Set

Set


 * Other Names:**

Seth, Sutek, Seti, Suti, Setesh, Set-Hen, Smai, Suetekh


 * Meaning of Name:**

"The Dazzling One"


 * Hieroglyphics:**

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 * Titles:**[[image:450px-Berlin_122009_018a.jpg width="174" height="225" align="right" caption="Set with a Was scepter"]]

“He Before Whom the Sky Shakes”

"Lord of Metals"

''The Red One" (meaning "The Furious One")

“Lord of the Chambers of the South” (from which storms winds came)

“Strongest of the Gods”

“Lord of the Northern Sky”

“Voice of the Thunder”


 * Family:**

Set was thought to be the son of Nut and Geb, the brother of Isis and Osiris, and the brother-husband of Nephthys. Set was sometimes considered to be the husband of Taweret or Neith, the father of Anubis and Sobek, and to have created Thoth. He was also thought to be the husband of Anat and Astarte.

One of the Ennead and the patron god of strength, aggression, wild desert storms, and the wide, raging sea. In ancient Egyptian astronomy, Set was associated with the constellation of Ursa Major and the planet Mercury. One of his most common titles was “Great of Strength,” and his specter was thought to weigh some 4,500 pounds (2041 kg). The hieroglyph for “Set” was used in words such as “turmoil,” “storm,” and “rage.” The hieroglyphic of Set’s name was sometimes shown stabbed with knives, to render him harmless. Though Set was associated with abominable behavior, the ancient Egyptians believed that unbridled aggression and strength must necessarily reside in a good leader - thus the pharaoh was said to be “the heir to two brothers” (Osiris and Set).

The ancient Egyptians had a dualistic view of the world; Set was god of the red desert, while Osiris was god of the green land by the Nile. While Osiris was known as a peaceful and level-headed ruler, Set was known as //Setekh// (“The Inebriated”) because of his love of strong drink, and was considered a pitiful victim of his own passions. Set was thought to be massively strong but rash and stupid, like a giant in a fairy tale. When he was in one of his fits of fury, Set could only be calmed with medicine dispensed by Geb.

With the brand of chaos (//isfet//), he became known as a trickster and thief god. Strange events such as eclipses, thunderstorms, and earthquakes were all attributed to Set, and he was thought to be the god who “ate” the moon each month - the black boar who swallowed the light. According to Egyptian lore, Set murdered his brother Osiris, and engaged in a bitter battle with his nephew Horus that lasted for 80 years. During the conflict Set ripped out Horus' eyes, and Horus castrated Set; Horus was eventually victorious and crowned king.

Not all aspects of Set were considered negative - he was thought to protect the sun-god Ra from demons and the great serpent Apophis on his journey across the sky - "Every day I slay the Enemy of Ra when I stand at the helm of the Barque of Millions of Years, which no other god dare do." It was Set who defeated the sea-monster Yam, who was threatening to swallow the earth. In addition, one of the garrisons of Ramses II held Set as its patron deity, and Ramses II erected the Four Hundred Years’ Stele at Pi-Ramses, commemorating the 400 year anniversary of the Set cult in the Delta. When Ramses II fought the Hittities, he was described as being "like Set in the moment of His power." Set also carried the epithet, “His Majesty,” shared only with Ra, and was seen as a protector of Upper Egypt.

Set was said to be a friend of the dead, helping them to ascend to heaven on his ladder (maqet), and the crowner of pharaohs and leader of warriors. Set became the patron deity of soldiers, who often wore Set amulets made of bronze or faience, hoping to acquire Set’s strength and protection. The warrior-king Tuthmosis III called himself "Beloved of Set." Set was thought to be the lord of metals – iron, the hardest metal known to the Egyptians, was called the “Bones of Set.” Set was invoked for fertility - he often appears on uterine amulets to either open or close the womb. Like Anubis, the worship of Set predates that of both Horus and Osiris.

