Statue of Ramses III between Horus and Seth, Ramesside Period, c. 1190-1070 BCE, via the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Who was the Egyptian God Seth? © Nicholas Costa 2024
In Atlantis, the Amazons, and the Birth of Athene the author Nicholas Costa draws attention to the Egyptian god Seth and reveals how this entity played a central role in the catastrophic events of the second millennium BC. Numerous papers have been written about Seth in recent years but his essential identity seems to have evaded modern commentators. As the author demonstrates Seth’s role is pivotal in determining the historical sequence of events in the eastern Mediterranean during the second millennium BC.
Why, given the modern appraisals concerning a massive volcanic eruption of Thera (Santorini) at some time in the second millennium BC, at first sight there appears to be no ancient Egyptian word for volcano? How did they refer to or depict a volcano?
Both the Greeks and Romans had deity whose identity was evidently a metaphor for a volcano in the form of Hephaestus or Vulcan. According to Herodotus the Egyptians equated their god Ptah with Hephaestus (Herodotus, Histories ii.3 ;iii.37). Both Ptah and Hephaestus were gods of craftsmen and metalworkers and both were depicted as lame. This would seem to answer the question, but Ptah is essentially a passive figure depicted in Egyptian mythology as a self generated sky god with no parents, whilst Hephaestus in Greek mythology did have parents, he was depicted as the son of Hera and Zeus. (However it should be noted that in one version Hephaestus’ lameness was caused by his mother throwing him down from Olympus.) Whatever his origins there is little to commend Ptah as the prime volcanic deity during the period in question since he plays a relatively insignificant part in surviving narratives.
According to modern interpretations, other than Ptah the Egyptians apparently had no volcanic deity in their pantheon in spite of the fact that Egypt is geographically bracketed by volcanoes both active and inactive. As a consequence it would certainly have felt the effects of any volcanic explosion such as the type envisaged for the destruction of Thera (Santorini).
This is curious.
However, there is one prime candidate in the Egyptian pantheon who so far seems to have evaded detection. This deity is the god Seth. In a reversal of the myth of Hephaestus, Seth’s parents were depicted as the female Nut (the sky) and the male Geb (the earth). Seth’s true identity has for some strange reason been consistently misinterpreted.
When we look at modern interpretations of Seth we find him variously described as a trickster, a sky god, a lord of the desert, the master of storms, disorder, or warfare. (Herman Te Velde (2001). “Seth”. Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol. 3.) but nowhere do we find him described as the god of volcanoes, although Siegfried Morenz came perilously close in his analysis of the Egyptian word sedjet (which means fire or flame). He wrote:
“The ancient Egyptian word for volcano, sedjet. is a complex and evocative word. It can refer to both the volcano itself and the eruption. Sedjet is often associated with the god Seth, who was the god of chaos and destruction. This is because volcanoes were seen as a force of nature that could bring both destruction and renewal.” (Morenz, Siegfried. (1973). The Egyptian Religion. Translated by Ann E. Keep. Methuen & Co.)
Typhon
Unlike the modern world, the ancient world was familiar with Seth’s true identity. Plutarch informs us that the Egyptians equated Seth with the Greek monster Typhon (Plutarch, Moralia, Isis and Osiris). When one reads the descriptions it is evident that Typhon (Hesiod, Theogeny 823-35) in his turn was in fact a depiction of a volcanic eruption (as opposed to the largely passive images of Hephaestus). Both Hephaestus and Typhon were depicted as the children of the goddess Hera, and tellingly the centre of her worship was to be found on the island of Samos which adjoins the Cos-Nisyros- Yiali volcanic arc.
Just as the Greeks had a distinction between a passive (Hephaestus) and an active (Typhon) volcano, so too perhaps did the Egyptians. For we not only have the relatively passive image of Ptah but we also have the active demon-like image of Seth as the son of Geb (the Earth). Geb was sometimes depicted as a man lying down with his erect penis pointing upwards towards Nut- the sky, evidently a volcanic metaphor.
