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HATHOR
Hathor was an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of feminine love, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. Hathor was worshiped by Royalty and common people alike in whose tombs she is depicted as “Mistress of the West” welcoming the dead into the next life.[3]. In other roles she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth.
The cult of Hathor pre-dates the historical period and the roots of devotion to her are therefore difficult to trace though it may be a development of predynastic cults who venerated the fertility, and nature in general, represented by cows.
HathorProduct Description:
14"H (36 cm) statue bonded marble.
Her name means The Dwelling of Horus, for it was thought that Horus as the Sun God came to rest each evening on her breast before being reborn with the awakening dawn. Hathor is the great Sky-Goddess that as a celestial cow gave birth to the universe. She was often represented as a cow or with bovine attributes such as a cowís head, cowís ears or horns on her headdress. Hathor was the Goddess of Joy and Motherhood and the embodiment of all that is best in women. She was also considered the Goddess of music, song, dance and lighthearted pleasure, but she was essentially a Moon Goddess.
She was considered the protectress of pregnant women and midwives. Her main cult centre was at Dendera, where she was worshipped along with her husband, Horus. Hathor was the Supreme Goddess of sexual love in Egypt, immediately identified with Aphrodite by the Greeks. Her temple at Dendera was ìThe House of Intoxication and Enjoymentî. Her main attributes were two ritual instruments carried by her priestesses, the sistrum, a bronze sacred rattle and the menat, a necklace, thick with beads and a counterpoise long enough to be grasped in the hand which was only worn by Hathor, but used by her priestesses as a healing instrument.
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