Egyptian fraction have been called "Horus-Eye fractions" after a theory (now discredited) that they were based on the parts of the Eye of Horus symbol. They were used in the Middle Kingdom in conjunction with the later notation for Egyptian fractions to subdivide a hekat, the primary ancient Egyptian volume measure for grain, bread, and other small quantities of volume, as described in the Akhmim Wooden Tablet. If any remainder was left after expressing a quantity in Eye of Horus fractions of a hekat, the remainder was written using the usual Egyptian fraction notation as multiples of a "ro", a unit equal
Horus regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife. Horus served many functions, most notably being a god of kingship and the sky. Horus is recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs as "ḥr.w" "Falcon"; the pronunciation has been reconstructed as . Additional meanings are thought to have been "the distant one" or "one who is above, over". As the language changed over time, it appeared in Coptic varieties variously as or and was adopted into ancient Greek as "Hōros" (pronounced at the time as ). It also survives in Late Egyptian and Coptic theophoric name forms such as Siese "son of Isis"