Eye of Horus
Eye of Horus
Eye of Horus
1
Eye of Horus
This article is about the ancient Egyptian symbol. For the video game, see Eye of Horus (video game).
The Wedjat, later called The Eye of Horus
An Eye of Horus or Wedjat pendant
The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection,
royal power and good health. The eye is personified in the goddess
Wadjet (also written as Wedjat,
[1][2]
or "Udjat",
[3]
Uadjet,
Wedjoyet, Edjo or Uto). It is also known as ''The Eye of Ra''.
[4]
The name Wadjet is derived from "wadj" meaning "green", hence
"the green one", and was known to the Greeks and Romans as
"uraeus" from the Egyptian "iaret" meaning "risen one" from the
image of a cobra rising up in protection.
[5]
Wadjet was one of the
earliest of Egyptian deities who later became associated with other
goddesses such as Bast, Sekhmet, Mut, and Hathor. She was the
tutelary deity of Lower Egypt and the major Delta shrine the
"per-nu" was under her protection. Hathor is also depicted with
this eye.
Funerary amulets were often made in the shape of the Eye of
Horus. The Wadjet or Eye of Horus is "the central element" of
seven "gold, faience, carnelian and lapis lazuli" bracelets found on
the mummy of Shoshenq II. The Wedjat "was intended to protect
the pharaoh [here] in the afterlife" and to ward off evil. Ancient
Egyptian and Near Eastern sailors would frequently paint the
symbol on the bow of their vessel to ensure safe sea travel.
[6]
Horus
Horus was the ancient Egyptian sky god who was usually depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine
falcon.
[7]
His right eye was associated with the sun god, Ra. The eye symbol represents the marking around the eye
of the falcon, including the "teardrop" marking sometimes found below the eye. The mirror image, or left eye,
sometimes represented the moon and the god Djehuti (Thoth).
wedjet Eye of
Horus
in hieroglyphs
In one myth, when Set and Horus were fighting for the throne after Osiris's death, Set gouged out Horus's left eye.
The majority of the eye was restored by either Hathor or Thoth (with the last portion possibly being supplied
magically). When Horus's eye was recovered, he offered it to his father, Osiris, in hopes of restoring his life. Hence,
the eye of Horus was often used to symbolise sacrifice, healing, restoration, and protection.
[8]
Eye of Horus
2
As hieroglyph and symbol
There are seven different hieroglyphs used to represent the eye, most commonly "ir.t" in Egyptian, which also has
the meaning "to make or do" or "one who does". In Egyptian myth the eye was not the passive organ of sight but
more an agent of action, protection or wrath.
Mathematics
Arithmetic values represented by parts of the Eye
of Horus
Fractions drawn as portions of a square.
Further information: Egyptian fraction and 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 +
In Ancient Egyptian most fractions were written as the sum of two or
more unit fractions (a fraction with 1 as the numerator), with scribes
possessing tables of answers (see Rhind Mathematical Papyrus 2/n
table).
[9]
Thus instead of 3/4, one would write 1/2 + 1/4.
Different parts of the Eye of Horus were thought to be used by the
ancient Egyptians to represent one divided by the first six powers of
two:
The right side of the eye = 1/2
The pupil = 1/4
The eyebrow = 1/8
The left side of the eye = 1/16
The curved tail = 1/32
The teardrop = 1/64
The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus contains tables of 'Horus Eye
Fractions'.
[10]
Studies from the 1970s to this day in Egyptian mathematics have
clearly shown this theory was fallacious and Jim Ritter definitely
showed it to be false in 2003.
[11]
The evolution of the symbols used in
mathematics, although similar to the different parts of the Eye of Horus, is now known to be distinct.
Gallery
Wooden case decorated
with bronze, silver, ivory
and gold
Faience vessel, Bes
holding Eyes
Collection of amulets in the
British Museum Room 62
Earthenware Wedjat amulet on
display at the Louvre, c.
500300BCE
Eye of Horus
3
Scarab. The Walters Art Museum Hathor showing her sacred
eye inherited from
Wedjatdepicted in the
Papyrus of Ani
References
[1] Pommerening, Tanja, Die altgyptischen Hohlmae (Studien zur Altgyptischen Kultur, Beiheft 10), Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag, 2005
[2] Silverman, David P. Chapter 14 "Egyptian Art". Ancient Egypt. Duncan Baird Publishers, 1997. p.228
[3] Alessandro Bongioanni & Maria Croce (ed.), The Treasures of Ancient Egypt: From the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Universe Publishing, a
division of Rizzoli Publications Inc., 2003. p.622. According to the editors, "Udjat" was the term for amulets which used the Eye of Horus
design.
[4] Wrterbuch der gyptischen Sprache 1, 268.13
[5] The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart ISBN 0-415-34495-6
[6] Charles Freeman, The Legacy of Ancient Egypt, Facts on File, Inc. 1997. p.91
[7] Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 202.
[8] Pinch, Geraldine (2004). Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
pp. 131132
[9] Zaslavsky, Claudia (1993). Multicultural Mathematics: Interdisciplinary Cooperative-Learning Activities, p.20. ISBN 9780825121814.
[10] [10] p. 165
[11] Jim Ritter, Closing the Eye of Horus: the Rise and Fall of 'Horus-Eye Fractions' , in Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the
ancient Near East, ed. J. Steele and A. Imhausen, Mnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2002, p. 297-323. See also V. Katz (ed.), The Mathematics of
Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007 et E. Robson & J. Stedall (eds.),
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
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File:Eye of Horus bw.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Eye_of_Horus_bw.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Contributors: Jeff Dahl
File:Wedjat (Udjat) Eye of Horus pendant.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wedjat_(Udjat)_Eye_of_Horus_pendant.jpg License: Copyrighted free use
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File:Faience vessel with Bes.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Faience_vessel_with_Bes.jpg License: Copyrighted free use Contributors: Jon Bodsworth
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File:Canaanite - Scarab with "Udjat" Eyes - Walters 4239 - Bottom.jpg Source:
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