Seth - The God of Chaos

Seth - The God of Chaos

Seth, the god of Chaos, was known to represent everything that threatened harmony in Egypt. He was the brother/husband of Nephthys and the brother of Isis and Osiris. His cult is believed to be the oldest in Egypt and Seth seems to have created plenty of mayhem. Over time the concept of Seth changed in Egypt as initially he was known as a beneficial god but lived in the realm of the blessed god. It’s said that Egyptians prayed and worshipped Seth so that he would take care of the dead family members.

The various forms of god Seth

Usually Seth was depicted as a man having a head of an animal that was known as Seth animals and had tall, Snout, rectangular ears and a thin canine body with long forked tail. The body of this animal had fur tufts which were shaped like inverted arrows. Most images of Seth show him holding an ankh in one hand and a was staff in another. The staff was a long staff which has head of Seth animal on top and was forked at the bottom.

He was also illustrated as different animals like the antelope, the boar, the ass and the crocodile. He was also associated with some poisonous creatures like scorpion and snakes and less as a hippopotamus.

Seth was the personification of drought and as lord of the desert and the drought he was an opponent of everything that bore life. He was also known by Egyptians as the war and storm god. The god was linked with planet mercury and the color red. The people thus rivaled people with red skin and even killed animals having red fur.

The worship of god Seth

It’s believed that Seth was among the two gods who gave pharaohs power and authority and was thus respected a lot for his powers. Some kings were also named behind his name and many others used the Seth animal as part of their emblem.

In Egypt there are two main festivals linked with god Seth’s worship. One is among the five intercalary days which were celebrated just before the New Year started. The five days were celebrated as birthdays of the five osiranian gods. The second festival to his honor was a ritual reenactment. This festival reenacted Horus’ defeat of Seth.

Temple of Seth

Tukh or Ombos is one of the centers where god Seth was worshipped. Most part of the temple is now destroyed but the remaining is what dates to the New Kingdom period. A huge scepter was found here which was dedicated by Amenhotep III to Seth and is said to be the largest faience object ever found in Egypt. Other center of worship was Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos these people worshipped him, as he was a chief god known as the storm god.

Artifacts

Images on temples are the most common artifacts associated with God Seth. The images also illustrate the many myths linked with him. The scepters in the temples of Seth are believed to be dedications to the god made by pharaohs and his worshippers.