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Goddess Hathor
Egyptian Mythology
Hathor is one of the most famous goddesses of Ancient Egypt. She was known as “the Great One of Many Names” and her titles and attributes are so numerous that she was important in every area of the life and death of the ancient Egyptians. It is thought that her worship was widespread even in the Predynastic period because she appears on the Narmer palette. However, some scholars suggest that the cow-headed goddess depicted on the palette is in fact Bat (an ancient cow goddess who was largely absorbed by Hathor) or even Narmer himself.
There is no doubt that her worship was well established by the Old Kingdom as she appears with Bast in the valley temple of Khafre at Giza. Hathor represents Upper Egypt and Bast represents Lower Egypt.
She was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was considered to be the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow (linking her with Nut, Bat and Mehet-Weret). As time passed Hathor absorbed the attributes of many other goddesses but also became more closely associated with Isis, who to some degree usurped her position as the most popular and powerful goddess. Yet, Hathor remained popular throughout Egyptian history.
More festivals were dedicated to her and more children were named after her than any other god or goddess of Ancient Egypt. Her worship was not confined to Egypt and Nubia. She was worshipped throughout Semitic West Asia, Ethiopian, Somalia, and Libya, but was particularly venerated in the city of Byblos.
Hathor was among so many goddesses, that she admitted the character of the Eye of Ra, the female opposite of Ra, maintaining an avenging character that protected her from her opposites.
In her feminine aspect, Hathor represented the musical arts, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care, besides being a companion of some male divinities and progenitor of their children. These properties of the goddess, they conceived her as the Egyptian femininity.
Being known as the goddess of music and dance, among her ministry was formed by dancers, singers, actors, and acrobats, including in Greek times, all these arts were kept under the domain of the goddess Hathor.
She crossed the boundaries between the worlds, to collaborate with the dead in their transformation of life after death. That is why in the city of Thebes, in Greece, she was considered as the goddess of the death zone, in her dogma she was in charge of providing food and drinks to the souls that went to the plane of the dead. Therefore she was called “Lady of the West” or “Goddess of the Western Mountain”.
She was entrusted with receiving the dead in order to enter the Beyond, according to the dogma, and they affirmed to her faith that when they went to this deity in an adequate manner, their petitions were heard, and the goddess Hathor herself, led them over her, to the room of the dead, while for others was Hathor cow goddess that suckled the living human beings with her sacred milk or the wild lioness that lived in the desert, with the capacity to exterminate what was alive.
Hathor the Egyptian cow goddess:
On many occasions, she was personified as a cow, a figure of her material and sublime character, although her symbol was usually shown as a woman with a crown of cow horns and a solar disk. Likewise, it could be symbolized as a lioness, which translates a protective emblem used by the pharaohs, or failing that, a sycamore tree, which means a tree with a yellow trunk, erect with resistant and durable wood.
For this deity, the sacred tree was the sycamore tree, and among so many participants it acted as the king’s nurse, to whom it suckled, offering him divinity; on many occasions, it was symbolized as a sycamore tree in the forests of Libya.
This sycamore tree was blessed together with some milk animals that are among the papyrus, during the papyrus gathering time, celebrations were held in its honor.
According to the Egyptian mythology, the goddess Hathor, personified the sky, being the cow that possessed the four legs that maintained the firmament, while her son Horus, in form of a hawk, entered by his mouth every night, to resurface for the mountain, then, Isis would occupy the position of mother of Horus.
The goddess Hathor, who also enjoyed being the defender of the drunkards, ruled the celebration of drunkenness, which was celebrated in Dendera, twenty days after the overflowing of the Nile. They also had her as “The lady of joys”, due to her cheerful, festive and game-related personality, as well as “The lady of the garlands”, related to her spectacular beauty.
Her musical instrument
Images of bovine goddesses remain in the Egyptian culture and art of the fourth millennium, B.C., however, Hathor, perhaps did not emerge until the Ancient Empire B.C. The patronage of the leaders of the Old Empire was transformed into one of the most transcendental goddesses of Egypt.
Temple of Hathor at Dendera:
Many shrines were consecrated to the goddess Hathor, the most famous being the one built at Dendera in Upper Egypt, she also enjoyed being worshipped in the temples of her male companions.
The Egyptians, related to the goddess Hathor with foreign peoples like Nubia and Canaan as well as their meritorious goods such as incense and semi-precious stones, and many places in those lands hosted their worship.
