In the intellectual cauldron of the Greco-Roman world, a consensus prevailed among the diverse traditions that the cosmos, though not perfect, was the creation of a fundamentally good, beneficent being, designed with humanity's flourishing in mind. However, this intellectual harmony was destined to face a radical challenge, one that would unite disparate philosophies in shared dismay.
One of the earliest known depictions of the crucifixion is a late second century etching called the Graffito of Alexamenos (also known as the “travesty crucifixion”), which appears on a marble slab and depicts a man (Alexamenos) worshipping a crucified person with the head of an ass. This graffiti intended to ridicule the early Christians’ worship of Jesus as a divine embodiment of Yahweh. In Greek, the graffiti reads, “Alexamenos worships [his] God.” But what significance did a donkey's head have in the ancient world?
To understand this, we must delve into the complex tapestry of ancient Egyptian religion and the figure of Set, a god often associated with chaos, deserts, and storms.
Seth of Nubt, Relief on the Funerary Temple of Sahure.
The Many Faces of Set
Set (; Egyptological: Sutekh - swtẖ ~ stẖ[a] or: Seth ) Ⲥⲏⲧ (Coptic) is a god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion. In Ancient Greek, the god's name is given as Sēth (Σήθ). The name Set itself was written in hieroglyphics as a mysterious animal with rectangular ears and a curved snout. It has multiple variants that are most basically rendered into English as sts, sth, s(w)th, s(w)t(y), st(y), and st (te Velde, 1977).
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Since the Egyptians wrote their words without vowels, it is impossible to be certain of how they originally pronounced this name. It was probably pronounced differently in different regions, with Sutekh being popular in the north and Set being popular in the south (te Velde, 1977).
Plutarch (1970) thought that the name Set by which [the Egyptians] call Typhon denotes this: it means the overmastering and overpowering and it means in very many instances turning back and again overpassing. Variants of the name are clearly determinative to various Egyptian words for storms, violence, and upheaval (Betro, 1996). The animal in the hieroglyphic symbol has not yet been identified, but the Egyptians referred to it as the sha (Budge, 1934).
Numerous authors have suggested that it might be a donkey, a giraffe, an aardvark, a wild canid of some variety, or even a fish (with the ears actually being fins), but there are reasonable objections to each of these theories (te Velde, 1977). Some scholars think the creature is either chimerical or extinct.
In many cases, however, Set was also depicted in carvings and hieroglyphs as the other animals I have mentioned (Green, 2005). The earliest representations of what might be the Set animal comes from a tomb dating to the Amratian culture ("Naqada I") of prehistoric Egypt (3790-3500 BCE), although this identification is uncertain.
The Set Animal
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The Set animal (Gardiner E20, E21) is one of the portrayals of the god Set. According to Egyptologist Richard H. Wilkinson, the first known use of the Set animal was upon the Scorpion Macehead of Scorpion II of Naqada III. The sha is usually depicted as a slender canid, resembling a greyhound, fennec fox, or a jackal, with three distinguishing features: a stiff tail, often forked at the end, which stands straight up or at an angle, whether the animal is sitting, standing, or walking; its ears, also held erect, are usually depicted as squarish or triangular, narrowest at the base and widest at the squarish tops; and a long nose, often with a slight downward curve.
Depictions of the Set animal as an animal appear distinctly canine, but the precise identity of the animal has never been firmly established. It is sometimes described as a jackal or some other wild dog, although the jackal is usually identified with the god Anubis. In connection with Anubis, the jackal is never depicted with the distinguishing features of the Set animal: the stiff, typically forked tail; the squared ears; and the long, slightly curved nose.
Egyptologist Ken Moss suggested the Set animal is in fact the Saluki, an ancient breed of sighthound. It is one of the oldest breeds of domesticated dog, has a curved snout, and nearly identical body to the hieroglyph, and is native to the region; when the Saluki runs, its ears and tail become vertical.
