Goddess Hathor: the most versatile in Ancient Egypt

Hathor is one of the most complex and mysterious of ancient Egyptian gods. She has been present ever since prehistoric times until the late period. Unlike other gods, goddess Hathour's cult had never witnessed a decline. Hathor was always shining like a sun only setting with the last traces of the Ancient Egyptian empire. 

Hathor is symbolic of many different things:

  1. Animals (cows, cats , lions).
  2. Vegetation (Lotus, Papyrus, Rosetta).
  3. Sky (associated with the sky of the morning and the sky of the night).
  4. The sun (associated with Re of the morning, Atum of the night).
  5. Trees (also personified as a tree giving food to the dead in the netherworld).
  6. Minerals (Hathor was the goddess of gold, copper, Lapis Lazuli).
  7. Love, sex, creation and fertility.
At earlier times, Hathor had no features since her most important symbolism were the horns associated with fertility. 

Goddess Hathor could appear in 3 forms:

  1. A cow: she was represented as a cow from the prehistoric times. At such times, wild cows were venerated as embodiments of nature and fertility.
  2. Female face : woman wearing long tight dress, wig and Hathorian crown.
  3. Sistrum: many people made adoration to the Sistrum (that means that they made adoration to Hathor herself every time they played the instrument). 

The Hathor column at Dendera
Hathor's human/cow head is featured as the columns' capital at her beautiful Dendera Temple in Luxor

Roles of Hathor:

  1. Mother of the king: as she is sometimes depicted as the mother of Horus (instead of Isis), who grew up in the marches. Any Egyptian king is considered and embodiment of Hours and so Hathour is often depicted holding the hand of the king or suckling him.
  2. Protector of the king: She is often depicted putting her hand over the shoulder of the king, a gesture of protection complementing motherly depictions. 
  3. Welcoming the king to the netherworld: Hathor was the goddess of the western mountain in Thebes , and all the dead people were her children.

Hathor wears the Hathorian crown and the sun disk associating her with re. She also wears the vulture cap signifying her role as the mother of the king since Hathor was a mother goddess. The double crown is worn due to her association with Mut. Hathour also wears the throne of Isis interchangeably. She can be depicted wearing the Sistrum (naws) on her head.

Hathor and the other gods

Hathor is associated with Mehet-Weret ,a sky goddess whose name means "Great Flood" bringing the inundation. Re is begotten from Mehet-Weret and she is his mother, and Hathor associated with Mehet-Weret so she is the mother of Re. She is also depicted his daughter who avenged him from the humans. Sometimes, as his wife.

Hathor is associated with Isis. There's a scene for Hathor in a cow form with star patches, as Isis is associated with the stars, so is Hathour. Finally, Hathor is associated with Nkhbet and Wdjet (The Snake Goddess).

The unwavering position Hathor held against all the shifting tides in Ancient Egypt is truly mesmerizing. It is indicative of the great influence of what she represents on the Ancient Egyptian psyche. 

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