Set

Set,

Egyptian god of war, chaos, thunderstorms, eclipses, and earthquakes.

I am Yesterday, I am Today, I am Tomorrow which has not yet come.

About

Set was the son of Geb and Nut, and brother of Osiris. His wife was Nephthys, and he kept Tawaret as his consort. Set was a powerful and often frightening deity, however he was also a patron god of the pharaohs, particularly Ramses the Great. His name is usually translated as “instigator of confusion” and “destroyer” and he was associated with disorder, foreign lands and people, and the color red. While Set has been depicted in a variety of animal forms, he is usually depicted as a red-haired beast with a forked tail and cloven hooves.

Set was originally worshipped in Upper Egypt as a god of the desert. Following the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, Set’s worship was incorporated into the larger Egyptian mythos. While he retained his desert-centric characteristics, such traits did not fit neatly into the agrarian framework of Nile-bound Egyptian society. This incongruence may explain why he was cast as a force of evil and disorder.

Set and Osiris

A key element of Set’s mythology was his unrelenting jealousy of his elder brother Osiris. Some of this jealousy may have been warranted—his wife eventually bore an illegitimate child with Osiris. In all things, Osiris acted in accordance with the principle of harmony and honored his father and siblings by keeping all things in harmonious balance. Set became envious of the creation, however, and also of Osiris’ power and glory. He had his brother’s exact measurements taken in secret and then ordered an elaborate chest created precisely to those specifications. When the chest was completed, Set threw a great banquet to which he invited Osiris and seventy-two others. At the end of the party, he offered the great chest as a gift to the one who could best fit inside it. Osiris, of course, fit perfectly and, once he was inside the coffin, Set slammed the lid on tight and threw it into the Nile River. He then told everyone that Osiris was dead and assumed the rule of the world.

For a time, it seemed that he had gotten away with his fratricide, as he went on to rule Egypt as its king. Set imprisoned Isis, Osiris’ wife, shortly after coming to power as he believed her to be a threat to his power.

When Osiris’s son Horus came of age, he decided to challenge Set for what he regarded as his rightful throne. Depending on the myth, the two either engaged in battle to decide who will rule, or put the matter before a court presided over by Ra. Horus prevailed and was awarded the kingship.

Losing the rule of the pantheon, Set blamed Osiris, and went on a life-long campaign to destroy Osiris’s body and take his final revenge. No matter how many times he failed, he would not stop until he completed his mission.

Downfall

Despite his great strength, Set met his match when he attempted to steal Osiris’s body out from under the watchful eye of Anubis. While Set was able to briefly steal Osiris’s corpse a few times, Anubis repeatedly caught and punished him severely each time. Anubis eventually tired of Set’s campaign and finally killed Set in turn, flaying his skin and set fire to his corpse. Wearing Set’s still dripping skin across his armor, Anubis snuck into Set’s military camp and killed all of his followers.

Rebirths

1st Age – Giovanni Cavelli