Ancient Egyptian Religion · deity

Set (Seth)

Set

also: Set · Seth · Sutekh

deitythe desertstormchaosviolencethe foreigner

The god of the desert, storm, and chaos; brother of Osiris who murdered him; the great enemy of Horus and of Ma'at (order).

Horus and Seth crowning Ramesses III (detail of Seth) · Unknown (Egyptian workshop) · 20th Dynasty (approx. 1186-1155 BCE) · — (Wikimedia Commons) · CC0

The account

Who they are

Set (Seth) is the god of the desert, the storm, chaos, and violence — the great antagonist of the Osiris cycle [S4]. He is the brother of Osiris and the one who murdered him, out of jealousy (Osiris was the rightful king) [S3][S4]. Set's defining act is the murder of Osiris: he lured Osiris to a banquet, measured him for a coffin, seized him, wrapped him in the coffin, sealed it with lead, and threw it in the Nile [S3][S4]. Set is then the great enemy of Horus (his nephew), and the two fight for the throne in the 'Contendings' [S4]. Set is the god of the foreign, the chaotic, the violent — the desert that threatens the fertile Nile valley [S4]. He is not simply 'evil': he is the necessary counterforce to Ma'at (order), the storm that keeps the world from stagnation [S4]. He was eventually 'demonized' as Egypt's enemies (the Libyans, then the Nubians, then the Persians) were associated with him [S4].

Worth knowing

God of the desert, storm, and chaos [S4].
Murdered his brother Osiris [S3][S4].
The great enemy of Horus [S4].
Eventually 'demonized' as the god of Egypt's enemies [S4].

Uncertainties & variants

Set's character changed over time: from a complex storm god to an outright 'evil' figure (especially in the Greco-Roman period) [S4].
The 'Set animal' (his symbol) is still unidentified — it may be a hybrid creature or a stylized animal [S4].

Relationships (8)

Connections

Family & kinship

PARENT_OFGeb — Geb is the parent of Set.[S1] [S4]

PARENT_OFNut — Nut is the parent of Set.[S1] [S4]

SIBLING_OFOsiris — Osiris and Set are siblings.[S1] [S4]

SIBLING_OFIsis — Isis and Set are siblings.[S1] [S4]

Partners

PARTNER_OFNephthys — Set and Nephthys are (in some accounts) married.[S4]

Conflict & enmity

KILLEDOsiris — Set murdered his brother Osiris.[S3] [S4]

ENEMY_OFHorus — Horus and Set are the great enemies, fighting for the throne.[S4]

FOUGHTHorus — Horus and Set fight in the 'Contendings' for the throne of Egypt.[S4]

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Their corner of the divine world

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Myths featuring Set (Seth)

2 stories

The Murder of Osiris

Set, jealous of his brother Osiris (the rightful king), lured him to a banquet. Set brought a coffin that he had measured to Osiris's exact size; when Osiris lay down in it, Set seized him, wrapped him in the coffin, sealed it with lead, and threw it into the Nile. The chest washed down-river and out to sea, washing up in Byblos, where a tamarisk tree grew around it [S3][S4].

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The Contendings of Horus and Set

Horus (the son of Osiris) and Set (the murderer) fight for the throne of Egypt. The 'Contendings' is a long, episodic struggle in which the two cousins fight, each claiming the throne, and the Ennead (the nine gods) judges between them. Horus ultimately wins, and becomes the king of the unified Egypt [S4].

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Artworks

Depictions

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