Unknown Artist

Set, also known as Seth, Setekh, Sut, Sutekh and Suty

Set formed part of the Ennead of Heliopolis. Some of the ancient Egyptians considered Seth to be none other than the epitomy of pure evil. Set was believed to have been born as a second son to Geb and Nut, grandchild of the ancient Egyptian god Ra. Seth is a intricate and perplexinggod. Like Anubis he pre-dates Osiris, but became a centralfigure in the Osirian pantheon. The first appearance is during the time of the Scorpion King, Narmer/Menes, although there seems to be a comb they found that has an image that looks like the prince of darkness. It is said that Set was evil since birth, because he ripped himself from his mother's womb by tearing through her side. That being said, I believe that Set started out to be the defender of the son god Ra, then he was exiled to the dessert for his evil deeds after Horus avenged the death of his father which was an eighty year battle.

Artist Susan Boulet

Seth, god of chaos is also often associated with thunder, the desert, infertility, confusion, storms, wind, and foreign lands. Due to the extreme hostility of the desert environment, Set was viewed as immensely powerful, and was regarded as one of the major gods. In one of the Pyramid Texts it states that the king's strength is that of Set. As one of the central gods, he was patron of Lower Egypt, where he was worshiped, most notably at Ombos. During the Second Intermediate Period, the Hyksos which literally means, "rulers of foreigns lands" gained the rulership of Egypt, and ruled the Nile Delta, from Avaris, they chose Set, who was originally the foremost god of Lower Egypt, as their patron. Avaris is an ancient Hyksos fortress, and also their capital. The Hyksos ruled and controlled Avaris from about 1786-1567 B.C. It is located in the eastern Delta of the Nile, about 15 miles south of Tanis. The word ‘avaris’ means, "mansions of the desert plateau." It is said that the Hyksos founded the walled city of Avaris, which was then made the capital of the Hyksos dynasty in Lower Egypt. The Hyksos toppled an Egyptian city and built Avaris over its ruins before fortifying it.

The pharaoh of Upper Egypt, Tao II, died in battle trying to defeat the Hyksos and drive them out of Egypt . Tao II's son Kamose took the throne but also was killed in battle before seeing the end of their mission. His younger brother, Ahmose I, became king, but was too young to rule alone, and his mother, Ahhotep, became regent.

Queen Ahhotep lived until she was around ninety years of age, and given evidence found in her burial chamber, it is believed she was an instrumental part in the removing the Hyksos people of ancient Egypt. When her tomb was found, military medals and a ceremonial dagger were found. A stele at the temple of Amun-Re lists her good deeds, including taking care of her soldiers, guarding her country, and expelling rebels.

However, following this invasion, Egyptian attitudes towards foreigners could be best described as intolerant, and eventually the Hyksos were expelled. During this period, Set who was the Hyksos' patron, came to embody all that the Egyptians disliked about the foreign rulers, and so he gradually absorbed the identities of all the previous evil gods, particularly Apep. The Set cult at Avaris flourished. The founder of the 19th dynasty, Ramesses I came from a military family from Avaris with strong ties to the priesthood of Set. Several of the Ramesside kings were named Set, most notably Seti I (literally, "man of Set") and Setnakht (literally, "Set is strong"). In addition, one of the garrisons of Ramesse II held Set as its patron deity, and Ramesses II erected the so called "Four Hundred Years' Stele" at Pi-Ramesses commemorating the 400 year anniversary of the Set cult in the Delta. Set also became associated with foreign gods during the New Kingdom, particularly in the Delta.

During the Rammeside Period, Set was worshiped in the relatively large metropolitan, a district of Sepermeru. There, Set was honored with an important temple called the "House of Set, Lord of Sepermeru." One of the epithets of this town was "gateway to the desert," which fits well with Set's role as a deity of the frontier regions of ancient Egypt. At Sepermeru, Set's temple enclosure included a small secondary shrine called "The House of Seth, Powerful-Is-His-Mighty-Arm," and Ramesses II modified a second land-owning temple for Nephthys, called "The House of Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun.". There is no question, however, that the two temples of Seth and Nephthys in Sepermeru were under separate administration, each with its own holdings and prophets.

Interesting to note; according to "Professor P. F. Ceccaldi, with a research team behind him, studied some hairs which were removed from the mummy's scalp. Ramesses II was 90 years-old when he died, and his hair had turned white. Ceccaldi determined that the reddish-yellow colour of the mummy's hair had been brought about by its being dyed with a dilute henna solution; it proved to be an example of the cosmetic attentions of the embalmers. However, traces of the hair's original colour (in youth), remain in the roots, even into advanced old age. Microscopic examinations proved that the hair roots contained traces of natural red pigments, and that therefore, during his youth, Ramesses II had been red-haired. It was concluded that these red pigments did not result from the hair somehow fading, or otherwise altering post-mortem,but did indeed represent Ramesses' natural hair colour. Ceccaldi also studied a cross-section of the hairs, and he determined from their oval shape, that Ramesses had been "cymotrich" (wavy-haired). Finally, he stated that such a combination of features showed that Ramesses had been a "leucoderm" (white-skinned person)."

