Patron of the sky, the sun, the queen, music, dance and the arts.

The cow goddess Hathor (Athyr in Greek) was an old protector of music, dancing and love. Being a cow she was the wife of the sacred bull Buchis of Armant personifying fertilty and motherhood. As such her popularity was unbroken during the whole Egyptian history. She and Horus protected the royal couple and she attended at the arrival of the dead king into the next world. On top of pillars she was seen as Heret – a woman’s head with a cow’s ears. In the Old Kingdom the pharaohs were often shown with Hathor at their side.
Sometimes she was combined with Isis as Isis-Hathor with a woman’s head and her favourite musical instrument – a sistrum rattle, upon her head. One of the still standing temples of her cult is at Dendera in Upper Egypt.