Story · Ancient Egyptian Religion · 3 chapters

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]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.

historical religion

Ancient Egyptian religion spanned three millennia. There is no single 'official' version: Heliopolitan, Memphite, and Hermopolitan creation traditions coexisted and are presented in parallel, not merged into a genealogy that never existed.

⚠ Scholars disagree

The 'Contendings' is preserved in a fragmentary Middle Kingdom text; the full narrative is reconstructed [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.

CHAPTER 01

The Claim

Horus claims the throne as the son of Osiris [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Sources[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic
CHAPTER 02

The Contendings

A long series of contests and battles [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Sources[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic
CHAPTER 03

The Judgment

The Ennead judges; Horus wins [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Sources[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic
Primary sources[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic