Egyptian Goddesses: Hathor, Hatmehyt, Hededet, Hemsut, Heqet, Hesat, Iabet, and Isis · 3:35pm Apr 2nd, 2017
Egyptian Goddesses: Hathor
Hathor is one of the most famous goddesses of Ancient Egypt. She was known as "the Great One of Many Names" and her titles and attributes are so numerous that she was important in every area of the life and death of the ancient Egyptians. It is thought that her worship was widespread even in the Predynastic period because she appears on the Narmer palette. However, some scholars suggest that the cow-headed goddess depicted on the palette is in fact Bat (an ancient cow goddess who was largely absorbed by Hathor) or even Narmer himself. However, she was certainly popular by the Old Kingdom as she appears with Bast in the valley temple of Khafre at Giza. Hathor represents Upper Egypt and Bast represents Lower Egypt.
She was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was considered to be the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow (linking her with Nut, Bat and Mehet-Weret). As time passed she absorbed the attributes of many other goddesses but also became more closely associated with Isis, who to some degree usurped her position as the most popular and powerful goddess. Yet she remained popular throughout Egyptian history. More festivals were dedicated to her and more children were named after her than any other god or goddess of Ancient Egypt. Her worship was not confined to Egypt and Nubia. She was worshiped throughout Semitic West Asia, Ethiopia, Somalia and Libya, but was particularly venerated in the city of Byblos.
She was a sky goddess, known as "Lady of Stars" and "Sovereign of Stars" and linked to Sirius (and so the goddesses Sopdet and Isis). Her birthday was celebrated on the day that Sirius first rose in the sky (heralding the coming inundation). By the Ptolemaic period, she was known as the goddess of Hethara, the third month of the Egyptian calendar.
As "the Mistress of Heaven" she was associated with Nut, Mut and the Queen. While as "the Celestial Nurse" she nursed the Pharaoh in the guise of a cow or as a sycamore fig (because it exudes a white milky substance). As "the Mother of Mothers" she was the goddess of women, fertility, children and childbirth. She had power over anything having to do with women from problems with conception or childbirth, to health and beauty and matters of the heart. However, she was not exclusively worshiped by women and unlike the other gods and goddesses she had both male and female priests.
Hathor was also the goddess of beauty and patron of the cosmetic arts. Her traditional votive offering was two mirrors and she was often depicted on mirrors and cosmetic palettes. Yet she was not considered to be vain or shallow, rather she was assured of her own beauty and goodness and loved beautiful and good things. She was known as "the mistress of life" and was seen as the embodiment of joy, love, romance, perfume, dance, music and alcohol. Hathor was especially connected with the fragrance of myrrh incense, which was considered to be very precious and to embody all of the finer qualities of the female sex. Hathor was associated with turquoise, malachite, gold and copper. As "the Mistress of Turquoise" and the "lady of Malachite" she was the patron of miners and the goddess of the Sinai Peninsula (the location of the famous mines). The Egyptians used eye makeup made from ground malachite which had a protective function (in fighting eye infections) which was attributed to Hathor.
She was the patron of dancers and was associated with percussive music, particularly the sistrum (which was also a fertility fetish). She was also associated with the Menit necklace (which may also have been a percussion instrument) and was often known as "the Great Menit". Many of her priests were artisans, musicians, and dancers who added to the quality of life of the Egyptians and worshiped her by expressing their artistic natures. Hathor was the incarnation of dance and sexuality and was given the epithet "Hand of God" (referring to the act of masturbation) and "Lady of the Vulva". One myth tells that Ra had become so despondent that he refused to speak to anyone. Hathor (who never suffered depression or doubt) danced before him exposing her private parts, which caused him to laugh out loud and return to good spirits.
As the "lady of the west" and the "lady of the southern sycamore" she protected and assisted the dead on their final journey. Trees were not commonplace in ancient Egypt, and their shade was welcomed by the living and the dead alike. She was sometimes depicted as handing out water to the deceased from a sycamore tree (a role formerly associated with Amentet who was often described as the daughter of Hathor) and according to myth, she (or Isis) used the milk from the Sycamore tree to restore sight to Horus who had been blinded by Set. Because of her role in helping the dead, she often appears on sarcophagi with Nut (the former on top of the lid, the later under the lid).
