Restoring Egypt’s military, Horemhab once again nur-
tured vassal states and received delegates and tributes. He
moved Egypt’s capital back to MEMPHIS and set about
restoring temple properties, building and rebuilding sec-
tions of KARNAKand Nubian shrines. When the tombs of
TUTHMOSIS IV(r. 1401–1391 B.C.E.) and Tut’ankhamun
were invaded by robbers and vandalized, he restored them.
His most ambitious and beneficial act was the
reestablishment of law and order in the Nile Valley. His
famous edict reestablishing various laws was found on a
fragmented stela in Karnak. The edict concerned itself
with legal abuses taking place because of the laxity of
Akhenaten’s rule. Horemhab declared that officials of the
state and provinces would be held accountable for cheat-
ing the poor, for pocketing funds, and for misappropriat-
ing the use of slaves, ships, and other properties. The
ruler singled out higher ranked officials, promising swift
judgments and even the death penalty for offenses. The
edict also announced the appointment of responsible
men as viziers and gave information about the division of
the standing army into two main units, one in Upper
Egypt and one in Lower Egypt. Horemhab not only pub-
lished his edict throughout the land but also took inspec-
tion tours to make sure that all of the provisions were
being carried out in the remote regions as well as in the
cities.
When Horemhab approached his death without an
heir, he appointed a military companion to succeed him,
RAMESSES I. He built two tombs, one in SAQQARA(Mem-
phis) and one in the Theban necropolis, the VALLEY OF
THE KINGS. He was buried in THEBES. The Memphis tomb
was erected before his ascent to the throne, and it became
the burial place for Mutnodjmet and his first wife, AME-
NIA, a commoner.
His tomb in the Valley of the Kings is long and
straight but unfinished. It begins with a steep descent
through undecorated corridors to a false burial chamber
with pillars. The inner rooms are elaborately decorated,
and a red granite sarcophagus was provided for burial.
The remains of four other individuals were also discov-
ered in the tomb, possibly members of Horemhab’s family.
The tomb in Saqqara (Memphis) has magnificent reliefs
and sumptuous remains of funerary regalia. His mummy
was not found in either tomb.
Horhirwonmef(fl. 13th century B.C.E.)Prince of the
Nineteenth Dynasty
He was a son of RAMESSES II(r. 1290–1224 B.C.E.), the
twelfth son designated as the heir to the throne but dying
before his father. Horhirwonmef was depicted in LUXOR
Temple reliefs as leading prisoners at the battle of
KADESH. He was buried in THEBES.
horizon A spiritual symbol, the akhetwas a metaphysi-
cal term used to describe shrines and other religious
objects. The horizon was the universe, both in the past
and in the present. Temples and shrines were considered
the actual land of glory in which the gods resided
through time. The actual plots of land upon which tem-
ples stood were called the PRIMEVAL MOUNDSof creation.
The akhetsymbol depicted two mounds side by side with
a space in which the sun appeared at dawn.
The AKER lions guarded the horizon, which was
called the home of HORUS. The pylons and gates of tem-
ples reproduced the image of the two mounds side by
side, framing the light, thus serving as true images of the
horizon. The WINDOW OF APPEARANCEused in temples
and capital cities by the royal families was associated with
the horizon.Hor of Sebennytos(fl. second century B.C.E.)Prophet
of the Ptolemaic Period known for his ability to foresee the
future
He had an audience with PTOLEMY VI PHILOMETOR(r.
180–164, 163–145 B.C.E.) in ALEXANDRIA, on August29,
168 B.C.E. During this court session Hor predicted that
the hated Seleucid king ANTIOCHUS IVwould leave Egypt
in peace. Antiochus had invaded the Nile area in 170
B.C.E., taking control of the child ruler. A Seleucid gover-
nor remained in Alexandria when Antiochus left, admin-
istrating Egypt until Antiochus’s return in 168 B.C.E.
The Romans, already a power in the Mediterranean
world, sent Papillius Laenas to Antiochus’s camp in PELU-
SIUMin the Delta to announce that Rome wanted the
Seleucids out of Egypt, drawing a line in the sand to
demonstrate the threat that Rome’s legions offered. Anti-
ochus and his people left the region within a month, and
Hor achieved considerable recognition for predicting this.
He may have been a true seer or may have had advance
word of the Roman intentions. Hor was the administrator
of the sacred IBIScult in MEMPHIS. The ibis was a symbol
of the god THOTH.horse A domesticated animal introduced into Egypt in
the Second Intermediate Period (1640–1532 B.C.E.),
probably by the invading HYKSOS, there was a burial site
for a horse at the fortress of BUHENin NUBIA(modern
Sudan) that dates to the Middle Kingdom (2040–1640
B.C.E.), but the animal was not seen extensively at that
time. The Hyksos left a horse burial at Deir el-Dab’a in
the Delta.
The horse was used by the Hyksos in CHARIOTforces.
The Egyptians under KAMOSE(r. 1555–1550 B.C.E.) and
then ’AHMOSE(r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.) adopted the chariots
and bred the available horses in order to campaign
against the Hyksos outposts. The original horses intro-
duced did not carry human riders, but the Egyptians
adapted them over time. By the middle of the Eighteenth
Dynasty (c. 1391) horses became valued gifts sent by the
Egyptian pharaohs to neighboring vassal kings and allies.horse 171