Ancient Egyptian Religion · deity

Hathor

also: Hathor

deitylovemusicdancejoythe sky (as the cow)the protection of women

The cow goddess of love, music, dance, and joy; she is the 'Great One' and the mother of the pharaoh; in the 'Eye of Ra' myth she becomes Sekhmet.

Head in Relief of the Egyptian Celestial Goddess Hathor · Unknown (Egyptian workshop) · New Kingdom (approx. 14th-13th century BCE) · — (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 2.0

The account

Who they are

Hathor is the cow goddess of love, music, dance, and joy, the 'Great One' and the mother of the pharaoh [S4]. She is the goddess of the western desert (the land of the dead) and of the mining regions (the turquoise mines of Serabit el-Khadim) [S4]. In the 'Eye of Ra' myth, Hathor (or Tefnut) is the eye that Ra sends out to punish humanity for plotting against him; the eye becomes enraged and is transformed into Sekhmet (the warrior goddess), and is calmed (by a trick involving red-dyed water that looks like blood) and returns as Hathor [S3][S4]. Hathor is the patroness of music and dance: her priests played the sistrum and the menat [S4]. She is also the 'mistress of the West' — the goddess who receives the dead [S4].

Worth knowing

Cow goddess of love, music, dance, and joy [S4].
The 'Eye of Ra' who becomes Sekhmet and is calmed back to Hathor [S3][S4].
Patroness of the mining regions [S4].

Uncertainties & variants

The 'Eye of Ra' is a fluid concept: it is variously identified with Tefnut, Hathor, Sekhmet, or Wadjet [S4].

Relationships (2)

Connections

Alliances & rule

ASSOCIATED_WITHSekhmet — Hathor and Sekhmet are two aspects of the 'Eye of Ra' (calm vs. raging).[S3] [S4]

SUCCESSOR_OFSekhmet — (Aspect-shift) Sekhmet is calmed and returns as Hathor.[S3] [S4]

Local graph

Their corner of the divine world

View

hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side

Overlays

FocusHathorEgyptian

zoom 2.96× · close

parentage
marriage ♥

far = primordials · medium = all · close = detail — scroll/pan, click a deity to focus

Myths featuring Hathor

1 story

The Eye of Ra (Hathor/Sekhmet)

Ra's eye (variously identified with Hathor, Tefnut, or Sekhmet) was sent out to punish humanity for plotting against Ra. The eye became enraged and was transformed into Sekhmet, the warrior lioness, who slaughtered the rebels. To calm her, Ra (or Thoth) devised a trick: he brewed a potion dyed red with beet juice (to look like blood) and flooded the land with it; Sekhmet, thinking she had drunk the blood of her victims, became drunk and calm, and returned as Hathor [S3][S4].

READ THE STORY →

Artworks

Depictions

← Ancient Egyptian Religion All galleries