Square Boats and the Followers of Horus

These sources examine the complex linguistic and theological intersections between the Egyptian "Shemsu" and the Semitic "Shams", exploring how these concepts relate to solar worship across the ancient Near East. While traditional Egyptology defines Shemsu as "followers" or "attendants" of the god Horus, scholars like Sir Flinders Petrie and his successors have theorised an Eastern origin for these figures, potentially linking them to Arabian civilisers. This cross-cultural analysis highlights Yemeni inscriptions where Shams is a feminine patron deity, contrasting with the masculine Egyptian Ra but mirroring the androgynous artistic shifts seen during Akhenaten’s Amarna period. Linguistic parallels are further identified in Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Mesopotamian contexts, where the root word oscillates between the physical sun and the act of divine service. Ultimately, the texts suggest that Akhenaten’s radical depictions may have been a deliberate attempt to synthesise these diverse solar traditions into a single, primordial creator.