Set Teaches Thutmosis III the Skills of Archery

Detail of a relief at Temple of Amun, Karnak
(400 dpi scan available, as well)

From _The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt_, by Richard Wilkinson, page 199

I've seen little teaser images of this, but had no idea from where it is. Then I found a reference to it in a Rosicrucian Journal (No. 1, 2007):

They give credit to an Adolf Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_. A little search, and I found the page 282:


(Screen captured from the Amazon Online Reader)

Erman does not speak well of the temple, "These pictures were little more than pure decoration, and their monotony is almost incredible. We see the king standing in a stiff posture, dressed in a costume of ancient date, with the great divinities of the temple"

A 'costume of ancient date'! What does Erman expect, the pharoah wearing the latest fashion of 1894, when he wrote the book? Furthermore, if he thinks the images 'pure decoration', he has very little understanding of the Egyptian mindset. Every element has been carefully composed to give extra meaning for those who understand the symbolism.

Nevertheless, we are grateful for the illustration. I noted in the Erman book that he gave credit to a Lepsius. I tracked Karl Richard Lepsius and his book Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien,where I found the original drawing of this (plus several other Set sightings)!


Nebenräume der hinteren Säulenhalle = Next rooms of the rear columned hall
If you look to the far right, yes, Horus is helping Thutmosis III, as well...

I hope someday to find a color photo of this scene.

Meanwhile, back to the subject, Set and archery. R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz shows an image with the dual god Seth-Antewy, which is Set and Horus sharing one body:


From _Symbol and the Symbolic_, by R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, page 37
(Larger available)

What is the bottom element? As we might always suspect, its form is not merely decorative:


It is the hieroglyph for the archery bow!
(From Wilkinson's _Reading Egyptian Art_)

Perhaps, among other possible things, the temple artist is suggesting both the power of Set and the vision of Horus are necessary to be a good archer!