Editing Horus (section)

== Forms of Horus ==
<gallery widths="160" heights="160" perrow="5">
File:Horus standing.svg|Horus represented as a falcon-headed man
File:Re-Horakhty.svg|Ra-Horakhty, a form of [[Ra]] Syncretized with Horus
File:horus-set.svg|Horus and [[Set (deity)|Set]] depicted as one
File:Her-iunmutef.svg|Her-iunmutef, a form of Horus represented as a [[Clergy of ancient Egypt|priest]] wearing a [[Leopard skin (clothing in Ancient Egypt)|leopard skin]]
File:Horus the child.svg|[[Harpocrates|Heru-pa-khered]], a form of Horus represented as a child
File:Horus and Set tying.svg|Her-sema-tawy, a form of Horus represented tying [[upper Egypt|upper]] and [[lower Egypt|lower]] Egypt together with [[Set (deity)|Set]]
File:Horus as falcon.svg|Horus as a falcon
File:Horus as falcon (crowned).svg|Horus represented as a crowned falcon
File:Haroeris.svg|Har-em-akhet or Heru-ur, two forms of Horus in which he had the body of a lion
File:Hor-imy-shenut.svg|Hor-imy-shenut, a form of Horus in which he had the body of a crocodile
File:Ancient Egypt Wings.svg|Heru-Behdeti, a form of Horus represented as a winged sun

</gallery>

=== Heru-ur (Horus the Elder) ===
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Heru-ur
| image = Haroeris.svg
| hiero = <hiero>G5-wr:r</hiero>
| cult_center = [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]], [[Giza]]
| symbol = falcon, falcon-headed man, [[Hieracosphinx]]
| parents = [[Geb]] and [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]], or [[Ra]] and [[Heqet]] (in [[Kom Ombo]])
| siblings = [[Osiris]], [[Isis]], [[Set (deity)|Set]], and [[Nephthys]], or Tasenetnofret (in [[Kom Ombo]])
| consort = [[Serket]], [[Hathor]], Tasenetnofret (in [[Kom Ombo]])
| offspring = [[Imsety]], [[Four sons of Horus|Hapy]], [[Duamutef]], [[Qebehsenuef]], or Panebtawy (in [[Kom Ombo]])
| image_upright = 1
}}<!-- This section is linked from the redirect Horus the Elder -->
'''Heru-[[Swallow (hieroglyph)|ur]]''', also known as '''Heru-wer''', '''Haroeris''', '''Horus the Great''', and '''Horus the Elder''', was the mature representation of the god Horus.<ref>Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 200</ref> This manifestation of Horus was especially worshipped at [[Letopolis]] in Lower Egypt. The Greeks identified him with the Greek god [[Apollo]].<ref name=":1" />

His titles include: 'foremost of the two eyes', 'great god', 'lord of Ombos', 'possessor of the ijt-knife, who resides in Letopolis', 'Shu, son of Ra', 'Horus, strong of arm', 'great of power' and 'lord of the slaughter in the entire land'.<ref> Minas-Nerpel, Martina (2017). ''Offering the ij.t-knife to in the Temple of Isis at Shanhur''. In: Illuminating Osiris. Egyptological Studies in Honor of Mark Smith (Material and Visual Culture of Ancient Egypt 2). Lockwood Press, Atlanta, 2017, p.264 </ref> 'Foremost of the two eyes' was a common epithet which was referring to the two eyes of the sky god. The two eyes represent the sun and the moon, as well as the Wadjet-eye, and played an important role in the cult of Heru-ur. His cult center was originally Letopolis; later he was also worshipped in Kom Ombo and Qus.<ref> Minas-Nerpel (2017), p.266</ref> In Kom Ombo, he was worshipped as the son of Ra and [[Heqet]],<ref> Minas-Nerpel (2017), p.275</ref> the husband of his sister-wife Tasenetnofret and father of the child god Panebtawy.<ref>Abdelhalim, Ali. (2019). ''Notes on the Bandeau-Texts of Columns of Kom Ombo Temple''. Bulletin of the Center Papyrological Studies, p.298</ref> 

