Large
Egyptian Hathor Statue
in cold cast bronze with hand
painted detail
16 inches high
This regal depiction of Hathor shows the Goddess with her staff of royalty, and
wearing a crown that includes a vulture that extends out both the front and back
of her head. She also wears the typical Egyptian wig of ancient royalty, carries
the ankh of life, and stands on a pedestal surrounded by heiroglyphs.
$78.00
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#TL-1138
HATHOR: Egyptian Mother of the Gods
Joy, Motherhood, Childbirth, Royal Succession, and Feminine Goodness
Hathor is associated with the heavenly
womb, brought forth in primeval time. Her temples were birthing rooms bearing
images of the seven frame drum and sistrum playing Hathors who brought blessed
souls to newborns.These deities conferred their protection upon the newborn
child.
During childbirth, in ancient Egypt, a woman would squat on a pair of
elaborately decorated clay bricks. The bricks show a woman transformed into a
goddess at the moment of giving birth. The new mother and her midwives would
call on Hathor, the goddess of fertility and motherhood, in an effort to protect
the newborn child. Birth was not just a physical event, but a supercharged
magical and religious time. Ancient Egyptians equated the birth of a child to
the birth of the sun on the eastern horizon.
Hathor's name means "The Dwelling of Horus", for it was thought that
Horus as the Sun God came to rest each evening on her breast before being reborn
with the awakening dawn.
Hathor is the great Sky-Goddess that as a celestial cow gave birth to the
universe. She was often represented as a cow or with bovine attributes such as a
cow's head, cow's ears, or horns on her headdress. She is the embodiment of all
that is best in women. Hathor was also considered the Goddess of music, song,
dance and lighthearted pleasure.
As a Moon Goddess, She was protectress of pregnant women and midwives. Her main
cult centre was at Dendera, where she was worshipped along with her husband,
Horus. Hathor was the Supreme Goddess of sexual love in Egypt, identified by the
Greeks with Aphrodite. Her temple at Dendera was "The House of Intoxication
and Enjoyment."
Her priestesses carried two instruments; the sistrum, a bronze sacred rattle and
the menat, a necklace, thick with beads.
SISTRUM SYMBOLISM
The sistrum's shape forms an ankh with bars attached inside the loop which holds
small cymbal-like objects that make a sound similar to a tambourine when
rattled. There were two types of sistrums used: the ankh-shaped was mainly used
in public celebrations and festivals, like the Bast Sistrum found
here. The second had the face of Hathor at the bottom and the top was
usually in the shape of a "naos", or shrine, as seen in our Hathor
Sistrum.
Used in rites of invocation and initiati it was said the sound of the sistrum
would soothe and placate Hathor in order to invoke her more amiable side.
Due to this special relation with music, the priests and priestesses who resided
in Dendera were usually accomplished musicians and dancers, and a festival was
not complete without their presence. |
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