Horus

Horus.

Statue of Horus and Seth placing the crown of Upper Egypt in the head of Ramses III. XX dynasty, early centuryXII before Christ.

Horus («falcon»; also «the lofty», «the distant one») is one of the most important deities of ancient Egypt, who served in numerous roles, most notably as the god of kingship and the sky in Egyptian mythology, as well as of war and hunting. He was sometimes regarded as the initiator of Egyptian civilization. He was venerated at least from late prehistoric Egypt to the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt. History records different forms of Horus, which Egyptologists consider to be different gods. These various forms may be different manifestations of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily opposite but complementary to each other, in in keeping with the way the ancient Egyptians viewed the many facets of reality. hawk head).

His Egyptian name was Hor (Ḥr), also called Heru or Har; Horus is his Hellenized name (Ώρος). Claudius Aelian wrote that the Egyptians called the god Apollo in the Greek pantheon "Horus" in their own language. However, Plutarch, delving into the same tradition reported by the Greeks, specified that the "Horus" that the Egyptians equated with the Greek Apollo was actually "Horus the Elder", which is distinct from Horus the son of Osiris and Isis (which would make him "Horus the Younger").

The oldest known form of Horus is the tutelary deity of Nejen (the "City of the Falcon" or Hierakompolis) in Upper Egypt, who is the first known national god, specifically related to the ruling pharaoh, who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death. From the beginning, Horus was closely associated with the pharaonic monarchy as a patron and dynastic god. The followers of Horus are, then, the first sovereigns who placed themselves under his obedience. Early in the historical period, the sacred falcon appears on King Narmer's palette and has been consistently associated with royal power thereafter.

The most commonly found familial relationship depicts Horus as the son of the goddess Isis and the resurrection god Osiris, and he plays a key role in the myth of Osiris as heir to Osiris and rival to Seth, the murderer and Osiris brother. In another tradition, Hathor is considered his mother and sometimes his wife.In the most archaic myth, Horus and Seth form a divine couple characterized by rivalry, each wounding the other. From this confrontation emerged Thoth, the god of the Moon, considered a common son of both. Towards the end of the Old Kingdom, this myth was reinterpreted by the priests of Heliopolis integrating the character of Osiris, the archetype of the deified dead pharaoh. This new theology marks the appearance of the Osiriac myth in which Horus is presented as the posthumous son of Osiris born from the magical workings of Isis, his mother. In this context, Horus plays a fundamental role. As a kind son, he fights against his uncle Seth, the murderer of his father, defeats him and captures him. With Seth humiliated, Horus is crowned pharaoh of Egypt and his father enthroned as king of the afterlife. However, before he can vigorously fight his uncle, Horus is nothing more than a puny being. As a child-god (Harpocrates), Horus is the archetype of a small child subjected to all the dangers of life. He was about to die on several occasions, but he is also the boy who always overcomes the difficulties of life. As such, he is a very effective healing and savior god against hostile forces.

In addition to his dynastic and royal features, Horus is a cosmic deity, a fabulous being whose two eyes are the Sun and the Moon. The left eye of Horus, or Eye of Udyat, is a powerful symbol associated with funeral offerings, Thoth, the Moon and its phases. This eye, wounded by Seth and healed by Thoth, is the night star that constantly disappears and reappears in the sky. Constantly regenerating, the Moon is the mise en abyme of a rebirth for all the Egyptian dead.

In his many aspects, Horus is revered in all Egyptian regions. In the Temple of Edfu, one of the most beautiful Ptolemaic temples, the god receives an annual visit from the statue of the goddess Hathor of Dendera and forms, with Harsomtus, a divine triad. In Kom Ombo, Horus the Elder (Haroeris) is associated with Sobek, the crocodile god. With such popularity, the cult of Horus was exported out of Egypt, more specifically to Nubia. From the late period, thanks to the Isiac cults, the figure of Harpocrates became very popular throughout the Mediterranean basin under Hellenistic and then Roman influence.

Etymology

Horus in the tomb of Ramses V and Ramses VI, Valley of the Kings, Luxor.

