Seth (mythology)

Seth was the youngest son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Hebe , brother of Osiris , Isis and Nephthys . The latter was also his wife, from whom, according to one version, his son Anubis was born ^[5] .

There is a version according to which he was born in the area of ​​the city of Su (oasis Fayyum ). According to the Heliopolis cosmogony, Seth was born by jumping out of the side of Mother Nut. His birthday - the third New Year's Eve - was considered unlucky for all of Egypt, on this day they tried not to do almost any important thing.

He had several wives: Nephthys, Taurt , Ugaritic-Phoenician goddesses Anat and Ashtoret ^[6] and others. From ancient times was associated with male sexual power ^[7] .

Image of Seth on the lintel of the temple of Seth, the reign of Tutoms I

The earliest image of God is revealed on an ivory carved object found in one of the tombs of el Mahasna, dated to the era of Nakada I.

1. Set is usually depicted with the head of a donkey ^[2] , aardvark . With long ears, a red mane and red eyes (the color of death, that is, desert sand, although its image can be found quite differently).
2. There are images in the form of various animals: a crocodile (relief of the southwestern hall of the Hathor temple in Dendera ), a male hippo (papyrus Zhumilyak), a snake (relief in the temple of Ramses II in Aswan ), and also in a prefabricated look: a hippo in the skin of a crocodile (fresco on the wall of the tomb of Mentuhotep). But there is no exact evidence that this is Seth.
3. There is a myth about Seth who spat in the eyes of Horus, taking the form of a black pig. Because of this, pigs were considered unclean (despite the fact that in antiquity there were images of Nut in the form of a pig with star pigs).
4. Images of the “Beast of Set” were preserved in the mace of King Scorpio . ^[7] In the Egyptian language, the hieroglyph "the beast of Seth"was an ideogram that served as a determinant to such words as “wild”, “evil”, “ferocious” ^[1] . In later eras, a creature similar to the description of the “beast of Seth” is referred to in the Arabic texts as “salava” ^[7] .
5. Images of Seth are sufficiently zoomorphic, there is no consensus on what kind of animal was the reflection of Seth.

Seth's sacred animals were a pig (“disgust for the gods”), an antelope, okapi (giraffe), etc., the main one was a donkey ^[2] .

According to ancient Egyptian mythology, the wife of Seth Nephthys fell in love with Osiris and, taking the form of his wife Isis, conceived of his son Anubis (according to other versions - Set or Ra was the father of Anubis) ^[5] . Fearing the anger of her husband, Nephthys threw the baby in the reed thickets, where with the help of dogs ^[8] Isis found him ^[9] .

Seth decided to take revenge on his brother. According to an earlier version of the legend, he persecuted Osiris on a hunt and killed him. Later versions report that Seth acted in alliance with 70 conspirators ^[10] . On one of the holidays, he ordered a beautiful sarcophagus to be delivered and promised to give it to the one who will fit it. As soon as Osiris lay down in the sarcophagus, the conspirators slammed the lid, boarded it and threw it into the Nile . (According to the Memphis legend, Osiris’s body was thrown into the river, where he lay for three days and three nights, eaten by fish) ^[11] . The throne was occupied by Seth.

Hearing about the murder of her husband, Isis cut her hair, put on mourning robes and went in search of Osiris. She was helped in everything by Nephthys, who fled from Seth ^[8] . Having found the body of Osiris, the women hid him in the swamps near the city of Buto to mourn . But Seth found and cut his brother's body into 14 (or 16, or 18) parts, and then scattered around the Delta ^[11] .

Isis secretly gave birth to a son, Horus, from Osiris, and in order to protect him from the wrath of Seth, she placed the baby in a basket or chest and let it go through the waters of the Nile. The divine nanny Renenutet took care of him until he revealed himself to the world, "putting on his belt in dense thickets" (that is, he matured). Encouraged by the spirit of Osiris, Gore decided to become "the avenger for his father" ^[10] .

Clash of Horus and Seth

Eighty years Gore and Seth fought. Isis spoke on the side of her son in his confrontation with Seth for the throne, but also out of kind sisterly feelings sometimes came to the rescue of brother Set. During one of the battles, Seth snatched his eye from Horus, which later became the great amulet of Ujet ; Gore castrated Seth, depriving him of the main part 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 her with golden chains to the eternal supports of heaven and set guard her formidable hippo - Isis Hesamut .

The condemned Seth, who turned into a panther, the gods decided to burn, and Anubis took the hide of Seth and put it on himself. Then he went to the sanctuary of Osiris and burned his badge in the skin with a hot iron ^[8] .

When Gore defeated Seth, he founded the city of Edfu , where the 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.

In the period of the Old Kingdom, Seth, along with Horus, was considered a god - the patron saint of royal power, which is reflected in the “ Texts of the Pyramids ” and in the titles of the pharaohs of the 2nd dynasty (the combination of the names Seth and Horus means “king”). Under the Hyksos, Seth was identified with their god Baal , the place of his cult as the main god was the capital of Egypt Avaris . At the beginning of the period of the New Kingdom, the names “Networks” are still quite common; these names were carried by the pharaohs of the XIX dynasty : Seti , Setnaht ; Seth was given the epithet "mighty." In the contract of Ramses II with the Hittites, Seth is mentioned along with the Hittite gods.

