Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world's first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world. With world-famous leaders like King Tut and Cleopatra, it's no wonder that today's world has so many Egyptologists.
Today, the goddess Hathor is one of the least known deities in the ancient Egyptian pantheon, and the ancient Egyptians would surely be surprised by this fact. Hathor enjoyed a principal position among the gods of ancient Egypt for much of Egyptian history. If anything, she was ubiquitous, with several key cult centers at Dendera, Memphis, and Thebes, and she played various roles for Egyptian society.
Like many Egyptian deities, Hathor took the form of animals at times. She could “become” a vulture, a cow, or a human, but she was most often depicted as the latter. She is identified in her human form by her long black hair, tied back with a filet beneath a pair of cow horns with the sun disk in between them. The presence of the disk between the horns is a clear indication of her association with the sun deity. That she wore a uraeus, the upright snake was seen on the forehead of royal gods and humans - is a sign of her association with royalty, too.