It should be recognized that this deity was one of the significant ones that were implored in their intimate prayers, and in tributes offered, with special emphasis on women who longed to become *******t.
Later, in the New kingdom, the goddesses known as Nut and Isis took the place of Hathor, according to the doctrine of the monarchy, however, she continued to represent one of the most revered goddesses. At the end of the New Empire, Hathor was overshadowed by the goddess Isis, however, remained in the ancient Egyptian religion as the most revered until the present time.
During the Ptolemaic era, which means earth as the center of the universe, a rite arose based on Hathor and Horus forming a marriage; therefore, in the celebration of “The Good Gathering”, celebrated in the month of Epiphany, according to the Egyptian calendar.
The effigy of Hathor left the temple of Dendera, sailed to the sanctuary of Horus in Edfu, after many celebrations. A couple of sublime deities, performed their wedding bond, after being in the company during the night, the goddess Hathor, returned to their sanctuary, they procreated two children Harsomtus, of Edfu, and Ihy, of Dendera.
Symbol for Hathor:
While in KomOmbo, which means the peak of Gold, of Egyptian origin, she was represented as Sobek’s companion, in Memphis she was the goddess of ladies.
She is symbolized as the goddess who wears horns, or with cow ears, wearing a triple headdress, the meaning of the sky as a cow, extended in the Delta, comes from Hathor representing the bovine figure.
She carries the sistrum, the papyrus stick, and the ankh, according to an archaic myth, it was presumed, that she had exalted the young sun to the sky, through her horns. As it goes on, her appearance is that of a woman with a cow’s head, and she ends up with a human head, which sometimes has ears and horns like a cow. In her animal figure, she can appear as a lioness, associated with Sekhmet or a cat.
The goddess Hathor was compared to Sekhmet and Bastet and Isis, in a late period, tells the story of Ra that Hathor, transformed into Sekhmet was the eye of her father. He sent her to devastate men, who had not obeyed him, but later, he gave her remorse, got her drunk so that she would not realize it, and from that moment she was transformed into Hathor, the goddess who represents love and veneration.
Hathor and Ra:
Legend has it that the goddess Hathor emerged while Ra appeared as the god of the sun, and since then, Hathor sat beside her in a vessel driven by the sun. Some legends tell that in the eye of the light of the sun, the goddess appeared, dressed in feline Bastet. By that time, she was linked with Nebethetepet, as Hathor-Nebethetepet, being idolized as Ra in Heliopolis.
Her conception associated with Horus, the goddess Hathor, refers to a clearly energetic religiosity, linked to movement, musical art, and sexual enjoyment and delight, which is why some Greeks associate her with the goddess Aphrodite.
Hathor myths
Other fantastic legends about Hathor, show it as an image of the sun, it was a bovine that with its legs held the sky, while Horus, its son, an unstable salesman, entered by the mouth during all the nights to wake up later in the dawn, then, Isis agreed to be Horus’ mother.
Hathor myths in Dendera city:
In the city of Dendera, she represented the goddess of affection, energetic excellence, happiness, fatherhood, and suggestion. She had consecrated the Sistrum, which enjoyed the ability to combat indecency and offense, and was often used in celebrations.
The story goes that the goddess Hathor represented music and movement, including the art of artistic characters, vocalists, trapeze artists, and these practices were kept under Hathor’s control. Equally considered, patroness of the exuberant, she guided meetings of tipsiness, being pondered in the city Dendera, twenty years after the flood of the Nile River.
Likewise, she symbolized “The woman of delights”, for her funny and graceful character, as well as “The woman of laurels” for her great connection with the excellent.
The story and legend about the goddess Hathor are extensive and rich, she ruled the VI, X and XIV gnomes of Upper Egypt. On Mount Sinai, in Serabit el-Khadim, there was a temple known as the “Woman of the Turquoise”, it is probable that with her enlightenment, she protected everything that happened in the bosom of the earth. In Abu Simbel, Ramses II, there was a small temple where he formed Nefertari, Egyptian queen of the dynasty. Likewise, he had another temple on the island of Philae and in Deir el-Medina, in the east of Ptolemaic times.
Hathor’s festivities:
There were many festivities related to Hathor, perhaps more than any other god or goddess that existed in ancient Egypt. The goddess Hathor, was a celestial deity, who was known as the “Woman of the Stars” or the “Sovereign of the Stars”, connected to the star Sirius.
