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Ancient Egypt / Religion / Gods /
Hathor
Goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, connected to the sky and women, devoted to motherhood, fertility, beauty and love. She was also patroness of foreign lands and many minerals extracted in the desert. She was depicted in a number of ways, but the most common one was the shape of a star-studded cow.
Her name means "estate of Horus," and she was worshipped together with him in her cult centre in Dandarah in Upper (Southern) Egypt. Other names used for Hathor were Athyr and Athor.
She was also closely associated with the sun god Re, and she was said to be his eye or daughter.
Her worship can be traced to around 3000 BCE. She had several cult centres all over Egypt. In the necropolis of Thebes she became patroness of the region of the dead. In the 1st millennium BCE, women hoped to be assimilated with her in the afterworld, similar to the way in which men hoped to become Osiris.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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