Isis gave birth to Horus in the marshes and hid him from Seth, Osiris’s killer. Horus suffered weakness, hunger, and attacks, but Isis and his protectors kept him alive until he could avenge his father and challenge Seth.
The Birth and Hiding of Horus
Isis gave birth to Horus after a pregnancy of ten months. She bore him in the papyrus marshes of Chemmis and hid him from Seth, who had killed Osiris. He was called Horus the Child, or Horus, son of Isis, to distinguish him from Horus the Elder. Isis raised him so that he could avenge his father and overcome Seth.
Isis was sometimes forced to leave Horus in the marshes while she searched for food. When she returned, she found him weak and too ill to suckle. She lamented that her family were either in another realm or hostile to her. She had no one to call upon except the people who lived in the marshes.
The marsh-dwellers shared Isis’s grief, but they could offer no help. A wise local woman then arrived, consoled Isis, and gave her advice. In another telling, Isis took refuge in the swamps of Buto with seven protective serpents and gave birth there. Other tellings had divine beings or humble marsh inhabitants protect Horus when Isis had to leave him. Serpents and diseases attacked the infant, but Isis shielded him with spells. She raised Horus in hiding until he could avenge Osiris and challenge Seth.
Horus Poisoned by the Scorpion
Isis fled from Set while carrying Horus. Set had murdered Osiris and confined Isis to force her into marriage and strengthen his claim to the kingdom. Thoth helped her escape. He told her to hide with her unborn son and bring him forth in secret. He also promised that Horus would succeed to his father’s throne in due course.
Isis travelled towards the Reed Swamps with the Seven Scorpion-goddesses. They brought her to Per-Sui, where she sought shelter for the night. A woman shut her door against Isis. In one telling, a Scorpion-goddess entered the woman’s house and stung her child to death. In another, Isis later hid Horus in Sekhet-An while she went to perform a ceremony for Osiris near Hetep-hemt. During her absence, the scorpion Uhat, sent by Set, entered the hiding place and stung Horus.
The gods brought Isis news that Horus had been killed. She ran to him in despair and found his body lifeless. Her cries drew people from the neighbouring districts. They tried to comfort her, but she declared that their words only delayed the matter. She questioned the value of spells and magical commands if Horus lay in the arms of Death, poisoned by the scorpion.
Thoth came from heaven and told Isis and Nephthys not to fear. He said that he had come to heal the child for his mother. He named the forms and powers that protected Horus, including the Dweller in his Disk, the Great Hawk, the Holy Beetle and the Divine Bennu. He then spoke the great spell. By his words, the life fluid of Ra entered Horus’s body. The scorpion’s poison left him, and Thoth restored the child to life.
The Gods Judge Horus's Claim
Horus brought his claim before the Ennead and the divine tribunal. He said that he should succeed Osiris as king of Egypt and that Seth was a usurper. Isis, Thoth and Anubis supported him. The gods agreed that Horus had made a good case and that he should replace Seth as pharaoh. When Seth heard this, he threatened the gods who had supported Horus. He said that he would use his royal sceptre as a club and kill one deity each day until they rejected Horus’s claim. The gods ignored his threat and placed Egypt’s crown on Horus’s head. They installed him in Osiris’s former position, and Isis cried out with joy for her son.
Seth refused to accept the decision. He challenged Horus to fight for the throne, and Horus agreed. Their conflict continued through many contests. In one contest, they changed into enormous hippopotami and remained beneath the deepest waters of the Nile. In another, Seth proposed a race in stone boats. Horus secretly made his boat from cedar wood and covered it with plaster so that it looked like stone. Seth used real stone, and his boat sank when it was launched. He escaped by changing into a hippopotamus, but Horus pursued him with a harpoon and wounded him.
The tribunal still could not settle the dispute. The gods approached Neith, but her judgement did not end it. At last, on Thoth’s advice, they appealed to Osiris for a final judgement. Osiris supported his son and reproached Seth.
In another telling, the struggle had already lasted eighty years. Ra-Harakhte presided over the tribunal and favoured Seth because Seth was Nut’s son, older and more experienced. Horus answered that succession gave him the right to rule. Shu and Thoth then recommended Horus’s case.
The traditions differed over the final process. Some said that the gods voted for Horus and crowned him king. Others continued with contests between the two gods, including the hippopotamus combat and the race in boats. The struggle was also presented as a conflict between the Followers of Horus and the Followers of Seth.
