Side by side, from the sources
Horus vs Set
These two are set against one another in the texts, which is itself a claim worth attributing. Eighty years of contendings, resolved by tribunal rather than by killing.
Deity · Egyptian · c. 3000 BCE
Horus
also called Heru, Harpocrates, Hor
Son of Osiris, who contends eighty years with Set for the throne. Every living pharaoh was understood to be his incarnation.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- Falcon King
- First attested
- The Pyramid Texts · c. 2350–2100 BCE
- Named there as
- Horus
- Texts naming it
- 3
- Powers attributed
- 3
85attestedEgyptian
Deity · Egyptian · c. 3000 BCE
Set
also called Seth, Sutekh, Typhon (Greek identification), Setesh, Setekh, Suty
Murderer of Osiris and defender of the sun-barque — a god who was worshipped as a royal patron for two millennia before being recast as the enemy.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- God of Storms and Disorder
- First attested
- The Pyramid Texts · c. 2350–2100 BCE
- Named there as
- Seth
- Texts naming it
- 3
- Powers attributed
- 4
Where do they actually overlap?
Texts naming both
Powers credited to both
Common questions
Are Horus and Set the same figure?
These two are set against one another in the texts, which is itself a claim worth attributing. Eighty years of contendings, resolved by tribunal rather than by killing. ColossiansOne records the link rather than asserting the identity: where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is what gets shown.
Which is older, Horus or Set?
Both are first attested in the same period, around c. 3000 BCE.
Do any texts name both Horus and Set?
Yes — 3 texts name both. A single text naming both figures is the strongest evidence available here that its author treated them as distinct, whatever later writers did with the pair.