The Osiris Myth: The Story of Horus and Set

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This story continues from Egyptian Mythology: Osiris Myth: Osiris and Isis

     Isis had to make new privates for Osiris out of clay (Eww!). She then joined his entire body together, and with Anubis' help, mummified Osiris for the first time. Suddenly, an ibis came by and made a small sound with it's throat. Isis didn't understand at first, but soon, she understood. The ibis was Thoth, the god of knowledge and magic. He was teaching her some magic. She made the exact same sound with her throat, and the magical incantation resurrected Osiris. She woke him up by kissing him (eww!) and both were happy to be with one another. That night, Osiris had to leave for the underworld, where he took over Anubis' role as the ruler of the underworld. After being a good king to the living, it was time to be a good king to the dead. Anubis gladly forsake his role for Osiris and instead, became the judge of dead souls. In the underworld, Osiris created Babi, the bloodthirsty god of baboons. He's also the god of the dead. He's bananas like that.

     Isis woke up and realized two things: Osiris is gone, and she is pregnant. She had to do everything in her power to protect her child and make sure he claimed his birthright. So, while Nephthys helped Isis with her pregnancy, Isis also took magic lessons from Thoth so that she could be powerful enough to protect her son from all threats. Nephthys then left Isis and became the goddess of service. Like the camels, she learned how to breathe in the desert air and she also learned how to breathe fire. She used her new-found powers to become the goddess of protection.

     Soon, Isis gave birth to Horus, the falcon-headed god of war, vengeance, and kingship. She gave birth to him and hid in a papyrus thicket. When Isis was gone, Horus would be looked after by the snake goddess Wadjet. Isis would travel everywhere and beg people to help, while hiding the fact that she was a goddess. She would leave some deities to take care of Horus and she was protected by scorpion deities when she travelled. Once, when a woman refused to help her, one of the scorpions stung her son, and Isis, being kind and compassionate, helped the woman by curing her son with magic.

    Horus was very innocent and vulnerable as a child. Throughout Horus' childhood, Set would send many scorpions or snake to bite him, but Isis was always able to heal him. Because Horus was bitten many times by snakes, the ancient Egyptians had a great fear of poison and snakebite. Osiris' spirit sometimes visited Horus and taught him both warfare and how to properly govern a kingdom. Horus soon grew up into a strong and valiant prince.

     Horus soon challenged his uncle for the throne of Egypt and so they basically had a huge court battle. In the trial, where were three judges. Ra and Atum were judging because they were the creators of kingship and the first kings. Geb was the third judge, since he was the previous king before Osiris and both Set and Osiris were his sons. Finally, Thoth sort of acted as Horus' lawyer, and served as an assistant to the judges. Isis secretly used her magic to try and tip the odds in her son's favor. From here, we see Isis become extremely cunning and we get to see some of the intelligence she had as a queen. In fact, she was said to be so intelligent that her intelligence and cunning surpassed that of a million gods/men. Meanwhile, in the trial, the gods all have mixed feelings about choosing sides. You're probably wondering "How could it possibly be hard for the gods to see al the bad things Set has done and instantly side with Horus?!".Well, the thing is, Horus may be the rightful heir to the throne that Set deceitfully stole, but Set is also Ra's chief lieutenant and protects him from the serpent Apophis/Apep. Hence, the trial lasted for eight years.

     They weren't getting anywhere with the trial, so while the trial continued, they had some contests. One time, they decided that they would fight each other as hippopotami under the water, but they would have to stay underwater for three months. Throughout all the battles to come, Isis is always secretly using her magic to help her son behind the scenes. She's totally his "Glinda, the Good Witch". So, when Set and Horus declared their hippo war, Isis created a bow and some harpoons. She then flew into the sky and aimed for Set. She shot one harpoon, but it Horus by accident. She then shot several at Set, but missed. Soon enough, she hit him and he cried out in pain. Isis took pity on him, pulled him from the river and nursed him back to health

     They included things like boat racing and fighting in the form of hippopotamuses. It eventually turned into a straight out war. Horus managed to defeat Set, take him as a prisoner, and left his mother to watch him. Set used cunning words to make Isis feel sorry for him and release him. When Horus learned what his mother had done, he chopped off her head in anger. Thoth replaced Isis' head with that of the cow goddess Hathor, who was Horus' wife. This was why Isis wore a headdress with cow horns. To punish Horus for treating his mother in such a way, Ra tortured him.

