified the creator's sperm; in another myth it is described as Set in the guise of a crocodile, Sebek swallowed the phallus of the god Osiris when he was thrown by the same Seth to the Nile...
In general, supporters fought for power Seth and Mountain. The victory went to Horus, and his name became an integral part of the monarch's title. Set begins to become demonized, and even when Horus and Set are depicted together, then Horus certainly stands in front Seth.
The first period during which the revival of the cult took place Seth, refers to Hyksos rule. In the 17th century BC. Egypt was conquered and for a whole century was under the yoke of foreigners - the Hyksos. The invaders announced Seth the supreme deity and was intensely revered. Set was identified with their god Baal, the city of Avaris became the place of his cult as the main god. During the period of Hyksos rule, the cult Seth blossomed again: he was worshiped as, albeit alien, albeit cruel, but a powerful god, a sovereign god, the only king. And this god became even more hated by the Egyptians soon after the expulsion of the invaders and the liberation of the country. Thus, after the expulsion of the Hyksos, the cult Seth gradually fades away. He becomes an alien god, which contributes to the spread of negative ideas about Sethe. From the 8th century BC. he became equal to Apep and was in most cases referred to exclusively as an evil deity.
However, one must understand that in addition to the function of the destroyer god,
Among the lords of Earth and Sky who terrified the Egyptians was the god Set, who was represented as a man with the head of a donkey or a dragon. At the same time, even the mention of him caused awe, and his significance was so great that he was put on a par with Horus, the patron saint of the pharaohs. In many images found in the territory, both of these deities are depicted on either side of the ruler of the country.
Egyptian god Set
According to Egyptian mythology, Seth was the son of the gods of earth and sky Geb and Nut. True, he did not become famous for his good deeds, but by killing his brother Osiris and eating the sacred cat, after which he acquired a bad reputation as a murderer and became associated with the forces of evil. Wherein ancient egyptian god Seth retained his patron status powerful of the world this, as evidenced by the images of the god standing next to the pharaoh.
What natural element did the god Seth personify?
They worshiped him in different parts of the country, but everywhere he caused mystical horror. Like any other deity associated with one of the natural elements, he carried a negative element within himself. Set the god of the desert was the patron and ruler sandstorms and droughts, plunging farmers into fear. But other Egyptians were also afraid of him, since the onset of chaos, hostility towards all living things, war and other misfortunes were associated with him.
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Wife of the god Set
Legends say that the god of chaos had several wives, one of which was Nephthys. Seth and Nephthys were brother and sister. However, there are no clear indications of their marital relationship. As for the goddess herself, her image is usually associated with funeral customs, funeral rites and reading funeral prayers. Ancient historians believed that the goddess Nephthys in ancient Egypt reigned over the immaterial and unreal. At the same time, she was often considered the patroness of the feminine principle and the goddess of creation, who “lives in everything.”
What did the god Seth patronize?
The peoples of Egypt were afraid of Set and, wanting to appease him, they erected palaces and temples in his honor, fearing his wrath. Cruelty, rage and death - this was the main thing that the god Seth personified, and although the inhabitants of the country tried in every possible way to appease him, he did not patronize them, but foreigners, inhabitants of distant countries. However, it would be wrong to portray Seth as the embodiment of evil. He patronized valor and courage, instilling courage in the hearts of warriors.
What does the god Set look like?
God Set, who belonged to the cohort of supreme gods, was depicted as a creature that combined a human body and the head of an animal. In various images he looked differently: either with the head of a crocodile or a hippopotamus, but most often he was depicted with the head of a jackal or a donkey, which for the inhabitants of Eastern Egypt was considered a symbol of power. Its distinctive feature is its long ears. The appearance of the god Set is complemented by a scepter - a symbol of power. Moreover, for most ancients, the animals in which Seth was depicted symbolized connections with demonic otherworldly forces.
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How was the god Set worshiped?
Despite such a formidable and unpleasant character, history has preserved information about how the god Set was worshiped. He enjoyed special favor among the pharaohs. Written artifacts indicate that the rulers of Egypt were named after him, and temples were built in his honor. True, their number is small, but they were distinguished by the richness of their decoration and the majesty of their architecture. The inhabitants of Eastern Egypt had warm feelings for the deity and even considered him their patron, creating cult centers in his honor.
