The Pocahontas Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies over a distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 16 one mile on the dirt scheduled annually in September at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky .
137-405: The race was first held on Thanksgiving Day , 27 November 1969, and was fittingly named for Pocahontas , the daughter of Native-American chief Powhatan , who aided the early American settlers, and the same-named Pocahontas , the 19th-century British-bred thoroughbred mare, who had a great influence on the breed. The stakes race remained a Thanksgiving Day event until 1982, when it was moved to
274-459: A stone palette from the Naqada ;II period of prehistory ( c. 3500–3200 BC ), shows the silhouette of a cow's head with inward-curving horns surrounded by stars. The palette suggests that this cow was also linked with the sky, as were several goddesses from later times who were represented in this form: Hathor, Mehet-Weret , and Nut . Despite these earlier precedents, Hathor
411-505: A Calvinist alternative to Christmas, and typically involving a return to the family home, church services, a large meal and various diversions ranging from games and sports to formal balls. These celebrations were gradually disseminated throughout the US as New Englanders spread across the country, accelerating after the Civil War. Sarah Josepha Hale , a native of New Hampshire and steeped in
548-507: A Sabbath meeting, the Pilgrim observances were special days set aside during the week for thanksgiving and praise in response to God's providence." It's important to note that Baker's "New England Thanksgiving" does not refer to an annual commemoration of the Pilgrim's 1621 harvest celebration. Indeed, that 1621 event does not appear to have contributed to the early development of the modern holiday at all, as Bradford's "Of Plimoth Plantation"
685-465: A blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such
822-409: A blissful afterlife. In New Kingdom funerary texts and artwork, the afterlife was often illustrated as a pleasant, fertile garden, over which Hathor sometimes presided. The welcoming afterlife goddess was often portrayed as a goddess in the form of a tree, giving water to the deceased. Nut most commonly filled this role, but the tree goddess was sometimes called Hathor instead. The afterlife also had
959-402: A commonly-celebrated, patriotic holiday that would unite Americans in purpose and values. She viewed those values as rooted in domesticity and rural simplicity over urban sophistication. As a celebration of hearth and home, she also sought to cement a role for women within the identity of the young nation. Every November, Hale would focus her monthly magazine column on Thanksgiving, positioning
1096-597: A complex relationship with those of sistra. Both styles of sistrum can bear the Hathor mask on the handle, and Hathoric columns often incorporate the naos sistrum shape above the goddess's head. During the Early Dynastic Period, Neith was the preeminent goddess at the royal court, while in the Fourth Dynasty, Hathor became the goddess most closely linked with the king. Sneferu , the founder of
1233-484: A creation myth that adapted long-standing ideas about creation. The version from Hathor's temple at Dendera emphasizes that she, as a female solar deity, was the first being to emerge from the primordial waters that preceded creation, and her life-giving light and milk nourished all living things. Hathor's maternal aspects can be compared with those of Isis and Mut, yet there are many contrasts between them. Isis's devotion to her husband and care for their child represented
1370-544: A curling wig taken from Hathor's iconography. Which goddess these images represent is not known, but the Egyptians adopted her iconography and came to regard her as an independent deity, Qetesh , whom they associated with Hathor. Hathor was closely connected with the Sinai Peninsula , which was not considered part of Egypt proper but was the site of Egyptian mines for copper, turquoise , and malachite during
1507-462: A day of thanksgiving, but rather as a harvest celebration. The Pilgrim feast was cooked by the four adult Pilgrim women who survived their first winter in the New World (Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster , and Susanna White ), along with young daughters and male and female servants. According to accounts by Wampanoag descendants, the harvest feast was originally set up for
