All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

to cure the infant. But later, when she gave birth to her

own son, Horus, he, in turn, was bitten by a scorpion

and Isis, who had used up her power, could not cure him.

Fortunately, Ra, the sun god, saw Isis in distress, took pity

on her, and sent the moon god Thoth to cure Horus.

HORUS AND SET

Meanwhile, Set had usurped the kingship of Egypt. When

Horus grew up, he challenged his uncle for the throne, and

the two fought many times. On one occasion, Set blinded a

sleeping Horus. When Isis found her son blinded, she nursed

him and restored his sight. Then Set tried to rape Horus, and

told the other gods that the young man was unworthy to be

king because he had slept with Set. But the

gods found out that Set was lying.

Finally, Set challenged Horus to a

boat race, insisting that the vessels

used in the race should be made of

stone. Horus tricked his uncle by

using a wooden boat he had plastered

to look like stone. Set’s boat sank, and

in his anger, he turned himself into a

hippopotamus and capsized Horus’s

vessel. But the gods at last saw that

Horus was truly worthy and made

him king, while Set was exiled.

THE MYTH

The first king of Egypt was the god Osiris; like some rulers of

Egypt after him, he took his sister, Isis, as his wife. He was a

good king, much liked by his people, and Isis was a popular

queen. But Osiris had a wicked and violent brother, Set, who

was jealous of Osiris’s power and lusted after Isis. To get rid of

Osiris, Set tricked the king into climbing into a wooden chest,

which he then sealed and threw into the Nile. Osiris was dead

by the time Isis found the box, but she retrieved the king’s

body. Set discovered what Isis had done so he hacked Osiris’s

body into many pieces. Although it was supposedly impossible

to destroy the body of a god, Set had all but done so.

REVIVING OSIRIS

Isis decided to salvage Osiris’s body. With the help of her

sister, Nephthys, who was the wife of Set, she gathered the

fragments of Osiris’s body, joined them together, and bound

them tightly to make the first mummy.

Then, transforming herself into a

bird of prey – a kite – she hovered

over the body, beating her wings

to infuse it with the breath of life.

Osiris breathed for long enough to

impregnate Isis. Later, Osiris departed

for the Underworld. Isis then fled from Set,

taking with her a guard of seven scorpions.

While she was fleeing, Isis was treated

inhospitably by a rich woman, and one of

the scorpions bit the woman’s child. Isis

took pity on the child and used her magic

Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus was a much-feared creature

of the Nile, capable of overturning a craft sailing

on the river, as Set did when he took the form of

the beast to capsize Horus’s boat.

Horus fights Set

This stone relief from the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt,

depicts a scene from the battle Horus fought against Set,

with the goddess Isis at the helm of the boat.

ANCIENT EGYPT

A popular myth from ancient Egypt narrates

the story of a tragic rivalry for the throne of

Egypt between two divine brothers, the

virtuous Osiris and the wicked Set, and the

subsequent dispute between Set and Horus,

the son of Osiris. The myth was well known

because it dealt with the rule of Egypt, and

also because the story of the death and revival

of Osiris gave people hope of an afterlife.

A King’s Murder

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