Competition Between the Horites and the Sethites

Egyptian artifact dating to c. 1970-1878 BC. 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

This Egyptian hippopotamus statuette can be seen in Gallery 111 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Museum workers regard "William the Hippo" as a mascot. The artifact was found in a shaft associated with the funerary chapel of Senbi the Steward. This 8 in (20 cm) figurine in faience, a clay-less material, illustrates the high level of Egyptian faience work during the Middle Kingdom.

According to the Museum, this hippo figure is a "particularly fine example of a type found, in common with various other animal forms, among the funerary furnishings of tombs of the Middle Kingdom."

William seems a benign creature, almost whimsical. However, hippos can be aggressive and are known to attack. In Job 40:15-24, the hippo is called the "behemoth" and is described as one of God's most dangerous creatures. On ancient Nilotic murals and royal vessels, the early kings are often shown spearing fearsome hippos. Such scenes depict the kings as courageous and able to impose order on chaos. The hippo was the animal totem of Seth and sometimes represented the chaos that could arise when Seth, a deified ruler, asserted equality with Horus, the son of the High God.

The competition between Seth and Horus is found in many Egyptian tales. These tales reflect the competitive relationship between the Sethite and the Horite Hebrew who maintained separate settlements (mounds) along the Nile River before the time of Abraham (2000 BC). 

It is clear in the Ancient Pyramid Texts (2400-2000 BC) that the Horites and the Sethites maintained separate settlements. Utterance 308 addresses them as separate entities: "Hail to you, Horus in the Horite Mounds! Hail to you, Horus in the Sethite Mounds!" 

Though separate groups or moieties, the Horite and Sethite Hebrew shared common religious practices and beliefs, and they worshiped the same God and served the same king. However, the Horite temples and shrines were the more prestigious. Utterance 470 contrasts the Horite and Sethite mounds and designates the Horite mounds as "the High Mounds."

Golden Horus falcon found at Nekhen.

The animal totem of Horus was the falcon, symbolizing flight through the heavenly regions. The falcon was also the totem of the Horite Hebrew who were devotees of Horus (HR). HR in ancient Egyptian means the Most High One. 

The hippopotamus, on the other hand, is a creature of the mud, dust, and clay, suggesting that the mounds of the Sethites were the lower mounds. The elevation of the mounds appears to relate to a hierarchy of authority.

Figures relating to both Seth and Horus have been found at Nekhen on the Nile, the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship (4000 BC). This figurine of Seth as a red man with the head of a hippo was found at Nekhen. 

Votive offerings at the Nekhen temple were ten times larger than the normal mace heads and bowls found elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine.

Related reading: Seth, Son of Adam; Horite and Sethite Mounds; Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant; Horus, King of the Universe