fairman, the myth of horus i, jea 21, 1935

8/10/2019 Fairman, The Myth of Horus I, JEA 21, 1935

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THE MYTH OF HORUS AT EDFU I

BYH. W. FAIRMAN

THEMyth of Horus is justly one of the most celebra ted of Egyptian myths , yet h ithertono com plete translation of th e various te xts which compose it ha s appeared in a ny language,thou gh t he a ctu al tex ts and reliefs hav e been published long since by Naville, Textes relatifsa u Mzjthe d'Horus recueillis dans le Temple d'Edfou, Geneva, 1870. Kow th at the magnificentnew edition of Chassinat has app eared, it seems an oppo rtune moment t o at tem pt to remedythi s deficiency by giving a complete translatio n of all these tex ts, accompanied, however, byth e minim um of notes. This an d th e following articles aim solely a t providing a connected

translation, and do not offer or pretend to offer a detailed com mentary.The translations are based on the texts published by Chassinat, Le Temple d'Edfou,VI, 60-90, 108-36, 213-23, and ha ve been controlled by reference to the photographs p ub-lished by Chassinat, op. cit., XIII, Pls. ccccxciv-dxiv, dxviii-dxxxv XIV Pls. dlxxvi-dlxxxiv.

hav e also utilized the Berlin series of photographs which were placed a t my disposal byDr. A H Gardiner. Unfortunately, pressure of work whileI was in Egyp t during the pastwinter prevented m e from checking one or two minor points on the walls of E dfu itself. I tis, however, a pleasure to pay a tri bu te to th e rem arkable accuracy of Chassinat's edition,which is a vast improvement on previous copies, an d which may be truste d absolutely. I nquo tation s in thi s paper, reference is ma de to volumes, pages, or plates of Chassina t's edition.Thus VI, followed by a page number, refers to Chassinat, Le Temnple d'Edfou, tom eVI.

Where a reference is given to individua l lines, th e reference is to t he lines of Chassinst'ste xt , and no t to th e lines of the original.

The &Iythof Horus a s preserved in th e Temple of Ed fu is inscribed on the inner faces ofth e east a nd west enclosure walls. Though it is hab itual to refer to the M yth of Horu s ,th e m yt h is not a simple story, b ut comprises five tex.ts (cf. t he analysis in Boeder's articleSet in Roscher's Lexikon). These five tex ts are :

A. The Legend of th e Winged Disk. The chief actors are Horus of Behdet and Se th.RBr and Thoth provide a running commentary and numerous, somewhat tedious punswhich detra ct from th e flow and interest of the narra tive. The language is stilted and formal,an d somewhat restricted in vocabula ry and forms of expression. (Naville, op. cit., Pls.xii-xix; Chassinat, op. cit., VI, 108-32; XIII, Pls. dxviii-dxxxiii.)

B. The sto ry of a fight between Horus, son of Isis (who is assisted by Ho rus of B ehde t),and Seth. This portion of th e m yth follows imm ediately after th e Legend of th e WingedDisk, and is entitled hnk hrw-r. (Naville, op. cit., Pls. xx-xxi; Chassinat, op. cit., VI, 132-6;XIII PIS. dxxxiv-dxxxv.)

C. This section is no t worded in the form of a connected story, but is perhaps rath er t hete xt of a dram atized version of t he exp loits of H orus which was enacted a t his festival.After text s referring to the t en harpoons with which Horus attac ked his enemy, come songsby th e R oyal Children and by th e princesses of Upper and Lower Eg ypt together with thewomen of Mendes, Pe, and Dep, an d finally two versions of the dismembermen t of Seth andth e distr ibutio n of th e par ts of his body among various gods and cities. (Naville, op. cit.,

Pls. i-xi; Chassinat, op. cit., VI, 60-90;XIII

Pls. ccccxciv-dxiv.)


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27H E MYTH OF HORUS AT EDFU-I

D. Seth , son of N ut, assumes the form of a red hippop otamus and goes to Elephantine.Horus, son of Isis, pursues him and overtakes him near E dfu, an d after th e ensuing fightSeth flees no rthwa rds a nd H oru s assumes th e office of his fath er. (Xaville, op. cit., xxii-xxiiiChassinat, op. cit., vr, 213-19; x ~ v ,Pls. dlxxvi-dlxxxi; Brugsch , Thesaurus, 608-9.)

E. A very battered text. Horus is mentioned as lord of Lower Egyp t, living a t Memphis,and S eth as lord of Upper E gy pt, living in Shas-hetep. Horus an d Seth fight, the one inthe form of a you th, the other as a red donkey. Horu s finally triumph s and cuts off the legof Se th. This sto ry is writ ten in a pronounced La te-E gy pti an idiom.(Naville, op. cit.,xx iv ; Chassinat, op. cit., V I, 219-223;XIV, Pls. dlxxxii-dlxxxiv; Brugsch, Thes., 609-10.)

