Table of Gods

Set

is one of the few gods that had the appearance of a made up creature. To our knowledge we do not, nor have ever seen, the type of creature that is the head of Set. The creature was called the "Typhonian Animal". The beast was supposedly a mischievous and fearless animal. It had a thin curled snout, rigid square cut ears, and a long matted forked tail. When he was born, Set was said to have been extremely white, with red hair. Set was either shown with a man's body, the creatures head, and a tail. In some minor statues he was show as the quadruped beast, with no human resemblance.

Significance:

Set is the god of evil, god of war, chaos, storms, desert, and drought. From birth he was unliked because of his white skin and red hair. This combination of traits was extremely ostracized by the Egyptians. The most popular story that involved Set, is the story of Osiris's death. Set was always jealous of his brother's achievements as a ruler, so set planned to kill him. On Osiris's way back from civilizing the world, Set planned a celebration for his return. During this celebration Set devised a game that would take advantage of Osiris's trust. Set had brought a coffin full of treasures out, and said that the man who fitted inside of it wins the goods.
Osiris felt it necessary to appease his brother, and the seventy-two accomplices, so he climbed inside. Set quickly nailed the coffin shut, and threw it into the Nile River (see Isis, and Osiris's page for more info). After the coffin was found and re-hid by Isis. Set came upon the coffin by sheer luck, during one of his hunting trips in the swamps of the Delta. In fear that Osiris could be resurrected, Set cut his brother's body into fourteen pieces and placed them around the world. Enraged, Osiris's son Horus challenged Set for the rule of Egypt. In this confrontation it was believed that Horus cut away Set's left testicle, making him infertile.
Because Set was infertile, his wife Nephthys left him to have a baby with the newly resurrected Osiris. Set was also known as the god of the desert, and since he was infertile, the desert was infertile. Egyptians believed that Set was the god of all the desert creatures. It was only after his betrayal of Osiris that Set was believed to be the god of all evil. Anyone who wrote of Set was forced to smudge out all that was said. Occasionally stories of this god were found on the walls in pyramids, with half of the writing scraped off. It was supposed to bring great misery and misfortune to anyone that spoke words about Set.

Family:

Set was the son of Geb and Nut. He had a brother Osiris, and a sister Isis. His wife was the god Nephthys, she left him when he was overcome by evil. Some believe he had a son Horus, but most think the son came from Osiris. When being born, Set violently clawed his way out of his mother's womb. As a child, he was always getting into trouble and causing problems within his society.