Usually Set is depicted as having red hair and some scholars believe white skin. Set was mostly depicted as a mysterious and unknown creature, referred to by Egyptologists as the Set animal or Typhonic beast, with a curved snout, square ears, forked tail, and canine body, or sometimes as a human with only the head of the Set animal. It has no complete resemblance to any known creature, although it does resemble an aardvark, and a jackal, both of which are desert creatures, and the main species of aardvark present in ancient Egypt have a reddish appearance, due to thin fur, which shows the skin beneath it. The earliest known representation of Set comes from a tomb dating to 4000 BC–3500 BC, and the Set-animal is even found on a mace-head of the Scorpion King, Narmer.

In depictions of his battle against Horus, he is sometimes discribed as a hippo or a black pig. The word for desert, in Egyptian, was Tesherit, which is very similar to the word for red, Tesher in fact, it has the appearance of a feminine form of the word for red. Set became associated with things that were red, including people with red hair, which is not an attribute that Egyptians generally had, and so he became considered to also be a god of foreigners.

Horus spearing Set who is if the form of a Hippopotamus

Other times, Set appears as a crocodile. I have also read that he is seen as a combination of himself and Apep, the initial god of evil. The Egyptians believed that bright red was the color of evil, which is the shade Set would appear as when he was shown in a full manly form with red hair and eyes. The Greeks identified Seth with the demon Typhon, so the beast is also called the Typhonian animal. Pigs and donkeys, were often abhorred by the Egyptians, but these animals were sacred to Set. His followers took the form of these animals, as well as crocodiles, scorpions, turtles and other sinnister or dangerous creatures. Some fish were also sacred tohim. There is a Set-animal that resembles the Oxyrhynchus fish, and so in some myths it was said that a fish ate Osiris' penis. In addition, Set was often depicted as one of the creatures that the Egyptians most feared, crocodiles, and hippopotami.

As Set was a god of the desert and was believed to be infertile. He was also thought to have rather odd sexual habits. In some of the legends his favorite food was the lettuce which secreted a white, milky substance that the Egyptians linked to semen and was sacred to the fertility god Min, but even with this aphrodisiac, he was still thought to have been infertile.

In another story, it is said that he was bisexual, that he was married and had been given concubines to appease him, yet he also assaulted Horus sexually stating "How lovely your backside is!" and his pursuit of Isis were reasons why Set could never have been a ruler of Egypt instead of Osiris, despite originally being a lord of Upper Egypt.

"When Set saw Isis there, he transformed himself into a bull to be able to pursue her, but she made herself unrecognizable by taking the form of a bitch with a knife on her tail. Then she began to run away from him and Set was unable to catch up with her. Then he ejaculated on the ground, and she said, "It's disgusting to have ejaculated, you bull!" But his sperm grew in the desert and became the plants called bedded-kau."

-- Jumilhac Papyrus

Sexual life in Ancient Egypt by Lise Manniche

Another myth I came across states that, "Set has a great many wives, including some foreign Goddesses, and several children. Some of the most notable wives beyond Nephthys/Nebet Het are; Neith with whom he is said to have fathered Sobek, Amtcheret by whom he is said to have fathered Upuat, though Upuat is also said to be a son of Anubis or Osiris, Tawaret, Hetepsabet (one of the Hours, a feminine was-beast headed goddess who is variously described as wife or daughter of Set), and the two Canaanite deities Anat (Ramesses II named his daughter Bint-Anat 'Daughter of Anat' of whom he later married) and Astarte (also was identified with the lioness warrior goddess Sekhmet), both of whom are equally skilled in love and war - two things which Set himself was famous for."

Flinders-Petrie in one of his expeditions to the Sahara found several references to someone named Ash in wine jar seals: "I am refreshed by this Ash" was a common inscription. It is said the Ancient Egyptians having no inhibitions concerning sexuality, that during sometime in the second dynasty Seth became closely connected with Ash. In Egyptian Mythology, Ash was identified as lover of the Set, who was originally god of the desert, and was seen as protector of the Sahara and the Ancient Egyptians. The first known recorded mention of Ash dates to the Protodynastic Period, but by the late 2nd Dynasty, his importance grew, and he was seen as protector of the royal estates, since his lover, Set, in Lower Egypt, was regarded as the patron deity of royalty itself. Ash's importance was such that he was mentioned even until the 26th Dynasty. In particular, he was identified by the Ancient Egyptians as the god of the Libhu and Tinhu tribes, known as the people of the oasis. Consequently Ash was known as the lord of Libya, as the area, occupied by the Libhu and Tinhu tribes, corresponds roughly with the area of modern Libya. It is also possible that he was worshipped in Ombos, as their original chief deity. Ash was usually depicted as a human, whose head was one of the desert creatures, variously being shown as a lion, vulture, hawk, or snake. Indeed, depictions of Ash are the earliest known depictions, in ancient Egyptian art, to show a deity as a human with the head of an animal. On occasion, Ash's relationship with Set lead to him being depicted similarly, as the currently unidentified Set-Animal. I am not able to find any pics of Ash.

