In context, this might be in Seti I or Seti II's cartouche, as the angled line to the left could be the 'meri' (beloved of) glyph.

The source article of this image gives credit info, but because it was written for the paper magazine version, it does not correspond to the web version. Hence current location and past location and approximate date of creation are unknown.

The article's author, Patrick Houlihan, considers the Set animal 'monsterous' because he thinks it is a composite of one or more animals. Scholars vary on just what it was, a composite, or an animal now extinct:

"The Seth-animal has been connected with the ass, oryx antelope, greyhound, fennec, jerboa, camel, okapi, long-snouted mouse, aardvark or orycteropus, giraffe and a kind of hog or boar. A. S. Jensen 2) drew attention to the fact that it has also been regarded as a hare, jackal, tapir, long-snouted mormyr of the Nile or the nh bird of the Egyptians." TeVelde, _Seth, God of Confusion_, page 13

I've also read suggestions that the now extinct "Sivatherium (the name of which comes from the Hindu god Siva or Shiva, who shares some characteristics with Seth), which is a possible ancestor of the giraffe and okapi, and had strange "horns" or "antlers"" is a possible candidate:


(Originally found at Copyrightexpired.com/)

There's certainly some similarities, but it lacks the sleek body of a greyhound, which we usually see in the Set animal. Predynastic images are often very hard for us to identify as representing Set. Possibly, it took a while for the ancients to come up with the standard Set look that we know and love.

I've alternated in opinion between a greyhound type animal made to go extinct and a composite animal rather like the Griffin. The ancients might have come to the conclusion Set's personality is way too vast for just one animal to symbolize him.

However, Ken Moss advances the idea that the Saluki is the prototype for the Set animal in the August/September 2009 issue of _Ancient Egypt_. "These oldest representations of the Seth-animal are clearly of a dog, but with two unique features: an erect tail and erect squared-off ears. The body of the Seth-animal has in fact always been that of a canine, with paws, and even the head was dog-like in the beginning. It was only over time that the head became exaggerated with a long, narrow, down-turned snout." (Page 43)

Moss continues, "No animal has ever had ears that naturally ended in squared tips, but it was precisely this characteristic that led to my fortuitous discovery of the real Seth-animal.

"While researching the god Seth, I happened upon a National Geographic program called The Hunting Hounds of Arabia, and there on the screen was a living Seth-animal. It was a streamlined dog with erect feathered tail and erect square-tipped ears running in the desert scrub after a desperate rabbit. The answer to the square-tipped ears was explained by the narrator. The dogs’ ears were cropped, that is the tips of the ears had been cut off by their owners. This is a long-standing tradition, still carried out in Syria and elsewhere, that is done in the belief it helps the dogs avoid being snagged on branches while pursuing their game. The breed is the magnificent Saluki, the quintessential Arabian hound of the Bedouin and others." (Page 43)

Why are the Set-animal's ear's straight up? Observations of Salukis reveal that when they are running, the ears fly up, as does its tail.

"The erect status of both the tail and ears of the Seth-animal is also now clear. The animal was portrayed in its hunting state rather than while resting like most dogs or canine deities (Anubis, for example, who was a dog said by some to have been fathered by Seth). This fits perfectly with the god Seth himself, the all-powerful god of action, a hunter and perpetual dispatcher of the serpent Apep [Apophis]. Abu Nuwas, a ninth century Arab poet, wrote of a hunting Saluki: 'Like an arrow it was sent, tearing away from his own skin, lightning like a cloud.'" (Page 44)

Photo from Moss' article

Even when seated with legs drawn up, the image keeps the 'active' flying ears and upright tail. This is the form of one of the hieroglyphs for Set:


Source: TeVelde, _Seth, God of Confusion_

While sorting through my files, I found a colored version of this image:


I'd saved this without info, but tracked down a version at the BBC,
and they give credit to Peter Clayton, an author who has written 21 books.
Although I still don't know where the actual item exists,
it's fairly certain to be from Seti I or Seti II's cartouche, as not only the 'meri' glyph, but also hints of the zig zag hieroglyph ('n') are there.

However, I found another very similar Set glyph in an article of KMT magazine:


KMT magazine, VOLUME 15, NO. 4, Winter 2004-05
This one is at the Karnak Open Air Museum, on a dismantled sandstone block of Seti I


That Set glyph is in Seti I's cartouche, as we see in the larger view
Hans Kontkanen took the photo above, "at bright daylight at noon time", which explains its less rosy coloration

The name Seti means "of Set", which indicates that he was consecrated to the god Set, his patron deity. In _The Monuments of Seti I and their Historical Significance: Epigraphic, Art Historical and Historical Analysis_, a doctoral thesis by Peter James Brand, he says:

"It was Seti who founded the great residence of the Ramesside kings and developed the ancient cult center of the dynastic god Seth at Avaris." Not only that, Seti I gave honor to Set in many of his monuments.

Here is a figurine that takes the form of the Set hieroglyph. It has a curious pole at its base and must have been inserted into something, but what?


Bronze figurine of Seth on plain column
Period - New Kingdom ? (1350BCE-1550BCE)
Petrie Museum UC79087