Hathor
Lady of the West
Goddess of love, music, dance and joy, often shown as a cow or with cow horns cradling the sun.
Hathor was one of Egypt's most beloved goddesses, honored with music and dancing. She was called Lady of Turquoise at the Sinai mines and Lady of the Sycamore, and she welcomed the dead into the afterlife. Her great temple stands at Dendera.
Symbols
Cow horns with sun disk Sistrum (rattle) Menat necklace
In the ancient sources
Egyptian texts
- nebet-imentet
- “lady of the West” tomb inscriptions
- nebut
- “the Golden One” love songs, Papyrus Chester Beatty I
- Book of the Heavenly Cow When people plot against the aging Ra, his Eye goes out 'as Hathor' and slaughters them until he tricks her with beer.
- Contendings of Horus and Seth When Ra sulks after an insult and lies alone, Hathor comes and uncovers herself before him; he laughs, gets up and returns to judging.
- Love songs, Papyrus Chester Beatty I Lovers pray to the Golden One and thank her for bringing them together.
- Temple of Edfu Each summer Hathor's statue sailed upriver from Dendera to Edfu for the Festival of the Beautiful Reunion with Horus.
Cross-checked against these texts and records, in public-domain or freely available versions where they exist. Line, section and chapter numbers follow the standard editions, so a particular translation may differ slightly.
Correspondences Explore all
- Planet
- Venus
- Plants
- Sycamore fig
- Animals
- Cow
- Tarot
- The Empress
These mix ancient attributes with modern associations from contemporary pagan and magical practice; the modern ones weren't part of her original worship.