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Hathor; she wears the crown of Lower Egypt

on her head, and she is often represented armed with bow and arrows. In bronze and faïence figures of this goddess are tolerably common.

The god

dess of Right.

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Maat, the "daughter of Rã and mistress of the gods," symbolized Law, and she is always represented with maut, emblematic of Law, upon her head; in papyri two Maat are shown together, each wearing, but sometimes this feather alone takes the place of the head. In figures of bronze, lapis-lazuli, and faïence she is represented sitting down.

Hathor, in Egyptian

or

Het-Hert, the

"house of Horus," is identified with Nut, the sky, or place in which she brought forth and suckled Horus; she was the wife of Atmu, a form of Rā. She is represented as a woman

cow-headed, with horns and a disk between them, and shares with Isis and Mut many of their attributes. She is often represented as a cow coming forth from the mountain of the west. The worship of Hathor is exceedingly ancient, and she was supposed to be the goddess of beauty, love, and joy, and the benefactress of the world. The forms in which she is depicted on the monuments are as numerous as the aspects from which she could be regarded. Full length figures of this goddess in bronze and faïence are comparatively few, but plaques and pendants of faïence upon which her head is inscribed or painted are common.

For a fine example in bronze of Hathor, cow-headed, wearing horns, disk, uræus and plumes, see B.M. No. 22,925. The British Museum also possesses two interesting bronze hollowwork portions of menats in which Hathor is represented in

The god

dess of

fine art.

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1 A list of the gods with whom she is identified is given in Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 863, 864.

2 On a pendant, B. M. No. 302, she is represented at full length, in relief. For a fine example, see B.M. No. 22,925.

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profile. No. 20,760 shows the goddess wearing an uræus on her forehead, and four uræi on her head; she has the usual head-dress of women falling over her shoulders. Beneath is a Hathor-headed sistrum, with pendent uræi, resting on Beneath in an oval is the cow of Hathor, wearing,

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The god Shu lifting up Nut from Seb.

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standing in a boat.

Above, on each side, is an uræus. One
and the other wears

wears the crown of Upper Egypt,

the crown of Lower Egypt. This beautiful object was found
at Dêr el-Bahari, and is inscribed with the prenomen of
Amenophis III. §. No. 300 represents the goddess
with a vulture head-dress, wearing . Below, in relief,
are a figure of the goddess, and a floral ornament; it is
inscribed
, "Hathor, lady of heaven."

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dess of

the sky.

Nut , the sky, the wife of Seb, and mother of The godOsiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, Anubis, Shu, and Tefnut, was represented by a woman having a vase of water on her head, and holding in her right hand and in her left. She was painted on the outside of coffins, and was supposed

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to protect with her wings the deceased within. Figures of this goddess in bronze or faïence are unknown to me.

Seb

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was the husband of Nut, the sky, and

father of Osiris, Isis, and the other gods of that cycle; figures of this god in bronze or faïence are unknown to me. Sera , daughter of Rā, wife of Horus, and identified with Sesheta and Isis, symbolized the scorching heat of the sun. A bronze figure in the Louvre (see Pierret, Panthéon Egyptien, p. 17; Lanzone, Dizionario, tav. ccclxii.), gives her the body of a scorpion, and the head of a woman wearing disk and horns, by which she is identified with Isis. There is a similar figure in the British Museum, No. 11,629, on the base of which is inscribed

"Isis, Giver of Life," and a small bronze

scorpion. B.M. No. 18,667 also gives her the head and arms of a woman with disk and horns. The figures of this goddess, other than bronze, are usually made of lapis-lazuli.

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Maȧhes

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Serq.

is represented as a man, lion

headed, wearing a disk and uræus; a few figures of this

god in faïence are known.*

* See Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 272.

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