Worship of Seth can be traced back to the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt (c. 3150- c. 2613 BC) His epithets include “Lord of the Desert” and “Ruler of the South”. He was originally seen a god of Upper Egypt (the south) and the barren lands beyond Egypt’s borders. As the patron god of Upper Egypt, he was said to have been born at the entrance to the Wadi Hammamat.
Wadi Hammamat
Hammamat was the major route from Thebes to the Red Sea and then to the Silk Road that led to Asia, or to Arabia, the horn of Africa, and the fabled land of Punt. Hammamat was also a major quarrying area for the Nile Valley. Quarrying expeditions to the Eastern Desert are recorded from the second millennium BC, where the wadi has exposed rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Volcanic Shield. The Narmer Palette, 3100 BC, is one of a number of early and pre-dynastic artefacts that were carved from the distinctive stone of the Wadi Hammamat.
Significantly the southern Red Sea is volcanically active.
The Wadi Hammamat area is covered in its main part by different varieties of volcanic rocks. The route much further south along the Red Sea led directly to active volcanic areas most notably the Harrat al Birk volcanic field, the only Saudi Arabian volcanic field that lies directly along the Red Sea coast which covers an 1800 km2 area west of the town of Abha. Much further south lie the chain of 10 volcanic islands, opposite Yemen, named the Zubair Group. They lie on top of a shield volcano which has continued to erupt into historical times. (Wadi Hammad Lead- Oldmine Dokhan Volcanics, El Sundoly et al 2021; Phanerozoic Minor Volcanics and Intrusives of the Arabian-Nubian Shield Gehad M. Saleh et al 2021; A multi-technique provenance study of the Oligocene – Recent Nile cone sediments and River Nile hinterland, Thesis, Laura Diane Fielding, 2015; Geology of the Arabian Peninsula; shield area of western Saudi Arabia. Brown G F, et al, 1989.)
It should therefore come as no surprise that a volcanic deity was ‘born’ in this region.
Seth Animal
Knowledge of this will also help in the identification of the hitherto mysterious Seth animal. In ancient Egyptian art, the Seth animal, or Sha, was the totemic animal of the god Seth. Yet the identity of the animal represented has long bewildered commentators. The animal has variously been identified as a jackal, a hyena, a fox, a greyhound, a long-nosed mouse, a hare, an African wild dog, an antelope, a pig, an okapi, a boar, a giraffe, or even an aardvark! Others consider the Sha to be a composite animal. Today, there is a general agreement among Egyptologists that it was never a real animal and was merely imaginary. This latter interpretation is very close to the truth but not quite.
Volcanic Plug
The meaning of Seth’s name is unclear but it possibly derives from the word “to dazzle” (setken) or from “rod or pillar” (setes). In the oldest texts he is described a “He Before Whom the Sky Shakes”, and is depicted as heralding lightning, thunder, and storms. Seth’s link to Typhon therefore determines that his image must be related in some way to a volcano, whilst his ‘birth’ in a volcanic field provides another clue. The third clue is Seth’s distinctive ears which bear no resemblance to any known animal but they do bear a striking resemblance to volcanic plugs- the worn down remnants of an extinct volcano. This identification is further enhanced by the images which depict him as being either red or black- metaphors of volcanism. Seth in fact is none other than a metaphor for an active volcano.
Seth After c1796 BC
This is why even though he originated as a southern deity he could suddenly be identified and assimilated with events to the north and west of Egypt and why from c1796 BC onward he could so readily be assimilated with the other so-called ‘storm’ gods of the middle east. They were effectively one and the same and their origin lay not in a simple storm but in volcanic eruptions. Thus Seth as in surviving documentation readily aligns with ‘storm’deities such as Baal, Hadad, or Teshub. It also explains why, following the influx of outsiders into Egypt shortly after the cataclysm which lead directly to the collapse of the Pharaonic kingdom he could be so thoroughly reviled by the Egyptians throughout the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782- c. 1570 BCE) but loved by the intruders.