In his Moralia, the Greek philosopher [[Plutarch]] mentions three additional parentage traditions that supposedly existed for Heru-ur during the Ptolemaic period. According to Plutarch's account, Heru-ur was believed to be the son of Geb and Nut, born on the second of the five intercalary days at the end of the year, after Osiris and before Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Plutarch also records a variant tradition that assigns different fathers to Nut's children: Osiris and Heru-ur are attributed to Nut and Ra, Isis to Nut and Thoth, while Nephthys and Set are said to be the children of Nut and Geb. Additionally, similar to other manifestations of Horus, Heru-ur is sometimes regarded as the child of Isis and Osiris, conceived by the pair while still within the womb of Nut.<ref> Griffiths, J. Gwyn, ed. (1970). ''Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride''. University of Wales Press, pp.135-137</ref>

Plutarch aims to distinguish between the child form of Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, and 'Haroëris' whom he refers to as 'the elder Horus'. Haroëris is the hellenized version of the Egyptian epithet 'Horus-wer', which directly translates to 'Horus the Great,' a term first appearing in Papyrus Spell 588, likely to differentiate Horus of the royal cult from lesser forms of Horus. However, ancient Egyptian texts do not maintain a distinction between a Horus the Elder and a 'younger' Horus. Horus-wer is also sometimes referred to as the son of Osiris and Isis, and 'wer' is a common epithet for ancient Egyptian gods and does not imply a separation between older and younger deities into two different generations.<ref>Griffiths (1970), pp.300-301.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Horus and Ra: Symbols of Kingship and Creation |url=https://egyptianimports.com/blogs/news/horus-and-ra-symbols-of-kingship-and-creation?srsltid=AfmBOortdOqpifjUDcWH9QBY1qjZBWGGaHTz_S_rjZzRBklTJytNg0tB&currency=USD |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Discoveries Egyptian Imports |language=en}}</ref>

Heru-ur was sometimes depicted fully as a falcon; he was sometimes given the title '''Kemwer''', meaning "(the) great black (one)".{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}. Heru-ur was also depicted as a [[Hieracosphinx]] (a falcon headed lion).<ref>http://tarot.vn/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CCI18122015_0105.png {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> 

Other variants include ''Hor Merti'' 'Horus of the two eyes' and ''Horkhenti Irti''.<ref name=":0">Patricia Turner, Charles Russell Coulter, ''Dictionary of ancient deities'', 2001.</ref>

=== Heru-pa-khered (Horus the child) ===
{{main|Harpocrates}}
Heru-pa-khered ([[Harpocrates]] to the Ptolemaic Greeks), also known as '''Horus the child''', is represented in the form of a youth wearing a lock of hair (a sign of youth) on the right of his head while sucking his finger. 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 its earliest light.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Strudwick|first=Helen|title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4351-4654-9|location=New York|pages=158–159}}</ref>

As early as the third millennium BCE, Ancient Egyptian texts such as the Pyramid Texts referenced the birth, youth, and adulthood of the god Horus. However, his image as a child deity was not firmly established until the first millennium BCE, when Egyptian theologians began associating child gods with adult gods. From a historical perspective, Harpocrates is an artificial creation, originating from the priesthood of Thebes and later gaining popularity in the cults of other cities. His first known depiction dates to a stele from Mendes, erected during the reign of Sheshonq III (22nd Libyan Dynasty), commemorating a donation by the flutist Ânkhhorpakhered. Initially, Harpocrates originated as a duplicate of Khonsu-pa-khered, providing a child-god figure for the funerary gods Osiris and Isis. Unlike Horus, who was traditionally depicted as an adult, Khonsu, the lunar god, was inherently associated with youth. The cults of Harpocrates and Khonsu originally merged in a sanctuary within the Mut enclosure at Karnak. This sanctuary, later transformed into a mammisi (birth house) under the 21st Dynasty, celebrated the divine birth of the pharaoh, connecting the queen mother with the mother-goddesses Mut and Isis. The merging of local Theban beliefs with the Osiris cult endowed Harpocrates with dual ancestry, as seen in inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat which name him 'Horus-the-child, son of Osiris and Isis, the Elder, the first-born of Amun.' The Osirian tradition solidified Harpocrates as the archetype of child-gods, firmly integrated into the Osirian family.<ref>Forgeau, Annie (2010).Horus-fils-d'Isis. La jeunesse d'un dieu. IFAO. p.529 ISBN 978-2-7247-0517-1</ref>

