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Hathor ( or ;〔("Hathor" at Dictionary.com )〕 Egyptian: '; in , meaning "mansion of Horus")〔''Hathor and Thoth: two key figures of the ancient Egyptian religion'', Claas Jouco Bleeker, pp. 22–102, BRILL, 1973, ISBN 978-90-04-03734-2〕 is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood.〔''The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts'', Peter Der Manuelian, translated by James P. Allen, p. 432, BRILL, 2005, ISBN 90-04-13777-7 (also commonly translated as "House of Horus")〕 She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. Hathor was worshiped by royalty and common people alike in whose tombs she is depicted as "Mistress of the West" welcoming the dead into the next life.〔''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'', Lorna Oakes, Southwater, pp. 157–159, ISBN 1-84476-279-3〕 In other roles she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth,〔 as well as the patron goddess of miners. The cult of Hathor predates the historic period, and the roots of devotion to her are therefore difficult to trace, though it may be a development of predynastic cults which venerated fertility, and nature in general, represented by cows.〔''Oxford Guide to Egyptian Mythology'', Donald B. Redford (Editor), pp. 157–161, Berkley Reference, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X〕 Hathor is commonly depicted as a cow goddess with horns in which is set a sun disk with Uraeus. Twin feathers are also sometimes shown in later periods as well as a menat necklace.〔 Hathor may be the cow goddess who is depicted from an early date on the Narmer Palette and on a stone urn dating from the 1st dynasty that suggests a role as sky-goddess and a relationship to Horus who, as a sun god, is "housed" in her.〔 The Ancient Egyptians viewed reality as multi-layered in which deities who merge for various reasons, while retaining divergent attributes and myths, were not seen as contradictory but complementary.〔''Oxford Guide to Egyptian Mythology'', Donald B. Redford (Editor), p. 106, Berkley Reference, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X〕 In a complicated relationship Hathor is at times the mother, daughter and wife of Ra and, like Isis, is at times described as the mother of Horus, and associated with Bast.〔 The cult of Osiris promised eternal life to those deemed morally worthy. Originally the justified dead, male or female, became an Osiris but by early Roman times females became identified with Hathor and men with Osiris.〔''Oxford Guide to Egyptian Mythology'', Donald B. Redford (Editor), p. 172, Berkley Reference, 2003, ISBN 0-425-19096-X〕 The Ancient Greeks sometimes identified Hathor with the goddess Aphrodite, while in Roman mythology she corresponds to Venus.〔"''Isis in the Ancient World''", Reginald Eldred Witt, p. 125, JHU Press, 1997 ISBN 0-8018-5642-6〕 == Early depictions == Hathor is ambiguously depicted until the 4th dynasty.〔''Early Dynastic Egypt: Strategies, Society and Security'', Toby A. H. Wilkinson, p. 312, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-26011-6〕 In the historical era Hathor is shown using the imagery of a cow deity. Artifacts from pre-dynastic times depict cow deities using the same symbolism as used in later times for Hathor and Egyptologists speculate that these deities may be one and the same or precursors to Hathor.〔''Religion in ancient Egypt: gods, myths, and personal practice'', Byron Esely Shafer, John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, David P. Silverman, p. 24 Fordham University, Taylor & Francis, 1991, ISBN 0-415-07030-9〕 A cow deity appears on the belt of the King on the Narmer Palette dated to the pre-dynastic era, and this may be Hathor or, in another guise, the goddess Bat with whom she is linked and later supplanted. At times they are regarded as one and the same goddess, though likely having separate origins, and reflections of the same divine concept. The evidence pointing to the deity being Hathor in particular is based on a passage from the Pyramid texts which states that the King's apron comes from Hathor.〔''Early Dynastic Egypt: Strategies, Society and Security'', Toby A. H. Wilkinson, p. 283, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-26011-6〕 A stone urn recovered from Hierakonpolis and dated to the first dynasty has on its rim the face of a cow deity with stars on its ears and horns that may relate to Hathor's, or Bat's, role as a sky-goddess.〔 Another artifact from the 1st dynasty shows a cow lying down on an ivory engraving with the inscription "Hathor in the Marshes" indicating her association with vegetation and the papyrus marsh in particular. From the Old Kingdom she was also called ''Lady of the Sycamore'' in her capacity as a tree deity.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hathor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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