Hathor the mother of mothers:
It is told in mythology that the goddess Hathor, who was the “mother of mothers”, was the goddess of women, maturity, children, and work. Her enigmatic energy connected with women, to offer her help in difficulties such as imagination, work, well-being, magnificence and questions of the heart. This being so, neither was she venerated by women, nor with distinction other than other beings, and divine deities, she assumed the two ministers and priestesses.
The goddess Hathor, was the deity of grandeur and favored works of renewal. She was usually offered with two mirrors because she used to talk about mirrors and special beauty items. It was not held that this concept was frivolous and vain, but rather that it confirmed his exquisiteness and compassion, distinguishing the beautiful and the majestic.
Hathor’s Sistrum:
It is also reflected in its mythology that the goddess Hathor, was protective of the movement and the relationship with music, even more so when it comes to the Sistrum, which is an instrument with a horseshoe figure with small metal plates, which are hung on the bars. This tool, known as Sistrum, when made of iron has the particularity of emitting sounds and is played as if it were a metal frame.
It is common for the Sistrum to appear in many ancient Egyptian works of art, and it also represented a sign of fertility. The Sistrum was used as an instrument in religious festivities. It can be seen on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, the British Museum and the Louver Museum.
Hathor god of death:
The goddess Hathor, appears in the Book of the Dead of the 13th century B.C., where she narrates that she emerges from a peak, which represents the Theban Necropolis.
Hathor was considered one of the goddesses who collaborated with the souls in the afterlife. Among those deities, there was Amentit, a deity of the west, who represented Necropolis or sarcophagi on the western banks of the Nile and the kingdom of life, after death, so it was qualified as a sign of the goddess Hathor.
Just as it crossed the border between Egypt and other territories, so it dared to cross the boundary that exists between the living and the Duat, which refers to the kingdom of the dead. He helped the souls of the deceased to enter the Duat, and remained attached to the tombs, where the conversion began. The story goes that in the Theban Necropolis, the goddess Hathor is personified in a kind of elegant mountain, showing herself as a cow. Her character as the goddess of heaven is also linked to life after death.
Hathor lovely facts
•Hathor was considered as “Mistress of Life”.
•Hathor is a model of the word love, feeling, emotion, fragrance, movement, music, and *******ic beverages.
•Hathor associated with the perfume of myrrh incense, described as important and of great value when speaking of unparalleled characteristics of the female ***.
•Hathor was associated with turquoise gems, malachite, gold and copper, so she was the patron saint of miners, and goddess of the Sinai Peninsula, where there are mines named after her.
•Hathor was in charge of the burial service to provide food and water.
Favored people:
Women, musicians, dancers, singers, perfumers, aroMatherapists, cosmeticians, brewers, vintners, magicians, fortune-tellers, diviners, and henna artists
Manifestations:
Hathor most often manifests as a cow with the solar disk and plumes between her horns or as a woman whose crown is a solar disk held between a pair of cow horns. However, Hathor is a talented shape-shifter, capable of showing herself in any form she chooses. She manifests in various forms depending upon her mood. Historically, she has appeared as a cat, falcon, fig tree, vulture, hippopotamus, and cobra. At her most ferocious, she is a lioness. When in human form, Hathor is consistently kind and beautiful. She manifested as a snake spirit in Byblos, now modern Lebanon.
Iconography:
A tree with a woman’s ******, with which she nourishes pharaohs. A jar from Tutankhamun’s tomb depicts Hathor wearing a necklace of water lilies and mandrake fruit.
Attributes:
Mirror, frame drum, and sistrum: the sistrum, a percussion instrument, is sometimes decorated with Hathor’s image, as are Egyptian hand mirrors.
Animals:
Cow, gazelle, cat
Bird:
Goose
Plants:
Myrrh tree, date palm, sycomore fig, papyrus, and henna
Stones:
Malachite, turquoise
Metal:
Gold, copper
Number:
4
Color:
Red
Planet:
Moon. Hathor also has associations with the Dog Star, Sirius, which the Egyptians called Sothis, the Great Provider, also known as the Womb of Hathor. She may also have a solar aspect.