Objects depicting the animal symbolizing Seth appeared in the Pre-Dynastic period , in the era of Nakad I (3800-3600 BC). They were found in the Nakada area. In those days, Set was the deity of metals and the patron saint of Upper Egypt, and negative traits had not yet manifested in his character. In the era before the unification of Egypt by the pharaoh Narmer, supporters of Seth 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 Seth are portrayed together, Horus certainly stands in front of Seth.

With the end of the Old Kingdom, his cult was gradually demonized from the great protector of Ra into an evil powerful deity, who did not lose his original functions. After such a transformation, Seth was not perceived by the Egyptians as something evil and hostile (for example, as the snake Apop or the crocodile Magician). Despite the lost dispute and numerous crimes, including the murder of Osiris, Seth remains the ruler of the southern regions of Egypt, the ruler of his power - bad weather and sandstorms. He was especially revered by the Ramsessids as the lord of military valor and courage. Seth's main function was to fight alone with the serpent Apopus , protecting the Sun Rook (papyrus Zhumilyak). However, starting from the Third transition period , especially during the Ptolemaic era, when the cult of Horus was elevated especially high, Seth turns purely into a symbol of evil and becomes a hated villain, a source of universal evil.

The planet Mercury was considered the celestial image of Set - “Set in the evening twilight, God in the morning twilight.” Seth's color is reddish-red, the subject side of the world is south.

The cult of Set flourished in Ombos (near Nakada), Kom Ombos , Gipsel, the oases of Dakhl and Kharg , and especially in the northeastern Nile Delta. In the oasis of Dakhl, until the XXII dynasty , the oracle of Seth existed. Although already at the time of the XXVI dynasty, this god became a clear personification of evil.

Papyrus Anastasi II writes about the events of the times of Ramses III ^[12] :

His Majesty ( Ramses III ) built himself a fortified palace, called "The Great in Victories." It is located between Rechenu and Tameri, replete with food and supplies. It is built on the model of Germontis , and its length is the same as that of Hut-ka-Ptah . The sun rises on both of its light mountains (a concept from Egyptian mythology), and falls in the center of this city. All people leave their cities and settle in the district (of this city). In the west (cities) 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, which is located in this city, is (as large) as the two light mountains of the sky. Ramses II in him as a god, " Montu in Both Lands" as a speaker, "Mr. Sun " as a vizier , friendly to Egypt.

Mappings

Seth's comparisons with other Egyptian gods and deities of pantheons of other nations.

• The Egyptians themselves sometimes identified him with Beban.
• The Libyans have Ash ^[2] .
• On the Sinai Peninsula - Nemti ^[2] .
• The Hurrians have Teshub ^[2] .
• When Hyksos was identified with Baal , the place of his cult became the city of Avaris ^{[2] [13]} . The names of the wives of Seth ^[6] ( Anat , Asher, or Astarte ) are identical to the names of the wives of Baal and Yevo ^{[6] [14] [15] [16] [17]} .
• In ancient Greek mythology - Typhon ^[2] .

• One of the heroes of Roger Zhelyazny ’s novel “ Creation of Light, Creation of Darkness ”.
• In the Giborian (Highboric) world, Conan Set is the god of Stygia, the patron saint of Black Circle sorcerers and the main antagonist of Mithra. Contrary to tradition, he is depicted as a snake.
• In the books of Rick Riordan " Red Pyramid ", " Fiery Throne " and " Shadow of the Serpent ."
• 2001 - American Gods
• 2010 - The Heirs of the Gods
• In honor of Seth, the insect Euderus set described in 2017 was named ^[18]

Cinema

• 1975 - in the episode "The Pyramids of Mars " of the classic series " Doctor Who, " Sutek is an alien deity buried by brothers under the pyramid in the Sahara. The doctor ran into him in 1911 when Sutek planned to escape from his prison and destroy the Earth.
• 1997-2007 - in the science fiction series “ Stargate: SG-1 ”, Seth is one of the Goa'ulds ( Pharaoh is an alien ). The Set series is directly devoted to him, where he is represented by the immortal, now living on Earth, and is the leader of a totalitarian destructive sect ^[19] .
• 1998 - cartoon " The Adventures of Papyrus " (France); Seth is the main antagonist.
• 2003-2008 - cartoon " Tutenstein " (USA)
• 2006 - Tutankhamun: The Curse of the Tomb
• 2016 - “ Gods of Egypt ”; Seth was played by Gerard Butler
• 2017 - The Mummy ; the role of Set was played by Javier Botet.

Video Games

• In the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade there is a clan "Followers of Set", which are described as insidious vampires of Egyptian origin ^[20] .
• In the computer game Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Seth acts as the main antagonist and final boss. The plot of the game is fully dedicated to him.
• Egypt 3: The Egyptian Prophecy

• Temple of Set

Comments

Notes

• Bongjoanni A. "Ancient Egypt." Publishing House Niola 21 Century. 2003.74 s. 216 p.
• Larchenko V.N., Lebedev M.A., Selyanin K.V., Solkin V.V. Ancient Egypt. Encyclopedia. Art Rodnik, 2005.
• Set / Rubinstein R.I. // Myths of the world : Encycl. in 2 t / hl ed. S. A. Tokarev . - 2nd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1988. - T. 2: K — Ya. - S. 429.
• Shvets N. N. "Dictionary of Egyptian mythology." - M .: CJSC Centerpolygraph , 2008. - 251 p. - ISBN 978-5-95244-3466 -0.