Editing Set (deity) (section)

==Set animal==
{{main|Set animal}}
[[File:set animal.svg|left|thumb|200x200px|The set-animal.]]
In [[art of ancient Egypt|art]], Set is usually depicted as an enigmatic creature referred to by [[Egyptologists]] as the ''[[Set animal]]'', a beast not identified with any known animal, although it could be seen as resembling a [[Saluki]], an [[aardvark]], an [[African wild dog]], a [[African wild ass|donkey]], a [[hyena]], a [[jackal]], a [[pig]], an [[antelope]], a [[giraffe]], or a [[fennec fox]]. The animal has a downward curving [[snout]]; long ears with squared-off ends; a thin, forked tail with sprouted fur tufts in an inverted arrow shape; and a slender [[Canidae|canine]] body. Sometimes, Set is depicted as a human with the distinctive head. Some early Egyptologists proposed that it was a stylised representation of the [[giraffe]], owing to the large flat-topped "horns" which correspond to a giraffe's [[ossicone]]s. The Egyptians themselves, however, used distinct depictions for the giraffe and the [[Set animal]]. During the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]], Set is usually depicted as a [[donkey]] or as a man with the head of a donkey,{{sfn|te&nbsp;Velde |1967 |pp=13–15}} and in the ''[[Book of the Faiyum]]'', Set is depicted with a [[flamingo]] head.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beinlich |first=Horst |url=https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/2891/1/Beinlich_Faiyum_2013.pdf |title=The Book of the Faiyum |publisher=University of Heidelberg |year=2013 |pages=27–77, esp.38–39 |section=Figure&nbsp;7}}</ref>

[[File:Burros en un relieve egipcio en piedra caliza, Imperio Antiguo, Museo Egipcio de Berlín.jpg|thumb|Set was portrayed as an donkey or donkey-headed man. The word for donkey, ꜥꜣ, was determined with a Set animal. Set and the donkey were increasingly called Typhon in the late period.<ref name="y960">{{cite book | last=Lucarelli | first=Rita | title=The Donkey in the Graeco-Egyptian Papyri | publisher=[object Object] | date=2017 | isbn=978-88-6969-180-5 | doi=10.14277/6969-180-5/ant-11-8 | page=}}</ref>]]

The earliest representations of what might be the [[Set animal]] comes from a tomb dating to the [[Amratian culture]] ("Naqada&nbsp;I") of [[prehistoric Egypt]] (3790–3500 BCE), although this identification is uncertain. If these are ruled out, then the earliest Set animal appears on a [[ceremonial mace]]head of [[Scorpion II]], a ruler of the [[Naqada III]] phase. The head and the forked tail of the Set animal are clearly present on the mace.{{sfn|te&nbsp;Velde |1967 |pp=7–12}}