Places:
Unlike huge temple complexes, which were largely inaccessible to all but the pharaoh and the priestly elite, most Hathor sanctuaries were places where anyone could offer a petition. Hathor’s principal sanctuary was at Dendera, on the edge of the desert between Luxor and Abydos, where it is believed her cult first began. The present ruins date from a temple completed in the first century CE. However, according to inscriptions, the site had already been sacred to Hathor for ten thousand years; the original temple was a mud hut. Dendera was a healing center, the Lourdes of its day. The Egyptians considered it the Navel of the Universe, Earth’s spiritual center.
• Hathor was worshipped in the Deir el-Bahri area since at least the First Intermediate Period (2150–2040 BCE), possibly originally in a cave shrine.
• Hathor owns the mountain range to the west of the Nile River.
• Marshes are sacred to Hathor.
• She owns the Sinai Peninsula. Many statues of her have been found there as well as in Israel. Some scholars think that the biblical Golden Calf is Hathor’s son. Descriptions of fierce, warlike nomads enslaved by the Egyptians and forced to tend Hathor’s shrines in the Sinai may be the earliest written references to the Hebrew people.
The Seven Hathors
Hathor is a famed shape-shifter. The Seven Hathors may he aspects or avatars of Hathor, hut they may also he her daughters or attendant spirits. They appear at hirths to pronounce the hahy’s destiny. It is unknown whether food offerings were given to them, although this was custoMary in Egyptian tradition. They were, however, offered seven red rihhons, one for each Hathor. The Seven Hathors may he the earliest documented evidence of birth Fairies. They were associated with the Pleiades. ( See Also: Fairy, Birth.)
Time:
An annual festival of appeasement was timed to correspond with the rising of Sothis (Sirius) and works out to roughly 20 July by our calendar. Hathor was offered copious amounts of beer and pomegranate juice, shared by celebrating devotees.
Petition:
Burn myrrh to summon Hathor. She enjoys a joyful atmosphere, full of music and dance. She plays the frame drum and will communicate through drumming.
Offerings:
A gift of two mirrors is her traditional votive offering. Hathor is the spirit of ******* and she likes a drink. Beer or wine is appropriate. Other traditional votive offerings include fabrics, scarabs, and other amulets; images of cats and cows; jewelry; and ex-votos (milagros) in the form of eyes or ears to encourage Hathor to see or hear petitioners.
Egyptian Mythology
Hathor is one of the most famous goddesses of Ancient Egypt. She was known as “the Great One of Many Names” and her titles and attributes are so numerous that she was important in every area of the life and death of the ancient Egyptians. It is thought that her worship was widespread even in the Predynastic period because she appears on the Narmer palette. However, some scholars suggest that the cow-headed goddess depicted on the palette is in fact Bat (an ancient cow goddess who was largely absorbed by Hathor) or even Narmer himself.
There is no doubt that her worship was well established by the Old Kingdom as she appears with Bast in the valley temple of Khafre at Giza. Hathor represents Upper Egypt and Bast represents Lower Egypt.
She was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was considered to be the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow (linking her with Nut, Bat and Mehet-Weret). As time passed Hathor absorbed the attributes of many other goddesses but also became more closely associated with Isis, who to some degree usurped her position as the most popular and powerful goddess. Yet, Hathor remained popular throughout Egyptian history.
More festivals were dedicated to her and more children were named after her than any other god or goddess of Ancient Egypt. Her worship was not confined to Egypt and Nubia. She was worshipped throughout Semitic West Asia, Ethiopian, Somalia, and Libya, but was particularly venerated in the city of Byblos.
Hathor was among so many goddesses, that she admitted the character of the Eye of Ra, the female opposite of Ra, maintaining an avenging character that protected her from her opposites.
In her feminine aspect, Hathor represented the musical arts, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care, besides being a companion of some male divinities and progenitor of their children. These properties of the goddess, they conceived her as the Egyptian femininity.
Being known as the goddess of music and dance, among her ministry was formed by dancers, singers, actors, and acrobats, including in Greek times, all these arts were kept under the domain of the goddess Hathor.
She crossed the boundaries between the worlds, to collaborate with the dead in their transformation of life after death. That is why in the city of Thebes, in Greece, she was considered as the goddess of the death zone, in her dogma she was in charge of providing food and drinks to the souls that went to the plane of the dead. Therefore she was called “Lady of the West” or “Goddess of the Western Mountain”.