-4. TH E LEG EN D O F TH E W I N G ED D I SK

The te xt of th is portion of t he m yt h is inscribed on th e second register of t h e inner faceof t h e west enclosu re mall of t h e temp le. This par t of t he wall is divided in to sixteen scenes,

of mhich those referring to t h e Myth of Ho rus (Nos. 5-13 in Chassinat's num bering) run fromnor th t o south, whereas t he scenes which precede an d mhich follow them run from sout h tonor th. Thus it would appear tha t some atte mp t has been made to keep the scenes of t hem yt h sep arate from th e others. The same state of affairs obtains on the lower register ofthi s wall, where th e greater p art of t he remaining portion of th e my th is inscribed (cf.Chassinat's rem arks on th e order of t he scenes,VI, 54, 104 .

The indiv idua l scenes of th e legend bear no titles, bu t th e first scene (Chassinat's No.5)bears th e title Lqt ing heaven. The text s read : Lifting heaven. Utterance. Thy heaven belongsto thee, Bhdt i, brightly coloured one. Thou$yest (emend- for o herein as [the N'ingedDisk ], thou alightest on the prow of the barqueof Rbr-Harakhte, thy two uraei . . . .After the nam e of th e king, an d epithe ts of t he W inged Disk: The Kin g of Cpper and Lower

Egypt l s on his seat, lifting u p heaven, supporting the god of Belldet.pa is introducedtothe barque of REr-Harakhte as a divine winged disk of gold (litm ). He i s like Shu who lifts u p(emend foro n k ~ t )eaven, zuko holds ?) the head of . . . For pa, forwhich I can offer no certain transl iteratio n, cf.11, 8. I s it a ~ ~ o r dor king

Of th e scenes mhich precede th e m yt h, th e title of the first is lost, th e second is calledhnk sbmty, and the third and fourthi i ibt. The Legend of th e inged Disk occupies Kos.5-12, an d No. 13, which, as noted abo ve, is included in t he m yth series, is concerned withthe offering of ?zrza r an d grapes, and v it h a fight between Hor us, son of Isis, and Seth(Story B).

The succession of Scenes 14-16 from south to north ~ o u l deem to indicate tha t they areto be treated ap art from the other scenes concerning the myt h. Nevertheless they areclosely connected w ith it i n con tent. No. 14 is divided in to tn-o parts, ir(t) sntr an d slzr(t) Sk r,and h as been published by N aville, op. cit., x xv . No. 15 is entitled srn3Smr and No. 16,which has no title, concerns th e slaughter of th e wild animals of t he desert.

The t ex t of th e Legend of th e Winged Disk is published by Chassinat, op. cit., VI, 108-32;line plates cxlvi-cxlviii (in th e unpub lished po rtion of vol.x , and photographic platesdxviii-dxxxiii in vol.XIII. X complete copy of th e tex ts a nd reliefs was originally ma de byNaville, op. cit., xii-xix. The hieroglyphic t ex t an d some of t he reliefs were published,toge ther w ith an English transl ation , by Budge, Legends of the Gods (Lond on, 1912), 52ffhe gave a more recent translation in English in his From Fetishto God in Ancient Egypt(Oxford, 1934 , 467-80. German translatio ns hav e been published byBrugsch, ie Sage con

der gejiiigelten Sonnenscheibe (in Abh. kgl. Ges. W iss. zuGottingen , x ~ v ,73 f., Gijttingen, 1869)by Wiedemann, Die Religion der Alten k ' ~ y ~ t e rMu nster, 1890 ), 38ff., an English version


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o f which is published i n his Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (Lo ndo n, 1897), 69ff. and byRoed er, Urku nden xur Religion des Alten k'gypten (Je na , 1915), 120 ff.

I had t he ad~ an t a ~ge ,uring th e early part o f th e past minter, of reading thi s portion o fthe Myth of Horus wi thDr. A H. Gardiner, Dr. J. G er nf , and Mr. R 0 Faulliner, and to

t h e m I owe m an y fru itf ul suggestions.

ranslation

[ti 511 Year 3632of the Ifi ng of Upp er and Lower Egypt , REr-Harakhte, may he live for everand ever. No w his nzajesty wasin X u b i a ( T ~ s t i ) ,nd his army was ui th him without number,[and there was no?I3 plotting against their lord (among them).3 I t i s called Ta[setiI4o this day.[ 5 61 R B sailed in his barque, and hi s followers were with him. He landedin the nome ofW t s - H r , to the east of th is nonze, and east of the canal which i s called Th e royal [canalJ tothi s day . And Horus of Behdet was (also) [5,71 i n the barque of Rgr, and he said to his fatherRB-Harakhte: 1 see enemies who plot against their mighty lord. ll la y the . of thy uraeusprevail against them . [6,z Th e majesty of RB-H ara kht e said: As thou desirest,

0Horus ofBehdet, thou son of Rbr, exalted one who camest forth from me. Overthrow ( m y ) enemy before

thee in a n instant. Horus of Behdet Jlew u p (rp i) to heaven as the Great E7inged Disk (rp i w r ) ,and therefore he i s called great god, lord of heaven to this day. W h en he saw the enemiesi zheaven he approached them as the great W inged Disk . He stormed against them before hi m ,[ 6 , 316 and they neither saw with their eyes nor heard with their ears, but (each) one slew hisfellow i n the tuinkl ing of a n eye, and not a soul lived. Th en Horus of Behdet came as in b ti , themany-coloured, as the great W inged Di sk , to the barque of R6r-Harakhte. Tho th said to REr,the lord of the gods: The god of Behdet is conze as Enbti , the great Win ge disk who destroys(?)the rebels and foes . [6, 41 Therefore i s he called Horus of Behdet to this day. Then REr-Harakhtesaid: 1 see [Horusl]. Edfu (Db) shall be called (the city of) Horus of Behdet from this day.