Set's Role in Egyptian Mythology
In the Osiris myth, the most important Egyptian myth, Set is portrayed as the usurper who murdered and mutilated his own brother, Osiris. Osiris's sister-wife, Isis, reassembled his corpse and resurrected her dead brother-husband with the help of the goddess Nephthys. The resurrection lasted long enough to conceive his son and heir, Horus. Set is the son of Geb, the Earth, and Nut, the Sky; his siblings are Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys.
Set was originally a god of desert - the “Red Land” - and, as the god of the Red Land, he opposed and threatened the civilized and sedentary lives of the floodplains, or the “Black Land,” thus earning him the title: god of violence, chaos, and confusion (Wilkinson 197). In later Egypt, however, he evolved to become a symbol of foreign power, expressed in the form of “crimes, in sickness and disease, as well as civil unrest and foreign invasion” (Wilkinson 198).
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An important element of Set's mythology was his conflict with his brother or nephew, Horus, for the throne of Egypt. The contest between them is often violent but is also described as a legal judgment before the Ennead, an assembled group of Egyptian deities, to decide who should inherit the kingship. The rivalry of Horus and Set is portrayed in two contrasting ways.
Yet, Set is not forever branded a deceitful usurper, however, for Set is not only the murderer of Osiris, but also the vanquisher of Apep and protector of the Sun god Re (Figure 3). The Egyptians believed that the sun was Re traveling on his solar boat across the sky, a journey that was perilous. Apep the Chaos Serpent was one of the most dangerous foes who threatened to swallow the barque whole. Against him Seth fought, standing at the prow of the solar boat in order to protect Re from harm.
Wilkinson adds that he, also a god of strength, wielded a scepter known to weigh more than 4,500 pounds (198). And since the Coffin Texts from before the New Kingdom already depict Seth’s battle against Apep (te Velde, “Seth, God of Confusion” 99), its influence on the story of The Contendings, especially the way it ends with the ‘adoption’ of Seth by Re, can be placed with reason.
Seth is multifaceted: he is the killer of one god and a protector of another; he is the harbinger of chaos and the guardian of order; he is the Son of Nut and the Son of Re.
Horus and Set
The Demonization of Yahweh and the Donkey Head
During the first few centuries before and after the Common Era, Judaism and its followers were spread throughout the Greek-speaking world, with a significant number residing in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was a melting pot of cultures and religions, including a sizable Jewish population that revered the Exodus story. When translated into Greek and orally performed in Alexandria, the book of Exodus would likely have been perceived as offensive by the Egyptians.
The Exodus narrative portrays Egyptians as oppressors and adversaries of the Israelites, defeated by the God of Israel-who was originally El and then later became Yahweh. In other words, the Exodus story (and, thus, Jewish identity itself) casts the Egyptians in a decidedly dark and malevolent light. The story not only brands them as sorcerers and murderers, but it also frames their pantheon of gods as powerless before the might of a lone, foreign desert god-Yahweh.
For these Egyptians and other Gentiles, there was only one god who would create such disdainful mayhem: Set.
In response to an insulting Exodus story, many Egyptians equated Yahweh with Typhon (the Greek name for Set). This was a natural development considering several more factors:
- Both Yahweh and Set had associations with storms and deserts.
- Yahweh's demonstrations of power in the Exodus narrative, like the plagues and parting of the Red Sea, could be likened to the chaotic and destructive aspects attributed to Set.
- Set was also the god of foreigners and was associated with those chaotic elements outside the ordered Egyptian society.
To counter the negative portrayal of Egyptians in Exodus, some Egyptians responded by demonizing Yahweh, equating him with one of their most controversial gods, Set. This demonization included depicting Yahweh as a donkey-headed deity, drawing on Set's animalistic representations and further mocking the Jewish religion.
The donkey, despite its usefulness, was often seen as a symbol of stubbornness and stupidity in various cultures, making the donkey imagery a powerful tool for religious and cultural slander. The accusation that Jews (and subsequently Christians) worshipped a donkey-headed god was a potent form of religious defamation aimed at undermining the legitimacy and dignity of their faith.
