Horus

[Benjamin Naifeh Atiyeh]

I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most ancient bird could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my place beyond the powers of Seth, the foe of my father Osiris. No other god could do what I have done. I have brought the ways of eternity to the twilight of the morning.

Coffin Text 148

The year is 1860 and I am walking the streets trying to keep to the shadows as Amun has told me to do. I see a group of maybe thirty people standing in awe of something.

I turn and see a statue that I have become familiar with growing up in Egypt. It is a statue of Horus. Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in Egypt. When I was younger I never quite understood why a bird would wear a hat. Still looking at what the statue, I tune into what they are saying.

I hear a man asking, “what is this? A bird?” I hear a woman mutter under her breath, “Why would anyone have such a thing?” “Do you think it may be a god?” asked another.

I smile and apologize to the group for my intrusion, as well as my English. I reply to their questions.

This is a statue of Horus and yes, you are correct it is one of our oldest deities. I go on to explain: Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. He is most noted as a deity of the sun, of protection and of war. It is said that since Horus was the sky, he was considered to also contain the sun and the moon.  Some that the sun is his right eye and the moon his left, and that they traverse the sky when he, as a falcon, flies across it. 

The man guiding the tour stood in awe of my description of such a simple thing as this statue... I could see a glint in his eye and calculations going on. It reminded me too much of Uncle Asim and Amun and I immediately excused myself and went on my way as quickly as I could.