Then R b enzbraced h im cl ~ se ly ,~d said to Horus of Behdet: T h o u hast put grapes into thewater which comes from it that thy heart may be pleased thereby . Therefore do men offer

Inner face, west wall, 2nd register, scene : Chassinat, op. cit., \T 109-110; sm Pls. dxviii, dxix;Naville, op. cit., S I I

Cf. Xewberry, Th e Set Rebellim of the I In d D ynastyin Ancient Egypt,7 1922), 40-6. New berry seesin this d ate a nd in this story a n echo of the Seth rebellion and re-conquest of Egypt by Peribsen. Year363of RBr-Harakhte according to him mould be 363 years afte r the accession of Menes. Kees, however(Ku l t -legende und Urgeschichtein Nachr. Ges. Wiss.zu Gottingen, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, 1930, 346 ff . , claims tha t theselegends have no historical value. Newberry's theory, whether tru e or not, is certainly an attra ctiv e andplausible one, and it m ust be admitted t ha t my own reading of these my ths has convinced me tha t, whileone must of necessity tr ea t all statem ents with t he utm ost caution a nd reserve, there seemsto be a certain

sub stra tum of historical fact on which they ar e based. B ut thi s is obviouslya subject for a separa te paper,an d furth er discussion would be o ut of place here.

Reading [n]n iw = i w ) w3w1 r nbesn.4 =a the m ost likely emendation isTJ-s t i . There seems to be a corruption of the te xt here, for the

pun is on w3w1, and one would have expected the countryto be called W I W I ~ :f. for instance p. 35 = VI128.8 , where Hor us of Behdet spies the enemy int~ wjw ~t r ww w nbvsn. Th e error, if error it be, seems tobe corrected in the epitome of the m yth published invr 8-9 = Diimichen, Altagyptische Tempelimchriften,I cii; Brugsch, Thes., 1340; J. de Rough, Inscr. et Not. rec. a Edfou, n lxxxv ), where we read : whe n REfcame to Ht-ms-nht.f when the enemies plotted (mu:?) against him in W3w1t . The text then proceeds toenum erate the various stages of the campaign.

Scene 6 : Chassinat, op. cit., T 111-13; xm Pls. dxx, d xx i; Naville,op. cit., xiii.A duplicate of this passage, from this point to the end of the sentence, inI 357, without, however,

an y impo rtant variants. H'n.ln R r &pt.f pr &bt.f.


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THE MYTH OF HORUS AT EDFU-I

hrw-r1 to Horus of Behdet to this day . Th e . i s called h b t i , many-coloured, to thisday. [s,51 Th en Horus of Behdet said: " Co me ,0 R b , hat thou mayest see how thy foes are fallenbefore thee i n this land" . And his m ajesty zcent, Astarte being with hinz. He saw that theenemies were fallen to the ground wi th broken heads. Th en R B said to Horus of Behdet: [ s , s]

Th is is a place of pleasant l ife "(ndm rn h pw ) and therefore men call the palace of H orus ofBehdet Kd m- rnb to this day. And R b s a i d to Tho th: Th is means that m y enemies are punished"(db;), and therefore this nome i s called Dbw to this day . Th en T hoth said to Horus of Behdet:

T h y protection is great" ( m k t - ko) [s, 71 and the barque of Horus of Behdet i s called Great-of-protection" (r3-m kt) o this day .

Th en Rt?f said to the gods who were i n his tr ain : " X o w let u s row i n our barque on thewater, and let us rejoice over our foes tcho are fallen to the ground". The great god [sail ed](kn?)i n it ( ? the canal) [s , s] and it i s called P-hn ( T h e canal ) to this day .

Wozo the foes descended int o the water and became crocodiles and hip popo tami. An d Horusof Behdet i n his barque coyaged on the u:ater. Then the crocodiles and h ippopotami came andopened their nzouths i n order to attack (?) the barque of R8r-H arakhte. [s , 91 Th en Horus ofBehdet came zcith his follozcers who werein h is t ra in as harp o~ ne rs ,~iith harpoons and ropesi n their hands, each one at his name. Th ey smote the crocodiles and hip pop otam i and broughtazoay t once 651 enenzies. [6, lo] Th ey were slaughtered before this city. The n RZr-Harakhtesaid to Horus of Behdet: " Th i s i s my image i n T ~ - i i m r ; ~his is one whose palace is mighty(nbt r h P I T) , and the palace of Horus of Be?~dets called Nht-rh to this day.

[;, 514 Thoth said after he had seen that the foes were fallen to the ground: "R ej oi ce , yegods of heatien Rejoice,0 ye gods of the earth The divine youth is returnedin peace. He hasperformed wonders i n his j0urney.j He has acted according to the book of repu lsing thehippopotanzus (i.e. Seth)." T h u s the harpooners of Horus of Behdet came into existence tothis day.

