Among the depictions of
Hathor
the one that presents her as a cow and other times as a woman with the head of a cow . Another attractive form of Hathor is the one where she is depicted as a complete woman with a couple of horns holding the solar disk between them over her head . On the columns in the temples of
Dandara
and Phyla or
Elephantine
Island Hathor is portrayed as a remarkably beautiful woman with cow ears , and smiling face .
In the Coffin Texts Hathor was presented as the goddess of love , music , dance , singing and beauty . This demonstrates the reason for using her usually as a symbol for pleasure and relief since she was the symbol of the wife , the daughter , and the woman in general .
In the Book of the Dead , she was one of the goddesses who attend the trial of the dead people to testimony that they were fairly judged . Some of the paintings of her highlight the role she played in the underworld as the goddess who supplies the recently dead souls with food embodying her under the sycamore tree feeding the dead people who are sitting in the shadow of the
There are some papyri that date
back to the 21 dynasty that presents Hathor as the cow who stands in the entrance of the underworld greeting the dead souls . Some of these papyri relate between the rising and setting of the sun and the movement of the head of the cow that stands in the western mountain . In other paintings Hathor was wearing the menat necklace that was used as a symbol for resurrection and was known at that period as the Lady of the West and the Lady of the Holy Country .
The ancient idea that Hathor represented the sky and was associated with the sun was here connected with her newer role in behalf of the dead at the entrance of the underworld . Hathor as the goddess of music was depicted as a woman with a round face and holding a musical instrument in her hand .
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