Heru is the falcon-headed NTR of Kemet, and the later kings of Kemet (including Egypt) associated themselves with Heru. He was among the most important NTR of Kemet, particularly because the Pharaoh [Per Heru] was supposed to be his earthly embodiment. Kings would eventually take the name of NTR Heru as one of their own. At the same time, the Pharaohs were the followers of NTR Ra and so Heru became associated with the Sun. This solar deity was identified as the son of Ausar and Auset, but also called the son of Ra, or Geb and Nut, or the son of Atum, or Heru the Elder and HetHeru, variously.
As Heru-Auset (Gr. Harsiesis), he is “Heru, the son of Auset”. Heru was conceived magically by Auset following the murder of his father, Ausar. Heru was raised by his mother on the floating island of Chemmis near Buto. He was in constant danger from his evil uncle Set but his mother protected him and he survived. He became the conqueror of Set (the King of Lower Egypt) c. 3000 BCE when Kemet reconquered Lower Egypt and formed the united kingdoms under Kemet. He was depicted as a falcon-headed man, sometimes wearing the crowns of the Two Lands.
As a child, Heru was known as Heru-pa-kharet (Gr. Harpokrates), “the infant Heru”, and was portrayed as a baby being suckled by Auset. He was said to be stunted from the waist down. This may be because his father was dead when he was conceived or perhaps because he was born prematurely. In later times he was affiliated with the newborn sun. Heru is pictured as a child sucking his thumb and having his hair fashioned in a sidelock that symbolized his youth. On his head he wore the royal crown and uraeus. Also, in Egyptian art, such as the example to the right, Heru is shown as a child with the sidelock of youth standing on crocodiles and holding in one hand scorpions and in the other hand snakes.
As Heru em Akhet (Gr. Harmakhis), “Heru in the Horizon”, he personified the rising sun and was associated with Khepera as a symbol of resurrection or eternal life. Her Em Akhet [Luciferian: Great Sphinx = Le Sophi Nox] at the Giza Plateau is an example.
Heru-Res (Gr. Haroeris), “Heru the Elder”, was the earliest form of Heru and the patron deity of Upper Egypt (Arabian peninsula). He was said to be the son of Atum, and the husband of HetHeru. He was also the brother of Ra, later made to be the brother of Ausar and Set, instead of their Uncle.
Heru (the Elder) had numerous wives and children, and his ‘four sons’ were grouped together and generally said to be born of HetHeru. The four were known as: Duamutef, Imsety, Hapi and Qebehsenuef. They were born from a lotus flower and were solar gods associated with the creation. They were retrieved from the waters of Nun by Sobek on the orders of Ra. It was believed that Anpu gave them the funerary duties of mummification, the Opening of the Mouth, the burial of Ausar and all men. Heru later made them protectors of the four cardinal points. In the Hall of Ma’at they sat on a lotus flower in front of Ausar. Most commonly, however, they were remembered as the protectors of the internal organs of the deceased. Each son protected an organ, and each son was protected by a goddess.
Heru Behdety [seems ‘brother (ba) of Tehuti’] was a form of Horus the Elder that was worshipped originally in the western Delta at Behdet. As the son and heir of Re, Behdety was a form of Heru that was assimilated into the Anu (Gr. Heliopolis) system of beliefs yet not completely identified with Re. Behdety was a defender of Ra during his earthly kingship against Set. He was usually portrayed as a winged sun-disk or as a falcon hovering over the Pharaoh during battles.
Michael Ruark 