@article{10.11648/j.ija.20261402.13,
  author = {Dimitrios Viliouras},
  title = {Egypt in the Shadow of the 'Followers of Horus'},
  journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
  volume = {14},
  number = {2},
  pages = {37-82},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20261402.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20261402.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20261402.13},
  abstract = {At the Ptolemaic Temple of 'Horus Behdet' at Edfu, Upper Egypt, the ‘legend of the Winged Disk’ is written on the walls and describes the battles between Horus and Seth. In later Egyptian mythology, gods Osiris, Ιsis and their son Horus, who were recorded as 'the civilized', didn't come into being alone, but they were escorted by demigods. They were a group of greatly venerated sages (Shebtiu or Sebetti), who have been identified as the “Followers” or ‘Servants of Horus’ and are represented by the pictogram “Šemsu Ḥeru”. They were "divine beings" that acted as intermediaries between humans and the high- ranking ntr / gods. The entries of Egyptian priest and historian Manetho (active c.300 to 250 BC) in his treatise 'On the Nations of Egypt…' preserved by Sextus Julius Africanus, George Syncellus, Malalas and Eusebius of Caesarea relates to the above. He wrote that “the history of the rule in Egypt is divided into three great eras; at the beginning Egypt was ruled by the gods whose names usually ended with the title Horus. These were followed by the demigods and after these by the ‘half-divine dead’ (‘νεκυίες οι ημίθεοι’ in Greek), a reference to the Dynastic reign of Pharaohs… The interesting reference of Manetho alluded to the mythical civilized demigods (ημίθεους) - the “Šemsu Ḥeru” of the Egyptian tradition - who ‘followed’ and ruled in Egypt after the gods. The speculation that these ‘protectors’ or ‘believers to Horus’ were the prehistoric rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt in Nekhen / Hierakonpolis or/and in Per Uto / Buto, and that they were “exogenous” and at the same time they were descended from the divinity itself, is what precisely requires a convincing explanation by the systemic historians, which, however, was never given in an adequate and probative manner up to now. Combining inductive logic and tangible archaeological evidence, the following study attempts to provide answers about the cultural origins of the prehistoric people of Upper Egypt, and the centuries-long arduous process they experienced to colonize the region. The dynamic expansion of their rule in Lower Egypt at the dawn of the 3rd millennium BC and the substantial unification of the Country of Nile, paved the way for the establishment of two equally important achievements: the creation of a new natural language based on primordial sacred symbols, and the development of a philosophized architectural epic with the construction of monumental granite stone buildings.},
 year = {2026}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Egypt in the Shadow of the 'Followers of Horus'
AU  - Dimitrios Viliouras
Y1  - 2026/10/10
PY  - 2026
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20261402.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ija.20261402.13
T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
SP  - 37
EP  - 82
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7595
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20261402.13
AB  - At the Ptolemaic Temple of 'Horus Behdet' at Edfu, Upper Egypt, the ‘legend of the Winged Disk’ is written on the walls and describes the battles between Horus and Seth. In later Egyptian mythology, gods Osiris, Ιsis and their son Horus, who were recorded as 'the civilized', didn't come into being alone, but they were escorted by demigods. They were a group of greatly venerated sages (Shebtiu or Sebetti), who have been identified as the “Followers” or ‘Servants of Horus’ and are represented by the pictogram “Šemsu Ḥeru”. They were "divine beings" that acted as intermediaries between humans and the high- ranking ntr / gods. The entries of Egyptian priest and historian Manetho (active c.300 to 250 BC) in his treatise 'On the Nations of Egypt…' preserved by Sextus Julius Africanus, George Syncellus, Malalas and Eusebius of Caesarea relates to the above. He wrote that “the history of the rule in Egypt is divided into three great eras; at the beginning Egypt was ruled by the gods whose names usually ended with the title Horus. These were followed by the demigods and after these by the ‘half-divine dead’ (‘νεκυίες οι ημίθεοι’ in Greek), a reference to the Dynastic reign of Pharaohs… The interesting reference of Manetho alluded to the mythical civilized demigods (ημίθεους) - the “Šemsu Ḥeru” of the Egyptian tradition - who ‘followed’ and ruled in Egypt after the gods. The speculation that these ‘protectors’ or ‘believers to Horus’ were the prehistoric rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt in Nekhen / Hierakonpolis or/and in Per Uto / Buto, and that they were “exogenous” and at the same time they were descended from the divinity itself, is what precisely requires a convincing explanation by the systemic historians, which, however, was never given in an adequate and probative manner up to now. Combining inductive logic and tangible archaeological evidence, the following study attempts to provide answers about the cultural origins of the prehistoric people of Upper Egypt, and the centuries-long arduous process they experienced to colonize the region. The dynamic expansion of their rule in Lower Egypt at the dawn of the 3rd millennium BC and the substantial unification of the Country of Nile, paved the way for the establishment of two equally important achievements: the creation of a new natural language based on primordial sacred symbols, and the development of a philosophized architectural epic with the construction of monumental granite stone buildings.
VL  - 14
IS  - 2
ER  - 

Copy | Download