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| These Egyptian stamps are the earliest
set of stamps known to feature ophthalmology.
The stamps show the Eye of Horus in different colours. According to the ancient myth, the rivalling god Seth (God of darkness) tore Horus' eye out. Seth was Horus' uncle, who contended with Horus for the Egyptian throne after he killed and dismembered his father, Osiris. Thot, the Moon God and the patron of sciences, put it back in order and healed it. Each part of the eye is made up of a commonly used symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphic. Their total, corresponding to the restoration of the eye brought about by Thot, should have added up to a whole. In fact, the total of the six fractions used results in only 63/64; it was assumed that Thot had withheld the missing 1/64 by magic. This symbol is much loved by the Egyptian and is commonly used in stamp designs. The FDC was issued in 1937 to mark the 15th International Congress of Ophthalmology.
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