EYE OF HORUS
also known as the udjat, wedjat, wadjat and wadjet eye

The Eye of Horus is a protective amulet seen throughout the Middle East and rooted in ancient mythology and practice. According to Egyptian legend, Horus - the celestial falcon and great creator god - lost an eye in battle with the god Set. The god Thoth reconstituted the eye and it became known as the "sound" or "uninjured" eye. Horus then offered this eye to his dead father, Osiris, and its power was so strong that it brought him back to life.

In basic form, the Eye of Horus consists of four main components: the brow, pupil, left and right whites and two marks beneath. The lines below the eye are mirrored after the feather pattern around the eye of a lanner falcon. According to legend, Horus' right eye was the sun and his left eye the moon, though it is not clear which eye was torn out by Set.

Wadjet can be translated as "the eye which is whole or sound" or "the sound one." Wedja produces the same sound as the word for "well-being." And so the wedjat eye symbolized normality, continuity and a healthy state of affairs for the Ancient Egyptians; it was seen as a sign of strength, perfection and completeness. A wedjat amulet supplied protection from any kind of evil or destruction, and is still used for this purpose. Egyptians used the wedjat eye as an amulet, worn as a necklace or ring, or bundled with other amulets. For funerary purposes they sometimes used it in amulet bundles tucked in mummies, and typically placed a wedjat over the incision cut on the left side of the abdomen, for removal of the internal organs during the mummification process.

The wedjat took on an interesting mathematical significance for the Egyptians. Its component parts were divided into fractions which were used for measuring the standard Egyptian capacity for grain: the left, or outer white, was 1/2, and each subsequent component was a half of that white: pupil - 1/4, brow - 1/8, other white: 1/16, curling line: 1/32, line below pupil: 1/64. Curiously, these fractions add up to 63/64 rather than a whole number. It seems that the Egyptians valued the incompleteness of the world. Perhaps they understood the near-perfection of living, always aspiring to perfect greatness.

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