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Hathor and Thoth: Two Key Figures of the Ancient Egyptian Religion

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Hathor and Thoth: Two Key Figures of the Ancient Egyptian Religion CHAPTER EIGHT HATHOR AND THOTH: TWO KEY FIGURES OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION The summary of the results of this study can be stated briefly. The character and significance of Hathor and Thoth have been clearly delineated in the relevant chapters. A reproduction of these two images is unnecessary. All that remains is the discussion of two points: the verification of the insight acquired against the principles set forth in chapter I, and a further argumentation of the tenet contained in the title of this work that Hathor and Thoth really can be designated key figures of the ancient Egyptian religion. It would seem pedantic to argue that the present author has proved that he is right about all the principles dealt with in chapter I. To confine oneself to the discussion of a few salient pronouncements is more elegant. First the observations on the nature and function of the myth in ancient Egypt. My postulation is that the Egyptian "did not translate his mythical knowledge of truth into a dramatic story, rather into diverse rituals and symbols sanctioned by mythical allusions". The investigation has confirmed the truth of this postulation. There is no real myth connected with Hathor which emanates directly from her being. Her character and significance must be deduced from her many figurations, from her attributes and from the festive rituals celebrated in her honour. It is a rather different matter with Thoth. He fulfils an important function in the framework of various myths. These "myths", however, occur in variable forms and add nothing to the qualities already possessed by Thoth. Furthermore it is important to note that the thesis about the homo­ geneity of the divine figures has been confirmed. In other words the relationship of Hathor and Thoth with the other gods and goddesses was clarified, and their own figures became more sharply delineated when they were presumed to be typologically homogeneous. One implication of this is that the family relationship in which both deities respectively are placed has more of a symbolic than a real significance. Hathor especially is much too independent a personality to be committed to a particular mythological framework. Originally HATHOR AND THOTH 159 she did not even have a partner. Thus Hathor's association with certain goddesses derives from the presence of analogous traits, but is never based on identity. This viewpoint brings order in the confused mythical complex surrounding the sun-eye and the moon-eye. It has appeared that a number of figures must be distinguished ,since they differ typologically. For example there are (a) the wrathful sun-eye, the scorching sun, (b) the sun-eye that is eclipsed, (c) the savage goddess who is enticed to Egypt from a distant land, (d) the moon-eye that is mutilated during its metamorphosis. Only if a distinction is made between these four, interwoven figures can the relationship of Hathor on the one hand and Thoth on the other to the deities be clarified. The second point to be noted is the place of Hathor and Thoth as "key figures" in the Egyptian pantheon. To support the correctness of the qualification reference must be made to the observation in chapter I about the functional structure of Egyptian polytheism. There it was argued that the best way to understand the significance of the Egyptian gods is to consider the function they fulfil in Egyptian religion, the dominant ideas of which are Creation, Maintenance of the World Order, Procreation, Eternal Life. Re heads the list as creator of the world system. Osiris closes it as the bestower of eternal life. The actual religious life is governed by Hathor and Thoth, being respectively the goddess of creative elan and spiritual transport, and the god who establishes peace and continually restores world harmony. Even though Hathor and Thoth are key figures, this does not mean they are linked with each other in the polytheistic world of the gods. Both have too striking a personality for that. Nonetheless it is evident that they are related in a way and that they counterbalance each other. This is most manifest in the influence exercised by Thoth on Hathor. The texts say that it is part of Thoth's duty to calm down Hathor each day. 1 Elsewhere Thoth is made to utter a eulogy praising Hathor as the personified year, as the divine being who daily brings good fortune to man and to whom Thoth wishes she may have a rich and sound life. 2 Finally new light can be brought to bear on the significance and the function of these two deities and on their inter-relationship if they are compared with Dionysos and Apollo. These Greek gods are so well 1 H. JUNKER, Der AU8Zug der Hathor-Tefnut aU8 Nubien, p. 7, 41, 42. 2 K.H. BRUGSCH, Thesauru8 lnacriptionum Aegypticarum, alUigyptiache lnachriften, 1968, II, p. 220 sq. .
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