Symbol of the god Set
Despite his power and belonging to the highest gods, the symbols and cult of the god Set are little known. Perhaps precisely because he took under his protection not the Egyptians, but foreigners and representatives supreme power states. For some time, he even constituted a kind of competition to the supreme god Horus, as evidenced by the found images of pharaohs sitting on a throne, on both sides of which stand these two deities. God Set does not have his own symbols and attributes. In all images, he holds in his hands a rod - a symbol of power and a cross.
The presence of cult centers in certain areas of Egypt indicates that the evil god Set, nevertheless, was revered by the local residents. Interestingly, in some areas of the country it was represented as a sacred fish, so the use of fish dishes was prohibited here. In addition, the image of this warlike god was close to those who took part in battles and hoped for his protection. The distinctive feature of the warrior god was: blood, pressure and hot desert soil.
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's wife, Isis, found her husband's body and through magic spells managed to conceive a son, Horus (Horus), from a 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 an eye from Horus, which turned into magic 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 solar god Ra from attacks evil snake 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.
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 with your 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.
Set in hieroglyphs |
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Set(Seth, Sutekh, Suta, Seti Egyptian. Stẖ) - in ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of rage, sandstorms, destruction, chaos, war and death, part of the Heliopolitan Ennead. Initially he was revered as the “protector of the sun-Ra”, the patron of royal power, his name was included in the titles and names of a number of pharaohs. Set is a warrior god with red, burning eyes, the only one of all who is able to defeat the serpent Apophis in the darkness, personifying darkness and eager to enslave Ra in the dark depths of the underground Nile. Later he was demonized, became an antagonist in the dualistic struggle between Horus and Set, the personification of world evil, Satan. Horus and Set can also merge into a single two-headed deity, Kheruifi. He was the patron saint of distant countries and foreigners.
Historicity
During the period of the Old Kingdom, Set, along with Horus, was considered the patron god of royal power, which is reflected in the “Pyramid Texts” and in the titles of the pharaohs of the 2nd dynasty (the combination of the names Set and Horus means “king”). Under the Hyksos, Seth was identified with their god Baal, and the capital of Egypt, Avaris, became the place of his cult as the main god. At the beginning of the New Kingdom period, the names of “Network” are still encountered quite often; these names were borne by the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty: Seti, Setnakht; Seth was given the epithet “mighty.” In the treaty of Ramesses II with the Hittites, Seth is mentioned along with the Hittite gods.
The planet Mercury was considered the heavenly image of Set - “Seth in the evening twilight, God in the morning twilight.” Seth's color is reddish-red, the subject side of the world is south.
Objects depicting an animal symbolizing Set appeared in the Predynastic period, during the era of Naqada I (3800-3600 BC). They were found in the Naqada region. Set's homeland was Ombos, and the necropolis was located in Naqada. At that time, Set was the deity of metals and the patron saint of Upper Egypt, and negative traits had not yet appeared in his character. In the era before the unification of Egypt by Pharaoh Narmer, supporters of Set and Horus fought for power. The victory went to Horus, and his name became an integral part of the monarch's title; when Horus and Set are depicted together, then Horus certainly stands in front of Set.
His Majesty (Ramses III) built himself a fortified palace called “Great in Victories.” It is located between Rechenu and Tameri, abounding in food and supplies. It is built on the model of Hermontis, and its extent is the same as that of Hut-ka-Ptah. The sun rises on both of its mountains of light (a concept from Egyptian mythology) and sets in the center of this city. All people leave their cities and settle in the area (of this city). In the west (of the city) is the temple of Amun, in the south - the temple of Set. Astarte is in the east and Uto is in the north. The fortified palace that is in this city is (as large) as the two luminous mountains of the sky. Ramses II is in it as a god, “Montu in Both Lands” as a speaker, “Mr. Sun” as a vizier friendly to Egypt.
Pedigree
Set was the youngest son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. He was the brother of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys, for the latter he was also the husband. There is a version according to which he was born in the area of the city of Su (Faiyum oasis). According to the Heliopolis cosmogony, Seth was born by jumping out of the side of his mother Nut. His birthday - the third day before the New Year - was considered unlucky for all of Egypt; on this day they tried not to do practically any important things.
