Harpokrates

harpokrates.jpg Harpokrates is the Greek, more familiar name for the Egyptian god Her-pa-khered (Horus the child).

With this name several similar but different gods are indicated, such as the personification of the reborn sun, and Horus, the child of Osiris and Isis (see Harsiese).

That the Egyptians themselves mixed these gods is not only clear from the fact that they gave them the same name, but can also be seen on magical stelae. Here the child Horus represents the young sun, as opposed to the old sun, represented by Bes. At the same time the child also represents Harsiese, who has overcome dangerous animals like snakes, crocodiles and a gazelle.

Many statuettes of the god are known, mainly of bronze and terracotta. Usually these depict the god naked, with the sidelock of youth and with his finger to his mouth. In some cases he is sitting on a lotus flower, symbolising the rising of the sun, is holding a cornucopia (horn of plenty, symbol of food and abundance) and is wearing a crown. The terracotta statuettes also show him with a goose or a ram (animals associated with Amun-Re), or in the solar barque.

 

 

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