TW FOR SA
Set, the envious lord of the desert. Set was born between the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, making him the brother of Osiris, Nephthys, Isis and Horus the elder. His birth was unorthodox and violent, forcefully tearing himself out of his mother’s womb. Set would later marry his sister Nephthys and fathering Anubis. Set embodied the forces of storms, deserts, foreigners and chaos. As a member of the Ennead, Set was among the nine most important gods of the pantheon.
In his earthly body the highest god Ra began to age with his mind withering. After the catastrophic events of Sekhmet’s rampage, Ra retired to the sky, reverting to his godly form and bequeathing kingship onto Osiris. Set was livid at what he saw as an injustice, now envious of his brother. Eventually this jealousy lit the flames of cruelty. Set lured in his brother, trapping him in a chest and drowning him in the Nile and usurping his throne. Set didn’t stop there, as once Osiris’ corpse had been recovered, he hacked his brother’s body to pieces before scattering them across the world. Set’s heinous acts alienated both his wife and son, driving them to aid in the resurrection of Osiris. Set’s own vile actions inadvertently led to the birth of his greatest enemy, Osiris’ son Horus, who now stands against Set’s tyranny. The two enemies had numerous battles, such as fighting in the form of hippopotamuses and Set temporarily stealing Horus’ eyes. Once, Set attempted to force himself onto his nephew, but the quick thinking Horus caught the god’s semen and poured it onto Set’s beloved lettuce. Once Set ate of this lettuce, he was impregnated by his own seed, showing as a golden disk on his forehead, his loss now painted on his head. The two warred against one another for years, leaving each other scarred, with Set gouging out Horus’ eye and Horus rendering Set infertile. Eventually in a climatic battle, Horus triumphs against his father’s murderer and deposes him as king. Sources differ greatly in Set’s fate after this, in some he’s given rulership over the desert known as the red land, occasionally he’s given Upper Egypt, at times he’s banished, while in others he’s killed.
Set takes on other roles in different myths. Occasionally Set was seen defending Ra’s bark from the evil serpent Apep. In one myth, after the dastardly Yam flooded the earth, the gods called upon Set to deal with the sea god. Set beats Yam in a fight and forces him to lower his waters.
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Set’s history as a god is notably tumultuous. Contrary to the modern consensus, Set originally was something more akin to a kind of chaotic trickster hero god than the villain he would later become known as. His worship was centered primarily in upper egypt where he was worshipped as the chief god and considered to be a god of storms and the desert and possibly a god of warfare. In older times before the advent of the Osiris myth, like many of the other gods of the time, Set was seen as the son of Ra. After the civil war and unification of Egypt, Set became to be identified with Upper Egypt while Horus was identified with lower Egypt. This history influenced the two’s roles, now they were two equal standing rivals who campaigned against each other for the throne of the king. The two were constantly in conflict with one another, competing with each other in a variety of different contests, however Horus would usually come out on top. Despite this pitched rivalry, when the two came together they united both lower and upper Egypt, coming together to bestow kingship upon the new pharaoh. This union between the two was emphasized by their fusion Horus-set, epitomizing the roles these two had.
The actual familial connection between the two gods is particularly hazy, primarily Set is said to be the uncle of Horus, however an equal amount of sources attest to them being brothers, some even use both. This contradiction likely stems from Set & Horus’ conflict and Osiris’ death originating as two separate and unrelated mythological narratives. Set being Horus’ brother highlights how these two gods were seen as equals in both power and legitimacy in their competitions against each other to sway Ra and the other members of the pantheon. Later, once the two separate myths began to merge together, the context of their conflict began to shift to fit the new canon. Rather than two sibling candidates with equal legitimacy fighting for the throne, they became re-characterized as Horus exacting vengeance against a newly christened ambivalent Set for deposing his father. Their original genealogy and characterization would bleed through, as seen in the mentions of them being brothers, and in Set’s other roles as a protector as seen in him defending Ra’s bark. This contradiction would later serve to inspire the separation of Horus the elder from Horus the younger.