Images
The earliest depiction of the god is found on an ivory carving discovered in one of the tombs of el-Mahasna, dating from the era of Nagada I.
The sacred animals of Seth were the pig (“disgust for the gods”), antelope, okapi (giraffe), etc., the main one was the donkey.
Myths
According to legend, Seth, jealous of his brother Osiris, killed him, threw his body into the Nile and legally took his throne. But the son of Osiris, Horus, who had been hiding for many years, wanted to take revenge on Set and take his throne. Horus and Set fought for eighty years. During one of the battles, Seth snatched Horus's eye, which then became the great amulet of the Udjat; Horus castrated Seth, depriving him of most of his essence. According to one legend, Seth's front leg, cut off in battle, was thrown into the northern part of the sky, where the gods chained it with golden chains to the eternal supports of heaven and set it to guard the formidable hippopotamus - Isis Hesamut. According to myth, after Horus won a dispute with Set, he founded the city of Edfu, where a temple built in his honor is located. The walls of the temple are decorated with reliefs from the reign of Pharaoh Caesarion, representing the struggle of two deities.
With the end of the Old Kingdom, his cult was gradually demonized from the great protector of Ra into an evil, powerful deity, without losing its original functions (see the myth “The Trial of Horus and Set”). After such a transformation, Seth was by no means perceived by the Egyptians as something evil and hostile (for example, like the serpent Apep or the crocodile Magus). Despite the lost dispute and numerous crimes, including the murder of Osiris, Seth remains the ruler of the southern regions of Egypt, the master of the power under his control - bad weather and sandstorms. He was especially revered by the Ramsessides as the lord of military valor and courage. Seth's main function was to fight alone with the serpent Apep, protecting the Solar Boat (Zhumilyak papyrus). However, starting from the 3rd transition period, especially in the Ptolemaic era, when the cult of Horus was raised especially high, Seth turns purely into a symbol of evil and becomes a hated villain, the source of universal evil.
Comparisons
Comparisons of Seth with others Egyptian gods and deities of the pantheons of other peoples.
Seth in popular culture
- One of the characters in Roger Zelazny's novel Creatures of Light, Creatures of Darkness.
- In the Hyborian (Hyborian) world of Conan, Set is the god of Stygia, the patron of the sorcerers of the Black Circle and the main antagonist of Mithra. Contrary to tradition, he is depicted as a snake.
- In the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Seth is one of the Goa'uld (alien pharaoh). The series “Seth” is directly dedicated to him, where he is presented as an immortal, now living on Earth, and is the leader of a totalitarian destructive sect.
- In the game Egypt 3: The Egyptian Prophecy (English) is the antagonist god. He sends disaster on the construction of an obelisk in honor of Ramesses II, which could lead to: a destructive sandstorm, disasters and the death of the pharaoh. The game has symbols of God: a turtle, a snake - into which the priestess of Set turns; Pharaoh's guards are called "donkeys", but this is not associated with Set.
- The role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade features a clan, the "Followers of Set", who are described as treacherous vampires of Egyptian origin.
- In the computer game Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Seth serves as the main antagonist and final boss. The plot of the game is entirely dedicated to him.
- In the classic Doctor Who episode "Pyramids of Mars", Sutek is an alien deity buried by his fellow creatures under a pyramid in the Sahara. The Doctor encountered him in 1911, when Sutek was planning to escape his prison and destroy the Earth.
- In the American animated series
- In Rick Riordan's books The Red Pyramid (novel), Throne of Fire and Shadow of the Serpent
- In the American film Gods of Egypt, directed by Alex Proyas, Seth (Gerard Butler) is the main antagonist.
- In the French cartoon "The Adventures of Papyrus" - the main antagonist.
see also
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In 12 and 13, Kutuzov was directly blamed for mistakes. The Emperor was dissatisfied with him. And in history, written recently by order of the highest, it is said that Kutuzov was a cunning court liar who was afraid of the name of Napoleon and with his mistakes at Krasnoe and near Berezina deprived the Russian troops of glory - a complete victory over the French. [The history of Bogdanovich in 1812: characteristics of Kutuzov and reasoning about the unsatisfactory results of the Krasnensky battles. (Note by L.N. Tolstoy.) ]
This is not the fate of great people, not grand homme, whom the Russian mind does not recognize, but the fate of those rare, always lonely people who, comprehending the will of Providence, subordinate their personal will to it. The hatred and contempt of the crowd punish these people for their insight into higher laws.