Besides being the "Lord of Strength", I have read that a dangerous warrior and sometimes protective deity, Set was invoked as a God of love and pleasure. One particular spell asks that a man's phallus remain hard so he can please his woman all night long just as Set's remained hard for his brides. One word...Viagra lol.

And one more; "The idea that Set is homosexual- or bisexual, since he had female lovers- is a rather modern convention at best. It stems from a single incident where he attempted to rape his nephew Heru-sa-Aset (Horus the younger) to disprove the lad's claim on the throne by making him "weak" and (in another telling) to further punish Osiris/Aser (Heru-sa's father) for raping Set's wife Nephthys. As far as is sexuality and potancy, if one looks in the mythology, Set has a great many wives, including some foreign Goddesses, and several children. Some of the most notable wives (beyond Nephthys/Nebet Het)are Neith (with whom he is said to have fathered Sobek), Amtcheret (who he is said to have fathered Upuat with- though Upuat is also said to be a son of Aser/Osiris in some places), Tuaweret is also sometimes said to be one of his wives, Hetepsabet (one of the Hours) is a feminine was-beast headed Goddess who is variously described as wife or daughter of Set, Anat and Astarte (two "import" Goddesses from Mesopotamia. Both are equally skilled in love and war- two things which Set himself was famous for)."

This is a real soap opera!!!

I believe as the Ogdoad system merged with the Ennead, it resulted of the joining of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Set's position in this came into question. With Horus as Ra's heir on Earth, Set, previously the chief god, for Lower Egypt, required an appropriate role as well, and so was identified as Ra's main hero, who fought Apep each night, during the sun god Ra's journey across the underworld.

He was thus often depicted standing on the prow of Ra's night barque spearing Apep, the snake demon, defending the sun god Ra from his most dangerous foe. Surprisingly, in some Late Period representations, such as in the Persian Period temple at Hibis in the Khargah Oasis, Set was represented in this role with a falcon's head, taking on the guise of Horus, despite the fact that Set was usually considered in quite a different position with regard to heroism. This assimilation also led to Anubis being displaced, in areas where he was worshipped, as ruler of the underworld, with his situation being explained by his being the son of Osiris. As Isis represented life, Anubis' mother was identified instead as Nephthys. This led to an explanation in which Nephthys, frustrated by Set's lack of sexual interest in her, disguised herself as the more attractive Isis, but failed to gain Set's attention because he was Infertil. Osiris mistook Nephthys for Isis and they had sex, resulting in Anubis' birth. In some later texts, after Set lost the connection to the desert, and thus infertility, Anubis was identified as Set's son, as Set is Nephthys' husband.

In the Old and Middle Kingdoms there are depictions of Set and Horus together either leading the prisoners of the pharaoh or binding the plants of Upper and Lower Egypt together to symbolise the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. He was regarded as an equal to the hawk god. This was Horus the Elder, a god of the day sky while Set was seen as a god of the night sky. When these two gods were linked, the two were said to be Horus-Set, a man with two heads - one of the hawk of Horus, the other of the Set animal.

Seth and Horus were often shown together crowning the new pharaohs, as a symbol of their power over both Lower and Upper Egypt. However, as Upper Egypt had conquered Lower Egypt, the pharaohs of the south often portrayed Seth as the evil enemy of Horus (deity of Upper Egypt). The earlier images of Seth crowning the pharoah were usually modified to show Thoth crowning the king instead.

The Was Sceptre

These scepters represent the Set-animal. Was scepters were carried by gods, pharaohs, and priests, as a symbol of power, and in later use, control over the force of chaos (Set). The head and forked tail of the Set-animal are clearly present. Was scepters are often depicted in paintings, drawings, and carvings of gods, and remnants of real Was scepters have been found constructed of faience or wood.

According to wikipedia, the Was has a forked top and a tripod base. One suggestion is that the staff was pushed into the ground and a line of sight set through the fork, hence the ruler of all he surveyed.

A Was staff, carried by the god Set, as represented in the tomb of Thutmose III (KV34).