She occasionally took the form of the "Seven Hathors" who were associated with fate and fortune telling. It was thought that the "Seven Hathors" knew the length of every child's life from the day it was born and questioned the dead souls as they traveled to the land of the dead. Her priests could read the fortune of a newborn child, and act as oracles to explain the dreams of the people. People would travel for miles to beseech the goddess for protection, assistance and inspiration. The "Seven Hathors" were worshiped in seven cities: Waset (Thebes), Iunu (On, Heliopolis), Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset. They may have been linked to the constellations Pleiades.
However, she was also a goddess of destruction in her role as the Eye of Ra - defender of the sun god. According to legend, people started to criticize Ra when he ruled as Pharaoh. Ra decided to send his "eye" against them (in the form of Sekhmet). She began to slaughter people by the hundred. When Ra relented and asked her to stop she refused as she was in a blood lust. The only way to stop the slaughter was to color beer red (to resemble blood) and pour the mixture over the killing fields. When she drank the beer, she became drunk and drowsy, and slept for three days. When she awoke with a hangover she had no taste for human flesh and mankind was saved. Ra renamed her Hathor and she became a goddess of love and happiness. As a result, soldiers also prayed to Hathor/Sekhmet to give them her strength and focus in battle.
Her husband Horus the elder was associated with the pharaoh, so Hathor was associated with the Queen. Her name is translated as "The House of Horus", which refers both to the sky (where Horus lived as a Hawk) and to the royal family. She had a son named Ihy (who was a god of music and dancing) with Horus-Behdety and the three were worshiped at Denderah (Iunet). However, her family relationships became increasingly confusing as time passed. She was probably first considered to be the wife of Horus the elder and the daughter of Ra, but when Ra and Horus were linked as the composite deity Re-Horakty she became both the wife and the daughter of Ra.
This strengthened her association with Isis, who was the mother of Horus the child by Osiris. In Hermopolis (Khmunu) Thoth was the foremost god, and Hathor was considered to be his wife and the mother of Re-Horakhty (a composite deity which merged Ra with Hor-akhty).
Of course, Thoth already had a wife, Seshat (the goddess of reading, writing, architecture and arithmetic), so Hathor absorbed her role including acting as a witness at the judgement of the dead. Her role in welcoming the dead gained her a further husband - Nehebkau (the guardian of the entrance of the underworld). Then when Ra and Amun merged, Hathor became seen as the wife of Sobek who was considered to be an aspect of Amen-Ra. Yet Sobek was also associated with Seth, the enemy of Horus!
She took the form of a woman, goose, cat, lion, malachite, sycamore fig, to name but a few. However, Hathor's most famous manifestation is as a cow and even when she appears as a woman she has either the ears of a cow, or a pair of elegant horns. When she is depicted as entirely a cow, she always has beautifully painted eyes. She was often depicted in red (the color of passion) though her sacred color is turquoise. It is also interesting to note that only she and the dwarf god Bes (who also had a role in childbirth) were ever depicted in portrait (rather than in profile). Isis borrowed many of her functions and adapted her iconography to the extent that it is often difficult to be sure which of the two goddesses is depicted. However, the two deities were not the same. Isis was in many ways a more complex deity who suffered the death of her husband and had to fight to protect her infant son, so she understood the trials and tribulations of the people and could relate to them. Hathor, on the other hand, was the embodiment of power and success and did not experience doubts. While Isis was merciful, Hathor was single minded in pursuit of her goals. When she took the form of Sekhmet, she did not take pity on the people and even refused to stop killing when ordered to do so.
Egyptian Goddesses: Hatmehyt
Hatmehyt (or Hatmehit) was a fish-goddess worshiped in the Delta area of Ancient Egypt, particularly in Mendes (Per-banebdjedet or place of Banebdjed). The standard for the Nome was the symbol of a fish, confirming Hatmehyt as the preeminent deity of the area. However, in later times her position was usurped by Banebdjed (an aspect of Osiris) who was considered to be her consort and was worshiped in the female form of Banebdjedet. She was absorbed by Isis (the wife of Osiris), leading to the view that she (as an aspect of Isis) was the mother of Harpocrates (Harpakhred, "Horus the child").
Her name can be translated as "she who is in front of the fishes" or "Foremost of the fish". This could either suggest that she was the most important of the (few) fish cults, or that she was considered to be the oldest fish deity. She was sometimes depicted as a fish (either a dolphin or a lepidotus fish) or a woman with a "Fish" emblem on her head.