For Russian historians - it’s strange and scary to say - Napoleon is the most insignificant instrument of history - never and nowhere, even in exile, who did not show human dignity - Napoleon is an object of admiration and delight; he's grand. Kutuzov, the man who, from the beginning to the end of his activity in 1812, from Borodin to Vilna, without ever changing one action or word, shows an extraordinary example in history of self-sacrifice and consciousness in the present of the future significance of the event, – Kutuzov seems to them like something vague and pitiful, and when talking about Kutuzov and the 12th year, they always seem to be a little ashamed.
Meanwhile, it is difficult to imagine a historical person whose activity would be so invariably and constantly directed towards the same goal. It is difficult to imagine a goal more worthy and more consistent with the will of the entire people. It is even more difficult to find another example in history where the goal that a historical figure set for himself would be so completely achieved as the goal towards which all of Kutuzov’s activities were directed in 1812.
Kutuzov never spoke about the forty centuries that look out from the pyramids, about the sacrifices he makes for the fatherland, about what he intends to do or has done: he didn’t say anything about himself at all, didn’t play any role, always seemed to be the simplest and most ordinary a person and said the simplest and most ordinary things. He wrote letters to his daughters and m me Stael, read novels, loved the company of beautiful women, joked with generals, officers and soldiers and never contradicted those people who wanted to prove something to him. When Count Rastopchin on the Yauzsky Bridge rode up to Kutuzov with personal reproaches about who was to blame for the death of Moscow, and said: “How did you promise not to leave Moscow without fighting?” - Kutuzov replied: “I will not leave Moscow without a battle,” despite the fact that Moscow had already been abandoned. When Arakcheev, who came to him from the sovereign, said that Yermolov should be appointed chief of artillery, Kutuzov replied: “Yes, I just said that myself,” although a minute later he said something completely different. What did he care, the only one who then understood the whole enormous meaning of the event, among the stupid crowd surrounding him, what did he care whether Count Rostopchin attributed the disaster of the capital to himself or to him? He could be even less interested in who would be appointed chief of artillery.
Not only in these cases, but constantly, this old man, who through life experience had reached the conviction that the thoughts and words that serve as their expression are not the motive forces of people, spoke completely meaningless words - the first ones that came to his mind.
But this same man, who so neglected his words, never once in all his activity uttered a single word that was not in agreement with that sole purpose, to achieve which he worked throughout the war. Obviously, involuntarily, with a heavy confidence that they would not understand him, he repeatedly expressed his thoughts in a wide variety of circumstances. Starting from the Battle of Borodino, from which his discord with those around him began, he alone said that the Battle of Borodino was a victory, and repeated this orally, and in reports, and reports until his death. He alone said that the loss of Moscow is not the loss of Russia. In response to Lauriston’s proposal for peace, he replied that there could be no peace, because such was the will of the people; he alone, during the French retreat, said that all our maneuvers were not needed, that everything would turn out better by itself than we wished, that the enemy should be given a golden bridge, that neither the Tarutino, nor the Vyazemsky, nor the Krasnenskoye battles were needed, what with what Someday you have to come to the border, so that he won’t give up one Russian for ten Frenchmen.
And he alone, this court man, as he is portrayed to us, the man who lies to Arakcheev in order to please the sovereign - he alone, this court man, in Vilna, thereby earning the disfavor of the sovereign, says that further war abroad is harmful and useless.
But words alone would not have proven that he then understood the significance of the event. His actions - all without the slightest retreat, were all directed towards the same goal, expressed in three actions: 1) strain all his forces to clash with the French, 2) defeat them and 3) expel them from Russia, making it as easy as possible disasters of the people and troops.
He, that slow-moving Kutuzov, whose motto is patience and time, is the enemy of decisive action, he gives the Battle of Borodino, dressing the preparations for it in unprecedented solemnity. He, that Kutuzov, who in the Battle of Austerlitz, before it began, said that it would be lost, in Borodino, despite the assurances of the generals that the battle was lost, despite the unprecedented example in history that after a won battle the army must retreat , he alone, contrary to everyone, maintains until his death that the Battle of Borodino is a victory. He alone, throughout the retreat, insists not to fight battles that are now useless, not to start a new war and not to cross the borders of Russia.
