Horus, official mascot of 27th Handball World Cup Egypt 2021

CAIRO – 6 September 2020: The Supreme Organizing Committee for the Handball World Cup Egypt 2021 chose the ancient Egyptian god Horus, to be the official mascot for the 27th edition of the World Handball Championship scheduled to be held from January 13 to 31.

The tournament will witness the participation of 32 countries for the first time in the history of the tournament, and its competitions are held in four halls: Cairo Stadium Hall, The New Administrative Capital Hall, 6th of October Hall and Burj Al-Arab Hall.

Horus is the sun god of the ancient Egyptians and is the first living entity worshipped by them. 

According to the book "The Mummy Curse" by the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the ancient Egyptians were associated with and very much attached to the god Horus. The god Horus is mentioned frequently in ancient Egyptian mythology.

Horus is known for being the son of the gods Isis and Osiris, and that he took revenge form his uncle Set for killing his father. He then was crowned king over the living. Every king who ruled Egypt ruled as Horus on Earth. The city of Edfu was an important center of Horus worship, where he appeared in the form of a winged sun disk. In Kom Ombo, he bore the name Haroyeris as the son of the god Ra.

The construction of the huge temple for the god Horus began in the era of Ptolemy III, in the year 145 BC, and it took about 200 years to build this temple, where it was completed during the reign of Ptolemy XIII in the first century BC.

Osiris became the god of reckoning in the afterlife while Horus became the king of the worldly life. Kings of Egypt ruled by the virtue of Horus and were his representatives in decisions and wars.

Therefore, we find that all the kings of Egypt attached one of their names (the king usually had 5 titles) with the name of Horus.

Horus was also sanctified in Nubia, as temples and paintings were dedicated to him. Later, under the Roman rule, Horus appeared in the form of the head of a falcon and the body of a knight and was known as Horus the Legionaries. 

It has become customary to see horse-riding scenes in the icons of Christian saints, such scenes are mostly inspired by Horus.