Then Horus of Betzdet assumed the form of the Tq7inged Disk on the prow of the barque ofREr [7 s] and he took A-ekhbet and Ut o with hinz as two uraei who terrify the enemies i ntheir linzbs,6 both crocodiles and hip popot am i, i n ezlery place cisited i n Upp er and LozcerEgypt.

Th en those foes je d before him , their faces being turned to Lipper E g y ~ t , ~heir hearts beingfa in t through fear of hint . Horus of Behdet f01lou;ed after them i n this barque of RZr, wi th harpoon

Hrw-r: a drink made of grapes and water( F b .d. aeg. Spr., m 134 . 5 = klrrt, e h o o h e For theoffering of gra pescf. I 460 ; T 133 w 122. Fo r th e offering ofhrw-r see I 462 n 70. 183 IV 256 v, I62 ;

132. 346; 1-11, 199. 283; Chassinat, Le Tem ple de Dendara, I , 14; 11, 198; rn, 175. The most interestinginstance is YI, 132, a translation of which will be given with Section B of th e m yth.

The precise nature of themsntyw has long been a ma tte r of dispute. Naspero,Les forgerons d'Horus et

la l4gende de 1 'Horz~s E'Edfouin Bibl. ~ g ~ ~ t o ~ . , The latest treatmentI, 313 ff. called them "les forgerons".is by Sethe, Die angeblichen Schmiede des Horus colt Edfuin Z.A.S., 54, 504, whose view is adopte d here.For Horus of Behdet as th e image of R6r-Harakhte inT J - i m r, f , the Beischrift to this scene VI, 113. 5

and alsoI 10.358, and compare Junker 's remarks on th e same subject in hisDie Onurislegende,20.Scene 5 : Chassinat, op. cit., VI 114-17 ; XIII, Pls. dxxii, dxxiii; Xarille,op. cit., xiv.di.fh,ul hr nmt.f: lit. "he has lengthened(or added to ) his stride". Cf. also 11 34, 17-35, 1.

"his ph ras e again in I 358.It is interesting to note th at tho ugh the preceding actions took place in or near E dfu, the y were not

considered to h ar e taken place in Egy pt. When the enemy fled (northwards) from Horus they turned t oCpper E gyp t, hence Edfu is outsideT J - h r . There can be no question here of a pursuitto the south, forthe next episode in the fight takes place near Thebes, and all the present portion of the myth telh of thesteady driving of Seth an d his confederates from R'ubia to t he sea. B o t until the see has been reached does

Horus retrace his steps to Bubia (p.35 to deal with a rebellion which had apparently broken out in hisabsence.


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30 H W. FAIRMAN

and rope in his hands and (in those of) hisfollowers, they being armed [7,71 with arrows and ropes,and the harpooners were prepared for them . [T he n] he saw them to the south-east of Thebes at adistance ofl ?) two schoenoi. Then said REr to Thoth: Those foes, nzay he destroy ( d d b )them ". And Tho th said to RGf: "There fore shall this town be called D d m from this day".

Then Horus of Behdet injic ted great slaughter up on them. AndR B said: "Stop, Horus ofBehdet, that ( I ) may see thee". Therefore i s this town called H t- Rr to this day, and the godwho is in i t i s Horus-of-Behdet-REr-Min.

[7, 81 Then those foes jed before hi m, their faces being turned to Lower Egy pt , their heartsbeing faint through fear of h im . Horus of Behdet followed after the min this barque of RCr,with harpoon and ropein his hands and ( i n hose of ) his followers. [7,91 He was equipped witharrows and ropes, and the harpooners were prepared for them. Then he spent a whole day pre-pared for them, and he saw them on the north-east of Dendera. The n said REr to Tho th: " T h efoes are here, do thou [slaughter?] them". [7,lo ] And the majesty of RE?-Harakhte said toHorus of Behdet: Th ou art m y son, the exalted one who came forth from me. Do thou makethe enemy weakin thy own (good) time". Then Horus of Behdet injlicted great slaughter(b3yt)up on them. And Th oth said : Th e name of this town shall be called $3-di-ntr, [7,111 and menshall say of Horus of Behdet: ' H e. o ?) her majes ty, wi th his face turned to the south'as the name of this god.Snd and nb s are the names of (h is )sacred tree(s)."

Then those foes jled before h im , their faces being turned to Lower Egy pt , from LahCn[7, 121to the edge of the ~ e a , ~ f o rheir hearts were faint [through ear of h im ]. Horus of Behdetfollowedafter themin the barque of R B , with harpoonin his hands , and ( i n those o f) his followers. Hewas equipped with arrows, and the harpooners were prepared for them. [7,13] He spe ntf ou r daysand four nigh ts sailing after th em and they saw not one of those foes, xhether crocodile or hippo-potamus, in the water before him . And then (a t last) he saw them.

