Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

116 Hatmehytform wearing a hairstyle which mimics theMesopotamian “omega” symbol (see NINHUR-SAG˜ A). In the latter depiction she wears a crownwhich consists of a sun disc surrounded by thecurved horns of a cow. She is prominent thus inmany of the royal tombs in the Valley of theKings at Thebes where she is seen as a funerarydeity strongly linked with Re when he descendsbelow the western horizon. Hathor is also represented,not infrequently, in the capitals of architecturalcolumns. Like Ninhursag˜a she isassociated with lions. Other symbols include thepapyrus reed and the snake.Hathor is also a goddess of love and sexuality,and is associated with the erotic aspects of musicand dancing. Her priestesses carried sistrum rattlesand menat “necklaces,” both of which arepercussion instruments used in cultic rites. Thepharaoh was the “son of Hathor” and everyEgyptian princess automatically became a priestessof the goddess. Many pharaonic tombs andmagical papyri include description of “sevenHathors” who predict the fate of a child at birthand these deities were often called upon inspells.Hathor enjoyed great popularity in Greco-Roman culture and many elements in the makeupof the goddess APHRODITE are modeled on herEgyptian style.Hatmehyt (she who leads the fishes)Fertility and guardian goddess of fish and fishermen.Egyptian. Local deity whose cult center wasat Mendes [Tell el-Ruba] in the Nile delta. Sheis the consort of the ram god BANEBDJEDET.Depicted anthropomorphically, or as a fish.HatthiPlague goddess. Hindu. Particularly associatedwith cholera in northwestern India.HaubasLocal god. Pre-Islamic southern Arabian. Knownfrom inscriptions.HauhetPrimordial goddess. Egyptian. One of the eightdeities of the OGDOAD, representing chaos, she iscoupled with the god HEH and appears in anthropomorphicform but with the head of a snake.The pair epitomize the concept of infinity. She isalso depicted greeting the rising sun in the guiseof a baboon.HaukimLocal god. Pre-Islamic southern Arabian. Possiblya deity concerned with arbitration and the law.HaumeaMother goddess. [Hawaiian.] She is the daughterof PAPATUANUKU, the primordial earth mother,and is revered by many people of Polynesia andby the Maori of New Zealand. Her more notablechildren include PELE, the volcano goddess ofHawaii, and HI’AIKA, the goddess of the dance.As a deity responsible for birth, Haumea possessesa magical wand that she used at the time ofcreation to engender fruit trees and fish. Fromtime to time she uses it to replenish stocks.Mythology also identifies her as a heroine whosaved herself and her consort from enemies atthe time of creation by hiding in a breadfruit treeand fending off the attackers with poisonous sapand wood splinters.HaumiatiketikeVegetation god. Polynesian (including Maori).The deity concerned with wild plants gathered asfood, and particularly with the rhizome of the