Set was pictured as a man wearing a red mantle with an arrow-tail and the head of a Set Animal. Set was also shown as a crocodile, a donkey (thought to be his especial pet), an oryx, a snake, a leopard, a jackal, a hippopotamus, a dog, a turtle, a griffin, a scorpion, and as a black pig. It was thought that Set assumed the shape of many animals because he was born without a definite shape, due to his restlessness – he even impatiently burst out of his mother’s womb. In some myths Set crawled out of his mother's mouth instead, because he was too impatient to wait for a normal birth. In the temple of Hibis in the el-Kharga Oasis Set is represented as a winged figure slaying the serpent Apophis, a depiction which some scholars believe may have provided the original inspiration for the Christian motif of St. George and the dragon.

The word for desert in Egyptian was //tesherit//, which is very similar to the word for red, //tesher//. Consequently, Set became associated with things that were red, including people with red hair, which is not an attribute that Egyptians generally had, and so he also became considered to be a god of foreigners. Set himself was said to have had pale skin and red eyes and hair, which was compared to the pelt of a donkey. Hot desert winds were known as the “Breath of the Ass.”

Traditionally, anyone born with red hair was named after Set. The “Followers of Set” were a group of Egyptians who participated in staged, mock battles in the ceremonies honoring Osiris, Set, and Horus. They were called //Mesu-Betesht// or //Desheru//, the “Red Ones.”

Since he represented the barren desert, Set was generally considered infertile, and so, since the early Egyptians had very little in the way of taboos regarding sexuality , Set was usually identified as being homosexual or bisexual. It was said that Set’s favorite food was lettuce, as Egyptian lettuce is long, firm, and releases a milky substance when pressed, an innuendo clearly referring to the phallus. Set was married to the goddess Nephthys and given concubines to appease him, yet he was also a lover of the god Ash and assaulted Horus sexually starting with the come-on line “How lovely your backside is!”

Set was regarded as an equal to Horus, who was seen as a god of the day sky, while Set was seen as a god of the night sky. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms there are depictions of these two gods binding lotus and papyrus plants together to symbolize the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. Paintings in the tomb of Rameses IV even depict Set and Horus as one god, with two heads set upon one neck.

Although not an aspect of the veneration of the god, the sacrifice or destruction of various Setian animals was part of the religious activity which surrounded him. From early times a red bull representing Set was sacrificially slaughtered, and similar rituals of “strangling the desert bird,” “trampling the fish,” and the killing of an oryx, donkey, or a red dog and are also known.

Perhaps the most important ritual of this type was the royal hippopotamus hunt, in which the king hunted and destroyed a wild male hippopotamus as a symbol of the victory of Horus over Set. The annual festival of killing all animals sacred to Set may very well be the basis of the Hebrew’s symbolic driving out of the scapegoat.


 * Feast and Holy Days:**

July 16th (Birthday of Set)

August 13th (Day of the Battle Between Horus and Set)

August 14th (Day of Peace Between Horus and Set)

October 12 (The Red Land is Given to Set)

December 18 (Set Goes Forth)

March 2 (Going Forth of Set)


 * Quotes from the Book of the Dead and other sources:**

Hymns of Set


 * Egyptian Names Honoring This Deity:**

Setau, Set-Peribsen, Sethos (“Man of Set”), Seti ("Lord Set"), Sethnakhte (“Set is Mighty”)


 * Outside of Egypt:**

Set was identified with various foreign storm deities, including Baal, Teshub, and Typhon. Set was one of the few other gods mentioned by name in the Bible, and may have given his name (Set-Hen) to the Hebrew Satan. The story of the deadly rivalry between the brothers Set and Osiris seems likely to have been the inspiration for the story of Cain and Abel. It is also interesting to note that the name of the son of Cain is “Seth,” and that almost all the villains in the Bible, including Judas, had red hair, the color of Set.

Egyptian Deities - S