This goddess was associated with the sky and with
the DESERT. She also served as “the mother” of the
pharaohs in early historic periods. Her titles included:
Lady of the Sky, Lady of Byblos, Lady of Turquoise, Lady
of Faience, Lady of the Sycamore, and Lady of the West.
When the sun set at night, Hathor protected it from the
evils of the darkness and sent it on its path each dawn. In
this role she assumed the image of the celestial cow. She
was depicted as a cow or as wearing a crown of horns.
Her earliest cultic traditions describe Hathor as
Sekhat-Hor, an ancient forest deity who nursed the child
Horus and kept him safe from the god Set. She turned
herself into a cow to offer the young god better protec-
tion. A reference to her forest origins was reflected in a
temple of her cult near modern DAMANHURin the western
Delta. The temple was called “the House of the Lady of
the Palm Trees.” As the daughter of Ré, Hathor became a
lioness who slew humans until she was tricked into a
drunken stupor and awoke benevolent again.
The SISTRUM, or seses,was her favorite instrument,
and the goddess played it to drive evil from the land. The
protectress of women, Hathor was also the patron of love
and joy. She was a mistress of song and dance and a
source of royal strength. In the DAILY ROYAL RITES,as
shown on temple reliefs, Hathor nursed the ruler or his
priestly representative from her breasts, thus giving him
the grace of office and the supernatural powers to protect
Egypt. She had a mortuary role as well that made her the
protectress of the necropolis regions of the Nile. Many
New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.) shrines were erected
for her cult, and her most important temple was at DEN-
DEREH. The inscriptions there give lavish accounts of this
goddess, dating to the late periods.
Hathor was associated with several minor goddesses,
who were also represented as cows. She was called the
mother of Ré in some rites because she carried the sun
between her horns. Hathor was called the daughter of Ré
because she was assimilated with the stars, which were
Ré’s children. She is sometimes seen in tomb paintings as
a cow with stars in her belly. In every way Hathor was the
benefactress of the nation, and the Egyptians celebrated
her annual reunion with Horus by taking her image from
Dendereh to EDFU, where the divine couple was placed in
a chamber for a night. Associated with Hathor’s cult was a
group of divine beings called the SEVEN HATHORS. These
deities dwelt in the TREE OF HEAVENand supplied the
blessed deceased with celestial food in paradise.Hathorhotep (fl. 19th century B.C.E.) Princess of the
Twelfth Dynasty
She was the daughter of AMENEMHET III(r. 1844–1797
B.C.E.). A CANOPIC JARbearing her name and rank was
found in Amenemhet’s burial complex at DASHUR.
Hathorhotep’s remains have not been identified.Hat-mehit A deity of the city of MENDESin the Delta,
represented as a Nile carp or as a woman with a fish
emblem on her head, Hat-mehit was obscured by the
ram-god BA’EB DJET at MENDES. She was eventually
regarded as his consort.Hatnofer (fl. 15th century B.C.E.)Courtier of the Eigh-
teenth Dynasty
She was the mother of SENENMUT, a counselor of Queen-
Pharaoh HATSHEPSUT(r. 1473–1458 B.C.E.). Hatnofer was
married to Ramose and was possibly the mother of
Senenmen, Amenemhet, Minhotep, and Pairy. She also
had two daughters, ’Ah’hotep and Nofrethor. The
mummy of Hatnofer was adorned with a scarab inscribed
with the name of Hatshepsut as “the God’s Wife.” Two
amphorae bearing the queen-pharaoh’s throne name,
Ma’atkaré, were also found in the tomb. Hatnofer was
buried in western Thebes, in the seventh regnal year of
TUTHMOSIS III(1479–1425 B.C.E.).160 HathorhotepThe Dendereh temple of the goddess Hathor, once a thriving
cult center. (Courtesy Steve Beikirch.)