Chapter XXXII. that Set represented the Northern-Star worship brought

in from the N.E.

Horus, then, represented a conquering force coming from the South.

He was recognised as a Southern god. Naville remarks:

"Horchuti est par excellence le dieu de la Nubie; c'est à lui que sont consacrés plusieurs des temples pharaoniques qui existent le long du Nil entre Ouadi-Halfa et Philæ."[171]

But this is not all. The sequence of the Divine Dynasties is as follows, according to Maspero:--[172]

Atmu. Rā Shou Sibou [Seb] Osiris Set Horus

Neglecting the first four, we find Osiris preceding Set, and are driven to the conclusion that in Osiris, in this connection, we are dealing with the Moon, for the Sun-gods Atmu and Rā head the list. Besides, the worship of Set did not kill the worship of the _Sun_, for the power of Rā finally became paramount.

We must hold, then, that the Southern Sun-god Horus, the son of Osiris, was the son of a Moon-god, and it becomes necessary to inquire if such an idea occurred to other early peoples. Professor Sayce[173] tells us--

"According to the official religion of Chaldæa, the Sun-god was the offspring of the Moon-god," and he adds, "Such a belief could have arisen only where the Moon-god was the supreme object of worship.... To the Semite the Sun-god was the lord and father of the gods."[174]

If we, then, with this precedent, are prepared to take Osiris as the Moon-god of the Southern race, there is no doubt that the first Sun-god was Chnemu, and the first Southern Star-god--the star which heralded sunrise at the Autumnal Equinox--Khonsu (Canopus). Thoth also must be named, for it is certain that the Calendar which he leads was of Southern origin, because New Year's Day at the Summer Solstice was heralded first by Phact and afterwards by Sirius, both Southern stars.

There is likewise ample temple evidence to show that the Autumnal Equinoctial Sun was also heralded, and in even earlier times, first by Canopus and next by α Centauri, and it becomes a question whether the original moon-calendar of Thoth did not refer to a year beginning at the Autumnal Equinox. This is a suggestion resulting from later inquiries, and hence I have not referred to it in the chapters on the year.

And here, perhaps, in their dependence upon the Moon-god Osiris, we find the real reason that Khonsu and Thoth have lunar instead of solar emblems; Thoth led the initial lunar year, Khonsu only heralded the advent of the son of the Moon.

If this be so, before the foundation of the temple of Annu by "la grande tribu des Anou,"[175] the Southern (originally Moon-worshipping) race had already made its appearance in force in Northern Egypt, otherwise the divine dynasties would not have included Osiris; we need not be astonished that the temple evidence has disappeared there. The most northern ancient temple of Osiris was at Abydos; that also has gone, while those at Philæ and Edfû remain, the latter, at some time subsequent to its original foundation, dedicated to a _female_ Horus.

These things being presumed, we can now bring together in a working hypothesis the temple evidence so far as it bears upon the mythology and interaction of the North-and South-Star worshippers.

Date B.C. Osiris} 6400 A swarm from the south with Thoth } Moon Gods. Khonsu} Chnemu (Sun God). come down the River. They find a population worshipping Rā and Atmu. Possibly they were merely worshippers of the dawn and twilight. The Moon worship is accepted as an addition, and _the divine dynasty of Osiris_ begins. The swarm brings a lunar year of 360 days with it, and the Egyptian Calendar beginning I. Thoth commences. They build temples at Amada, Semneh, Philæ, Edfû, and probably Abydos. All these were probably Osiris temples, so called because Osiris, the Moon-god, was the chief deity, and they were used for the determination of the Sun's place at the Autumnal Equinox, at which time their lunar year probably began. 5400 A swarm, or swarms, from the N.E. One certainly comes by the Red Sea, and founds temples at Redisieh and Denderah; another may have come over the isthmus and founded Annu. They bring the worship of _Anu_.[176] The _Divine dynasty_ of Set is founded, and we can imagine religious strifes between the partisans of the new northern cult and the southern moon-worshippers. These people might have come either from North Babylonia, or other swarms of the same race may have invaded North Babylonia at the same time. ±5000 [This date is fixed by Hippopotamus not being circumpolar after it. It might have been much earlier, but not much later.] Horus with his "blacksmiths" comes down the river to revenge his "father Osiris" by killing his murderer Set (the Hippopotamus). The 6400 B.C. people, who came from the South, had been worsted by the last (5400 B.C.) swarm from the N.E., and have sent for southern assistance. The South people by this time had become Sun-worshippers, and "Osiris" now means Sun as well as Moon. The N.E. people are beaten, and there is an amalgamation of the _Original_ and Southern cults. The N.E. people are reduced to second place, but Set is retained, and _Anubis_ looks after sepulchres, soon to be replaced by Osiris as Southern priestcraft prevails. The priestly headquarters now are at Annu and Abydos. At the former place we have an amalgamated cult representing Sun and N. Star gods. At Abydos Osiris (changed into a Sun-God) is supreme.

[Sidenote: Pyramid Times [Mariette 4200, Brugsch 3700.]]

Another Swarm from N.E., certainly from Babylonia this time, and apparently by isthmus only, since no E.-W. temples are found on Red Sea roads. They no longer bring Anu alone. There is a Spring Equinox Sun-God.

3700 Southern people at Barkal and Thebes in force; temple-building on a large scale. Chnemu begins to give place to Amen-Rā. Still more blending between _original_ and Southern peoples.

3500 Final blending of North and South cults at Thebes. Temples founded there to Set and Min, on the lines of Annu and An.

3200 Establishment of worship of Amen-Rā at Thebes. Supremacy of Theban priests.