     Horus then returned to fight, where he badly hurt Set and Set tore out Horus' eyes. Thoth made a new eye for Horus out of moonlight. Hathor fixed the other eye by pouring milk from the Milky Way into his eye socket. Hence, Horus got both of his eyes back and his eye was seen as a symbol of protection in ancient Egypt. Horus is also known as the god of the sky and the air. So, it was said that his right eye was the sun while his left eye was the moon.

     Meanwhile, Horus the Elder was jealous of his more famous nephew and so joined the fight against Set. He turned into a sun disk and blinded the sight of Set's soldiers. Set's soldiers couldn't see what they were doing in the midst of battle, they all killed each other, giving Horus the Younger the advantage. Horus the Elder became the protector of Egypt.

      Ra called the council of the gods to ferry themselves to a middle-heaven-island where they would judge between Horus the Younger and Set again. Ra told their fisherman, Nempti, to not allow passage to any woman who looked like Isis, wince he wanted a fair trial and didn't want Isis using her magic to affect the outcome. So the gods reached the island and tried to peacefully negotiate things. Isis was afraid that Set would win against Horus and so tricked Nempti by turning herself into an old woman. She paid him a gold ring to ferry her to the island. Once she reached the island, she turned herself into a beautiful woman to attract Set. Set left the meeting to go to her. She told him that her husband had died and that a stranger had taken all his possessions and was going to beat her son. She asked Set to be her son's protector. Set felt bad for her and ironically claimed that the stranger should be brutally punished and her son to inherit his father's place.

     Isis then turned into a bird and flew into a tree. She said that even his mind and mouth had judged him cruel. Set, humiliated and furious, complained to Ra about Isis' manipulation. Ra said exactly what Isis said. OH!!! Sucks to be you Set!!! Set said that the ferryman Nempti should be punished and so his toes were removed. Nempti never accepted any form of gold ever again.

     So, after a bunch of more battles, Horus the Younger defeated Set and was crowned the rightful king of Egypt. Set was banished to the far barren deserts of Egypt and continued being Ra's lieutenant. Sometimes, Set had the head of a falcon just like Horus when fighting Apophis/Apep. Forever angry at his dethronement, Set would scream in anger, causing thunder. Then, Isis, Nephthys, Anubis, and Horus all rushed to Osiris' temple where they attempted to reassemble Osiris again. Finally, to resurrect him, Horus fed him one of his magical eyes (beyond gross!). Anubis built a ladder for Osiris, who ascended to the heavens Isis and Nephthys by his sides. Osiris became the main judge of the dead in the underworld.

     Horus married Hathor and Serket, the goddess of scorpions, magic, and medicine. They had four sons (two from each goddess), though some say that their mother was Isis. They were born from the Nile in a lily flower and they were all mummies with different heads. Their faces were placed on canopic jars from which they protected certain body parts after death. When they were born, they began to drown, and so they were saved by Sobek, who pulled them onto dry land with a fishing net. They were Duamutef, with the head of a jackal, was the god of the east and protector of the stomach. Imest, with the head of a mummified human, was the god of the south and protector and liver. Hapi, with the head of a baboon, was the god of the north and protector of the lungs. Qebehseneuf, with the head of a falcon, was the god of the west and the protector of the intestines. Each of the four gods were protected by goddesses Isis, Neith, Nephthys, and Serket, respectively. From them descended the line of the pharaohs (Ancient Egyptians God-Kings), who were worshipped in Ancient Egypt, since they believed that they descended from the gods.

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