Egyptian Goddesses: Hededet
Hededet was a scorpion goddess of Ancient Egypt who offered protection against scorpion and snake bites. Because of her skill against snakes, she was considered to be one of the deities who protected her father Ra from the dreaded serpent Apep in the underworld.
She was originally worshiped around Nekhen (second district of Upper Egypt). However, although she is referred to in the "Book of the dead" (from the New Kingdom) she was largely absorbed by another local scorpion goddess, Serqet, and by the ever popular Isis.
Egyptian Goddesses: Hemsut
Hemsut (Hemuset) were the Goddesses of Fate, destiny and protection in Ancient Egypt. They were closely associated with the concept of the ka (life force or spirit) and could be seen as the female personification of the masculine ka. They could also be seen as the personification of the creative potential in the primeval water from which everything was created.
They were generally depicted as women bearing a shield with two crossed arrows above it (the symbol of Neith). Occasionally, they were also depicted as kneeling women holding a child in their arms. According to the Memphite theology they were created by Ptah but in Sais they were closely connected with Neith who was said to have drawn them from the waters of Nun.
Egyptian Goddesses: Heqet
Heqet (Heqat, Heket) was a goddess of childbirth and fertility in Ancient Egypt. She was depicted as a frog, or a woman with the head of a frog. The meaning of her name is not certain, but possibly derived from the word "heqa" meaning "ruler" or "scepter". Frogs symbolized fruitfulness and new life, and it is thought that the her priestesses were trained midwives.
According to one tradition, she was the wife of Khnum, the creator god of Abu (Elephantine). He created each person on his potter's wheel, and she breathed life into them before they were placed in their mother's womb. Heqet and Khnum are depicted on Hatshepsut's birth colonnade in her Mortuary Temple at Deir el Bahri. Heqet holds an ankh (symbolizing life) to the infant Hatshepsut and her ka. According to another tradition, She was the wife of Heh and it was he who crafted each person before she brought life to them. Finally, she was sometimes considered to be the wife of Horus the elder, although as a form of Hathor she was also his mother.
Pregnant women wore amulets depicting Heqet for protection, and during the Middle Kingdom ritual ivory knives and clappers inscribed with her name were used to ward off evil during childbirth. She could also bring on labor and offer protection during labor. Heqet assisted in this manner in the deliverance of three fifth dynasty kings, according to a myth recorded in the Westcar papyrus in the Story of the birth of the three pharaohs which appears at the end of the tale of "Khufu and the Magicians".
She was also involved in the resurrection of the deceased. In the pyramid texts she assists the pharaoh as he makes his way to the eternal stars sky and is depicted beneath the funeral bier of the deceased Osiris in Denderah. There was a Ptolemaic temple to Heqet at Qus, but only one pylon remains. There is also a reference to a temple at Her-wer in a tomb at Tuna el-Gebel, but so far this temple has not been found.
Egyptian Goddesses: Hesat
Hesat (Heset, Hesahet or Hesaret) was a cow goddess of Ancient Egypt who was considered to be the earthly manifestation of Hathor.
She was called "the creator of all nourishment" and her name has the same root the word for milk, ("hesa") which was known as the "beer of Heset". She was pictured as a divine white cow, either with a sun disc between her horns or carrying a tray of food on her horns and milk flowing from her udders.
Hesat was seen as the wet-nurse of the other gods, minor patron of pregnant women and nursing mothers. She was also thought to be the mother of Anubis. Thus the creator of all nourishment also gave birth to a god of the dead (later the god of mummification). She was the wife of Ra, whose earthly manifestation was the Mnevis Bull. The triad of the Mnevis, Hesat and Anubis were worshiped in Heliopolis.
Egyptian Goddesses: Iabet
Iabet (Abet, Abtet, Ab, Iabtet, or Iab) was the personification of the eastern desert, known as Khentet-Iabet ("Before the East" or "Foremost of the East"). She was often associated with Amentet, the goddess of the west. Iabet was the mother and wife of the god Min (known as "The Bull of His Mother"), who was also a god of the Eastern Desert and fertility. She was also linked to Isis, Nephthys and to Hathor, who all used the title Khentet-Iabet. Sometimes, in a funerary context, Isis would replace Amentet and Iabet would be replaced by Nephthys.