She was entrusted with receiving the dead in order to enter the Beyond, according to the dogma, and they affirmed to her faith that when they went to this deity in an adequate manner, their petitions were heard, and the goddess Hathor herself, led them over her, to the room of the dead, while for others was Hathor cow goddess that suckled the living human beings with her sacred milk or the wild lioness that lived in the desert, with the capacity to exterminate what was alive.
Hathor the Egyptian cow goddess:
On many occasions, she was personified as a cow, a figure of her material and sublime character, although her symbol was usually shown as a woman with a crown of cow horns and a solar disk. Likewise, it could be symbolized as a lioness, which translates a protective emblem used by the pharaohs, or failing that, a sycamore tree, which means a tree with a yellow trunk, erect with resistant and durable wood.
For this deity, the sacred tree was the sycamore tree, and among so many participants it acted as the king’s nurse, to whom it suckled, offering him divinity; on many occasions, it was symbolized as a sycamore tree in the forests of Libya.
This sycamore tree was blessed together with some milk animals that are among the papyrus, during the papyrus gathering time, celebrations were held in its honor.
According to the Egyptian mythology, the goddess Hathor, personified the sky, being the cow that possessed the four legs that maintained the firmament, while her son Horus, in form of a hawk, entered by his mouth every night, to resurface for the mountain, then, Isis would occupy the position of mother of Horus.
The goddess Hathor, who also enjoyed being the defender of the drunkards, ruled the celebration of drunkenness, which was celebrated in Dendera, twenty days after the overflowing of the Nile. They also had her as “The lady of joys”, due to her cheerful, festive and game-related personality, as well as “The lady of the garlands”, related to her spectacular beauty.
Her musical instrument
Images of bovine goddesses remain in the Egyptian culture and art of the fourth millennium, B.C., however, Hathor, perhaps did not emerge until the Ancient Empire B.C. The patronage of the leaders of the Old Empire was transformed into one of the most transcendental goddesses of Egypt.
Temple of Hathor at Dendera:
Many shrines were consecrated to the goddess Hathor, the most famous being the one built at Dendera in Upper Egypt, she also enjoyed being worshipped in the temples of her male companions.
The Egyptians, related to the goddess Hathor with foreign peoples like Nubia and Canaan as well as their meritorious goods such as incense and semi-precious stones, and many places in those lands hosted their worship.
It should be recognized that this deity was one of the significant ones that were implored in their intimate prayers, and in tributes offered, with special emphasis on women who longed to become *******t.
Later, in the New kingdom, the goddesses known as Nut and Isis took the place of Hathor, according to the doctrine of the monarchy, however, she continued to represent one of the most revered goddesses. At the end of the New Empire, Hathor was overshadowed by the goddess Isis, however, remained in the ancient Egyptian religion as the most revered until the present time.
During the Ptolemaic era, which means earth as the center of the universe, a rite arose based on Hathor and Horus forming a marriage; therefore, in the celebration of “The Good Gathering”, celebrated in the month of Epiphany, according to the Egyptian calendar.
The effigy of Hathor left the temple of Dendera, sailed to the sanctuary of Horus in Edfu, after many celebrations. A couple of sublime deities, performed their wedding bond, after being in the company during the night, the goddess Hathor, returned to their sanctuary, they procreated two children Harsomtus, of Edfu, and Ihy, of Dendera.
Symbol for Hathor:
While in KomOmbo, which means the peak of Gold, of Egyptian origin, she was represented as Sobek’s companion, in Memphis she was the goddess of ladies.
She is symbolized as the goddess who wears horns, or with cow ears, wearing a triple headdress, the meaning of the sky as a cow, extended in the Delta, comes from Hathor representing the bovine figure.
She carries the sistrum, the papyrus stick, and the ankh, according to an archaic myth, it was presumed, that she had exalted the young sun to the sky, through her horns. As it goes on, her appearance is that of a woman with a cow’s head, and she ends up with a human head, which sometimes has ears and horns like a cow. In her animal figure, she can appear as a lioness, associated with Sekhmet or a cat.
The goddess Hathor was compared to Sekhmet and Bastet and Isis, in a late period, tells the story of Ra that Hathor, transformed into Sekhmet was the eye of her father. He sent her to devastate men, who had not obeyed him, but later, he gave her remorse, got her drunk so that she would not realize it, and from that moment she was transformed into Hathor, the goddess who represents love and veneration.