Then Rt? said . . .3 Hebenu, Winged Di sk , great god, lord of heacen:[7 141 "Repulse(h nb ) them from the bank ofHebenu".* And he hurled his lance at them and overthrew them .He injicted great slaughter upon them and brought142 of the enemy before the barque [of REr]. . . . .male hippopotamus [7,151 who was i n the nzidst of those foes. He killed them wi th his

knife, and gave their intestines to those who werein his tra in , and their jlesh to eaery god andgoddess zoho wasin this barque of REr by the bank of Hebenu. R B said to Tho th :0 see5[7, 161 Horus of Behdetin his image on those foes. Lo he has smitten them. He has opened his[mouth ] against the male hippopotam us u;hich is i n their mid st, and has smitten him6 while(stan ding ) on his back." Tho th said to REr: "Therefore shall Horus be called 'Winge d Di sk ,great god, [7,171 who slays the en emy, pre-eminentin Hebenu' from this day. And the nam e of

a I can offer no ce rtain transliteration for this sign. I n some other places,e.g., vr 124. 1, the signclosely resembles The rendering given here, which seems to be deman ded by th e context,is a pureguess. For ff a s btrw ef. such writings as A (IVb. d. aeg. Spr.,I , 147).

Roeder (Rel. Urk., 125) substitu tes cana l for Lahfin and takesphw wjd UT to be some marshes calledWid-wrsituated near Dendera(cf. W b. d , aeg. Spr.,I , 269). The same phrase, however, is repeated i n almostidentical terms invr 118. (seep 31 below) after the fighting a t H ebenu, an d sincein this latter case therecan be no possible question of Dendera i t seems better to ta ke th e present instance in the same way. For6nt canal cf. vr 123. 1 p. 33.

I n the lacuna one would expect some such phrase a s [ to Horus of Behdet, lord of] Hebenu , bu t thevery dam aged traces do no t agree with such a restoration. Read Fr wdb n Hbn w.

Fo r the particle see Gardiner,Eg. Gramm., 250; Erman,Xeuagyptische Grammatik(2nd ed.), 361 ;Junker, Gram matik der Denderatezte, 246.

ir-n'f ih t v f . This usage ofir i&tdoes not occur in th eWbi.terbuch,bu t th e general sense of the passage

is qu ite clear. i r r in the sense of to do evil again st some one is, of course, well established.In vr 127.12 (see below p. 34)r iht followed b yn has the general sense of to make a meal for some one cf.alsom , 125.14.


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31HE MTTH OF HORUS AT EDFU-I

the priest of th is god shall be called Hri-s3l because of this from this day." No w all these ecentstook place i n he district of H ebenu i n (a narea of) 342 rods to the south, north, zcest, and east.

[s, 1oI2 Th en those foes swam before h im , with their faces turned tolcards LahGnin order toreach the sea by going northwards, for [H oru s?] n their hearts. And theyJEed, and turned

back from the xater and betook themselresto the waters of the westernMrL3

They reached thewaters of the nome of N r t , and that company of S eth which is i n this tozun. An d Horus ofBehdet suiam after them equipped with all his weapons for jighting them.[s, 111 Horus of Behdetsailed downstreanz i n th is barque of RB together zcith the great god who i sin his barque and thegods who zcere i n his train . He sailed after them ( th e enemies ) very rapid ly. Th en he spenta day and a night sailing downstream seeking for them, but without seeing them , for 72e did notknow the place i n which they were. He reached P r - r h h ~ y . ~

Th en the majesty ofREr said to Horu s of Be t~ de t: L o those enemies, they haze reached thewestern waters of the nome of X r t , to that comnpumzy of Se th[s, 121 which is in this tow n, to theplace in uhich (?) . . . j Then Thoth said to RB: "Therefo re shall the nome of bIrtbe called JT3b-w3st from this d ay , and the water that i s*in it shall be called Dmit".

Then Horu s of Behdet said to hi s father RB: " L e t th is thy barque be sent against thewz that1 may do whatR 8 desires among them". An d all was done as he ~c ished. Then he reached themi n the western waters in th is t0zc.n. Then he s a ~hem o?z the southern bank of the nome ofJfrt ata distance of ( ) a schoenus.

[s, 3 Horus of Behdet together wi th his follozcers, equipped with all weapons of wa rfare,went i n against them, and he inj ict ed great slaughter upo n them. He brought away381 captivesand slew them before the barque of RB [s, 141 He gaoe each one of them to each one of hisfollowers. Then Seth emitted a fearsonze roar , uttering a cry at this ztihich Horus of Behdet had[done] i n slaughteri~zg he enenzy. R b aid to Tlzoth: " W h a t mean these cries of Sh3 hr whoprotests loudly at this ztihich [s, 151 Horus of Be?zdet has done against hinz " Thoth [said] toRCr: " I t shall be called from this da y ' Th e place of savage (nh3h3) cries' because of this" .

There upo n Horus of Behdet waged warfare with the enemy for a (corzsiderable) ime. He threlohis spear at hinz, and overthrezc hi m o n the ground6 i n his toz~rz,s, 161 and it i s called Pr- rhhw yto this day.

