The Myth of Horus at Edfu - II

November 11, 2017 | Author: nwatadote | Category: Horus, Isis, Osiris, Religion And Belief
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Egypt Exploration Society

The Myth of Horus at Edfu: II. C. The Triumph of Horus over His Enemies: A Sacred Drama Author(s): A. M. Blackman and H. W. Fairman Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 28 (Dec., 1942), pp. 32-38 Published by: Egypt Exploration Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3855520 . Accessed: 29/07/2013 22:10 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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THE MYTH OF HORUS AT EDFU- II By A. M. BLACKMAN and H. W. FAIRMAN

C. THE TRIUMPH OF HORUS OVER HIS ENEMIES: A SACRED DRAMA THATthere were annual dramatic performances at Edfu, in which the victory of Horus of Behdet over his foes, his coronation as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, and his marriagewith the goddess Hathor of Denderah were enacted, is beyond dispute.2 Having this fact in mind we have come to the conclusion, after a long and careful study of the texts to be translated and discussed, that large portions of the inscriptions forming that section of the 'Myth of Horus at Edfu' designated C3 are derived from the text of a religious dramaperformedannually at Edfu in commemoration of Horus' wars with Seth, his final victory, his coronation as king of a united Egypt, the dismemberment of the body of his foe, and his 'triumph' or 'justification' before the tribunal of gods in the 'Broad Hall'. Junker4has expressed the opinion, not without reason, that the god of Edfu, Horus of Behdet, was in his original form a warrior-god as well as a divine king, the stories of whose exploits rest ultimately on an historical basis. That basis, if we accept the theory propounded by Sethe in his Urgeschichte,5is to be found in the wars waged in pre-dynastic times by the Horus-kings of Heliopolis, whose frontier town was Edfu,6 against the Seth-kings of Ombos and southern Egypt. Under the influence of the Heliopolitan sun-cult Horus, the warrior-godof Edfu, was equated with Re( or, more commonly, was assigned the position of that god's son. Accordingly, the legends describing the conflicts of Horus with his enemies were solarized, and these enemies became the enemies of Re( or Rec-Harakhti,and Horus of Behdet was represented as destroying them in order to protect the sun-god and uphold his authority. Finally, under the equally powerful influence of the Osiris-Horus Myth, Horus of Behdet was identified with Horus son of Osiris and Isis, and the battles, once supposed to have been fought against his own personal foes or against those of the sun-god, now became the war of revenge waged against the murderer of Osiris, and his victory resulted not only in his wreakingvengeance on the slayer of his sire and in his winning, as rightful heir, the sovereignty of Upper and Lower Egypt, but in his being proclaimed 'triumphant' or 'justified' by a body of divine judges. This is the version of the legend which forms the subject of our play. As Junker has pointed out,7 despite the influence of the sun-cult, Horus of Behdet, I See JEA XXI, 26 ff. Note that Rochemonteix-Chassinat, Le Temple d'Edfou, Chassinat, Le Temple de Dendera, and Chassinat, Mammisi d'Edfou, are in this article referred to respectively as E., D., and M. 2 See Junker, Onurislegende,i 6 ff.; Blackman's essay in Hooke, Myth and Ritual, 32 ff. 6 Op. cit., § 3 See JEA xxI, 26. 5 §§ I39 ff 4 Onurislegende, 8 if. 7 Op. cit., 21 ff. 15I.

This content downloaded from 165.234.128.203 on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 22:10:42 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE MYTH OF HORUS AT EDFU-II

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the old warrior-god, still preserved his identity in the Edfu reliefs and inscriptions, and he and Re(, or Re
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