Hathor and Ra:
Legend has it that the goddess Hathor emerged while Ra appeared as the god of the sun, and since then, Hathor sat beside her in a vessel driven by the sun. Some legends tell that in the eye of the light of the sun, the goddess appeared, dressed in feline Bastet. By that time, she was linked with Nebethetepet, as Hathor-Nebethetepet, being idolized as Ra in Heliopolis.
Her conception associated with Horus, the goddess Hathor, refers to a clearly energetic religiosity, linked to movement, musical art, and sexual enjoyment and delight, which is why some Greeks associate her with the goddess Aphrodite.
Hathor myths
Other fantastic legends about Hathor, show it as an image of the sun, it was a bovine that with its legs held the sky, while Horus, its son, an unstable salesman, entered by the mouth during all the nights to wake up later in the dawn, then, Isis agreed to be Horus’ mother.
Hathor myths in Dendera city:
In the city of Dendera, she represented the goddess of affection, energetic excellence, happiness, fatherhood, and suggestion. She had consecrated the Sistrum, which enjoyed the ability to combat indecency and offense, and was often used in celebrations.
The story goes that the goddess Hathor represented music and movement, including the art of artistic characters, vocalists, trapeze artists, and these practices were kept under Hathor’s control. Equally considered, patroness of the exuberant, she guided meetings of tipsiness, being pondered in the city Dendera, twenty years after the flood of the Nile River.
Likewise, she symbolized “The woman of delights”, for her funny and graceful character, as well as “The woman of laurels” for her great connection with the excellent.
The story and legend about the goddess Hathor are extensive and rich, she ruled the VI, X and XIV gnomes of Upper Egypt. On Mount Sinai, in Serabit el-Khadim, there was a temple known as the “Woman of the Turquoise”, it is probable that with her enlightenment, she protected everything that happened in the bosom of the earth. In Abu Simbel, Ramses II, there was a small temple where he formed Nefertari, Egyptian queen of the dynasty. Likewise, he had another temple on the island of Philae and in Deir el-Medina, in the east of Ptolemaic times.
Hathor’s festivities:
There were many festivities related to Hathor, perhaps more than any other god or goddess that existed in ancient Egypt. The goddess Hathor, was a celestial deity, who was known as the “Woman of the Stars” or the “Sovereign of the Stars”, connected to the star Sirius.
Hathor the mother of mothers:
It is told in mythology that the goddess Hathor, who was the “mother of mothers”, was the goddess of women, maturity, children, and work. Her enigmatic energy connected with women, to offer her help in difficulties such as imagination, work, well-being, magnificence and questions of the heart. This being so, neither was she venerated by women, nor with distinction other than other beings, and divine deities, she assumed the two ministers and priestesses.
The goddess Hathor, was the deity of grandeur and favored works of renewal. She was usually offered with two mirrors because she used to talk about mirrors and special beauty items. It was not held that this concept was frivolous and vain, but rather that it confirmed his exquisiteness and compassion, distinguishing the beautiful and the majestic.
Hathor’s Sistrum:
It is also reflected in its mythology that the goddess Hathor, was protective of the movement and the relationship with music, even more so when it comes to the Sistrum, which is an instrument with a horseshoe figure with small metal plates, which are hung on the bars. This tool, known as Sistrum, when made of iron has the particularity of emitting sounds and is played as if it were a metal frame.
It is common for the Sistrum to appear in many ancient Egyptian works of art, and it also represented a sign of fertility. The Sistrum was used as an instrument in religious festivities. It can be seen on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, the British Museum and the Louver Museum.
Hathor god of death:
The goddess Hathor, appears in the Book of the Dead of the 13th century B.C., where she narrates that she emerges from a peak, which represents the Theban Necropolis.
Hathor was considered one of the goddesses who collaborated with the souls in the afterlife. Among those deities, there was Amentit, a deity of the west, who represented Necropolis or sarcophagi on the western banks of the Nile and the kingdom of life, after death, so it was qualified as a sign of the goddess Hathor.
Just as it crossed the border between Egypt and other territories, so it dared to cross the boundary that exists between the living and the Duat, which refers to the kingdom of the dead. He helped the souls of the deceased to enter the Duat, and remained attached to the tombs, where the conversion began. The story goes that in the Theban Necropolis, the goddess Hathor is personified in a kind of elegant mountain, showing herself as a cow. Her character as the goddess of heaven is also linked to life after death.
