The Contendings of Horus and Seth [written herein named as Heru and Set, based upon the Egyptian transliterations of their names rather than by the Greek], tells the story of the long conflict between Horus/Heru, son of Osiris/Wesir, and Seth/Set, brother of Osiris/Wesir, and their judgments before the tribunal of the Ennead.
A few scholars speculate that the Contendings dates back to the Middle Kingdom. Certainly it contains some elements of religious mythology that date back to the Old Kingdom. But its own provenance comes from a Papyrus, known now as the Papyrus Chester Beatty, which dates from the reign of Rameses V in the New Kingdom, and comes probably from Deir el-Medina, near Thebes.
The translation carried herein is a compilation of three translations.
Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol 3. edited by Miriam Lichtheim
Literature of Ancient Egypt, edited by William Kelly Simpson
Myth and Symbol of Ancient Egypt by T. Rundle Clark
Additional material comes from The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs by Morris Bierbrier.
On to the Contendings of Horus and Seth -full text
Copyright 2001/2002 by Khenmetaset and Marie Parsons. All material carried herein is taken from annotated sources unless otherwise noted. This is for educational purposes only. Any comments please contact Khenmetaset or Marie Parsons at khenmetaset@per-aset.org.