Editing Hathor (section)

==Iconography==

Hathor was often depicted as a cow bearing the sun disk between her horns, especially when shown nursing the king. She could also appear as a woman with the head of a cow. Her most common form, however, was a woman wearing a headdress of the horns and sun disk, often with a red or turquoise sheath dress, or a dress combining both colors. Sometimes the horns stood atop a low [[modius (headdress)|modius]] or the [[Vulture crown|vulture headdress]] that [[Great Royal Wife|Egyptian queens]] often wore in the New Kingdom. Because Isis adopted the same headdress during the New Kingdom, the two goddesses can be distinguished only if labeled in writing. When in the role of Imentet, Hathor wore the [[emblem of the west]] upon her head instead of the horned headdress.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=143–144, 148}} The Seven Hathors were sometimes portrayed as a set of seven cows, accompanied by a minor sky and afterlife deity called the Bull of the West.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=77, 175}}

Some animals other than cattle could represent Hathor. The uraeus was a common motif in Egyptian art and could represent a variety of goddesses who were identified with the Eye of Ra.{{sfn|Pinch|2002|pp=198–199}} When Hathor was depicted as a uraeus, it represented the ferocious and protective aspects of her character. She also appeared as a lioness, and this form had a similar meaning.{{sfn|Roberts|1997|pp=8–10}} In contrast, the [[domestic cat]], which was sometimes connected with Hathor, often represented the Eye goddess's pacified form.{{sfn|Pinch|1993|pp=190–197}} When portrayed as a sycamore tree, Hathor was usually shown with the upper body of her human form emerging from the trunk.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|pp=168–169}}

Like other goddesses, Hathor might carry a stalk of papyrus as a staff, though she could instead hold a ''[[Was-sceptre|was]]'' staff, a symbol of power that was usually restricted to male deities.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2003|p=143}} The only goddesses who used the ''was'' were those, like Hathor, who were linked with the Eye of Ra.{{sfn|Graham|2001|p=166}} She also commonly carried a sistrum or a ''menat'' necklace. The sistrum came in two varieties: a simple loop shape or the more complex ''naos'' sistrum, which was shaped to resemble a ''[[Cella#Egyptian temples|naos]]'' shrine and flanked by [[volute]]s resembling the antennae of the Bat emblem.{{sfn|Pinch|1993|pp=153–159}} Mirrors were another of her symbols, because in Egypt they were often made of gold or bronze and therefore symbolized the sun disk, and because they were connected with beauty and femininity. Some mirror handles were made in the shape of Hathor's face.{{sfn|Wilkinson|1993|pp=32, 83}} The ''[[menat]]'' necklace, made up of many strands of beads, was shaken in ceremonies in Hathor's honor, similarly to the sistrum.{{sfn|Hart|2005|p=65}} Images of it were sometimes seen as personifications of Hathor herself.{{sfn|Pinch|1993|p=278}}

Hathor was sometimes represented as a human face with bovine ears, seen from the front rather than in the profile-based perspective that was typical of Egyptian art. When she appears in this form, the tresses on either side of her face often curl into loops. This mask-like face was placed on the [[capital (architecture)|capitals]] of columns beginning in the late Old Kingdom. Columns of this style were used in many temples to Hathor and other goddesses.{{sfn|Pinch|1993|pp=135–139}} These columns have two or four faces, which may represent the duality between different aspects of the goddess or the watchfulness of Hathor of the Four Faces. The designs of Hathoric columns have a complex relationship with those of sistra. Both styles of sistrum can bear the Hathor mask on the handle, and Hathoric columns often incorporate the ''naos'' sistrum shape above the goddess's head.{{sfn|Pinch|1993|pp=153–159}}

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
Luxor Museum Statue Hathor 01.jpg|Statue of Hathor, fourteenth century BC
Hathor Amulet MET DP136527.jpg|Amulet of Hathor as a [[uraeus]] wearing a ''[[Naos (hieroglyph)|naos]]'' headdress, early to mid-first millennium BC
Faience Sistrum Inscribed with the Name of Ptolemy I MET DP245512.jpg|''Naos'' sistrum with Hathor's face, 305–282&nbsp;BC
Mirror with Hathor Emblem Handle MET 26.8.98 EGDP020852 (cropped).jpg|Mirror with a face of Hathor on the handle, fifteenth century BC
Head of Hathor from a clapper the inscription calling the musician who used it "beloved by the goddess Mut , Lady of Isheru (Karnak) MET DP311633 (cropped).jpg|Head of Hathor with cats on her headdress, from a clapper, late second to early first millennium BC
Menat necklace from Malqata MET DT234778.jpg|The ''[[Malqata Menat]]'' necklace, fourteenth century BC
S F-E-CAMERON EGYPT 2006 HATSHEPSUT00195.JPG|Hathoric capital from the [[Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut]], fifteenth century BC
</gallery>