Anhur was identified with Shu after he had brought back Tefnut from Nubia, and his name means `He who brought back the far off' or `Support of the heavens'. A variant of the myth had it that the Eye of Horus in the form of the lion-goddess Sekmet was stolen by a gazelle and taken off to the Nubian desert. Anhur, god of Thinis and Sebennytos near Abydos, recovered the Eye. On his return he married the lioness, who was called Mehit or Mai-hesa.

Anhur was therefore closely identified with Horus the Warrior and was depicted as the prince clothed in a long tunic and with one or both hands raised, or smitings his enemies from a war chariot.