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45 363" that Ra joined Horus in Nubia, from there to accompany Ho- rus on his war against "the Enemy." In Horus, Royal God of Egypt, S. B. Mercer summed up the scholarly opinions on the sub- ject with these emphatic words: "The story of the conflict between Horus and Seth represents a historical event." According to the Edfu temple inscription, the first face-to-face battle between Horus and Seth took place at the "Lake of the Gods," thereafter known as the “Lake of Battle." Horus managed to hit Seth with his Divine Lance; when Seth fell down, Horus cap- tured him and brought him before Ra. "His spear was in his (Seth's] neck, and the legs of the evil one were chained, and his mouth had been closed by a blow from the club of the god [Ho- rus]." Ra decided that Isis and Horus could do with Seth and the other captured "conspirators" as they pleased. But as Horus began to slay the captives by cutting off their heads, Isis had pity on her brother Seth, and set him free. There are several versions of what ensued, including one known as_ the Fourth Sallier Papyrus; and, according to most, the release of Seth so infuriated Horus that he beheaded his own mother, Isis; but the god Thoth put her severed head back in place and resurrected her. (This incident is also reported by Plutarch.) After his escape Seth at first hid in a subterranean tunnel. After a lull of six days, a series of aerial battles ensued. Horus took to the air in a Nar (a "Fiery Pillar"), which was depicted as an elon- gated, cylindrical vessel equipped with fins or short wings. Its bulkhead contained two "eyes," which kept changing color from blue to red and back to blue; from the rear, jetlike trails were shown (Fig. 11); from the front, the contraption spewed out rays. 4 os © ~> Fig. 11 The Contending of Horus and Seth