Topic summary
Set animal
(Gardiner E20, E21, C7)
in hieroglyphs
In ancient Egyptian art, the Set animal, or sha, is the affiliated animal of the god Set. Because Set was identified with the Greek monster Typhon, the animal is also commonly known as the Typhonian animal or Typhonic beast.
Unlike other totemic animals, the Set animal is not easily identifiable in the modern animal world. It may have been fully mythological, or based on a combination of characteristics from real animals. The Set animal is one of the most frequently demonstrated animal determinatives.
Some Egyptian texts suggest that Set took the form of a dangerous animal, such as a bull or crocodile.