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#17327903405131644-593: A degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789. On January 1, 1795, Washington proclaimed a Thanksgiving Day to be observed on Thursday, February 19. President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. Hathor Hathor ( Ancient Egyptian : ḥwt-ḥr , lit. 'House of Horus', Ancient Greek : Ἁθώρ Hathōr , Coptic : ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ , Meroitic : 𐦠𐦴𐦫𐦢 Atari )
1781-569: A devastating epidemic between 1614 and 1620. After the harsh winter of 1620–1621 killed half of the Plymouth colonists, two Native intermediaries, Samoset and Tisquantum (more commonly known by the diminutive variant Squanto, and the last living member of the Patuxet) came in at the request of Massasoit , leader of the Wampanoag , to negotiate a peace treaty and establish trade relations with
1918-484: A different way. She used names and titles that linked her to a variety of goddesses, including Hathor, so as to legitimize her rule in what was normally a male position. She built several temples to Hathor and placed her own mortuary temple , which incorporated a chapel dedicated to the goddess, at Deir el-Bahari , which had been a cult site of Hathor since the Middle Kingdom. The preeminence of Amun during
2055-460: A good harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days in the autumn of 1621. The exact time is unknown, but James Baker, a former Plimoth Plantation vice president of research, stated in 1996, "The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11, 1621, with the most likely time being around Michaelmas (Sept. 29), the traditional time." Seventeenth-century accounts do not identify this as
2192-558: A healing aspect to her character, as she was said to have restored Horus's missing eye or eyes after Set attacked him. In the version of this episode in "The Contendings of Horus and Set", Hathor finds Horus with his eyes torn out and heals the wounds with gazelle's milk. Beginning in the Late Period (664–323 BC), temples focused on the worship of a divine family: an adult male deity, his wife, and their immature son. Satellite buildings, known as mammisis , were built in celebration of
2329-413: A more socially acceptable form of love than Hathor's uninhibited sexuality, and Mut's character was more authoritative than sexual. The text of the 1st century CE Insinger Papyrus likens a faithful wife, the mistress of a household, to Mut, while comparing Hathor to a strange woman who tempts a married man. Like Meskhenet , another goddess who presided over birth, Hathor was connected with shai ,
2466-472: A national annual tradition. Thanksgiving services were routine in what became the Commonwealth of Virginia as early as 1607; the first permanent settlement of Jamestown, Virginia , held a thanksgiving in 1610. On December 4, 1619, 38 English settlers celebrated a thanksgiving immediately upon landing at Berkeley Hundred , Charles City. The group's London Company charter specifically required "that
2603-585: A national custom, emphasizing the immigrants' strong religious faith and thankfulness for their survival in the New World. Thanksgiving has developed from a local event in Virginia to a more generally known holiday across the United States. The Plymouth colonists, today known as Pilgrims , had settled in a part of eastern Massachusetts formerly occupied by the Patuxet Indians who had died in
2740-410: A recreation of the imagined "First Thanksgiving" to reinforce the Pilgrim narrative and the importance of the story to an understanding of U.S. history. These pageants continue in some parts of the U.S. today. Unfortunately, what these materials usually elide, gloss over or ignore altogether is what has brought controversy to the holiday in recent years. The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving
2877-470: A sexual aspect. In the Osiris myth, the murdered god Osiris was resurrected when he copulated with Isis and conceived Horus. In solar ideology, Ra's union with the sky goddess allowed his own rebirth. Sex therefore enabled the rebirth of the deceased, and goddesses like Isis and Hathor served to rouse the deceased to new life. But they merely stimulated the male deities' regenerative powers, rather than playing
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#17327903405133014-465: A single entity". Hathor's diversity reflects the range of traits that the Egyptians associated with goddesses. More than any other deity, she exemplifies the Egyptian perception of femininity . Hathor was given the epithets "mistress of the sky" and "mistress of the stars", and was said to dwell in the sky with Ra and other sun deities. Egyptians thought of the sky as a body of water through which