When we look at related imagery we find that of the bull so prominent in eastern Mediterranean ‘storm god’ ideology can actually be readily interpreted as a metaphor for volcanism. On a lesser level we find Seth in later texts equated with a donkey, its loud braying evidently a metaphor for distant volcanic eruptions. Likewise his association with pigs can be interpreted as a metaphor for the sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide gases emitted during a volcanic eruption since both of which are also the by-products generated from the decomposition of swine excrement.
‘Storm’ Gods
Yet when one looks at the many modern texts analysing the storm gods of the middle east virtually none seem to be aware of the equivalence of a ‘storm’ god’s attributes to a volcanic eruption.
(See for instance: The Storm Gods of the Ancient Near East by Daniel Schwemer, 2008 or The Storm -God in the Ancient Near East by Alberto R. W. Green 2003.)
Surprisingly there is one notable exception and this was Sigmund Freud (1850-1939) the Austrian neurologist and psychologist. In 1939 he published Moses and Monotheism in which he determined that the Hebrew god Yahweh was in fact a volcano, an insight since followed by others including for example, Martin Noth in Exodus: A Commentary, 1962 and by Jack Miles in his Pulitzer Prize-winning God: A Biography 1995.
Given the evidence presented in Costa’s book of a natural catastrophe occurring c1796 BC in the eastern Mediterranean region it is exactly at this point in time that radical changes begin to unfold. In mythology this event is delineated as the Birth of Athene or the Flood of Ogyges. It coincides with the start of the Second Intermediate period in Egypt, (c. 1782- c. 1570 BCE) which in turn heralds the influx into Egypt of the Hyksos or ‘mixed multitude’ of ‘rulers of foreign lands’, and the collapse of central authority. It is exactly at this point in time that we also find Seth not only being equated with the northern ‘storm deities’ but also as the focus of worship of the intruders. For the latter he becomes their deity par excellence whilst at this same point in time the Egyptians utter revulsion of Seth comes to the fore. He is depicted as the ‘murderer’ of the Lord of the Black Land. There are many myths about Seth’s battle with Osiris who he manages to kill and dismember. These are evidently metaphors for actual historical events in which central control broke down during this period in Egypt.
In 1978 J K Borghouts published a number of very old medical or healing spells and formulae, entitled Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts. They are dated to the second intermediate period and a number focus upon the gods Seth and Baal reflecting upon a catastrophe which Borghouts equated with the Canaanite myth of the conflict of Yam (the sea) and Baal Seth.
When Did Thera Erupt?
In 1992 H. Goedicke published “The Chronology of the Thera/ Santorini Explosion”, in which he theorised the about ‘unusual’ connection between Seth and the Mediterranean. During the Hyksos period Seth the mostly upper Egyptian god acquired a cult centre at Avaris in the Delta which he notes was also the period of increased seismic activity associated with Thera that, according to his dating, eventually culminated in the massive conflagration during the reign of Hatshepsut, noting that some equate this eruption with the origin of the myth of the end of Atlantis.
This is but one of numerous papers published concerning the date of the eruption of Thera. The hypothesised dates primarily range between 1628 and 1450 BC (Worldwide environmental impacts from the eruption of Thera, P. E. LaMoreaux, 1995).
What is of significance is that the demonisation of Seth can be demonstrated as coming to the fore prior to any hypothesised eruption date of Thera, indicating thereby the involvement of another agent. This is supported by what has been depicted in mythology as the Birth of Athene, dated by ancient mythographers to 1796 BC, and centered upon the Cos-Nisyros, Yiali volcanic arc.
