Object Description
This tiny object, c. 1579 – 1075 BC, was probably an amulet. It is Egyptian faience, a silica-glazed pottery. The faded turquoise blue is from the sand’s high copper content. The plaited hair and cow-shaped ears are characteristic of Hathor, goddess of love and fertility. Hathor was a mostly-benevolent protector of women, children, and agriculture.
Hathhor
Hathor was known as the goddess of love, music, fertility, and joy, and served as a gentle protector of women, children, and crops. But her mythology also holds dramatic turns—like in the Book of the Heavenly Cow, where she took the fierce form of Sekhmet to punish humanity at Ra’s command. That mission ended only when Ra tricked her into drinking beer dyed red with ochre. Believing it was blood, she drank herself into a stupor and awoke as peaceful Hathor once more. This amulet represents the traditional style of Hathor imagery, while later examples—like one held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York—show how artists evolved their interpretations over time.