3151-565: A sistrum or a menat necklace. The sistrum came in two varieties: a simple loop shape or the more complex naos sistrum, which was shaped to resemble a naos shrine and flanked by volutes resembling the antennae of the Bat emblem. Mirrors were another of her symbols, because in Egypt they were often made of gold or bronze and therefore symbolized the sun disk, and because they were connected with beauty and femininity. Some mirror handles were made in
3288-525: A special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to
3425-465: A sycamore tree, Hathor was usually shown with the upper body of her human form emerging from the trunk. Like other goddesses, Hathor might carry a stalk of papyrus as a staff, though she could instead hold a was staff, a symbol of power that was usually restricted to male deities. The only goddesses who used the was were those, like Hathor, who were linked with the Eye of Ra. She also commonly carried
3562-402: A vengeful aspect that protected him from his enemies. Her beneficent side represented music, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care, and she acted as the consort of several male deities and the mother of their sons. These two aspects of the goddess exemplified the Egyptian conception of femininity . Hathor crossed boundaries between worlds, helping deceased souls in the transition to
3699-524: Is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Outside the United States, it is sometimes called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions . The modern national celebration dates to 1863 and has been linked to the Pilgrims 1621 harvest festival since the late 19th century. As
3836-487: Is able to escape one of the possible violent deaths that the Seven Hathors have foretold for him, and while the end of the story is missing, the surviving portions imply that the prince can escape his fate with the help of the gods. Hathor was connected with trade and foreign lands, possibly because her role as a sky goddess linked her with stars and hence navigation, and because she was believed to protect ships on
3973-535: Is also typically regarded as the beginning of the holiday shopping season . The day following Thanksgiving, Black Friday , is often considered to be the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. Days of thanksgiving, that is, days attributed to giving thanks to deities, have existed for thousands of years and long predate the European colonization of North America. Ranging from general harvest festivals to more specific holidays related to thanking gods for
4110-407: Is called the mistress of music, dance, garlands, myrrh , and drunkenness . In hymns and temple reliefs, musicians play tambourines , harps , lyres , and sistra in Hathor's honor. The sistrum , a rattle-like instrument, was particularly important in Hathor's worship. Sistra had erotic connotations and, by extension, alluded to the creation of new life. These aspects of Hathor were linked with
4247-656: Is not unambiguously mentioned or depicted until the Fourth Dynasty ( c. 2613–2494 BC ) of the Old Kingdom , although several artifacts that refer to her may date to the Early Dynastic Period ( c. 3100–2686 BC ). When Hathor does clearly appear, her horns curve outward, rather than inward like those in Predynastic art. A bovine deity with inward-curving horns appears on
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4384-580: Is the first step on the annual Road to the Kentucky Oaks , a points system to qualify for the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in the spring of the following year. Speed record Margins Most wins by a jockey Most wins by a trainer Most wins by an owner Notes: † Divisions of the event in 1973, 1976 and 1977 were run on different days § Ran as part of an entry Thanksgiving (United States) Thanksgiving
4521-481: Is the goddess with whom Khonsu mates to enable creation. Hathor could be the consort of many male gods, of whom Ra was only the most prominent. Mut was the usual consort of Amun , the preeminent deity during the New Kingdom who was often linked with Ra. But Mut was rarely portrayed alongside Amun in contexts related to sex or fertility, and in those circumstances, Hathor or Isis stood at his side instead. In
4658-666: Is today one of the best-preserved Egyptian temples from that time. As the rulers of the Old Kingdom made an effort to develop towns in Upper and Middle Egypt , several cult centers of Hathor were founded across the region, at sites such as Cusae , Akhmim , and Naga ed-Der . In the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC) her cult statue from Dendera was periodically carried to the Theban necropolis. During
4795-544: The Narmer Palette from near the start of Egyptian history, both atop the palette and on the belt or apron of the king, Narmer . The Egyptologist Henry George Fischer suggested this deity may be Bat , a goddess who was later depicted with a woman's face and inward-curling horns, seemingly reflecting the curve of the cow horns. The Egyptologist Lana Troy, however, identifies a passage in the Pyramid Texts from
