Hortus Siccus

[Lat., dry garden. An HERBARIUM, q. v. Ho'rus, (My.h.) an Egyptian deity, whose name, Har , means "the day," or "the sun's path," and is generally written in hieroglyphics by the sparrow-hawk, which was sacred to him. The old derivation from the Hebrew aur , light, is now recognized as incorrect. Under the name of Horus were included several deities, as Haro eris, the elder Horus, and Harpocrates, q. v., or the younger Horus: Har -sam-ta, Horus, the uniter of the upper and lower world, who was the second son of Athor, resided in Annu, Helio polis, and emanated from the eye of the sun; and Har - net - ta , another form of the same god, represented as a boy wearing a triple crown, who existed from the commencement of things, a self created being, and emanated from the Nu , or firmament; besides several others. But the principal Horus was H. the son of Isis ( Har - si -hes i), represented as a naked child standing wearing a skullcap, or the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. When he reached manhood, he attacked his enemy Typhon, the god of darkne , and avenged on him the death of his father. (See OSIRIS.) He afterwards travelled through Egypt, introducing everywhere civilization and the arts. His career greatly resembles that of the Apollo of the Greeks.