Meet Hathor

The goddess Hathor has long hair and cow’s ears. Hathor is best known for her functions as the goddess of music, love and sexuality.She was later associated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Hathor can be depicted in different ways. Her most well-known appearance is that of a cow (Fig. 2), but she is also depicted as a woman with cow’s ears, as can be seen on this sistrum (and Fig. 3), or as a woman wearing a curled wig together with a solar disc between the cow’s horns on the top of her head. (Fig. 4)

Hathor played an important role in the religious lives of the ancient Egyptians. She was a protector of pregnant women and was therefore called upon during labor. The Egyptians also believed that Hathor protected them on their journey to the afterlife. In this function, she not only protected the dead but also ensured their rebirth and regeneration in the Good West; the afterlife. K. E. Bandy, ‘Hathor’, in R. S. Bagnall, K. Brodersen, C. B. Champion, A. Erskine,and S. R. Huebner (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (Blackwell Publishing; Oxford, 2013), 3074.

Sistra were used in religious rituals associated with Hathor, and they were often decorated with her image. This also shows her role as the patron of music. This one might not have actually been used in a ritual, but was most probably gifted to the goddess as an offering.