The contemporary name of Horus derives from the Greek theonym Ὧρος (Hōros) developed in the first millennium BC. C. at the time of the meeting of the Egyptian and Greek cultures. Horus appears in Egyptian hieroglyphics as ḥr.w "Falcon", 𓅃, from which the Greek theonym derives. Since the hieroglyphic script does not reproduce the vowels, the exact Egyptian pronunciation is unknown, although it has been reconstructed as probably /ˈħaːɾuw/ in Ancient Egyptian and Early Middle Egyptian, /ˈħaːɾəʔ/ in Late Middle Egyptian, and /ˈħoːɾ(ə)/ in Egyptian late. Other meanings are believed to be "the far one" or "the one above", referring to the majestic flight of the bird of prey. As the language changed, it appeared in Coptic varieties such as /hoːɾ/ or /ħoːɾ/ (Ϩⲟⲣ) and was adopted in ancient Greek as Ὧρος Hōros (pronounced then as /hɔ̂ːros/). It also survives in theophoric name forms in Late Egyptian and Coptic such as Siese 'son of Isis' or Harsiese 'Horus, son of Isis'. The falcon hieroglyphic symbol was used since predynastic times to represent the idea of god.

Hor - Hur (Horus) in hieroglyphic

In the proto-Egyptian language, Horus must have meant "falcon", hence its ideogram of the falcon perched on a perch. From the Early Dynastic period (around 3300 BC), the falcon hieroglyph Hor also designates the sovereign, acting or deceased, and may even be equivalent to the word netjer, "god", but with a connotation of sovereignty. In the Pyramid Texts , the expression Hor em iajou , "Horus in the splendor", thus refers to the deceased king, who became a god among gods when he entered the afterlife.

Iconography

The divinity of Horus is manifested in iconography in many ways. In most cases, he is depicted as a falcon or as a hieracocephalic (i.e., falcon-headed) man, wearing the Double Crown, or, to evoke his youth, as a naked, bald youth. Also, like a solar disk with falcon wings unfolded, over the doors and in the rooms of the temples; and sphinx-shaped like Harmajis.

The animal form is the oldest. Until the end of the early dynastic period, animals, including the falcon, appear to be much more efficient and superior to men, and consequently, divine powers are represented exclusively in animal form. The falcon and its majestic flight through the sky were clearly interpreted as the mark or symbol of the Sun, and its name "the Far One" made reference to the daytime star. Towards the end of the First Dynasty, around 2800 B.C. C., parallel to the development of Egyptian civilization (dissemination of agriculture, irrigation and urban planning), the religious mentality became more flexible and the divine forces began to become humanized. At this time the first fully anthropomorphic and mummiform gods appear (Min and Ptah). As for Horus, during the first two dynasties, the animal form remained the rule. The first composite forms (animal-headed men) appear at the end of the 2nd Dynasty and, as far as we know, the earliest known depiction of Horus as a hieracocephalic man dates from the 3rd Dynasty. It appears on a stela now in the Louvre Museum, where the god appears in the company of pharaoh Huny-Qahedjet).

Among the most famous depictions is a statue fragment in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo showing Khafre seated on his throne (4th Dynasty). The falcon is standing on the back of the seat and its two open wings encircle the royal neck to signify its protection. In the same museum the golden statue of the Horus of Nejen is preserved. Its dating is disputed: dynasty VI or XII. Only the head of the falcon is preserved, topped with a crown of two tall stylized feathers. Its obsidian stone eyes mimic the piercing gaze of a living bird. The Louvre Museum has a statue of Horus, about one meter tall, dating to the Third Intermediate Period, at the entrance to its Egyptian collections. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York owns a statuette in which King Nectanebo II of the XXX Dynasty, the last pharaoh of independent Egypt, appears small and stands between the legs of a majestic falcon crowned with the pschent.

History

Horus is one of the oldest Egyptian deities. Its origins are lost in the mists of African prehistory. Like the other main deities of the Egyptian pantheon, he is present in iconography as early as the fourth millennium BC. C. In ancient Egypt several species of falcons coexisted. As representations of the Horus bird are often highly stylized, it is quite difficult to formally identify it with a specific species. However, it seems that an image of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) can be seen. This medium-sized raptor and so-called penetrator is known for its rapid dive from the sky on its small ground prey. This falcon also has the particularity of having dark feathers under its eyes that form a kind of crescent. This distinctive mark recalls the design of the eye of Udyat associated with Horus and the other hieracocephalic gods.

Horus was already known in the predynastic period. He was a god linked to royalty who tutored the Tinite monarchs, whose center of worship was Hierakonpolis (or "falcon city" as the Greeks called Nejen). Since the Old Kingdom, the pharaoh is the manifestation of Horus on earth, although when he dies he will become Osiris, and will be part of the creator god Ra. During the New Kingdom it was associated with the god Ra, as Ra-Horajti. He is a trunk part of the Great Ennead. He is part of the Osiriac triad: Osiris, Isis and Horus.