Iabet was the goddess of fertility and rebirth. She often appears in New Kingdom tombs and funerary goods in scenes relating to the journey of the sun god, Ra, who she was believed to purify as he passed through the underworld, linking her closely to Kebechet (the daughter of Anubis) who purified the dead with water. However, she rarely appears in the tombs of the royal family. In the Amduat, Iabet is depicted as a woman with her arms by her sides, along with eleven other goddesses, including Neith, Isis and Tefnut, collectively known as "Those who give praise to Ra as he passes over Wernes".
She was worshiped in Khent-Min (Panopolis, Akhmim) along with Min and his other consort, Repyt (Repit).
Egyptian Goddesses: Isis
Isis was one of the oldest gods or goddesses of ancient Egypt but her origins are unclear. She is sometimes thought to have originated in the Sinai but is is also likely that she was first worshipped as a fetish in the Delta area of Lower Egypt around Busiris, the location of the oldest known cult center to Osiris. However, her cult was not limited to one area, but worshipped in every temple in the land. In fact, the first shrine dedicated specifically to her was built by Nectanebo II in Dynasty Thirty!
The cult of Isis, the Egyptian goddess, was very popular throughout Egypt, and beyond and she became a goddess of almost limitless attributes. Isis was her Greek name, but she was known to the ancient Egyptians as Aset (or Ast, Iset, Uset), which is usually translated as "(female) of throne" or "Queen of the throne". Her original headdress was an empty throne and as the personification of the throne she was an important source of the Pharaoh's power (as descent was to some degree matrilineal). However, the exact meaning of her name is still disputed. Plutarch suggested that her name meant "knowledge" but another possible translation is "(female) of flesh", i.e. mortal, suggesting that although she was the Queen of the Gods, she had once been a mortal woman. This certainly fits with the mythology surrounding the Ennead which state that Isis and her husband, Osiris, had actually ruled Egypt before the time of the pharaohs. However, the Book of the Dead describes her as "She who gives birth to heaven and earth, knows the orphan, knows the widow, seeks justice for the poor, and shelter for the weak" suggesting that she was considered to be more than simply a mere mortal. Isis was known as "Hent" (Queen) in every Nome, but she was also known by a bewildering number of names and titles throughout ancient Egypt and took on the aspects of many other goddesses. This resulted in a fairly complex relationship with the other gods and goddesses.
Isis was a member of the Helioploitan Ennead, as the daughter of Geb (Earth) and Nut (Sky) and the sister and wife of Osiris and the sister of Set, Nephthys and (sometimes) Horus the Elder. However, because of her association with the throne Isis was sometimes considered to be the wife of Horus the Elder- the patron of the living Pharaoh. Ra and Horus were closely associated during early Egyptian history, while Isis was closely associated with Hathor (who was described as the mother or the wife of Horus or Ra) and so Isis could also be considered to be the wife of Ra or Horus.
However, when Ra and Atum (the Ennead of Helipolis) merged, Isis became both the daughter of Atum(-Ra) and the wife of (Atum-)Ra. This situation was clarified by crediting Isis as the granddaughter of Ra-Atum, the mother of Horus (the child) and the wife of Osiris.
The adoption of the mythology of Heliopolis as the national religion promoted Osiris to the position of King of the Netherworld. However, this position was already held by Anubis. As a result, a myth developed that Nepthys became pregnant by Osiris and gave birth to Anubis. There are various versions of the tale, in some cases Osiris genuinely mistakes Nepthys for his wife Isis (the two were depicted as being very similar in appearance), in other cases Nepthys intentionally tricks Osiris. Either way, Isis adopted her husband's illegitimate child to protect her sister and the child from the rage of her brother Set and apparently was happy to forgive the adultery.
The Egyptians highly valued family life and Isis was the paragon of motherly virtues. From the New Kingdom, Isis was considered to be the archetypal mother and was a patron goddess of childbirth and motherhood. As Horus was the patron of the living Pharaoh, Isis could be described as the mother of the Pharaoh. The image of Isis and the infant Horus was extremely popular in Egyptian art and it is generally accepted that they had a huge influence on the iconography of Mary and the infant Jesus Christ in the early Christian Church. However, while Mary is perhaps best described as a passive vessel who was not considered to have any power independent of her child, Isis was not only a mother, but a confident and skilled queen and a very powerful sorceress.
