Egyptian

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Egyptian

Horus

The Divine Avenger

Domain: Sky & Royalty
Alignment: Lawful Good
Element: Air
Relics of Power: Sacred Eye of Horus

Speak with Horus

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Ancient Egyptians

Region

Nile Valley, Egypt

Period

c. 3100 BC – 400 AD

The Egyptian gods were worshipped for over three millennia along the banks of the Nile, with monumental temples at Karnak, Luxor, and Heliopolis. The pharaohs were held to be divine, and life revolved around cosmic order (Maat) and preparation for the afterlife. The cult endured until the rise of Christianity in Roman Egypt.

At the Opet festival, Amun's sacred barque sailed from Karnak to Luxor amid celebrating crowds. In the temples, priests woke, dressed, and fed the god's statue every day, and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley carried the deities to visit the shore of the dead.

At a glance

Horus is the supreme falcon god of kingship, the celestial vault, and avenging justice in Ancient Egypt. The posthumous son of Osiris and Isis, he fought the usurper Seth to reclaim his rightful throne and embody the living pharaoh upon earth.

7 min read · Reviewed on September 25, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Falcon, the Eye of Horus (Wadjet) and the double crown of Egypt

Family

Parents

Osiris Isis

Horus

Unions

Hathor

Children

Imsety (Guardian of the Liver)Hapi (Guardian of the Lungs)Duamutef (Guardian of the Stomach)Qebehsenuef (Guardian of the Intestines)

Genealogy according to Textos das Pirâmides, Enunciação 477; As Contendas de Hórus e Seth, Papiro Chester Beatty I; Livro dos Mortos, Capítulo 112

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Budge, E. A. Wallis (trad.), The Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of Ani). read
Budge, E. A. Wallis, Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts. read
Budge, E. A. Wallis, The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians. read

Studies

Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. 2003.
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology. 2002.
George Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. 2005.
Ian Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. 2000.

Name and epithets

The theonym 'Horus' is the Latinized and Hellenized form of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic name 'Ḥr.w' (Heru or Hor), originating from the archaic root 'ḥr', signifying 'the distant one', 'the exalted one', or 'he wh…

In the ancient sources

Pyramid Texts, c. 2350 BCE (Old Kingdom). The most ancient liturgical inscriptions of Egypt establishing the living reigning pharaoh as the physical incarnation of Horus upon the throne of Geb.

The myths

The Hippopotamus Contest and the Loss of the Sacred Eye. During the agonizing decades in which the war between Horus and Seth devastated Egypt without the divine council delivering a binding ruling, Seth proposed a leth…

Worship and archaeology

Veneration of Horus formed the structural cornerstone of Egyptian monarchical theology, serving as the central dogma that transformed the mortal sovereign into a living god ('Netjer Nefer', the Good God).

How the god was depicted

In Egyptian artistic convention, Horus is portrayed as a magnificent peregrine falcon with mottled plumage and distinctive dark teardrop markings below his eyes, or as an athletic male pharaoh with the head of a falcon.…

What scholars debate

The Theological Synthesis of Haroeris and Harsiese. Egyptologists have long investigated the theological fusion between two initially distinct archaic deities: Haroeris ('Horus the Elder'), a primordial celestial sky fa…

After antiquity

In classical antiquity, Horus was identified by the Greeks with the solar and oracular god Apollo, leading to Edfu's designation as Apollinopolis Magna, while his infant persona Har-pa-khered was adopted throughout Roma…

Did you know?

The Eye of Horus (Wedjat) was painted on the bows of ancient sailing ships across the Mediterranean to grant the vessel mystical sight, guiding sailors safely past submerged reefs and storms.

Codex relic

Sacred Eye of Horus. The Wadjet amulet, emanating protection against evil and divine clarity.

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