The Egyptian pantheon has a large number of falcon gods; Socar, Sopdu, Hemen, Hauron (Horon), Dedun and Hormerty. However, Horus and his many forms take first place. As a multifaceted god, the myths concerning him are intertwined. However, it is possible to distinguish two main aspects: a juvenile form and an adult form. In his full warrior power and sexual maturity, Horus is Horajti, the sun at his zenith. In Heliopolis, as such, he is worshiped simultaneously with Ra. In the Pyramid Texts, the deceased pharaoh is resurrected in the guise of a solar hawk. In a common syncretism in Egyptian religion, Horajti merges with the Heliopolitan demiurge, in the form of Ra-Horajty. In Edfu, he is Hor-Behedety, the winged sun of primordial times. In Kom Ombo, it is Horus the Elder (Haroëris), a sky god imagined as an immense falcon whose eyes are the Sun and the Moon. When these stars are absent from the sky, it is said that this Horus is blind. In Nejen (Hierakompolis), the capital of the early pharaohs, this celestial falcon is Hor-Nejeni, whose warrior and royal aspects are very pronounced.

The young Horus also appears in multiple forms. In Osiriac myth, Horus (or Arueris) is the son of Osiris and Isis. Osiris, killed by his brother Seth, is brought back to life, during a carnal union, thanks to the combined efforts of Isis and Nephthys. From this miraculous union is born Horus the Child ( Harpocrates ), also called Harsiesis (Horus son of Isis) and Harendotes or Hor-nedj-itef (Horus who cares for his father). In this last aspect, to avenge the death of his father, Horus confronts his uncle Seth. After many adventures, he wins the battle and inherits the throne of Egypt. Horus's courage and his loyalty to his family make him the epitome of the pharaoh. However, his legitimacy is constantly questioned by Seth. During a fight with his rival, Horus loses his left eye, which is reconstituted by Thoth. Called the Eye of Udyat or Eye of Horus, this eye, which the Egyptians wore as an amulet, has magical and prophylactic properties. This left eye, reconstituted piece by piece by Thoth, represents the moon, which increases day by day. In contrast to Seth, who represents violence and chaos, Horus embodies order and, like Pharaoh, is one of the guarantors of universal harmony; However, the complex theology of the Egyptians should not be reduced to a Manichean conception of Good and Evil, since in another myth, Seth is Ra's indispensable helper in his nocturnal battle against the serpent Apophis. Good and evil are complementary aspects of creation, both present in every deity.

Horus and the Pharaoh

The Pyramid Texts (c. 2400-2300 BC) describe the nature of the pharaoh in different characters such as Horus and Osiris. Pharaoh as Horus in life became Pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he joined the other gods. New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new pharaohs.

Horus and the Pharaohs.

The lineage of Horus, eventual product of the unions between the sons of Atum, could have been a means to explain and justify the pharaonic power. The gods produced by Atum were all representatives of the cosmic and terrestrial forces in Egyptian life. By identifying Horus as the descendant of these forces, then identifying him with Atum himself, and finally identifying the pharaoh with Horus, the pharaoh theologically had dominion over the entire world.

Mythology

Horus, in his temple of Edfu, shaped like a falcon.

According to Egyptian mythology (Heliopolis), Geb (the land of Egypt) and his wife and sister Nut (heaven), give life to two male gods, Osiris and Seth, and two female goddesses: Isis and Nephthys. Osiris marries Isis, and Seth marries Nephthys. The legend tells of the innumerable clashes between Osiris and his brother Seth. Thanks to a trick, Seth manages to kill Osiris, cuts him into 14 parts and hides his remains to prevent them from finding his body, scattering them all over Egypt. His wife, Isis, aware of what happened, looks for each piece, day and night, in all corners of Egypt. Finally, she manages to recover all the remains of her deceased husband. She used her divine powers to revive him, who would henceforth rule the land of the dead, the Duat.

Also, using divine powers, Isis was able to conceive a son from the revived Osiris: Horus. Shortly after he was born, he was hidden by his mother and left in the care of Thoth, god of wisdom, who instructed him and raised him until he became an exceptional warrior. When he came of age, helped by the Shemsu Hor, he fought against Seth to recover the throne of his father, assassinated by him. In one of these fights Horus lost his left eye (Eye of Horus) and after recovering it he gave it as an offering to his father Osiris to restore his sight.

