| Set | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Other Names |
Set, Sēth, Sutekh |
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First Appearance |
Egyptian Myth |
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Created by |
Egyptian Myth |
Origin[]
Set is a god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion. In Ancient Greek, the god's name is given as Sēth. Set had a positive role where he accompanies Ra on his barque to repel Apep (Apophis), the serpent of Chaos. Set had a vital role as a reconciled combatant. He was lord of the Red Land (desert), where he was the balance to Horus' role as lord of the Black Land (fertile land).
In the Osiris myth, the most important Egyptian myth, Set is portrayed as the usurper who murdered and mutilated his own brother, Osiris. Osiris's sister-wife, Isis, reassembled his corpse and resurrected her dead brother-husband with the help of the goddess Nephthys. The resurrection lasted long enough to conceive his son and heir, Horus. Horus sought revenge upon Set, and many of the ancient Egyptian myths describe their conflicts.
Set is the son of Geb, the Earth, and Nut, the Sky; his siblings are Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. He married Nephthys and fathered Anubis and Wepwawet. Set was also sometimes thought of as Sobek's father.
Set is usually depicted as an enigmatic creature referred to by Egyptologists as the Set animal, a beast not identified with any known animal, although it could be seen as resembling an aardvark, an African wild dog, a donkey, a hyena, a jackal, a pig, an antelope, a giraffe, or a fennec fox. The animal has a downward curving snout; long ears with squared-off ends; a thin, forked tail with sprouted fur tufts in an inverted arrow shape; and a slender canine body.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Set from before January 1, 1929 are public domain.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Book of the Faiyum
- Pyramid Texts
- Legends of the Gods (1912)
- The Contendings of Horus and Seth
- A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1-2 (1883)
- Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt by Lewis Spence (1915)
- The Gods of the Egyptians; or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology (1904)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Ibis the Invincible #1: In ancient Egypt, Mesu the chief advisor summoned Set and his demons to destroy Ibis and claim Princess Taia for his master the Black Pharaoh. Set eventually turns on the Black Pharaoh and leaves when Ibis learns that courage can overcome evil.