HORUS (Horus). — Egyptian divinity [Egyptian Hr (w); Gr. Ὄρος] originating from the Delta; his original iconographic aspect was that of a falcon. The cult and fame of H. spread rapidly even during the period of the pre-dynastic rulers (3rd millennium B.C.), when Egypt was still divided into two regions. Since these rulers had adopted H. as their dynastic god, they were later called “servants of Horus.” From then on, the pharaoh was constantly regarded as an incarnation of H.
Through a syncretistic process common in Egyptian religion, H. was from the remotest antiquity assimilated or replaced by other deities, so that at Heliopolis, under the name of Hr-ḥ. (Harahte = “H. of the horizon”), he became the anthropomorphic sky god with a falcon’s head; at Edfu he was worshipped in the form of a solar disk flanked by two outstretched falcon’s wings; at Letopolis he assumed the aspect of a warrior god called Hr-wr (Haruhéri = “the great H.”).
The legend of Isis and Osiris (q.v.) also contributed to increasing the popularity of H., who was considered the son of the divine couple. It was told that the child H., born after the murder of his father by Seth, succeeded after a bitter struggle in reclaiming his rights of succession to the throne of Egypt. The names assumed by H. in the legend are Hr-s' "s.t (Harihéri = “H. son of Isis”) and Hr-p'grd (Harpocrates = “the child H.”).