ORION is the ICONOGRAPHIC IMAGE of the god HORUS

Texts referring to the god Horus (additional explanations)

Indications, references, and texts are listed in points 1 to 18 below (in random sequence):

In the Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol.XV, supplement I, Egyptologist R. Parker wrote a summary, titled Egyptian Astronomy, Astrology, and Calendrical Reckoning (p.706 to 727). In this publication, he describes in broad outline the particular development of the calendrical reckoning by the ancient Egyptians, based on their astronomical knowledge. On page 711, Parker writes: “At some time before [pharaoh] Unas, then, but after the civil calendar was adopted, another unknown Egyptian astronomer devised a scheme to divide the night into parts by using the apparent movement of the stars. We know that this apparent movement is due to the rotation of the Earth on its axis and its travel about the sun. He did not. For him the stars did rise, traverse the sky, and set, like the other heavenly bodies. He had studied the stars and had grouped many of them into constellations to which he gave names such as Nakht = Nht = Strong Arm (Giant), Reret (Hippopotamus), Sah (Orion), Meskhetiu (Foreleg of Adze, the Big Dipper)”.

If Parker is right on this point, the Pyramid Texts are based merely upon the following four constellations: Nakht = Nht = Strong Arm (Giant), Sah (Orion), the constellation that belongs to the warlike group (Horus), Reret (Hippopotamus), and Meskhetiu, the constellation that belongs to the group of circumpolar stars (Seth).

Further Plutarch explained: “Moreover, they record that in the books attributed to Hermes it is written in regard to the sacred names, that they call the power, which is assigned to direct the revolution of the Sun, Horus” (Isis and Osiris, 61, Plutarch). So, Horus is the power and not the Sun or Sun-god! The following points 1 to 18 explain the allocation of Horus and his relation to Orion.

1) In Études de Nautique Egyptienne by Charles Boreux, p. 110, one finds the characteristic hieroglyph T15, which, according to Egyptologist Boreux, represents the western delta, the region that is the homeland of Horus.

2) In Kingship and the Gods, Henry Frankfort, p. 87, one can read: “The procession moves to the chapel of Horus of Libya, who lifts his arm.”

3) In Le Secret des bâtisseurs des grandes Pyramides Khéops, George Goyon writes on p.89: “Le monument doit être placé sous la protection astrale du dieu Horus, Seigneur de Khem (Létopolis).” Translation: “The monument must be marked out [determining the location] under the protection [or with the help] of the god Horus, Lord of Khem.” Horus presided (meaning: to sit on the throne or chair) at Khem. “In order to orientate the pyramid towards the sacred place Khem, the astronomers determined the true north by means of a fixed star, the Polar Star” [between 3,050 and 2,850 BCE: the star alpha Draconis] (ibid, p.89).

4) The constellation Lepus has the form of a chair; the star Arneb is the uppermost star of the central chair leg, which is known as the Chair of the Giant and the Throne of Jauzah (Star Names, Hinckley Allen, p.265). The name Arneb is derived from the Greek word Arnebeschènis, which means that Horus presides over Letopolis (LÄ III, col.41, 42, see also LÄ II, col. 998f Harnebeschinis).

5) The Copts called Orion the star [the constellation] of Horus (LÄ IV, col.609).

6) The term Gizeh stands for Orion (see my explanation above). See also The Great Pyramid by Piazzi Smyth, p. 4 and Star Names, Hinckley Allen, p. 307.

7) “Horus as Orion” and “Orion was the soul of Horus” (Life in Ancient Egypt, Erman, p. 271 and 348). “Orion was the soul of Horus”, (see also Isis and Osiris, Plutarch, p. 53). Remark: after Osiris had been killed by Seth, Horus succeeded his father Osiris. The constellation Scorpio is diametrically opposite to Orion. When Orion rises – is born – on the eastern horizon, the constellation Scorpio (Osiris) disappears – dies – below the western horizon, where the underworld and the world of death (the West) assumedly began. Osiris was, par excellence, the God of Death, Rebirth, and the Netherworld). During his lifetime, the Pharaoh was Horus, and after his death he became Osiris.

8) “… and its course lies not far from that of Orion and the Dog-star; of these the Egyptians believe that one is sacred to Horus and the other to Isis.”(Isis and Osiris, Plutarch, p. 55)

9) In Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch/Deutsch by the German Egyptologist Hannig, page 857, 3rd line, one can find a synonym for Horus as follows:

I believe that this shows the ‘strong arm’ in combination with the ‘throwstick’ and a casing-stone from a pyramid. That latter hieroglyph is nowadays translated as ‘sandy hill’, which I consider to be incorrect.

10) “The Ready Fighter, Horus who is over the stars of the sky”; see Pyramid Texts, Faulkner, par.449, and note 7, which literally quotes: ‘fighter with the arm.’

11)”I worship Min, I extol arm-raising Horus.” (Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.I, Lichtheim, p.204)

12) “[…], just as Horus, who presides over Khem [Letopolis], lives“ (Pyramid Texts, Faulkner, par. 910) and at explanation: “[…], as with the throwsticks [hieroglyph T 15] of Him [Horus] who presides over Khem“ (ibid. Faulkner, par. 908). The battle-axe, or club, was the characteristic item by which Horus was recognized. (Etudes de Nautique Egyptienne, Boreux, p. 110)

13) In the sacred temple city of Letopolis, the 14 shoulder blades of the god Osiris are kept as venerated relics. These 14 parts correspond to 11 pyramids, Abu Rawash, Gizeh (3x), Zawjet el Aryan (2x), Abusir (pyramid city 5th Dynasty), Sakkara (2x), and Dahshur (2x), and the 3 temple cities: Letopolis, Heliopolis, and Memphis (Die Cheopspyramide, Goyon, p. 249, note 111), amounting to a total of 14 parts. A text at Denderah says that the figure consists of 14 parts, whereas other texts mention 16. The pyramids Meidum and Seila are the 2 parts that fill out the difference.

