Summary
Seth, also called Set, was the ancient Egyptian god of chaos, storms, the desert and foreign lands, shown with the head of a strange animal with a curved snout and square ears. He is best known as the villain of Egyptian myth, the brother who murdered Osiris and fought Horus for the throne. Yet he was not simply evil: every night he defended the sun god Ra from the serpent of chaos, and powerful pharaohs such as Seti I were named after him.
Who Was Seth?
Seth was a son of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, brother of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys, and husband of Nephthys. He ruled everything outside the ordered world of the Nile valley: the burning red desert, sandstorms and thunder, violence, and foreign peoples. Red, the colour of the desert, was his colour, and red-haired people and red animals were sometimes linked with him.
Egyptians saw the world as a balance between order (maat) and chaos. Seth was a necessary part of that balance: dangerous, but strong enough to be useful.
The Mysterious Seth Animal
Seth is shown as a man with the head of the “Seth animal”, or as the whole animal: a slim, dog-like creature with a long curved snout, tall square-topped ears and a stiff, forked tail. No one has identified it for certain. Suggestions include an aardvark, a jackal, a donkey, an okapi or a now-extinct animal, but most Egyptologists think it was imaginary, a creature of the desert that belonged nowhere.
Seth the Villain: Osiris and Horus
In the great myth of Egypt, Seth murdered his brother Osiris out of jealousy and seized the throne. When Osiris’s son Horus grew up, he challenged Seth. Their struggle lasted 80 years in one version, with trials before the gods and contests of strength, including a fight as hippopotamuses under the Nile. Seth tore out Horus’s eye, later healed by Thoth. In the end the gods gave the throne to Horus. At Edfu, Horus is shown harpooning Seth as a small hippopotamus.
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Seth also had a heroic role. Every night the sun god Ra sailed through the underworld in his boat, attacked by the giant serpent Apophis, the force of chaos itself. Seth stood at the prow and speared the serpent, so that the sun could rise again. His violence, turned against a worse enemy, kept the world alive.
Kings Who Honoured Seth
- Early kings of the 2nd Dynasty, such as Peribsen, put the Seth animal on their royal names instead of the falcon of Horus.
- The Hyksos, foreign rulers of the Delta around 1650 BC, worshipped Seth at their capital, Avaris.
- The Ramesside kings came from the eastern Delta, where Seth was popular. Seti I means “man of Seth”, and Ramesses II called himself “beloved of Seth”.
- A famous statue in the Egyptian Museum shows Ramesses III being crowned by Horus and Seth together, the two gods of Upper and Lower Egypt in harmony.
Only in the last centuries of pharaonic Egypt, after many foreign invasions, did Seth become a truly evil figure, and the Greeks linked him with their monster Typhon.
Seth: FAQ
What is Seth the god of?
Chaos, storms, the desert, violence and foreign lands.
Is Seth the same as Set?
Yes. Seth and Set are two spellings of the same god’s name.
What animal is Seth?
The “Seth animal”, a dog-like creature with a curved snout and square ears that has never been identified; it may be imaginary.
Why did Seth kill Osiris?
Out of jealousy, to take his brother’s throne as king of Egypt.
Was Seth always evil?
No. He protected the sun god Ra from the serpent Apophis and was honoured by kings such as Seti I. He became a purely evil figure only late in Egyptian history.
