Egyptian Gods Patrick Auerbach 2015-12-16 Worshiped for over three-fifths of recorded history, ancient Egypt's Gods and Goddesses are among the most fascinating of human civilization. During the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, MentuhotepII established a permanent cult center for her in the necropolis at Deir el-Bahari. He also symbolized death, resurrection, and the cycle of Nile floods that Egypt relied on for agricultural fertility. Over time she grew in importance, though, eventually becoming the most important goddess in the pantheon. [117], After the New Kingdom, Isis increasingly overshadowed Hathor and other goddesses as she took on their characteristics. Isis was one of the last of the ancient Egyptian gods to still be worshipped. Hethert is patroness of women, and professions given to Her priesthood include dancers, singers, actors . On temple of one's goddess out of Het-Hert (Hathor) at Dendera, here can be found specific inscribed prayers about the festival of your Breathtaking Reunion, which also taken place . [165], Hathor was one of a handful of deities, including Amun, Ptah, and Thoth, who were commonly prayed to for help with personal problems. [123], Dendera, Hathor's oldest temple in Upper Egypt, dates to at least to the Fourth Dynasty. Images of Hathor alluded to her mythical roles, like depictions of the maternal cow in the marsh. In her feminine aspect, Hathor represented the musical arts, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care, besides being a companion of some male divinities and progenitor of . If the two symbols were written separately, we would actually read Hathor's name as "House of Horus" or "Estate of Horus" (depending on how you translated the hieroglyph) - so that is the literal translation of her name ! [133] The daily ritual was largely the same in every Egyptian temple,[133] although the goods given as offerings could vary according to which deity received them. [148] Barbara Richter argues that the festival represented all three things at once. [87][88], Nut, Hathor, and Imentet could each, in different texts, lead the deceased into a place where they would receive food and drink for eternal sustenance. Her beneficent side represented music, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care, and she acted as the consort of several male deities and the mother of their sons. [134] In Late and Ptolemaic times, they were also offered a pair of mirrors, representing the sun and the moon. She was identified with the star Sept, which is the star Sirius. [121], More temples were dedicated to Hathor than to any other Egyptian goddess. Re claims he made her, but some believe she gave birth to him. : Many of Hathor's epithets link her to celebration; she is called the mistress of music, dance, garlands, myrrh, and drunkenness. Ptah was the head of a triad of gods worshipped at Memphis. He was a sky god, whose face was visualised as the face of the sun. Egyptian women squatted on bricks while giving birth, and the only known surviving birth brick from ancient Egypt is decorated with an image of a woman holding her child flanked by images of Hathor. Most Egyptologists who study this story think this woman is Hathor or a goddess like her, one who can be wild and dangerous or benign and erotic. She was the Lady of the Limit or the one who spreads to the edge of the universe and the Lady of the West who welcomed souls to the afterlife. [163], In addition to formal and public rituals at temples, Egyptians privately worshipped deities for personal reasons, including at their homes. It included a shrine to Hathor that was probably deserted during the off-season. Please contact her for more information at info@het-heru.com In contrast, prayers to Hathor mention only the benefits she could grant, such as abundant food during life and a well-provisioned burial after death. [53] At Kom Ombo, Hathor's local form, Tasenetnofret, was mother to Horus's son Panebtawy. [6], A bovine deity with inward-curving horns appears on the Narmer Palette from near the start of Egyptian history, both atop the palette and on the belt or apron of the king, Narmer. According to the myth, Osiris was a king of Egypt who was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth. These images may represent private feasts that were celebrated in front of tombs to commemorate the people buried there, or they may show gatherings at temple festivals such as the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. As a representation of the cosmos, she was considered to be the essence of the soul. [126], As the rulers of the Old Kingdom made an effort to develop towns in Upper and Middle Egypt, several cult centers of Hathor were founded across the region, at sites such as Cusae, Akhmim, and Naga ed-Der. Isis's devotion to her husband and care for their child represented a more socially acceptable form of love than Hathor's uninhibited sexuality,[60] and Mut's character was more authoritative than sexual. [90] The welcoming afterlife goddess was often portrayed as a goddess in the form of a tree, giving water to the deceased. [50] Hathor's relationship with Horus gave a healing aspect to her character, as she was said to have restored Horus's missing eye or eyes after Set attacked him. Ra was sometimes portrayed inside the disk, which Troy interprets as meaning that the eye goddess was thought of as a womb, from which the sun god was born. (Ernutet, Renenutet, Termuthis). Set resented Osiris' success and is said to have conspired to kill his brother after Set's wife Nephthys pretended to be Isis and seduced Osiris. [124] After the end of the Old Kingdom it surpassed her Memphite temples in importance. Despite the growing prominence of these deities, Hathor remained important, particularly in relation to fertility, sexuality, and queenship, throughout the New Kingdom. [58] The version from Hathor's temple at Dendera emphasizes that she, as a female solar deity, was the first being to emerge from the primordial