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SKC Films Library >> Religion and Mythology >> Ancient Egyptian Mythology
Horus

Egyptian god of light and heaven

Horus was born to the goddess Isis after she retrieved all the dismembered body parts of her murdered husband Osiris, except his penis, which was thrown into the Nile and eaten by a crab. Isis used her magic powers to fashion a penis and resurrect Osiris, who was able to impregnate her before having to "report" to the Underworld.

Worshipped in both Lower and Upper Egypt, Horus was called "the great king of gods, king of the land, and king of the world, who spans the sky with his wings, and covers the land with his pinions." He was depicted either as a falcon or a human body with a falcon's head, capped by the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. His right eye was said to be the sun or morning star, representing power; his left eye was the moon or evening star, representing healing. As the life-giving god, he held the ankh, the symbol of life,in his right hand.

statue of Horus as a falcon

depiction of Horus with a human body and falcon 's head
Horus

SEE ALSO
Isis

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SKC Films Library >> Religion and Mythology >> Ancient Egyptian Mythology

This page was last updated on October 26, 2017.