Haroeris
| Haroeris in hieroglyphics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle realm |
Hor-wer Ḥr-wr Horus , the great / Horus, the old |
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Haroeris (also Haroëris, Haruaris, Hor-wer, Herwer, or Harwer ) has been the name for a manifestation of the ancient Egyptian god Horus since the Middle Kingdom . As the local deity of Kom Ombo , he formed his own triad of gods with Ta-senet-nofret and Pa-neb-taui . Haroeris gained special importance from the 18th dynasty , which is why he also carried the title "Father of the Gods".
Surname
The spelling Haroëris is according to Plutarch the Greek rendering for Hor-who ( Ḥr-wr ) and means "Horus the great". Other often given translations are "Horus the Elder" or "Horus the Elder". There are different assumptions for this choice of name for a god, but it is generally assumed that the name Hor-wer was chosen to distinguish this falcon god from Horus from the Osirismythos ( Harsiese ).
According to another assumption, the name "Hor-wer" can be traced back to a connection with the god Wer ( Ur ), after which a fusion with the world god has taken place. However, there are strong doubts about this thesis . Of more decisive importance is the epithet "smsw" of the Haroeris, which means "the oldest". By adding “great” the theological determination of God is consolidated and there is a clear demarcation from the other syncretisms of Horus. Haroeris is placed in front of all others as the victorious hero and king god, but above all as light and sky god.
presentation
Haroeris is depicted iconographically in different forms: human form or as a person with a falcon's head as well as different national crowns and the solar disk ; animal-shaped as a crouching falcon or as a lion and as a falcon with a lion's head.
mythology
Haroeris is one of the oldest forms of the god Horus , who is already mentioned in the pyramid texts . As an essential form of the god Horus, its meaning in Egyptian mythology is just as complex as that of Horus. There were various legends about Haroeris in Egyptian mythology .
Since the introduction of Osiris worship, he was considered the son of Nut and Re . Originally, the sky goddess Nut was the wife of Geb and "mother of the (five) gods". In this respect, Haroeris, as the son of the groove, is one of the heavenly gods and one of the " stars of the groove, which should take over the supervision as torches in the sky". Haroeris therefore took the rank of brother of Osiris and Isis . In Letopolis, however, Haroeris was considered the son of Heket .
According to the “Epagomenen myth”, Haroeris was the fifth child of the gods Geb and Nut. The first records of these feast days can be found in the list of victims in the solar shrine of Niuserre in Abu Gurob . These were appended to the year ending as Heriu-renpet or Epagomenen in order to compensate for the previous year with 12 months of 30 days each (= 360 days) and the Sirius year with 365 days.
Osiris and Isis formed their own triad with their son Horus in the form of Harsiese . Haroeris thus held the rank of uncle in the genealogy . At the same time Haroeris was the husband of Isis and father of the four sons of Horus Amset , Hapi , Duamutef and Kebechsenuef . In the myths, for example, Haroeris appears as the son of Geb or son of Re. As a further equation with Shu , Haroeris, as the messenger of Thoth, took over the company of the Eye of Re , who returned to Memphis . In this context, several female deities, for example Isis and Sopdet , acted as the eye of Re , which also shows a reference to the mythological mothers of Horus.
Cult and meaning
In Letopolis , northwest of Memphis, Haroeris merged with Chenti-irti , who, as the local deity of Letopolis in his appearance as a shrew , embodied the night with the designation Horus-Chenti-en-irti or the day as Horus-Chenti-irti. In addition, Haroeris held the further title "Re im Westland" there. In his birthplace of Qus he appeared as Nenun and "Lord of Upper Egypt ". Other places of worship include: Edfu , Koptos , Hierakonpolis and Heliopolis . In Kom Ombo , a part of the temple is dedicated to Haroeris in the double temple.
With reference to the legend of Letopolis, according to which Haroeris gave his right eye (sun) and his left eye (moon) ( Horus eye ), as an eyeless god he is the patron god of the blind and of playing the harp . But he was also a god of battle, since he killed Seth of Ombos and other enemies of the gods, and was also considered a just judge (Kom Ombo).
See also
literature
- Hans Bonnet : Lexicon of the Egyptian religious history. 3rd, unchanged edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , pp. 270-272.
- Wolfgang Helck : Lexicon of Egyptology. Vol. 2, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, pp. 999-1003.
- Siegfried Schott : Ancient Egyptian festival dates. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz / Wiesbaden 1950.
- Alexandra von Lieven : Wine, women and song - rituals for the dangerous goddess. In: Carola Metzner-Nebelsick: Rituals in Prehistory, Antiquity and the Present - Studies on Near Eastern, Prehistoric and Classical Archeology, Egyptology, Ancient History, Theology and Religious Studies. Interdisciplinary conference from 1-2. February 2002 at the Free University of Berlin. Leidorf, Rahden 2003, ISBN 3-89646-434-5 .
- Alexandra von Lieven: Floor plan of the course of the stars - the so-called groove book. The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies (among others), Copenhagen 2007, ISBN 978-87-635-0406-5 .
- Richard H. Wilkinson : The world of the gods in ancient Egypt: Faith, power, mythology. Theiss, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8062-1819-6 .