14) “Horus was the great god, Lord of the sky”, and “we grant strength to thine arm.” (The Triumph of Horus, Fairman, p. 90)

15) On the ceiling of the entrance to the hypostyle room at Denderah, we see the rectangular zodiac, on which the Horus-falcon on his standard (papyrus column, hieroglyph M13) is shown, which is placed between the heavenly cow Sirius and Orion. This indicates that Horus ruled the central sector of the sky (width: 42º), from the star Alhena to the star Algol/the Pleiades (see Sterrenbeeld van Horus (Egypt: ‘Image of Heaven’), fig. 6 and Ch.4).

16) The Pyramid texts by Faulkner, par. 1089; 1285; 1373; and 1507, mention a girdle or the wearing of a girdle as follows: “I am girt with the girdle of Horus”; “You have relieved Horus of his girdle”; “I am girded as Horus”; “The pharaoh [is said to have gone out] from his house girded as Horus.“

The red granite architrave of pharaoh Sahure can be seen in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. The name of Sahure in the architrave consists of three hieroglyphs (see Hiërogliefen lezen, p. 51, K.Zauzich). The middle hieroglyph is D61 (Eg.Gr., Gardiner) and, according to Egyptologist K. Locher, it represents the head of Orion. On several lids of sarcophagi, he appears to wear it as a crown; it was the customary way to adorn deities with his or her characteristic ideogram. The belt or girdle of Orion is the most characteristic part of the constellation Orion, and I therefore venture to suggest that the resembling hieroglyph D61 may be an accessory: a buckle or an indiscernible pin by which a loincloth or belt is fixed or tightened. The pictured object shows three teeth that are connected at the bottom by a strip. On the left side of this strip, there is a small cord in the shape of an eye. On closer examination of the picture, the three teeth appear to be linked together by a similar cord which could be used to pull or connect something. There are also versions with two and with four teeth (see New arguments for the celestial location of the decanal belt and for the origin of the S3h hieroglyph, p. 281, Locher).

These suppositions would mean that Sah is not the toe-star Rigel of Orion, and that D61 represents the belt of Orion. The waist is known as the belt of Orion and the reference to “Horus who wears the belt” would mean that Horus represents Orion.

Remark: The pyramid of Abu Rawash is called “The pyramid which is the Sehedu-star” (Atlas van het oude Egypte, Baines en Malek, p. 140). Hence, the toe-star Rigel is the Sehedu-star, because a projection of the constellation Orion onto the pyramid field shows that this star correlates with the pyramid of Abu Rawash. The name of the northern pyramid at Zawjet el Aryan of pharaoh Baka also refers to a star, according to an inscription on the wall made by a team of workmen: “Baka is a star” (De Ibis 23, 1998 no.3, p.106). These stars mark the astronomical “main outline” between the giant stars Rigel and Betelgeuse of the constellation Orion (The Atlas of the Universe, P.Moore, p. 216).

17) An image of the northern sky, portrayed on the ceiling of the temple of Senmut, shows Horus holding a spear. The temple of Horus at Edfu was built to commemorate the Triumph of Horus over Seth, and it was measured out on August 23rd, 237 BCE (III Smw 7, year 10 of Ptolemy III, on the sixth day of the Moon-month; Calendars, Parker, par. 102), On that day, the constellation Orion (the stars Nu Orion, Betelgeuse and Saiph) was located on the primus verticalis (first meridian) exactly in the south, while Kochab with Pherkad of the constellation Ursa Minor, and eta Draconis, were also on the primus verticalis, (first meridian) yet exactly in the north. We know from inscriptions in the temple that the building was measured out – stretching the cord – in exact alignment with the four cardinal points of the compass by observing Orion and Ursa Major (De Ibis 26, 2001 no.2, p. 55). My astronomical investigations show that the inclusion of Ursa Major is incorrect; it is Ursa Minor, which is meant. It appears that Orion (Horus with the spear) must keep control over stars in the polar region (i.e. circumpolar stars near the earth’s axis), in order to ensure the continuity of humanity’s earthly existence (threatened by Seth). I believe that Seth symbolically is the star Alcor, which is located near the star Mizar (zeta Ursa Major) in Ursa Major; the Roman poet Ovid revealingly called that star Atlantis. According to the Roman Hyginus, this star Alcor left its location in the Pleiades as a comet or falling star and assumed a new position near the star Mizar; this led to a catastrophe on earth (Star Names, Hinckley Allen, p. 406 and p. 445-446, and Hamlett’s Mill, de Santillana and von Dechend, p. 385). Uta-napishtim, builder of the houseboat MA.GUR, (Die Sterne von Babylon, Papke, p.148-152) managed to escape this catastrophe, which was known as Era or Irra-Epos.

Remark concerning the current translation of hieroglyph F23 (mshtyw) as “the constellation Ursa Major”; however F23 may also refer to “ the constellation Ursa Minor”, since the orientation of the Horus-temple at Edfu was based on Ursa Minor, not on Ursa Major. Egyptologist Borchardt also held the opinion that Ursa Minor had the form of the Adze. (The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentaries, Lauer, op.cit. p. 106, footnote 1)

18) Pyramid Text §956-959 is an iconographical text, in which Orion is definitely and indisputably brought into relation with Horus. Approximately 1,500 years after the Pyramid Texts were written, pharaoh Ramesses II ordered Pyramid Text §959 to be displayed as a wall relief in the temple of Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel was the southern gate to Egypt (see picture Fig.7a or Kingship and the Gods, Frankfort, fig. 10).