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 above.

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.