Then came Horus of Behdet bringing the enenzy, his collar7( ) being at his throat and h is ropeHri -SI :written with th e figure of a m an standing on th e back of a bull and stabbing downwards with

a spear. I n view of the contex thri-s? is probably th e correct trans literation (cf. Brugsch,Dict. Ghg., 1376 .Another possibility, bu t ha rdly so likely in th e present instance, isdzcxti: cf. Junker, Die Onurislegende,37for this reading, an d for further information abo ut Hebenu.

Scene 8: Chassinat, op. cit. IT 118-20; xm Pls. dxxiv, dxx v; N aville, op. cit., xv.X r t : capital of the nineteenth (O xj~ hyn ch ite)ome of Upper Eg ip t: cf. Gauthier, Dict. s noms gdog.

m, 53. Pr-rhhuiy: cf. Gauthier, op. cit., II 167.

Rrugsch translates, an der Stelle wo die Spitze unseres Szepterstockes ist . The passage is obviouslyintended as an explanation of th e name ofW j b - w ~ s tcf. Ga uthier, op. cit., I 175 , but I have failed to graspits exact meaning. Brugsch's rendering, in a ny case, does not entirely agree with th e hieroglyphic te xt.

Chassinat (w, 119. 8) gives here. The original is badly damaged (cf. the photograph mPI. dxxiv) and one wonders whether the original reading could not have b e e n s- a writing of s~_tu*,(cf .the variants givenin W b.d. aeg. Spr., m, 423 . In th e photograph the sign behind the bird's head does no tsuit very well. w seems an obvious emendation, an dI have tran slated accordingly.

d 9 kh : the Ptolemaic form of the Late E gyptian s f k-. According to W b.d. ag. Spr. V 66 i t-is a holzerne Klammer 0 a. am Halse des Gofangenen . The word occurs in H arris500, vs., 2, 5; 2, 13;3, 4 and has been translated by Goodwin Trans. S.B.A., 3, 347 as collar ; and by Peet (Journal,11,226 as handcuffs (Harris 500, vs., 2 , 5 ; 2, 13 , an d stocks (Harris500, vs., 3, 4 . I n P a p. Ch. Beatty Irt., 15, 12, Isis is t u ld to bring Seth bound fast, r k u,, and a s a prisoner, and Gardiner(T he ChesterBeatty

Papyri, h'o. I , p. 26 translates bonds . The determinativein all these cases is -- and the kh mu st clearly


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H. W. FAIRMAN

(b inding ) both his ha nds , and the staff of Horus fell to close his mouth. He brought h im before[hi s] father. Th en said REr: Horus, Winged Disk, [a,171 how great i s this fury (d nd n)which thou hast manifested, thou hast puri$ed this town". And R B said to Thoth : Thereforeshall the palace of Horus of Behdet be cabled' The pure place' from this day, and therefore shall

the name of the priest be called 'Grea t of fury'(wr dn dn ) from this day". [8,181 Th en saidRB to Tho th: " L e t the company of Seth be given to Is is and her son Horus that they m ay dozchatever their hearts desire wi th them, for she stood fast wi th her son Horus , and their spearswere (tu rned ) against hi min the strife i n this town". And the sacred lake i s called Th e Lake ofCombat" [a,191 to this day.

Then Horus son of Is is cut off the heads of his enemy and his confederates before his fatherRQand the whole great Ennead. He dragged h im by his feetin his d istrict and thrust hi s spear intohis head and back. AndREr said to Th oth : [a,201 "Beho ld the son of Osiris has dragged out (i th )the Ra ge rfrom his districts". And Thoth sa id : Therefore shall the name of his district be called' I t h f r o m this day". And Is is the divine said to her father REr: " L e t the T'inged D isk be givenas a protection for m y son Horus ,for he has cut off the heads of the enem y and his confederates".

[9, 711 Th en Horus of Behdet and Horus son of Is is slew that craven foe and his confederatesand those enemies when he reached themin ) the western waters of this town. Horus of Behdetwas like a ma n of proved ~ a l o u r , ~ith the head of af al co n, crowned with the white c rown, thered crown and the double plumes, with the two uraei on his head, his back being that of a fa b o n ,and his spear and rope being i n his hands. Horus son of Is is transformed hi ms ev after the samemanner that Horus of Behdet had assumed[g, 81 before him. They slew the enem y together onthe west of P r- rh hw y on the edge of the water. And this god sails on this his lake to this day ,(th is day ) on which those foes reached ( dm i) it . ATozu all these things took place on To bi7 .Then Thoth said: Therefore shall this town be called ' The town of slaughter' from this day, andthe water that i sin it shall be called Dmit [g,91, and Tobi 7 shall be called 'The east of rowing'from this day".

Then Seth turned himself into a roaring serpent and entered the groundin this town, andwas seen no more. REr said: Be3 has turned himself i nto a roaring serpent. Pu t Horus son ofl s i s as a staff in its upper end4 to precent h im fro m ever coming forth". [9,lo ] Th en said T hoth:

Th e name of the serpent5 i n this town shall be called' The roarer' from this day, and Horusson of Is is i s the falcon-headed spearin its upper end, and he i s herein this place w ith his motherIsi s". And all these things came to pass.