This imagery of the donkey head became a focal point for religious slander, theological polemics, and cultural exchange, reflecting the deep-seated tensions and complex perceptions among ancient communities. By equating Yahweh with Set, certain Egyptian elements attempted to undermine the Israelite god's legitimacy and portrayed him as akin to a demon. This was a part of the broader context of Hellenistic cultural and religious polemics.
The Demiurge and the Gnostic Perspective
Amidst the fervent blend of philosophy and mysticism that would eventually crystallize into Christianity, a revolutionary and controversial concept took shape: the entire universe was seen as a prison, crafted not by a benevolent deity but by a malevolent entity-a Demiurge-driven by delusion and malice.
This Demiurge was known by various names, including Yaldabaoth (a lion-headed serpent responsible for ensnaring souls within physical forms) and Samael (the supreme ruler of demons, the harbinger of death, the consort of Lilith, and the foremost adversary of the archangel Michael).
The figure of Jesus Christ as the embodiment of divine wisdom and the true agent of salvation prompted a re-evaluation of Yahweh's role in the cosmic order. Marcion of Sinope, a significant figure in early Christianity, argued that the god of the Old Testament was not the true deity but, rather, a malevolent creator Demiurge. This view found echoes in various Gnostic texts where the Demiurge was depicted as a jealous, ignorant being who traps people's divine spark within decaying flesh.
The end result was a belief among many early Christians that Yahweh was, in fact, the evil Demiurge and not actually the Father God of Jesus Christ.
The Evolving Worship of Set
Much like the mythological contradiction of Set as a character, his worship in Ancient Egypt underwent several stages of change as well. Royal worship of Set appeared once again during the Second Intermediate Period. In the papyrus record of a story called The Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre, it is noted that King Apophis of the 15th Dynasty “adopted for himself Seth as lord, and he refused to serve any god that was in the entire land except Seth” (Goldwasser 129). Apophis was a member of the Hyksos Dynasty - the first non-Egyptian family of kings to rule Egypt. As a foreigner himself, it makes sense that he would worship a god of foreigners.
More specifically, Seth reappeared as the patron deity of the Ramesside Kings of the 19th and the 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom (Wilkinson 197). Some Ramesside Kings adopted names that invoked him, such as Seti I and Seti II - whose names literally meant “man of Seth” - and the first Pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty Setnakhte, whose name meant ‘victorious is Seth.’
The most notable example of Seth worship occurred during the reign of Ramesses II (19th Dynasty): the construction of the Year 400 Stela (Figure 8). This granite stela, first discovered in the ruins of a temple in the city of Tanis by Auguste Mariette, marks the arrival of the Hyksos in Egypt, thus commemorating Seth’s 400 years of rule over Egypt (Gardiner 165).
Seth worship disappeared after the 20th Dynasty: no new temples were built in his honor, and no new royal names invoked him. Te Velde speculates that the Egypt of the Third Intermediate Period had experienced the increased rate of aggression and conflicts with the Asiatic, including the Assyrians and the Persians, and had developed a more negative perception of foreigners.
Up until this point, Seth was an ambiguous figure. By the 26th dynasty, this was no longer the case. According to Turner, “the Assyrian invasion of Egypt had scarred the inhabitants greatly, especially due to the sacking of Thebes …. He [Seth] now appears as a foreign ruler who has been defeated and driven out, but unlike his association with the Hyksos there is now no attempt at reconciliation” (120).
From the King Scorpion’s mace head in the Predynastic Period to the recycled statue of the Greco-Roman Period, the iconography and the character of Seth had been represented in many different forms and ideas. The Seth animal remains cryptic. The Usurper-Protector god was worshiped by pharaohs for thousands of years before he was demonized.
This association between Yahweh and Set reflects the complexities of cultural and religious interactions in the ancient world where gods could be appropriated, reinterpreted, or demonized based on inter-community relations. The conflation of Yahweh with Set contributed to the development of Gnostic thought, where the creator god (Demiurge) was increasingly seen in a negative light, eventually influencing early Christian interpretations of the Old Testament god as a being distinct from the benevolent Father of Jesus Christ.
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