Set - Part 1
Feb 16th, 2007 by admin
The god Set was, like many Egyptian gods, known by many variants of the same name - Seteh, Setesh and Sutekh being the most common forms. By the Greek period the “t” had become “th”, thereby making Set become known as Seth.
Set, god of the desert, could be interpreted as either meaning “the one who dazzles” or “pillar of stability”. However, Set was also recognised as being the one evil god of Egyptian mythology.
Set’s association with the desert, which in turn was linked to sandstorms, meant that he was perceived as having great power. This power led to set being regarded as the chief god and patron of Lower Egypt.
Set was the god of the desert. The spelling of desert in Egyptian - Tesherit - is very similar to the word for “red” - Tesher. Through this, Set became associated with the colour red, including red hair. As red hair was extremely rare amongst Egyptians this led to Set being synonymous with foreigners.
Whilst Set was the patron god of Lower Egypt, Horus had the distinction of being patr
on of Upper Egypt. Horus and Set are often shown in unison when it came to the coronation of new kings, however, since Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt, Set was often depicted as being evil and an enemy of Horus.
It is said that Set and Horus fought terrible battles for supremacy. During one such confrontation Set is said to have torn out one eye from Horus, thereby explaining why the moon is not as bright as the sun.