The barque of REr moored at the town of Pr-rh ;. [9,111 It s prow was of i3m and i ts sternof i n d , and they are sacred trees to this day . Horus of Behdet went to the barque ofR ^ after thecompletion of thejou rney , and RE7 said to Th oth: " L o thou art ouing. Th e barque of Horusof Behdet shall be called 'L ord of rowing' from this day." [g ,121 Therefore all these things are

done i n this place to this day.be a wooden object used in securing prisoners. The instance in th e HorusMyth shows tha t i t was used a tthe neck, an d hence bonds , handcuffs , or stocks seem hardly suitable translations. I t is difficult oescape the conclusion that thekh was some sort of collar or cangue such as is used on prisoners in China.On the other hand, it has to be admitted that no such appliance seems to be found on the monuments,a n d Dr. Nelson informs m e th at he h as observed nothing of the sor t in the representations of prisoners a tMedinet Habu or Karnak.

Scene 9 : Chassinat, op. c i t . VI 121-2; ~III, Pls. dxxvi, d xxv ii; Naville,op. c i t . xvi.) : krnl phti ? This phrase does not occur in th e Worterbuch. Possibly it is derived fromkrnj "to

beat metal,,Be, a name of Seth: cf. Wb. d. aeg. Spr. I 410; Mariette, Dendera, m 7 2 ; Diimichen, Geog. Inschr.,

I lxxxi; m xcii; W cxvii. Read m m w m g8.f hri. , 83-t~.

y&


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33H E M Y T H OF HORUS AT EDFU-I

T h e n said R?r to Hor us of Behdet: " L o Ice hare fought wit h the conzpapzy (of Se th ) and itis exhausted1 (?) and i ts strength lik ewise , and the collzparly of Se th (note ) sioims (az cay).Would that zite nzight go northwards after [them] . T h e n the TITinged Di sk said: 9 thatthou comnzandest shall come to pass, [9, 131 R b , Lord of the gods. Let t his th y barque be sent

against t he m to zchatsoerer place the y m a y go, and I zcill do zchat REr des ires ztiith thenz". A n dit zias done according to all that he had sai d. T h e n the TTinged D is k boarded the barque of RErqchiclz zcas on the stream. . . . . . his . . . , his spear (? ) and all ropesforJig7~ting. 9 , l i ] T h e nhe sazo one of the ene my w it h hinz i n the same plctce, and he threw his lance at h i m inzmed iately ,nnd brought hinz at once and slezc hinz before RPr. (Tl zus ) he brought it ( the fight) to a n e n d :there toere no . . . Be, there were no . . . i n this place at that time.2

[lo, 113 Tho th sa id : Th i splace which Ho ru s qf Be hdet h as made because of the m shall be calledS t - i ? b ~ i " . ~he n he spent si x days and si x nights ~tzoored n it s waters icithout seeing one of thenz.Th en he sazu the m orerthrozinin the cana l, and he prepareci thi s place as St- i3b.i) i t being by theicater's edge, atzd i t faced south. [in, Z] ,411 rite s are per form ed for Hor us of Be ldet o n Tho th1Tobi 7 and Jle chi r 2 1 and 24:-these are thefes tirals i n St-i>b.ion the sou thern s ide of ^ 1 - e ~ f f . ~

H e moored hi s barque ( i n order to act) against the m as one icho icntches as a k ing orer thegreat god lcho i s in Se re f, i n thi s place, dricing oSf the Enenzy and hi s co??zpan?jzchen he comesb y nig ht fr om the distri ct of J r on the west of tllis place. [lo, 31 Horus of Behdet 1c'a.s as a nznizof prored m lo u r , wit h the face of a fal con, crozcned zcith the 71.7zite croion, the red crozcn, thedouble plum es and the double crozcn. the t u o urcrri being on h is he ad, aizd h is ar?ns Icere strong(chile bearing h is spear , ?chile sla yin g the hipp opot anzu s of red jasper6 zchich leas i l l tlze desertwith h im. And R@r said to Tho th : " L o Ho ru s of Betzdet i s the lord of combat u.1~0 slays h is

foreign ( fo es ) daily". A nd Thotlz said to R i r : " The ref ore the priest of this god shall be calledLorcl of combat' fronz this day".

[lo, 41 Th er eu po n I s i s perfort?ied all the nzagic spells jor rlri?,ilzg back 13e fr om Xcrqf rlthis place, and T hot h sai d: Therqfore shall thc so~icjstressof this god be called '3 li st re ss ofMagic '" . And Thoth said to R 8 : "Hozc; l?appgi s this place o x that tho u restc.st z~itlzitz i t asone zcho ~c atc kes s kin g ocer the great god zcho is i n Se r e f, ata distance of (?) four sdtoenoi".[lo, 51 And Thoth said : "Therefore the ) ~a m ef the palace i n this place shall be called ' T h ehapp g place' f rom this day. I t i s on the south-li*estof Krr7 at a distnnce of ( ? ) f o u rschoetzoi".

