Eye of Horus - Symbol & Unit Fractions

    The "Eye of Horus" is an important symbol for the ancient Egyptians. It shared some characteristics with the "Eye of Ra". The "Eye of Horus" is related to the moon and symbolized the following: protection, power, well-being/health, and sacrifice. Additionally, it also was for fending off evil spirits. The story behind Horus is that his eye was ripped off into six pieces during a fight to avenge his father, Oasis' death.

    The numbers of the eyes has a significant meaning behind them. All fractions are unit fractions because the Egyptians had developed a system of fractional representation. Coincidentally, there are six because the six pieces of Horus' eyes were scattered across Egypt. The fractions represented a mathematical progression, and the denominator keeps being multiplied by 2. By adding the 6 fractions together, you would get close to 1. Each fractions represented the following:

• 1/2 is smell (located right side of the eyes)
• 1/4 is sight (located in the pupil)
• 1/8 is thoughts (located in the eyebrows)
• 1/16 is hearing (located in left side of the eyes)
• 1/32 is taste (curved tail)
• 1/64 is touch (tear)

    I was interested about how the numbers were related to the basic 5 human senses alongside with thoughts. I am curious about whether ancient Egyptians knew about human senses during that time and if they also considered "thoughts" as being one of them. I was very intrigued about the background story about how the "Eye of Horus" came to be, and I would also like to know about the "Eye of Ra" as well.

    The numbers that I consider to play a part of my life are 4,7, 11, and 29. Number 4 represents the month of my birthday and the number 11 represents the day. Number 7 is internationally known to be the lucky number and number 29 is the unit of the house I lived in for more than two decades.

References

Rymer, David. (2022, January 20) Eye of Horus - Complete Guide on the Meaning Behind the Symbol.                                           https://www.givemehistory.com/the-eye-of-horus

(February 2) Eye of Horus. https://www.cleopatraegypttours.com/travel-guide/ancient-egypt-history/egyptian-eye-of-              horus-meaning/