Seth was left as the god of Upper Egypt and Horus of Lower Egypt. Later Horus was god of all Egypt, while Seth was god of the desert and foreign peoples. This myth represents the struggle between the fertility of the Nile valley (Osiris) and the aridity of the desert (Seth).

Later, Horus ruled all of Egypt with Isis-Hathor as queen. The double crown represents the political unity of Egypt, and took the form of the Udyat Eye, which gave rise to various legends of the evil eye.

Later he left the government to the mythical kings, called Shemsu Hor, according to tradition.

As the sun god, Horus defends the boat of Ra, with the help of Seth, against the great serpent Apep. He is also the protector of Osiris in the Egyptian underworld, or Duat. During the trial of Osiris, according to the Book of the Dead, he is the mediator between the deceased and Osiris.

Horus and Tutmosis III, as an offerer. Hatshepsut Temple. Deir el-Bahari.

God in the sky

Since Horus was said to be the sky, it was also considered to contain the Sun and Moon. Egyptians believed that the Sun was his right eye and the Moon his left, and that they traversed the sky when he, a falcon,, flew across it. Later, the reason why the Moon was not as bright as the Sun was explained by a tale, known as The Contests of Horus and Seth. In this tale, Seth, the patron of Upper Egypt, and Horus, the patron of Lower Egypt, were said to have fought for Egypt viciously, with neither side emerging victorious, until finally, the gods sided with Egypt. Horus.

Because Horus was the ultimate victor, he was known as ḥr.w wr "Horus the Great", but is usually translated as "Horus the Old" (or "Horus the Greater"). In the fight, Set had lost a testicle, and Horus's eye was gouged out.

Horus was occasionally shown in art as a naked child with a finger in its mouth sitting on a lotus with its mother. In the form of a youth, Horus was referred to as nfr ḥr.w "the good Horus", transliterated Neferhor, Nephoros (Nephoros) or Nopheros (or Noferos; reconstructed as naːfiru ħaːruw).

Eye of Horus or Wedjat

The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power by the deities, in this case Horus or Ra. The symbol is seen on images of the mother of Horus, Isis, and on other deities associated with her. In the Egyptian language, the word for this symbol was "wedyat" (wɟt). It was the eye of one of the earliest Egyptian deities, Wadjet (or Wadjet)., which later became associated with Bastet, Mut and Hathor as well. Wadjet was a solar deity and this symbol began as her all-seeing eye. In early artwork, Hathor is also depicted with this eye. Funeral amulets were often made in the shape of the Eye of Horus. The Wedjat or Eye of Horus is "the central element" of seven bracelets of "gold, faience, earthenware, carnelian and lapis lazuli" found on the mummy of Sheshonq II. The Wedjat "was intended to protect the king [here] in the other life"and to ward off evil. Egyptian and Near Eastern sailors used to paint the symbol on the bows of their vessels to ensure safe sea voyages.

Conflict between Horus and Set

Horus and Set unite the High and Lower Egypt

His mother, Isis, told Horus to protect the people of Egypt from Seth, the god of the desert, who had killed Horus's father, Osiris. Horus had many battles with Seth, not only to avenge his father, but to choose the rightful ruler of Egypt. In these battles, Horus was associated with Lower Egypt and became its patron.

According to The Contests of Horus and Seth, Seth tries to prove his dominance by seducing Horus and having sexual relations with him. However, Horus reaches between his thighs and catches Seth's semen, then throws it into the river so that it is not said that he has been inseminated by Seth. Horus (or Isis herself in some versions) then deliberately spreads his semen on lettuce, which was Seth's favorite food. Once Seth ate the lettuce, they turned to the gods to try to settle the discussion about the government of Egypt. The gods first heard Seth's claim to dominate over Horus, and invoked his semen, but he responded from the river, invalidating his claim. Then the gods heard Horus's claim to have mastered Seth, and they called his semen, and it responded from within Seth.

An Ojo de Horus personified offers incense to the enthroned god Osiris in a painting of the tomb of Pashedu, centuryXIIIa. C.

Yet Seth still refused to budge, and the other gods were getting tired of over eighty years of fighting and defiance. Horus and Seth challenged each other to a boat race, each in a stone boat. Horus and Seth accepted, and the race began, but Horus had the advantage: his boat was made of wood painted to look like stone, instead of real stone. Set's boat, being of heavy stone, sank, but Horus's did not. Horus then won the race, and Seth withdrew and officially gave Horus the throne of Egypt. Upon becoming king after Seth's defeat, Horus offers offerings to his late father Osiris, reviving him and sustaining him in the afterlife. After the New Kingdom, Seth was still considered the lord of the desert and its oases.