Tlzen RPr said to Ho ru s of Beh det : Ha st thozi senrched hh) these waters for tlze ene mie s?".4 n d T h oth s a id : [lo, F] '' T h e nanle of the sacretl lnk e i n th is plnce shall be called ' ll'aters of,


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THE MYTH OF HORUS AT EDFU-I

the mount ains . Re? said to Tho th: "L o Horus of Belzdet i s like a lion on his ms n , (standin g)on the backs of the enemies zcho yield hinz their kidneys". 1711, 31 Thoth said: "This tozcnshall be called Hnt-i~bt,t shall be called The1 front thi s day, and ki dney s shall be broughtfrom the marshes ?) q The1 fronz thi s day, and tlzis god shall be called Horus of B ehdet, Lord

of JIs n, from this day".The n RFr said to Horus of Beh det: " L e t u s sail to the Sea so that we ?nay drive the enemies,lchether crocodiles or hipp opotami , from Egy pt". [ l l , 41 And Horu s of Belzdet sa id : -4s thoudesi rest, Rc'r, Lord of the gotls". Then he sailed after the remainder1(?) of the enemies zuhic7zua s i n the ,Sea. Thereupon Tho th recited the spells for protecting the barque and the boats of theharpooners, [ l l , 51 i n order to calm the sea when it is stormy. And R h said to Thoth: "H av eIce not travelled ocer the whole la~td?Have we not tracelled ocer all the sen?" Th oth sai d:

(T he se ) zcaters shall be called Water s of travel' frorn this day.Then they sailed upstreant again by night [ll, 61 without seeing those enemies. The n they

reached Subic~rzd the ci ty of 8 3 ~ - h r t . ~he n he saw those enemies and their ssgtyw i n the landof TValcat plotting 11-31~3) against their lord. [11, .i] Thereupon Horus of Behdet assu7ned theform of the Winged Disk o n the prow of the barque of Rdr, and he took zcith hirn Xekhbet and Ctoas tzco urae i zcho strike terror i n the Jtesh of the rebels. The ir hearts zcere zceak through fear ofhirn, and they could not stand but died immediately. [ l l 81 The n said the gods who were i n thetr ain of the barque of Rdr-H araklzte: " H o w great i s he zcho has placed himself between the tlcourueus-goddesses He lcas slain the foes by his fear". ,4nd RFr-Harakhte sa id: Jf ig ht y (11-r)arethe t z o uraeus-goddesses (w3 dty )" . Horus of Beltdet is calledTTr ~ w d t yo this day.

[12, iI3 Th en RB-f lara khte sailed i n his barque, and he moored at T jTts-Hr . Then Thothsnirl: The brightly coloured one has come forth frovz the horizon , and has srnitten the enenziesi n this form zchich he has assum ed" . And he is called "B righ tly coloured, who comes forth fronzthe horizon" to this day. Th en said RPr-Harakhte to Th oth : " T h o u shalt ?nuke this zcingeddisk i n every place i n zchich1 have rested, i n the places of the gods i n Upp er Egy pt, i n theplaces of the gods i n Lolcer E gy pt , . . . . . . the V7est,[12, 21 for he has 02-erthrown the cou,~ cilof the evil ones i n their paths". And Th ot l~et u p this image everywhere and i n every place i ntchich they are (nolc3) and i n which an y gods or goddesses are to this day.

So le as for the Win ged Disk which i s on the shrines of all the gods and goddesses of Up perand Lozcer Eg yp t, and on their chapels likewise, it i s Horus of Ce t~ de t.As for H orus of Behdet,great god, lord of heaven, lcho is pre-eminent i n the LTpper Egy ptian it rt , he shall be put on theright hand : he is Horus of Bekdet,[12, 31 and he has taken Xekhbet ztiith h im as uraeus goddess.-4s for Horus of Bejzdet, great god, lord of hearen, lord of Jl sn , pre-enzinent i n the Lower Eg yp tiani t r t , he shall be put on the left hand : he is H orus of Behdet. and Cto is with hinz as uraeusyoddess. 3 s or Ho rus of Behdet, great god, lord of heaven , lord ofl l s n , prc-eminent i n the tlco

it rt of Cp pe r and Lolcer Eg yp t, REr-Harakhte has placed hint i n every place of h is [ i n orderto] ocerthrolu the rebels i n z~lhateverplace tlzey ma y be in. Therefore is he called P re -e m i~ e ntin the tlco it rt of Cp per and Lozcer Eg yp t" to this day. [I. , 41 ,Is for th is AIlornirzg St ar 4 orz theeast of heaven, lcko lightens the Two Land s with his eyes, he i s Horu s of Behdet, great god, lord of

0 0

Professor Gunn suggests that perhaps the 47 of the original should be emended 64, 9 . If thete st is left without emendation th e remaining thi rd would be a possible translation.

&IS-hr t :an unidentified city in Nubia, cf. Schafer in Beitrage zur Alten Geschichte, IV 152-63, especiallypp. 157 ff Neuberry suggests the transliteration &-shryt (Jozcmal, 14, 222, n. 1 ) ; cf. also Sewberry InKlio, 12, 397, n. 3.

Scene 12: Chassinat, op. cit., VI, 129-31; s Pls. dxxxii, dxxxiii; Naville, op. cit., xix.

. 7 E var. g the god of the Morning Star ( V b . d. aeg. Spr., v, 423 .


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fairman, the myth of horus i, jea 21, 1935

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