Set: The Egyptian God Who Murdered His Own Brother

Tales of Myths and Legends · Oct 24, 2026 · 20m

Set, also called Seth or Sutekh, stands at the center of one of Egyptian mythology’s most devastating family conflicts. In Plutarch’s account, he prepares an ornate chest fitted exactly to Osiris, turns a gathering into a trap, and sends his brother down the Nile toward the sea.

But Isis refuses to let Osiris vanish. Her search leads from Egypt to Byblos, where the chest has become hidden inside a palace pillar. Her recovery appears to defeat Set’s plot—until Set finds Osiris again and destroys the body a second time.

Drawing on Plutarch, the Pyramid Texts, the Great Hymn to Osiris, Diodorus…