Hathor was one of the most important Egyptian goddesses at certain periods in Egypt’s long history. She was a cow goddess, often depicted as a cow or as a woman with a headdress made from cow horns and a sun disk. Cows are generated in many cultures and are associated with fertility. Hathor was also the embodiment of femininity.
She was also associated with kingship, first as the mother of Ra, who was associated with kingship in the Old Kingdom, and then Horus, when he rose to prominence.
There are many inconsistencies in Hathor’s mythology and significant crossover with other goddesses. But this is to be expected. The Egyptian empire lasted for millennia, and religion and beliefs changed significantly over the centuries. Painting a consistent picture of Hathor’s mythology and worship over such a long period is extremely challenging.
When Was Hathor Worshipped?
Hathor, or some goddess closely related to her, may have been worshipped as early as the 4th millennium BCE as depictions of cattle goddesses survive from this era. However, in the pre-dynastic period, the horned goddess appeared with her horns curving inwards, while later depictions of Hathor always show her with horns curved outwards. But the evolution of the goddess’ ideology and iconography is expected over the centuries.
The first firm evidence of her worship dates from the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181 BCE), during which time she was extremely popular. She had more temples dedicated to her than any other goddess. Due to her popularity, she seems to have absorbed many local goddesses, who were treated as manifestations of Hathor. As a result, she was sometimes called Seven Hathors, or even as many as 362.
Her most important temple was at Dendera in Upper Egypt, and she displaced an early crocodile god as the patron of that city under the 4th dynasty, making her one of the few female patron gods. She was also worshipped in the temples of her male consorts. These included the temple of Ra at Heliopolis and the temple of Horus at Edfu.
During the New Kingdom (c. 1150-1070 BCE), she reduced in importance as goddesses such as Mut and Isis grew in importance and encroached on her spheres of influence. Nevertheless, she continued to be worshipped in ancient Egypt until the rise of Christianity.
Spheres of Influence
Like most Egyptian gods and goddesses, Hathor was complex and was associated with many different aspects of life and creation.
Sky and Solar Goddess
She was called the mistress of the sky and stars. In her cow form, she was believed to be a cosmic mother who gave birth to Ra, an important solar deity, an act she repeated every morning at dawn.
While she was the mother of Ra, she was also his female counterpart, making her a solar deity. This is why the sun disk is included in her headdress. In this form as the Golden One, she accompanied Ra in his sun barque as he sailed across the sky each day.
This explains why she was seen as both the mother and consort of Ra, and he may have impregnated her each day so that she could give birth to him each morning.
Fertility and Creation
Giving birth to Ra is just one of the creation myths linked to Hathor. In another myth, the creator god Atum was self-created and then began creation through masturbation. The hand he used for that purpose is often represented as the female aspect of Atum and could be personified by Hathor.
At Hathor’s temple at Dendera, she is shown as a female solar deity and the first to emerge from the primordial waters that existed before creation. She is the source of life-giving light and milk.
In a later creation myth involving Khonsu, he mated with Hathor to enable creation. Yet, at the temple at Kom Ombo, Khonsu is described as the son of the crocodile god Sobek and Hathor.
Sexuality
There are many surviving stories that praise Hathor’s sexuality, but one is of particular interest. It says that Hathor had beautiful hair, but that she lost a lock of her hair that represented her sexuality. This was considered a disaster on the level of Horus losing his eye and Set losing a testicle during their mythical battle.
Hathor was considered the mistress of love, and a surviving papyrus from c. 1189-1077 BCE contains a series of love poems in which men ask Hathor to bring them their lovers.
Protectress
Hathor was also considered a protector, who had to protect Ra from his enemies. In this more combative role, she was often depicted as a cobra or a lioness.
There is a form of the Eye of Ra that is called Hathor of the Four Faces and is represented by a set of four cobras, each facing outwards to protect Ra from all directions.
