Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

HATHOR 115HastseoltoiGoddess of hunting. Navaho [USA]. She may beseen as the consort of the war god NAYENEZGANI.She carries two arrows, one in each hand, andwears a quiver and bow case. Navaho traditiondictates that no pictures are drawn of this deity.See also ARTEMIS.Hastseyalti (talking elder)Chief of gods. Navaho [USA]. Not regarded as acreator deity, but god of the dawn and the easternsky. Also guardian of animals in the hunt and,possibly, of corn. Regarded as a benevolent deitywho aids mankind and cures disease. He also hasa malevolent aspect in which he can cast evilspells. His priest invokes him in a ceremonialdance wearing a white mask with a symbol consistingof a corn stalk with two ears. At the bottomis a horizontal yellow band representing eveninglight, with eight vertical black strokes representingrain. Also Yebitsai.HastseziniGod of fire. Navaho [USA]. A “black” god who isreclusive and generally apart from other deities.He is the inventor of fire and of the fire drill andboard. His priest dresses in black and wears ablack mask with white-bordered eye and mouthholes. The ceremonial fire drill is made fromcedarwood.HatdastsisiGod. Navaho [USA]. A benevolent deity, he curesdisease through the medium of his priest, whoflagellates the affected parts. His home is believedto be near Tsegihi in New Mexico. Sacrifices toHatdastsisi are made up from reeds decoratedwith a design representing the blue yucca plant,which is buried in the earth to the east of thetribal lodge. His priest wears a buckskin maskdecorated with owl feathers, and a spruce collar,but otherwise ordinary Navaho dress with whitebuckskin leggings.HATHORORIGIN Egyptian. Mother goddess and goddessof love.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP from Old Kingdom(circa 2700 BC), but possibly earlier, until theend of Egyptian history (circa AD 400).SYNONYMS none significant.CENTER(S) OF CULT Dendara, Giza, Thebes.ART REFERENCES wall paintings from the majorsanctuary at Dendara; sculptures including anoutstanding composition from the temple ofKing Menkaure at Giza; reliefs in the temple ofQueen Hatsheput at Thebes; other contemporarysculpture and painting; sistrum rattles, etc.LITERARY SOURCES Book of the Dead, HarrisPapyrus etc.Hathor is a major Egyptian deity, with a benignmotherly nature and invariably depicted, in oneform or another, as a cow goddess with strongsky associations. Her father is the sun god RE andshe is often described as the mother of all Egyptianpharaohs. In early times evidence suggeststhat she was regarded as the mother of HORUS,but once the OSIRIS legend gained widespreadpopularity, she came to bear a complex protectiverather than maternal relationship with Horus. Ina conflicting tradition stemming from the cultcenter of Horus at Edfu in Upper Egypt, Hathoris also drawn as Horus’ consort. In the legend ofthe “eye of Re,” she shows a potentially destructivenature, but this is an isolated instance.In art she may be depicted as a cow, as in thesculpture of her browsing among papyrus plantsand suckling the pharaoh Amenhotep II from theHathor sanctuary of Tuthmosis III, or in human