Horus

The tale of Horus

Horus is the falcon god of the sky, and his eyes are the sun and the moon. He is the son of Isis and Osiris, born after his father's murder. His uncle Set had killed Osiris and taken the throne of Egypt, so Isis hid the baby among the papyrus reeds of the Nile delta. She guarded him from Set's scorpions and serpents and healed him with her magic whenever he was stung, until he grew up strong enough to claim what was his.

The contendings of Horus and Set

When Horus came of age he went before the council of the gods to demand his father's throne. Set, older and stronger, demanded it too. The gods argued for eighty years. The sun god Ra favoured Set, the old warrior. Others favoured Horus, the rightful son. Contest after contest was set, and each one turned into a brawl.

They turned into hippopotamuses and sank beneath the Nile to see who could stay under longest, until Isis threw a harpoon to help her son and hit the wrong one. They raced boats, and Horus cheated by building his of painted pine while Set's stone boat sank. In one fight Set tore out Horus's left eye and Horus tore away part of Set's strength. The goddess Hathor healed the eye with gazelle's milk, and it became the Eye of Horus, the wedjat, a symbol of healing and protection that Egyptians wore on amulets for thousands of years.

At last the gods wrote to Osiris in the land of the dead. Osiris answered with a threat: if the throne did not go to his son, he would send his demons against the gods themselves. Horus was crowned king of Egypt, and Set was given the deserts and the storms.

The living king

From then on every pharaoh was believed to be the living Horus on Earth, and became one with Osiris at his death. The falcon with spread wings was carved above temple gates across Egypt, and Horus's great temple at Edfu still stands almost complete today.

Horus in Battle of Myths

Horus is a cost 4 Egyptian hero with two aspects. As the Falcon King (hunter and warrior) he makes a Falcon Strike, diving on his target and the enemies beside it, then attacking faster. As the Eye of Horus (mystic and hunter) he heals every ally and sharpens their aim with extra critical chance. With every Egyptian hero he shares the Sun Cycle: by day the Egyptians strike faster, and at nightfall they are shielded.

Did you know?

• The pieces of the Eye of Horus were used by Egyptian scribes as signs for fractions: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and 1/64.
• Older Egyptian texts also speak of "Horus the Elder", a sky god separate from Isis's son. Over time the two were merged.