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THE CULT of HATHOR the Cult of Hathor Must Date from Very Ancient

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THE CULT of HATHOR the Cult of Hathor Must Date from Very Ancient CHAPTER THREE THE CULT OF HATHOR A. CULTIC LOCATIONS The cult of Hathor must date from very ancient times, for the Palermo stone mentions offers made to Hathor during the reigns of the kings of the fifth dynasty. 1 The goddess is supposed to come from the third nome or the delta, whose capital was called Momenphis in the Greek period and was located near present-day Kom el-Hisn. 2 In the historical era she was venerated here as cow-goddess under the name SlJ, ~.t /fr, meaning 'the one who remembers Horus', 3 a remarkable title which must signify that she has not forgotten Horus and is con­ cerned for him. In any case it is certain that since the Old Kingdom Hathor as goddess of the sycomore had a temple at Memphis to the north of the wall. 4 Nothing is known of this temple. It is clear, however, that she was worshipped here as tree-goddess. On the west bank of the Nile at Thebes she also played an important role as goddess of the necro­ polis. Behind the 11th dynasty mausoleum of Mentuhotep was a chapel dedicated to Hathor, which was restored by Tuthmosis III of the 18th dynasty and in which the goddess is repeatedly depicted as cow­ goddess. ~ Moreover the adjacent temple of Hatsheput contains yet another Hathor sanctuary, in which the goddess appears either in an anthropomorphic form or as a cow. 8 In the temple of Ptah on the other bank of the Nile at Karnak she was worshipped together with this god. 7 Since Hathor was a particularly popular goddess, it is not surprising that her sanctuaries were located widespread throughout Egypt. 1 B.A.R. I, 1116, 159. a BONNET, Reallexikon, p. 277. 8 K. SETHE, Urguchichte und aUule Religion der .Agypler, p. 67. 4 ALLAM, HathorkuU, p. 3 sq.; MARu MUNSTER, 18i8, p. 184. ~ E. NAVILLE, The Xllh DYnaBly Temple at Deir el·Bahari, Part I; pI. XXVIIIA, XX, XXIII, XXVII, XXIX, XXX, XXI, Pa.rt. III, pl. VIII, IX, XV, XXX, XXXI, XXXLL. 8 E. NAVILLE, The Temple oj Deir el.Bahari, IV pI. LXXXVIII,LXXXIX, XC, XCI, XCII, XCIII, XCIV, XCVI, XCVII, XCIX, C, ClI, CIV, CV, CVI. 7 SANDMAN HOMBERG, Plah, p. 191. 76 THE CULT OF HATH OR S. ALLAM has gone to some trouble to collect relevant data on this matter in his monograph. In addition to the five main centres of the Hathor cult which are the subject of this study, he mentions nine others. 1 As the information available concerning these is not very eloquent, they may be ignored. It may be remembered that Hathor was also worshipped beyond the Egyptian frontiers, namely at Byblos, in the Sinai mountains and in the vicinity of Abu Simbel (II, H). Three of the five centres of the Hathor cult which are more colour­ fully depicted by the data are the aforementioned Memphis, the necropolis of Thebes and the Sinai. 2 The remaining two are Kusae and Dendera. The writer AELIANUS relates that at Kusae was a temple dedicated to Aphrodite Urania where a sacred cow was worshipped. 3 A tablet has been found which informs us that Ptolemy I founded this sanctuary or probably embellished it, J for Kusae must have been an ancient location of the Hathor cult. Evidence of the role played by Hathor in the cult of the dead is to be found in the graves at Meir dating from the Middle Kingdom (II D d). Thanks to the fact that the beautiful Hathor temple at Dendera has for the main part escaped spoliation, it is possible to form some idea of the manner in which this goddess was worshipped at the daily service and on festive occasions. This imposing sanctuary, the construc­ tion of which was completed under the last of the Ptolemaic monarchs, stands at a place where, from the very beginning of Egyptian history, Hathor was worshipped. An inscription states that even under King Cheops (4th Dynasty) there was a temple on this site. 6 A complete description of the present temple would not only far exceed the scope of this treatise, but would add little to the information given by existing literature on the construction and the mural decorations of this building. G The present study allows of no elaboration on the interior structure of the temple and the interrelationship of the reliefs in the chambers and passages. Yet it is both useful and necessary to give a concise description of the temple in this section. The reason is that every Egyptologist who visits these temple ruins wonders what the 1 ALLAM. op. cit. p. 90 sq. 2 Op. cit. p. 3 sq. 3 Op. cit. p. 25. 4 P.M. FRASER. "A Temple of Hathor at Kusae." J.E.A. 42. 1956. p. 97 sq. 6 J. ZANDEE. Egyptillche tempel8 en goden. 1965. p. 131. e MARIETTE. De4cription generale etc.; Baedeker Agyptens. 1928. p. 253 sq.; ERMAN. Die Religion der Agypter. p. 368 sq. .
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