The list of Horus child deities gives a systematic overview of all Horus child deities known to date. They are listed in chronological order. In addition, the period is mentioned in which the respective Horus child deities are attested.
The more detailed descriptions in the pyramid texts show the striking difference to the later iconography that the index finger is in the mouth instead of on the lower lip of the mouth . The background to this divergent early characterization was the goal of portraying Horus as a very young child.
In the written sources the names for Horus as a child change more often . The most commonly used variant includes the lexeme nechen , followed by chered and only once hwn . In addition, Horus, the small child in the other minor forms child in chemmis and child inside his nest is called.
The name of Horus is therefore mostly extended by the two terms nechen and chered as an epithet . Chered stands as a title for a child without a certain age, but in combination with nechen alludes to the phase of life of an infant or toddler , which is why the epithet in this case stands for young child or small child .
The term Harpocrates , which was often used in Egyptology as far back as the Old Kingdom , is to be understood as a generic term for various Horus child deities, but without being used as evidence of the actual existence of Harpocrates or for a matching genealogy . From the Old Kingdom to the end of the New Kingdom , no iconographic representations or cultic worship of the deity Horus, the child, are documented. In addition, there is no common divine level, as the respective child deities were assigned different attributes in the texts. Private veneration could not be proven for that period either.
Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates): The genesis of an Egyptian god child (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. Vol. 151). Peeters, Leuven 2006, ISBN 90-429-1761-X .
Individual evidence
↑ a b Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates) . P. 8.
↑ Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates) . P. 15.
↑ Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates) . P. 4.
↑ Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates) . P. 16.
