Hathor (Hethert, Athyr)

Cow goddess. A goddess of love and motherhood, Hathor was the daughter of Nut and Ra. In early Egyptian mythology she was said to be the mother Horus, but was later replaced with Isis. After being displaced, Hathor became a protectress of Horus. The Greeks identified Hathor with Aphrodite.

The snake, the Egyptian rattle known as the sistrum, and the papyrus reed ofthen symbolized Hathor. Her image could also be used to form the capitals of columns in Egyptian architecture. Her principal sanctuary was at Dandarah, which may also be where Hathor got her origins. At Dandarah, she was mainly worshipped in her role as a goddess of fertility, women and childbirth. At Thebes she was regarded as a goddess of the dead with the title of "Lady of the West." This associated her with Ra on his descent below the western horizon and various deaths related gods, such as Osiris and Anubis. She was depicted either as a cow or in human form wearing a crown consisting of a sun disk held between the horns of a cow.

   












Much thanks to the Glossary of Egyptian Mythology ©1997 Deurer
&
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt © 1991 M. Bunson, where I got some of my gods, goddess and definitions

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