The Origin of the Cult of Horus in Predynastic Egypt - Page 8

The Origin of the Cult of Horus
in Predynastic Egypt - Page 8

Alfred Grimm and Sylvia Schoske, Am Beginn der Zeit, Ägypten in der Vor- und Frühzeit; Ausstellungskatalog, Heft 9, Schriften aus der Ägyptischen Sammlung (SAS); München, Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, 24.12. 2000 - 22.4.2001, pp. 2, 11, write:

"The Turin Canon of Kings (Turin Papyrus)... first presents the reigns of gods and then the reigns of the demigods (who were called Achu, the Followers of Horus, i.e. Schemesu-Hor).... Remarkable is... the frequent occurrence of the falcon in the early names of kings.... This preference could... trace back to a special meaning for the falcon-deity.... The process of unification in particular... must have had a very strong effect on those who experienced it and were affected by it. The sovereign falcon (Horus)... must have enjoyed extraordinary prestige.... This led ultimately to the formation of the Horus Name of a king, in which the falcon above the palace facade is not to be regarded as a component of the name, but rather as an epithet or title with programmatic character...." [our translation from the German]

For an image made up of a collage of predynastic falcons go to Francesco Raffaele's Naqada Serekhs.

Figure 3: The source above shows © Francesco Raffaele, 2002-2003, from Francesco Raffaele, Predynastic Falcon Figures, originally published by Francesco Raffaele in 'Dynasty 0', in: S.Bickel-A.Loprieno (eds.) Aegyptiaca Helvetica 17, 2003, 99-141.