The Double Crown of Horus

Alice C. Linsley

"Then take silver and gold, and make crowns [ataroth], and set them on the head of Joshua [Yeshua] the son of Josedech [Yosedech], the high priest..." Zechariah 6:11

The Upper Nile civilization is extremely ancient and existed before Egypt became a political entity. The Nile Valley is very long and was inhabited by many populations who lived in city-states under local rulers. These smaller political entities were called "Nomes" because these were ruled by law codes such as the Law of Tehut and the Code of Ani. 

The nomes of the Upper Nile were associated with the symbol of the sedge (marsh reed). The nomes of the Lower Nile were associated with the bee. The two symbols came together after the establishment of the First Dynasty. During Den's reign, the nisu-bity ("the sedge and the bee") royal title was used for the first time. It was also from his reign that the double crown begins to appear on the kings of Egypt. The red crown represents the Lower Nile (Egypt) and the white crown represents the Upper Nile (ancient Nubia, called "Pathros" in Ezekiel 29). After the unification of the Upper and Lower Nile regions the two crowns were joined to represent a unified Egypt. It is believed that Narmer (Menes the Lawgiver?) united the two regions around 3100 B.C.

Horus was said to unite the two realms and the two horizons. Is it a coincidence that the high priest Joshua (Yeshua, which is Jesus in English) wore a double crown? Messiah was expected to unite the peoples. A similar idea is expressed with the crown of Charlemagne. It was a simple circlet of four curved rectangular jeweled plates representing (1) East Francia or Germany, (2) Lombardy or Italy, (3) Rome, and (4) Burgundy.

The king list on the Palermo stone begins with the names of the rulers of the Lower Nile and shows them wearing the Red Crown. The Cairo fragment shows these rulers wearing the double crown, which the Greeks called the "Pschent." The invention of the Pschent is attributed to Menes, but a rock inscription shows his Horus wearing it. This indicates that the double crown was a symbol of Horus who was often called "Horus of the Two Crowns." He was also called "son of God" because his mother Hathor conceived when she was divinely overshadowed (c. Luke 1:35). This is the origin of Messianic expectation. It was not invented by the Jews.

The totem of the Upper Nile was the Griffin Vulture (called neshser in Hebrew and rendered "eagle", as in Job 39). The totem of the Lower Nile was the Cobra and the crown was originally made of reeds which represent the masculine principle of erectness.  The sema sign (shown right) represents the Osiris phallus divided into rhizomes for planting. The cultivation of reeds transformed the ancient Egyptian landscape from one wetlands to grasslands.

Gold and the color yellow were associated with the Sun, and white was associated with the Moon.  It is likely that silver and silver-gold alloys (electrum) which is found in nature, represented the Moon. The Sun and Moon were paired as binary opposites and they represented the Masculine and Feminine. Before appearing in public, royal Egyptian women were painted white. The sister wife is described as having been "made white" while her beloved has skin as dark "as the tents of Kedar" because he was made to work in in the Sun by his older brothers (like David). Gen 25:13 tells us that Kedar was a son of Ishmael and his Egyptian wife. The tents of Kedar were black.

In most ancient depictions of Saharan men, they are painted with red ochre. Red can also represents the Sun. Red symbolized the fiery radiance of the sun and amulets representing the Eye of Re were made of red stones. (From here.)

The Sun and the Moon are spoken of in Genesis 1 as two powers: the Sun is the greater power which rules the day and the Moon is the lesser power which rules the night. When the two appeared in the sky just before dawn or dusk it meant to the ancients that God was watching. The "two lights" (or two powers) were interpreted as the eyes of Re or of his son, Horus. Horus' left eye, the Moon, was weaker because it had been damaged in mortal combat with his brother Set. So Jesus Christ, who is one with the Father, was mortally wounded by his brethren, but rose before dawn on Sun-day, and rules over all.

"Har-Ur" refers to Horus in maturity, or the Elder Horus. In his infancy he was depicted in ancient Egypt as either a calf or a lamb and in his maturity as a bull or a ram. Horus is the only mythological figure in ancient Egypt who was depicted as a man and only as a man does he wear the two crowns.

Red (desher) was the color of life and of victory. During celebrations, ancient Egyptians would paint their bodies with red ochre and would wear amulets made of cornelian, a deep red stone. The normal skin tone of Egyptian men was depicted as red, without any negative connotation. Egyptian artisans created paint by using naturally oxidized iron and hematite.

The color white (hedj and shesep) suggested omnipotence and purity. Due to its lack of color white was also the color of simple and sacred things. The name of the holy city of Memphis meant "White Walls." White sandals were worn at holy ceremonies. The material most commonly used for ritual objects such as small ceremonial bowls and even the embalming table for the Apis Bulls in Memphis was white alabaster. White was also the heraldic color of Upper Egypt. The "Nefer", the crown of Upper Egypt was white, though originally is was probably made of green reeds.

The pure white color used in Egyptian art was created from chalk and gypsum.  The white crown appears like a linen turban and suggests purity. The red crown suggests the blood that purifies. The double crown association with Horus speaks of both purity and blood sacrifice. Among the ancient Afro-Asiatics these were linked as is evident from linguistic studies.

The Hebrew root "thr" = to be pure, corresponds to the Hausa/Hahm "toro" = clean, and to the Tamil "tiru" = holy. All are related to the proto-Dravidian (Sudroid) "tor" = blood.

The ancient Horite Hebrew priest ritually purified himself before entering the temple. These priests shaved their heads. Korah, Moses' half-brother, was such a priest. His name means "shaved head," and according to Numbers 16:17-18 he carried the censor to offer incense to the deity.

The Horite Hebrew priests were known in the ancient world as being especially holy and pure in their daily lives. Before their time of service in the temples they shaved their bodies, fasted, prayed for long periods, abstained from sexual relations with their wives, and did not consume wine. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

Study of Jesus' Horite Hebrew ancestry and the Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern verifies certain historical facts about Jesus of Nazareth. First, he was born of the priest lines that can be traced back to Abraham's Nilotic cattle-herding ancestors. Second, his family belonged to the priest division of Bethlehem  and these priests were known to be shepherds. Third, he was of royal blood going back to Eden. Jesus' royal blood is traced through the Horite kings of Tyre. God told Ezekiel to "raise a lament over the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and flawless beauty. You were in Eden, in the Garden of God; every precious stone was your adornment... and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created." (Ezekiel 28:11-18) It was the kings of Tyre who helped David build his palace and Solomon build the temple. Tyre is on of the ancient seats of wisdom mentioned in the Bible. Edom was another ancient seat of wisdom (Jeremiah 49:7) and the Horite Hebrew rulers of Edom are listed in Genesis 36.

When we describe Jesus as the "Good Shepherd" and "our Great High Priest" and "the King of Kings" we are not speaking figuratively. He was and is all of these and more.


Related reading:  Jesus Christ of the Two Crowns; Who Were the Kushites?; Linguistic Evidence for the Afro-Asiatic Dominion; Jesus From Lamb to Ram; Who Is Jesus?