Hathor lovely facts
•Hathor was considered as “Mistress of Life”.
•Hathor is a model of the word love, feeling, emotion, fragrance, movement, music, and *******ic beverages.
•Hathor associated with the perfume of myrrh incense, described as important and of great value when speaking of unparalleled characteristics of the female ***.
•Hathor was associated with turquoise gems, malachite, gold and copper, so she was the patron saint of miners, and goddess of the Sinai Peninsula, where there are mines named after her.
•Hathor was in charge of the burial service to provide food and water.
Favored people:
Women, musicians, dancers, singers, perfumers, aroMatherapists, cosmeticians, brewers, vintners, magicians, fortune-tellers, diviners, and henna artists
Manifestations:
Hathor most often manifests as a cow with the solar disk and plumes between her horns or as a woman whose crown is a solar disk held between a pair of cow horns. However, Hathor is a talented shape-shifter, capable of showing herself in any form she chooses. She manifests in various forms depending upon her mood. Historically, she has appeared as a cat, falcon, fig tree, vulture, hippopotamus, and cobra. At her most ferocious, she is a lioness. When in human form, Hathor is consistently kind and beautiful. She manifested as a snake spirit in Byblos, now modern Lebanon.
Iconography:
A tree with a woman’s ******, with which she nourishes pharaohs. A jar from Tutankhamun’s tomb depicts Hathor wearing a necklace of water lilies and mandrake fruit.
Attributes:
Mirror, frame drum, and sistrum: the sistrum, a percussion instrument, is sometimes decorated with Hathor’s image, as are Egyptian hand mirrors.
Animals:
Cow, gazelle, cat
Bird:
Goose
Plants:
Myrrh tree, date palm, sycomore fig, papyrus, and henna
Stones:
Malachite, turquoise
Metal:
Gold, copper
Number:
4
Color:
Red
Planet:
Moon. Hathor also has associations with the Dog Star, Sirius, which the Egyptians called Sothis, the Great Provider, also known as the Womb of Hathor. She may also have a solar aspect.
Places:
Unlike huge temple complexes, which were largely inaccessible to all but the pharaoh and the priestly elite, most Hathor sanctuaries were places where anyone could offer a petition. Hathor’s principal sanctuary was at Dendera, on the edge of the desert between Luxor and Abydos, where it is believed her cult first began. The present ruins date from a temple completed in the first century CE. However, according to inscriptions, the site had already been sacred to Hathor for ten thousand years; the original temple was a mud hut. Dendera was a healing center, the Lourdes of its day. The Egyptians considered it the Navel of the Universe, Earth’s spiritual center.
• Hathor was worshipped in the Deir el-Bahri area since at least the First Intermediate Period (2150–2040 BCE), possibly originally in a cave shrine.
• Hathor owns the mountain range to the west of the Nile River.
• Marshes are sacred to Hathor.
• She owns the Sinai Peninsula. Many statues of her have been found there as well as in Israel. Some scholars think that the biblical Golden Calf is Hathor’s son. Descriptions of fierce, warlike nomads enslaved by the Egyptians and forced to tend Hathor’s shrines in the Sinai may be the earliest written references to the Hebrew people.
The Seven Hathors
Hathor is a famed shape-shifter. The Seven Hathors may he aspects or avatars of Hathor, hut they may also he her daughters or attendant spirits. They appear at hirths to pronounce the hahy’s destiny. It is unknown whether food offerings were given to them, although this was custoMary in Egyptian tradition. They were, however, offered seven red rihhons, one for each Hathor. The Seven Hathors may he the earliest documented evidence of birth Fairies. They were associated with the Pleiades. ( See Also: Fairy, Birth.)
Time:
An annual festival of appeasement was timed to correspond with the rising of Sothis (Sirius) and works out to roughly 20 July by our calendar. Hathor was offered copious amounts of beer and pomegranate juice, shared by celebrating devotees.
Petition:
Burn myrrh to summon Hathor. She enjoys a joyful atmosphere, full of music and dance. She plays the frame drum and will communicate through drumming.
Offerings:
A gift of two mirrors is her traditional votive offering. Hathor is the spirit of ******* and she likes a drink. Beer or wine is appropriate. Other traditional votive offerings include fabrics, scarabs, and other amulets; images of cats and cows; jewelry; and ex-votos (milagros) in the form of eyes or ears to encourage Hathor to see or hear petitioners.