waters that preceded creation, and her life-giving light and milk nourished all living things. [3], Despite these early precedents, Hathor is not unambiguously mentioned or depicted until the Fourth Dynasty (c.26132494 BC) of the Old Kingdom,[4] although several artifacts that refer to her may date to the Early Dynastic Period (c.31002686 BC). [142], The best-documented festival focused on Hathor is another Ptolemaic celebration, the Festival of the Beautiful Reunion. The ancient Egyptian goddess Nebt-het (better known by the Greek version of her name, Nephthys) is a goddess in shadows: associated with death, liminality and time, creation and destruction. [102] Mirrors were another of her symbols, because in Egypt they were often made of gold or bronze and therefore symbolized the sun disk, and because they were connected with beauty and femininity. (Hatmehyt and Hetmehit). (Bat), Hathor- A solar Deity whose areas of influence included music, dancing, joy and fertility. Beginning with ArsinoeII, wife of PtolemyII, the Ptolemies closely linked their queens with Isis and with several Greek goddesses, particularly their own goddess of love and sexuality, Aphrodite. Thou art the governor of Tattu 1 The Great Oracle of Tehuti And the Egyptian System of Spiritual Cultivation The author and publishers acknowledge with thanks, fi Whereas the rampages of the Eye of Ra brought death to humans, the Festival of Drunkenness celebrated life, abundance, and joy. Hatmehit- A fish/ dolphin Goddess. [27], Egyptian religion celebrated the sensory pleasures of life, believed to be among the gods' gifts to humanity. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. "[34] A hymn to the goddess Raet-Tawy as a form of Hathor at the temple of Medamud describes the Festival of Drunkenness (Tekh Festival) as part of her mythic return to Egypt. Nu was shown usually as male but could also be represented as female as Naunet. Her most common form, however, was a woman wearing a headdress of the horns and sun disk, often with a red or turquoise sheath dress, or a dress combining both colors. Meskhent- Goddess of childbirth and midwifery. [137] An example is the Festival of Drunkenness, commemorating the return of the Eye of Ra, which was celebrated on the twentieth day of the month of Thout at temples to Hathor and to other Eye goddesses. The Egyptian Book of Living and Dying traces the stages of life from conception to the life beyond the tomb. In some cases, women were called "Osiris-Hathor", indicating that they benefited from the revivifying power of both deities. [13], Hathor was given the epithets "mistress of the sky" and "mistress of the stars", and was said to dwell in the sky with Ra and other sun deities. Connection to other gods Bat (archaic cow goddess) (possibly an older version of her) Amuntet Auset/ Isis (Selkis,Selkit, Selket, Selkhet, Serqet), Seshet- The great scribe and librarian who was responsible for accounting, architecture, astronomy, historical records and mathematics. Most had a principle association (for example, with the sun or the underworld) and form. She was one of several goddesses who acted as the Eye of Ra, Ra's feminine counterpart, and in this form she had a vengeful aspect that protected him from his enemies. [151] A temple to Hathor as Lady of Byblos was built during the reign of ThutmoseIII, although it may simply have been a shrine within the temple of Baalat. [115], The preeminence of Amun during the New Kingdom gave greater visibility to his consort Mut, and in the course of the period, Isis began appearing in roles that traditionally belonged to Hathor alone, such as that of the goddess in the solar barque. Life and order were thought to be dependent on Ra's activity, and the story implies that Hathor averted the disastrous consequences of his idleness. Osiris. Hathor (Egyptian: Het-Hert) - One of the most important goddesses, linked with the sky, the sun, sexuality and motherhood, music and dance, . He was commonly depicted as a falcon-headed god with a double crown. She is the goddess of music, dancing, wine, joy, and love, whose devotees celebrate her rich generative powers through song, rhythm, and laughter. [36], Hathor's joyful, ecstatic side indicates her feminine, procreative power. [109], Many female royals, though not reigning queens, held positions in the cult during the Old Kingdom. (Bastet, Ubasti, and Pasht). Drinking and dancing at these feasts may have been meant to intoxicate the celebrants, as at the Festival of Drunkenness, allowing them to commune with the spirits of the deceased. [12] For these reasons, Gillam calls her "a type of deity rather than a single entity". I have also included varies spellings of names in this Egyptian Goddess list, reflecting both the difficulties of hieroglyphs not representing many vowel sounds and geographical variations. Before rising to national importance in the New Kingdom (c. 15391292 BCE), the god Amon was worshipped locally in the southern city of Thebes. Thus, Hathor, as Imentet, often appears on tombs, welcoming the deceased person as her child into a blissful afterlife. Cattle goddesses similar to Hathor were portrayed in Egyptian art in the fourth millennium BC, but she may not have appeared until the Old Kingdom (c.26862181 BC). Some mirror handles were made in the shape of Hathor's face. Heket -Depicted as a frog. Neith- Goddess of the hunt and war. Satet- Goddess of the bountiful floods. "[47], Hathor was considered the mother of various child deities. (Sakhmet, Sekhet ), Selkhet- She is a protector of the hawk-headed canopic jar, and along with three other deities who guarded the royal coffins and canopic chests. The Egyptologist Henry George Fischer suggested this deity may be Bat, a goddess who was later depicted with a woman's face and inward-curling horns, seemingly reflecting the curve of the cow horns. It was celebrated as early as the Middle Kingdom, but it is best known from Ptolemaic and Roman times.

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