Isis knew the secret name of Ra, which gave her an incredible amount of power. The Pyramid Texts imply that Isis prophesied the murder of Osiris (although she was unable to prevent it) and her power even extended beyond the grave. At her insistence Anubis and Thoth devised the first ritual of mummification to give Osiris life after death and she herself managed to magically conceive her son Horus by hovering over the body of her dead husband. She was one of the four protector goddesses (along with Bast, Nephthys, and Hathor, or Nephthys, Selket and Neith) who protected the sarcophagus and the Canopic jars (which contained the internal organs). It was thought that she helped the deceased on their difficult journey into the afterlife and she was sometimes named as one of the judges of the dead.
Her priestesses were skilled healers and midwives, and were rumored to have magical powers. Like the priestesses of Hathor the could interpret dreams, but they were also thought to be able to control the weather by braiding or combing their hair (a superstition which was common in many later seafaring cultures). During the Ptolemaic period she was linked with Astarte as the patron goddess of sailors as it was hoped that she would provide a favorable wind. Her loyalty to her murdered husband and infant child, her courage in defying Set and her warmth and compassion towards all people (even Set) made Isis one of the most beloved goddesses in Egypt, and indeed the ancient world.
Isis was often represented as a goddess wearing a headdress representing a throne (which was one of the hieroglyphs in her name). She was also frequently depicted as a human queen wearing the vulture headdress with a royal serpent on the brow. In these two forms she occasionally carried a lotus bud or the glyph of the sycamore tree. She was also commonly depicted as a queen or goddess wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt along with the feather of Ma'at. There are also numerous representations of Isis with her son, Horus, which bear a marked similarity to later images of the virgin Mary with baby Jesus.
Isis was also depicted as a winged goddess or a kite (one of her sacred animals). In this form her wings spread a heavenly scent across the land and brought fresh air into the underworld. From the New Kingdom she also adopted the vulture headdress with cow's horns on either side of a sun disk between them. Occasionally she was depicted as a cow or a woman with a cow's head. In her form of the snake goddess Thermouthis she was depicted as a cobra crowned with the throne headdress.
The Tjet amulet was also known as the "Knot of Isis", "Buckle of Isis", or the "Blood of Isis". Although the meaning of the Tjet is fairly obscure, it is thought that it may have represented a woman's sanitary cloth (hence the connection with blood) or may relate to the magical power in a knot (again linking it with Isis the great magician). The Tjet was used in the funerary rites and seems to have been linked with the ideas of resurrection and rebirth.
She was sometimes associated with Khnum in representing Upper Egypt, just as Ptah-Tanen was associated with Nephthys in representing Lower Egypt.
Sources
Source One: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hathor.html
Source Two: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hatmehyt.html
Source Three: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hededet.html
Source Four: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hemsut.html
Source Five: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/heqet.html
Source Six: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hesat.html
Source Seven: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/iabet.html
Source Eight: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/isis.html
Such a complex and unique set of religious beliefs and traditions the Ancient Egyptians have. I hope it all comes back to them someday and the ancient Gods see veneration once again. Quite a number of Egyptian deities sound like they could be considered great patrons of modern rational thought and science.
4481140 I'm a big fan of ancient Egyptian mythology, religious beliefs, and their culture in general. It was very complex and advanced. I would love to see a resurgence in the Egyptian fashion, especially in terms of their jewelry and eye makeup. But their concept of the afterlife was really interesting as well. I am going to make a blog post about the Book of the Dead which tells about their various beliefs in regards to the afterlife and the pharaoh's connection with the sun.
4481190 Yay!
4481217 I am glad that you are enjoying reading these. XD
I've been to those temples. Incredible I say. I really have no words to describe this. Seriously, you should be giving lectures!
I can see it now...
"Daring Do and the Bones of the Seven Goddesses"
Where A.K. Yearling has to find the last remains of the divines of Egypt to keep the "Black Pharaoh" Nyarlanthotep from being able to wander freely on the Earth.
4481417 I am eventually going to talk about various mythologies (among other things) on my YouTube channel. :)
Such religious history. Thank you for making this blog Lyra
4491232 You are very welcome. I am glad that you enjoyed reading it. :)
4491241
I'm glad you post these for us ^_^
4492873 Yay!
4492963
yay indeed ^_^
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