In a story from the New Kingdom, Ra sends Hathor to punish mankind for plotting against him. In this story, Hathor becomes the lion goddess Sekhmet and massacres the humans until Ra has a change of heart. To stop her, now that she is in a violent form, he orders that beer be dyed red and poured all over the land. When she drinks the beer, mistaking it for blood, she gets drunk and returns to her benign form.
In another story of the Ptolemaic period, Hathor rebels against the control of Ra and rampages through foreign lands. Ra is weakened by her absence and sends another god to get her to come home. This may be why she was also sometimes associated with foreign lands and the rich goods that were imported to Egypt.
Foreign Lands and Goods
More specifically referring to foreign lands, Hathor was also sometimes considered the patron goddess of Byblos, in modern Lebanon. She was also believed to be synonymous with the Canaanite goddess Anat.
Hathor was associated with the Sinai Peninsula, which was not considered part of Egypt proper. It was the location of mines that produced valuable materials such as turquoise. Hathor was sometimes called the Lady of Mefkat and the Lady of Faience, both of which were linked to turquoise. There is evidence that she was worshipped at several quarry and mining sites.
She was also associated with the land of Punt, along the Red Sea, and with Nubia, where she had several temples. The exotic goods taken from these lands were sometimes called gifts of Hathor.
Music, Dance, and Happiness
The Egyptians believed that life’s pleasures were gifts from the gods, which is why eating, drinking, dancing, and singing always played an important role in religious festivals. As an important goddess, Hathor was sometimes called the goddess of music, dance, garlands, myrrh, and drunkenness.
Reliefs on the walls of Hathor’s temple show musicians plating tambourines, harps, lyres, and sistra. This sistrum, a rattle-like instrument, was considered important in Hathor’s rituals. It was believed that the instrument could dispel the goddess’ bad temper and ensure that Hathor remained in her benign form.
Kingship
Hathor was variously described as the mother and the consort of the pharaoh, which made her the divine counterpart to mortal queens.
While the Osiris myth suggests that Osiris and Isis were the parents of Horus, Hathor may have already been associated with Horus before this myth became popular. Horus may have only been linked with Osiris as his cult role in popularity. Even when Isis rose in prominence and was often portrayed as the mother of Horus, Hathor still sometimes appeared in this role, suggesting that the old stories were not forgotten.
The cow Hathor was often depicted nursing the pharaoh in the guise of Horus, and her milk was a symbol of divinity and royal status. In this maternal role, Hathor also restored Horus’ lost eye.
Fate and Death
Hathor was connected with both fertility in general and the birth of the pharaoh, which linked her to ideas of fate, called shai. Some stories suggest that she appeared at the births of important people to set their fate and foretell the manner of their deaths.
While Hathor is rarely mentioned in royal funerary texts, she was often invoked in private tomb inscriptions and coffin texts. Just as she passed from Egypt into foreign lands, it seems that she could pass between the lands of the living and the dead. This was probably also linked to her rebirthing of Ra each dawn.
The surviving texts often described her leading the dead to a place where they would receive food, drink, and eternal sustenance.
Iconography of Hathor
Hathor was often depicted as a cow hearing the sun disk between her horns, and also often nursing the pharaoh. She also sometimes appeared as a woman with the head of a cow.
Her most usual form was as a woman with a headdress of cow horns holding a sun disk. Isis sometimes wore the same headdress, and it is not always easy to tell them apart unless they are identified. This is reflective of the way they occupied overlapping space in Egyptian religion, at least from the New Kingdom onwards.
She had a variety of other guises. When she was the Seven Hathors, she was a herd of seven cows. As the protector of Ra, she could be a cobra or a lioness. She could also be a domestic cat or a sycamore tree.
Hathor sometimes held a was staff, an attribute usually only associated with male gods. She often carried a sistrum, representing her musical nature, and a menat necklace, composed of many strands of beads that were shaken like a musical instrument. She was also sometimes shown with a mirror, and mirrors were often decorated with images of Hathor.
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