Now it is easy to understand the meaning of an event, unless we apply to the activities of masses of goals that were in the minds of a dozen people, since the entire event with its consequences lies before us.
But how then could this old man, alone, contrary to the opinions of everyone, guess, and then so correctly guess the meaning of the popular meaning of the event, that he never betrayed it in all his activities?
The source of this extraordinary power of insight into the meaning of occurring phenomena lay in the national feeling that he carried within himself in all its purity and strength.
Only the recognition of this feeling in him made the people, in such strange ways, from the disgrace of an old man, choose him against the will of the tsar as representatives of the people's war. And only this feeling brought him to that highest human height from which he, the commander-in-chief, directed all his strength not to kill and exterminate people, but to save and take pity on them.
This simple, modest and therefore truly majestic figure could not fit into that deceitful form of a European hero, ostensibly controlling people, which history had invented.
For a lackey there cannot be a great person, because the lackey has his own concept of greatness.
November 5 was the first day of the so-called Krasnensky battle. Before the evening, when after many disputes and mistakes of generals who went to the wrong place; after sending out adjutants with counter-orders, when it became clear that the enemy was fleeing everywhere and there could not be and would not be a battle, Kutuzov left Krasnoye and went to Dobroye, where the main apartment had been transferred that day.
The day was clear and frosty. Kutuzov, with a huge retinue of generals dissatisfied with him and whispering behind him, rode to Dobroy on his fat white horse. Along the entire road, groups of French prisoners taken that day (seven thousand of them were taken that day) crowded around the fires, warming up. Not far from Dobroye, a huge crowd of ragged, bandaged and wrapped prisoners was buzzing with conversation, standing on the road next to a long row of unharnessed French guns. As the commander-in-chief approached, the conversation fell silent, and all eyes stared at Kutuzov, who, in his white cap with a red band and a cotton overcoat, sitting hunched over his stooped shoulders, was slowly moving along the road. One of the generals reported to Kutuzov where the guns and prisoners were taken.
Kutuzov seemed preoccupied with something and did not hear the general’s words. He squinted his eyes with displeasure and peered carefully and intently at those figures of the prisoners who presented a particularly pitiful appearance. Most of the faces of the French soldiers were disfigured by frostbitten noses and cheeks, and almost all had red, swollen and festering eyes.
One group of Frenchmen stood close by the road, and two soldiers - the face of one of them was covered with sores - was tearing a piece of raw meat with their hands. There was something scary and animalistic in that quick glance that they cast at those passing by, and in that angry expression with which the soldier with the sores, looking at Kutuzov, immediately turned away and continued his work.
Kutuzov looked at these two soldiers carefully for a long time; Wrinkling his face even more, he narrowed his eyes and shook his head thoughtfully. In another place, he noticed a Russian soldier, who, laughing and patting the Frenchman on the shoulder, said something affectionately to him. Kutuzov shook his head again with the same expression.
- What are you saying? What? - he asked the general, who continued to report and drew the commander-in-chief’s attention to the captured French banners that stood in front of the front of the Preobrazhensky regiment.
- Ah, banners! - said Kutuzov, apparently having difficulty tearing himself away from the subject that occupied his thoughts. He looked around absently. Thousands of eyes from all sides, waiting for his word, looked at him.
He stopped in front of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Someone from the retinue waved for the soldiers holding the banners to come up and place their flag poles around the commander-in-chief. Kutuzov was silent for a few seconds and, apparently reluctantly, obeying the necessity of his position, raised his head and began to speak. Crowds of officers surrounded him. He looked carefully around the circle of officers, recognizing some of them.
– Thank you everyone! - he said, turning to the soldiers and again to the officers. In the silence that reigned around him, his slowly spoken words were clearly audible. “I thank everyone for their difficult and faithful service.” The victory is complete, and Russia will not forget you. Glory to you forever! “He paused, looking around.
“Bend him down, bend his head,” he said to the soldier who was holding the French eagle and accidentally lowered it in front of the banner of the Preobrazhensky soldiers. - Lower, lower, that’s it. Hooray! “Guys,” with a quick movement of his chin, turn to the soldiers, he said.
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