In many versions of the story, Horus and Seth divide the kingdom. This division can be equated to any of the various fundamental dualities that the Egyptians saw in their world. Horus may receive the fertile lands around the Nile, the core of Egyptian civilization, in which case Seth takes the barren desert or the foreign lands associated with it, or Horus may rule the earth while Seth dwells in heaven, or every god can take one of the two traditional halves of the country, Upper and Lower Egypt, in which case either god can be related to either region. However, in Memphite theology, Geb, as judge, first apportions the kingdom among the claimants and then changes his mind, granting sole control to Horus. In this peaceful union, Horus and Seth are reconciled, and the dualities they represent have been resolved into a united whole. Through this resolution, order is restored after the tumultuous conflict.

Egyptologists have often attempted to link the conflict between the two gods to political events in early Egyptian history or prehistory. The cases in which the combatants divide the kingdom, and the frequent association of the pairing Horus and Seth with the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, suggest that the two deities represent some kind of division within the country. Egyptian tradition and archaeological evidence indicate that Egypt was unified early in its history, when a kingdom from Upper Egypt in the south conquered Lower Egypt in the north. The rulers of Upper Egypt called themselves "followers of Horus," and Horus became the tutelary deity of the unified political system and its kings. However, Horus and Seth cannot be easily equated with the two halves of the country. Both deities had various cult centers in each region, and Horus is often associated with Lower Egypt and Set with Upper Egypt. Other events may also have affected the myth. Even before Upper Egypt had a single ruler, two of its main cities were Nejen, in the far south, and Nagada, many miles to the north. The rulers of Nejen, where Horus was the patron deity, are believed to have unified Upper Egypt, including Nagada, under their rule. Seth was associated with Nagada, so it is possible that the divine conflict vaguely reflects a feud between the cities in the distant past. Much later, in the late Second Dynasty (c. 2890-2686 BCE), the pharaoh Seth-Peribsen used the Set-animal to write his serekh's name in place of the falcon hieroglyph representing Horus.. His successor Chasejemuy used both Horus and Set in writing his serech. This evidence has led to the conjecture that the Second Dynasty witnessed a clash between followers of King Horus and Seth-worshippers led by Seth-Peribsen. Jasejemuy's use of the two animal symbols would then represent the reconciliation of the two factions, as well as the resolution of the myth.

Syncretism

His cult was adapted to the myth of Osiris in an attempt at religious syncretism, with many gods being incarnated and fused with Horus in various Egyptian locations.

Horus appeared in many forms, being depicted as:

Sun symbol:

• Harmajis, Hor em ajet, "Horus on the horizon", rising sun associated with Jepri.
• Horjentijet, Hor jenti jet"Sun of the morning."
• Haractes, Hor ajti, "Horus on the horizon", merged with Ra like Ra-Haractes, midday sun.
  • Hor Iabti"Horus of the East", like Haractes.

In Heliopolis, Jepri, Ra-Haractes and Atum are three forms of the same divinity that symbolize the rising sun, the midday sun and the setting sun.

Kid Horus:

• Harsiase, Har sa Aset"Horus, son of Isis" (and Osiris).
• Harsomtus, Hor sema tauy"Horus, unifying of the Two Earths," reborn of Hathor as the son of Hathor and Horus in Edfu.
• Harpra, Har pa Ra"Horus, the Sun" in Coptos.
• Panebtauy, Pa neb tauyAs the son of Haroeris.
• Harpocrates, Hor pa Jard"Horus the boy," who aspired Harsiase and Harsomtus.
  • Ihy, assimilated to Harsomtus and Harpocrates.

Adult Horus:

• Haroeris, Her Ur"Horus the old", "Horus the Great", brother of Osiris and Seth. Supreme God of Upper Egypt. Its various aspects were:
  • Horus Behedety, Hor Behutet, "He who is originally from Behedet", venerated in Edfu.
  • Horjenti-Irti, Hor ur jent arThe Lord of your eyes.
  • Horsemsu, Hor Semsu, son of Nut; or Isis and Osiris within the womb of Nut.
  • Hormerty Hor Merty"Horus the Two Eyes."
• Harendotes, Hor nedy her atef"Horus, your father's avenger."
  • Hartomes, Hor tema aAnother way of Harendotes.
• Hornejeny Hor Nejeny"Horus, the native of Nejen."
• Horpanebtauy, Hor pa neb tau"Horus, Lord of the two Earths."

