Summary
Hathor was one of the most loved goddesses of ancient Egypt: the goddess of love, beauty, music, dance, joy and motherhood, shown as a cow, or as a woman with cow’s ears or horns holding the sun disk. She was the wife of Horus, the protector of women and of travellers to foreign lands, and the goddess who welcomed the dead in the west. Her great temple at Dendera, north of Luxor, is one of the best preserved in Egypt.
Who Was Hathor?
Hathor, in Egyptian Hut-hor, “house of Horus”, was a sky goddess whose body was imagined as the heavens, sheltering the sun. Her forms were many:
- The divine cow, giving milk and nourishment to the king and to all life.
- A woman with cow’s ears, as on the columns of her temples, where her calm face looks out in four directions.
- A woman with horns and the sun disk, a crown later also worn by Isis.
She was the wife of Horus, and in some myths the daughter of Ra. Every year her statue sailed from Dendera to Horus’s temple at Edfu for the “Beautiful Reunion”, two weeks of feasting.
Goddess of Music, Love and Joy
Hathor was the goddess of everything that made life sweet: love and beauty, perfume and make-up, music, dance, drunkenness and celebration. Her sacred instrument was the sistrum, a rattle shaken by priestesses, often decorated with her face. Women prayed to her for children and a safe birth, and the “Seven Hathors” were said to foretell the fate of every newborn child.
She also had a fierce side: in the myth of the destruction of mankind, the gentle Hathor turned into the raging lioness Sekhmet, and was calmed only with red-coloured beer. The yearly Festival of Drunkenness at her temples remembered this story.
Lady of the West and of Foreign Lands
- Lady of the West: in Thebes she was the goddess of the western mountain, where the dead were buried, emerging from the cliffs as a cow to welcome them. Her chapel stands in the Temple of Hatshepsut.
- Lady of Turquoise: she protected the miners of Sinai, and her temple at Serabit el-Khadim stands among the turquoise mines.
- Lady of Punt and Byblos: traders and sailors to distant lands prayed to her. See the economy and trade of ancient Egypt.
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View This TripThe Temple of Hathor at Dendera
Her greatest temple, at Dendera, about 60 km north of Luxor, was built mainly under the last Ptolemies and the Romans, from about 54 BC. It is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt:
- a hypostyle hall of 18 columns crowned with Hathor’s face, under a ceiling painted with the sky and the zodiac, its colours restored to brilliant blue;
- chapels on the roof where the rites of Osiris were held, including a cast of the famous circular Dendera Zodiac (the original is in the Louvre);
- crypts in the walls with carved reliefs, among them the “Dendera light”;
- on the back wall, a large relief of Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion.
Visit it with the temple of Seti I at Abydos on our Dendera and Abydos day tour from Luxor.
Where to See Hathor in Egypt
| Where | What to see |
|---|---|
| Dendera | Her own temple, the painted ceilings and the Hathor columns |
| Abu Simbel | The Small Temple, dedicated to Hathor and Queen Nefertari |
| Temple of Hatshepsut | The Chapel of Hathor, with Hathor-headed columns |
| Philae | A small temple of Hathor carved with dancing and music-making gods |
| Egyptian Museum | A chapel and statue of Hathor as a cow |
Meet the other gods in ancient Egyptian gods, and the queen most linked to her in Queen Nefertari.
Hathor: FAQ
What is Hathor the goddess of?
Love, beauty, music, dance, joy, motherhood and fertility; she also welcomed the dead and protected travellers abroad.
Why is Hathor shown as a cow?
The cow stood for nourishment, motherhood and care, the gifts Hathor gave to the king and to all people.
Who was Hathor’s husband?
Horus, the falcon god; their union was celebrated every year between Dendera and Edfu.
Are Hathor and Sekhmet the same goddess?
In one myth Hathor turns into Sekhmet, the lioness: they were two sides, gentle and fierce, of the power of the sun god’s eye.
Where is the temple of Hathor?
At Dendera, about 60 km north of Luxor, one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt.