As a god of foreigners, Set was heavily tied to the gods of other lands. As such, Set was conflated with the likes of the Hurrian Teshub, the Hittite Tarhunna, the Libyan-Amazigh Ash, but none more so than the Levantine Baal. The two warrior storm gods were seen as one and the same in Egypt, with Set even taking on Baal’s appearance in some depictions. When the Levantine Hyksos took over lower Egypt, they adopted Set as their chief god to reflect their native god Baal. The Egyptians associated the two so heavily that they transmitted some of Baal’s myths over to Set. The myth of Set combating Yam clearly derives from Baal’s source. They even bestowed Set both of Baal’s wives, Anat and Astarte. The myth of Set’s conflict with Horus somewhat reflects that of Baal’s and Yam’s struggle for the king of the gods in Canaanite mythology, both detailing two gods campaigning against each other for the right to become king of the gods. Other renditions of the myth even incorporate elements from the Baal cycle into the myth. In this version Horus and Set petition the pantheon much like how Yam and Baal do. Horus has the support of a majority of the gods while Set is favored by Ra, similar to how Yam was favored by El. What follows is a series of competitions and conflicts between the two to prove themselves, including the lettuce myth. The gods squabble with one another, with both sides throwing insults at each other. Ultimately Horus is crowned king of the gods, but as compensation by Ptah Set is given home in the storm clouds, treated as Ra’s own son, and is given his wives Anat and Astarte. The parallels are clear with the addition of Anat and Astarte, as well as the spontaneous addition of Ptah who, like Ra, might’ve been associated with El.
However, this connection with other lands proved to be Set’s downfall. After a series of invasions and occupations by foreign nations like the Hyksos, Kushites, Persians and Assyrians, Egypt developed a very xenophobic attitude. At first Set was able to continue his worship, even being able to thrive in the Ramesside period. Later invasions however quashed any potential for Set to return to prominence. Because of Set’s affiliation with the invading foreign peoples and his usurpation of Osiris, Set was demonized. His defeat was no longer a rival besting the other for kingship, it was now Horus’ good triumphing over Set’s evil. Set’s worship rapidly dissipated, his cultic images were defaced and his idols were repurposed into other gods. Rather than defending Ra’s bark, Set now was among Apep’s forces that attacked it. Now in the form of a diminutive Hippopotamus, Set is slain once more each night by Horus defending Ra.
The reason why Set murdered Osiris is seldom told in Egyptian texts, usually just said to be of pure jealousy. Sometimes it’s said that it was revenge for Osiris pushing him. In one myth, it was because Osiris was tricked by Set’s wife Nephthys into sleeping with her, resulting in the birth of Anubis and enraging Set, however other texts dictate that Set was Anubis’ father. Occasionally some sources would claim that Osiris is still alive, despite the narrative itself implying he isn’t. This confusion is likely due to the belief in the power of words in ancient Egyptian culture. It was believed that words themselves had power to bring things into being, so speaking or writing about such destructive acts could serve to empower Set or bring destruction upon Egypt.
Set was associated with a variety of animals, such as the aforementioned Hippopotamus, Bull, Peacock, Crocodile, Pig, and Donkey. Strangely however, Set is primarily affiliated with and represented as a mysterious creature with no known counterpart species. Referred to as the Sha in Egyptian texts, the creature resembles a thin Canid, it has a long jaw and nose, two ear like protrusions jut out from its head, and its tail is raised stiff, most of the time this tail splits into two at the end. There have been many attempts to identify the Sha as a flesh and blood species, animals that’ve been alleged to be the true identity of the Sha include Aardvarks, Foxes, Shrews, Donkeys, Okapis, Pigs, Jerboas, or even a fish. Specifically, some have pointed to the Sha’s head protrusions as evidence that the Sha was a stylized giraffe, even the actual Giraffe hieroglyph is still occasionally confused with the Sha’s. Some have even posited that the Sha was some kind of extinct species or an undiscovered cryptid. These lines of thinking have come up short in recent scholarship, as the prevailing theory in modern research is that the Sha is a mythological “Chimera”-like creature, rather than one based entirely on a real animal.
After Set’s demonization, he was likened to two gods in the ancient world. The Greeks associated him with Typhon, referring to Set in texts as Typhon under Interpretatio graeca, the process by which the Greeks and Romans would refer to the gods of other peoples under the names of their own gods. More intriguingly however, was that Set was conflated with the Abrahamic god by the Egyptians and Greeks. When the story of Exodus reached the Egyptians, many Egyptians were displeased by the way that the story depicted them and their gods. Stemming from the destructive aspect shown of the Abrahamic god in Exodus, the Egyptians likened God with their own violent god Set. Due to Set’s affiliation with donkeys, this transferred over to God in the cultural landscape of the non-Abrahamic world at the time. Jewish and Christian worshippers were accused and discriminated against for allegedly worshipping donkeys, they were even accused of sacrificing foreigners to a golden donkey head. In fact one of the first ever depictions of Jesus was a result of this kind of discrimination, it was a form of graffiti made to belittle a Christian named Alexamenos, depicting him worshipping a crucified Jesus with the head of a donkey.
