by Wiedemann in his Die Religion, p. 38 ff. (see the English
translation p. 69 ff.). The legend, in the form in which it is here
given, dates from the Ptolemaic Period, but the matter which it
contains is far older, and it is probable that the facts recorded in it
are fragments of actual history, which the Egyptians of the late period
tried to piece together in chronological order. We shall see as we
read that the writer of the legend as we have it was not well
acquainted with Egyptian history, and that in his account of the
conquest of Egypt he has confounded one god with another, and mixed up
historical facts with mythological legends to such a degree that his
meaning is frequently uncertain. The great fact which he wished to
describe is the conquest of Egypt by an early king, who, having subdued
the peoples in the South, advanced northwards, and made all the people
whom he conquered submit to his yoke. Now the King of Egypt was always
called Horus, and the priests of Edfu wishing to magnify their local
god, Horus of Behutet, or Horus of Edfu, attributed to him the
conquests of this human, and probably predynastic, king. We must
remember that the legend assumes that Ra, was still reigning on earth,
though he was old and feeble, and had probably deputed his power to his
successor, whom the legend regards as his son.



PLATE I.
Horus holding the Hippopotamus-fiend with chain and spear. Behind
stand Isis and Heru Khenti-Khatti.

PLATE II.
Horus driving his spear into the Hippopotamus-fiend; behind him stands
one of his "Blacksmiths".