Egyptian Gods: an Overview of Hathor

Introduction to Hathor

Hathor was one of the most renowned goddesses in all of Egypt. Over time, she evolved into various goddesses with distinct attributes and associations. She is often represented as a woman with a cow's head or a woman with a sun disk between cow horns. Occasionally, she is depicted as a hippopotamus, a falcon, a cobra, or a lioness, but most frequently as a cow. Her symbols include the sistrum, the horns, and solar disk headdress, a papyrus reed, mirrors, and a menat, which is a ritual necklace symbolizing rebirth with extraordinary properties.

Origins and Attributes

Her name can be spelled as Het-Hert, Hetheru, Hathor, and of course Hathor. The name translates to mean “the house of Horus,” referring to the sky, Horus’ abode, and the royal family of Pharaoh. She is the daughter of the sun god Ra and the sky goddess Nut and is acknowledged as one of the Eyes of Ra, who brought devastation to mankind in the form of the goddess Sekhmet. In several stories, Hathor is the consort of Horus the elder and mother of Horus the younger and Ihy, the god of music and dancing. Due to her status, she is associated with several other goddesses, particularly in function and attributes. It is often believed that the various goddesses were forms of her.

She can be a sun goddess, a sky goddess, a moon goddess, goddess of the west and the east, goddess of fertility, goddess of moisture, goddess of farming, and even a goddess of the underworld. Along these lines, she acquired a vast number of different names. Nonetheless, fundamentally, Hathor is the goddess of beauty, music, dance, joy, motherhood, and love. She was regarded as a protective goddess of women, especially pregnant ones, thus connecting her to the mother of the pharaoh. Over the course of history, she acquired numerous distinctive titles. She is known as the "Lady of Stars" and "Queen of Stars" because she was a sky goddess linked to the star Sirius. Indeed, her birthday is celebrated when Sirius first appears in the sky, signifying the start of the inundation of the Nile.

Roles and Influence

She is also known as the "Great One," being a daughter of Ra. She is the "Mistress of Heaven" due to her relationship with Nut, Mut, and the Queen of Egypt. She is the "Divine Nurse," as she disguised herself as a cow or a sycamore fig to nurture the pharaoh back to health. She is the "Mother of Mothers" because of her role as the goddess of childbirth, mothers, and children. Being the goddess of labor, many believed that seven Hathors visited the bedside of the newborn to declare his or her destiny. They were thought to know the future and the time of death of every Egyptian.

She is the "Mistress of Life" because she embodies music, alcohol, joy, love, romance, perfume, and dance. In truth, she is a patron of the healing arts since she was a goddess of beauty. She is associated with the fragrance of myrrh incense, a precious substance believed to epitomize all the best qualities of the female sex. She is also the "Mistress of Turquoise," "Lady of Lapis Lazuli," and the "Lady of Malachite" as she was the patron of miners and the goddess of the Sinai Peninsula, where gold, copper, turquoise, and malachite are abundant. She was given the titles "Hand of God" and "Lady of the Vulva" (the former referring to the act of masturbation) as she is the goddess of the expression of sexuality through dance. In one story, her father Ra refused to speak to anyone, and Hathor cheered him up by dancing for him and revealing her reproductive organs, which made him laugh again. She is also known as the “Lady of the West” and the “Lady of the Southern Sycamore” (the latter depicting her as a woman handing out water to a dead sycamore tree) because she assisted and protected the dead on their final journey to the kingdom of Osiris.

Worship and Legacy

She is revered throughout Egypt, but her cult center is in the upper part of the country, in the city called Dendera, where she is the "Unique Lady of Dendera". There, some temples and statues were built in her honor, and the majority of her followers and priests were musicians, artists, and craftsmen. Most prayers are dedicated to her protective role over women and children. In Thebes, she was revered as the goddess of the dead. She is also known as the "Goddess of Boundaries" as she was believed to control everything within the known universe, including distant lands such as Sinai and Punt. The Greeks revered her as well, comparing her to their goddess Aphrodite. She was also believed to be the goddess of the third calendar month known to the Greeks as Hethara.

Hathor's legacy continues to be studied and revered in modern times, as her diverse roles and attributes provide insight into the complex and rich tapestry of ancient Egyptian religion and culture. Her influence extends beyond Egypt, highlighting the interconnectedness of ancient civilizations and their shared appreciation for divinity, beauty, and the cycles of life.

References

Griffiths, J. G. (1975). The Origins of Osiris and His Cult. Brill Archive.

Hart, G. (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Routledge.

Wilkinson, R. H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.