Corycian Cave
For the period hypothesised by most modern researchers for the volcanic eruption of Thera, Greek mythology is totally silent for the dates indicated by modern scholarship but it does know of traumatic events related to Typhon and the Corycian Cave in Cilicia at this time (Pindar, Pythian Ode i. 31; Aeschylus, Prom. Vinct. 350).The location is in the heart of what is now referred to as the central Anatolian Volcanic Arc with volcanic mount Erciyes lying inland but the region has yet to be adequately assessed in relation to volcanism during the period in question.
Notably Greek mythological memories relating to Thera only appear in the period between c1327 and c1250 BC the period allocated to the War of the Giants which signified eruptions in a number of locations in the region over this period culminating in what is referred to as the Bronze Age Collapse.
Seti I
It is at this point in the 1300’s that there occurs a sudden change in the Egyptian attitude to the god Seth so much so that his name was even adopted by the pharaoh. Seti I was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period. He was born c 1323 BC a date significantly close to the c1327 BC date postulated for the disaster in year 3 of the Hittite king Mursili II signifying the destruction of Ephesus/ Atlantis as delineated in Costa’s book. From this point on until the reign Seti II (c. 1203 BC to 1197BC) who was the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt the god Seth was looked upon favourably and worshipped by the Egyptians.
The reason should now be evident. The volcanic eruption in the Cos-Nisyros volcanic arc c1327 BC had initially only adversely affected the regions of their enemies further north, but just as with the disaster of the 1790’s this joy was to be relatively short lived. Further eruptions followed including that of Thera. Which according to mythological chronology occurred sometime around c1260 BC and 1227 BC and is signified by the myths of Jason and the Argonauts landing on Anaphe and Theseus’ killing of the Minotaur.
Seth was to be seen as an enemy once more following the ensuing multiple invasions of Egypt and the collapse of the Nineteenth dynasty. Volcanism was evidently one of, if not the major causes of the period known as the Bronze Age Collapse.
The 12th century BC, between c1200 and 1150 BC witnessed widespread societal collapse coupled with environmental change, extensive destruction of settlements, and mass migrations. The collapse affected a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. Its sudden, all pervasive, and culturally disruptive nature brought a sharp economic decline to all the regional power centers. It notably ushering in the Greek Dark Ages, but as a by product facilitated the takeover of the region around Ephesus by Ionian Greeks confirming thereby a key element the narrative of Plato’s Atlantis.
Buy: Atlantis, the Amazons, and the Birth of Athene: https://www.amazon.com/Atlantis-Amazons-Birth-Athene-Story/dp/B0CHCX1D47
Bibliography:
Borghouts, J. K. Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts. 1978.
Brown G F, et al Geology of the Arabian Peninsula; shield area of western Saudi Arabia, 1989.
Byun, Jin. Seth, a Dynamic and Enigmatic God, Discentes. 2023.
El Sundoly et al, Wadi Hammad Lead- Oldmine Dokhan Volcanics, 2021.
Fielding, Laura Diane, A multi-technique provenance study of the Oligocene – Recent Nile cone sediments and River Nile hinterland, Thesis, 2015.
Freud, Sigmund Freud, Moses and Monotheism, 1939.
Goedicke, H.,The Chronology of the Thera/Santorini Explosion, 1992.
Green, Alberto R. W.,The Storm -God in the Ancient Near East, 2003.
Herodotus, Histories ii.3;iii.37
Hesiod, Theogeny 823-35
LaMoreaux, P. E.,Worldwide environmental impacts from the eruption of Thera, 1995.
Morenz, Siegfried. The Egyptian Religion. Translated by Ann E. Keep, 1973.
Noth, Martin, Exodus: A Commentary, 1962.
Miles, Jack Miles, God: A Biography 1995.
Plutarch, Moralia, Isis and Osiris.
Saleh, Gehad M. et al, Phanerozoic Minor Volcanics and Intrusives of the Arabian-Nubian Shield 2021.
Schwemer, Daniel, The Storm Gods of the Ancient Near East, 2008.
Te Velde, Herman, Seth, Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol. 3. 2001.