=== Heru-Behdeti (Horus of [[Behdet]]) ===
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Heru-Behdeti
| hiero = <hiero>G5-bH:d:t*y</hiero>
| image = Ancient Egypt Wings.svg
| cult_center = [[Edfu]]
| symbol = [[winged sun]]
| consort = [[Hathor]]
| offspring = [[Harsomtus]]
}}
The [[Ancient Egyptian winged sun|winged sun]] of Horus of [[Edfu]] is a symbol in associated with [[divinity]], [[Royal family|royalty]], and power in ancient Egypt.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Rhys |first=Dani |date=2020-11-22 |title=What Was the Winged Sun in Egyptian Mythology? |url=https://symbolsage.com/winged-sun-egyptian-mythology/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Symbol Sage |language=en-US}}</ref> The winged sun was depicted on the top of pylons in the ancient temples throughout Egypt.

=== Har-em-akhet (Horus in the Horizon) ===
Har-em-akhet (or Horemakhet), (''Harmakhis'' in Greek), represented the dawn and the early morning sun. He was often depicted as a sphinx with the head of a man (like the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]]), or as a [[hieracosphinx]], a creature with a lion's body and a falcon's head and wings, sometimes with the head of a [[lion]] or [[Sheep|ram]] (the latter providing a link to the god [[Khepri]], the rising sun). It was believed that he was the inspiration for the [[Sphinx of Giza|Great Sphinx of Giza]], constructed under the order of [[Khafre]], whose head it depicts.

=== Harpara (Horus the sun) ===
Harpara ("Horus the sun") is the child of [[Montu]] and [[Raet-Tawy]], and formed with them the divine triad of North [[Karnak]] and [[Armant, Egypt|Armant]]. In [[Medamud]], Harpara was worshipped as the firstborn son of [[Amun]] and Raet-Tawy.<ref>Varga, Dániel (2023). The Children of Montu: Harpara and Horus-Shu in Ptolemaic and Roman Thebes. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. Vol. 39. p.276.</ref> while he is elsewhere described as the son of [[Mehet-Weret]].<ref>Klotz, David (2008). Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes. Ann Arbor : ProQuest LLC. p.291.</ref> A local form of Thoth named Thoth-of-Armant was most likely worshipped as the adult form of Harpra.<ref>Klotz (2018), p.307.</ref> In his capacity as the young manifestation of Thoth, Harpara was considered a lunar deity at Armant.<ref>Varga (2023), p.276.</ref>

=== Other forms of Horus ===
[[File:Egypt sahura and god of nomo.jpg|thumb|[[Nome of Harawî|''Herui'']], the 5th [[Nome (Egypt)|nome]] of [[Upper Egypt]] god in [[Coptos]] besides the pharaoh [[Sahure]].]]
*'''Hor Merti (''Horus of the Two Eyes'')'''
*'''Har-Nedj-Hef (''Horus, the protector of his father'')''' – A form of Horus who protected Osiris
*'''Horkhenti Irti'''<ref name=":0" />
*'''Hor-imy-shenut''' – A form of Horus who had the body of a [[Nile crocodile|Crocodile]]
*'''Her-sema-tawy (''Horus, Uniter of the Two Lands'')''' – the Greek [[Harsomptus]], depicted like the double-crowned Horus
*'''Her-iunmutef (''Horus, Pillar of His Mother'')''' – A form of Horus depicted as a priest with a leopard-skin over the torso.
*'''Herui (''double falcon or Horuses'')''' – the [[Nome of Harawî|5th nome of Upper Egypt]] god in [[Coptos]].