Also as:

• Hor duat"Horus de la Duat", "Lord of the Circular Stars".
• Hor imy shenut"The one in Shenuet."
• Hor hery uadyef"Lord of the Spirits of Pe" (Buto).
• Horus Iunmutef, priest in funeral rites.

It was also associated with two planets, such as:

• Hor up shetJupiter.
• Hor p kaSaturn.

Her-ur (Horus the Elder)

Her-ur parietal fold in the temple of Edfu, Egypt.

Her-ur or Heru-ur, also known as Horus the Elder or Har uer, was a form of Horus, son of Geb and Nut. He was one of the oldest gods of Ancient Egypt. He became the patron of Nejen (Hierakompolis) and the first national god (& # 39; God of the Kingdom & # 39;). He was depicted as a hieracosphinx, a creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of a falcon. Later, he also became a patron of the pharaohs, being called "the son of truth", which reinforced his role as an important defender of Maat. His right eye was the Sun and his left, the Moon. Her-ur was sometimes depicted exclusively as a falcon and was sometimes given the title Kemuer, meaning '(the) great black'.

The Greek form of Her-ur is Haroeris or Harmajis. Other variants include Arueris, Hor Merti, 'Two-eyed Horus' or Horjenti Irti.

It was believed to be the inspiration for the Sphinx of Giza, built under the orders of Khafra, whose head it supposedly represents.

Heru-pa-jered (Horus the Younger)

Horus the Younger, Harpocrates for the Ptolemaic Greeks, is represented as a young man who wears a lock of hair (a sign of youth) to the right of his head, while sucking his thumb. In addition, he usually wears the united crowns of Egypt, the crown of Upper Egypt and the crown of Lower Egypt. He is a form of the rising sun, representing the earliest light of him.

Worship

Horus Temple in Edfu. Pilonos.

Horus Temple in Edfu. Patio.

Known since predynastic times, his cult probably originated in the Nile delta although he was venerated throughout Egypt with major temples at Hierakonpolis, Edfu, and Letopolis.

He was revered as:

• Harendotes Hor nedy her atefin Hieracompolis, Abidos, Letópolis, Buto and Panópolis.
• Harpocrates Har pa Jard, in Heliópolis, Edfu, Thebes, Coptos, Mendes, Hermontis and Atribis.
• Harpara Har pa Ra in Hermontis, Medamud and Coptos.
• Haroeris Her Ur, in Letópolis, Abidos, Panópolis, Kom Ombo and Kush.
• Harsiase Har sa asetButo.
• Harsomtus Hor sematauyIn Dendera, Edfu and Heracleopolis.
• Horajty Hor ajtyIn Heliopolis, Letópolis, Abu Simbel, El Derr, and Amada.
• Horbehedeti Hor Behedeti, in Edfu, Damanhur, Tell-Balamun, File, Mesen and Tanis.
• Horhekenu Hor Hekenu, identified with Nefertum, in Menfis and Bubastis.
• Horimyshenut Hor imy shenut, in Soagh, Dajla, Jarga, File, Qustul and Meroe.
• Hormenu Hor menuIn Letópolis.
• Hornebmesen Hor neb mesensimilar to Hor BehedetyButo and Mesen.
• Hornejeny Hor Nejenyin Hieracompolis.
• Horpanebtauy Hor Pa neb tauyIn Edfu.
• Hortehenu Hor Tehenuin areas bordering Libya.
• Jonsu HorIn Thebes.

His cult spread throughout the Mediterranean, like Harpocrates, linked to his mother the goddess Isis. He highlights the veneration achieved in Ancient Greece, both in the form of a falcon, as a child accompanied by Isis, or as a protective amulet related to divinity, the so-called "Eye of Horus".

Epithets

He had the epithets of:

• "The only one in the heights"
• "The High"
• "The distant"
• "Lord of Heaven"
• "Lord of the circumpolar stars"

On the thrones of El Lisht he appears as "Horus, lord of Mesen" and "Horus of Behdet", or "the Behdetite", referring to two towns in Lower Egypt.

Theophore names

Since predynastic times, most of the pharaohs included his name, forming part of their title as the name of Horus and the name of Hor-Nub.