The Contendings of Horus and Seth


"The Contendings of Horus and Seth" is a mythological story from the Twentieth dynasty of Ancient Egypt found in the first sixteen pages of the Chester Beatty Papyri and deals with the battles between Horus and Seth to determine who will succeed Osiris as king.

Chester Beatty Papyrus I

The Papyrus Chester Beatty I dates to the twentieth dynasty during the reign of Ramesses V and likely came from a scribe's collection that was recorded for personal entertainment. The papyrus contains the story of The Contendings of Horus and Seth as well as various other poetic love songs. The original provenance of the papyrus was Thebes. When found, the papyrus measured and had been torn and crushed. The papyrus was published by the Oxford University Press in 1931 and currently is located in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.

The story

Arguably the most important part of the Chester Beatty Papyrus I is the mythological story of "The Contendings of Horus and Seth" which deals with the battles between Horus and Seth to see who will be the successor to the throne of Osiris. The specific time of the Contendings is a period during which the fighting has temporarily stopped and Seth and Horus have brought their case before the Ennead. Throughout the story, Horus and Seth have various competitions to see who will be king. Horus beats Seth each time. The beginning of the story is a sort of a trial when both Seth and Horus plead their cases and the deities of the Ennead state their opinions. Later in the story, the combat starts up again between Horus and Seth and finally, the situation is resolved when Horus is determined to be rightful king of Egypt.

Consequences of the story

The story of "The Contendings of Horus and Seth" is important to Egyptian society because of its significance to kingship. The story reflects the customary pattern of inheritance for kingship in Ancient Egypt: father to son. The story is also significant to the idea of divine kingship because it sets up the idea of the triad of Osiris as the dead king, Horus as the living king on earth, and Isis as the king's mother.