4932-580: The Nile Delta , such as Yamu and Terenuthis , also had temples to her. Dendera, Hathor's oldest temple in Upper Egypt, dates to at least to the Fourth Dynasty. After the end of the Old Kingdom it surpassed her Memphite temples in importance. Many kings made additions to the temple complex through Egyptian history. The last version of the temple was built in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods and
5069-543: The Old Kingdom ( c. 2686–2181 BC ). With the patronage of Old Kingdom rulers, she became one of Egypt's most important deities. More temples were dedicated to her than to any other goddess; her most prominent temple was Dendera in Upper Egypt . She was also worshipped in the temples of her male consorts. The Egyptians connected her with foreign lands, such as Nubia and Canaan , and their valuable goods, such as incense and semiprecious stones, and some of
5206-621: The Ptolemaic period (305–30 BC), when Greeks governed Egypt and their religion developed a complex relationship with that of Egypt, the Ptolemaic dynasty adopted and modified the Egyptian ideology of kingship. Beginning with Arsinoe II , wife of Ptolemy II , the Ptolemies closely linked their queens with Isis and with several Greek goddesses, particularly their own goddess of love and sexuality, Aphrodite . Nevertheless, when
5343-408: The afterlife . Hathor was often depicted as a cow , symbolizing her maternal and celestial aspect, although her most common form was a woman wearing a headdress of cow horns and a sun disk. She could also be represented as a lioness , a cobra , or a sycamore tree . Cattle goddesses similar to Hathor were portrayed in Egyptian art in the fourth millennium BC, but she may not have appeared until
5480-600: The American Revolutionary War, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December ;1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga . The Continental Congress , the legislative body that governed the United States from 1774 to 1789, issued several "national days of prayer, humiliation, and thanksgiving", a practice that was continued by presidents Washington and Adams under
5617-574: The Americanization of newcomers and the conscious formulation of a shared cultural heritage. Holiday observances in classrooms, including those for Washington's birthday, Memorial Day, and Flag Day "introduced youngsters to the central themes of American History and, in theory, strengthened their character and prepared them to become loyal citizens." Thanksgiving, with its non-denominational character, colonial harvest themes and images of Pilgrims and Indians breaking bread together peacefully, allowed
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5754-580: The Berkeley Hundred charter in Virginia prompted President John F. Kennedy to acknowledge the claims of both Massachusetts and Virginia to America's earliest celebrations. He issued Proclamation 3560 on November 5, 1963, saying: "Over three centuries ago, our forefathers in Virginia and in Massachusetts, far from home in a lonely wilderness, set aside a time of thanksgiving. On the appointed day, they gave reverent thanks for their safety, for
5891-783: The Constitution, and has manifested itself in the established American observances of Thanksgiving and the National Day of Prayer today. This proclamation was published in The Independent Gazetteer, or the Chronicle of Freedom , on November 5, 1782, the first being observed on November 28, 1782: By the United States in Congress assembled, PROCLAMATION. It being the indispensable duty of all nations, not only to offer up their supplications to Almighty God,
6028-519: The Egyptian belief that women, as the Egyptologist Carolyn Graves-Brown puts it, "encompassed both extreme passions of fury and love". Egyptian religion celebrated the sensory pleasures of life, believed to be among the gods' gifts to humanity. Egyptians ate, drank, danced, and played music at their religious festivals. They perfumed the air with flowers and incense . Many of Hathor's epithets link her to celebration; she
6165-533: The Egyptian concept of fate , particularly when she took the form of the Seven Hathors. In two New Kingdom works of fiction, the " Tale of Two Brothers " and the " Tale of the Doomed Prince ", the Hathors appear at the births of major characters and foretell the manner of their deaths. The Egyptians tended to think of fate as inexorable. Yet in "The Tale of the Doomed Prince", the prince who is its protagonist
6302-402: The Fourth Dynasty, may have built a temple to her, and Neferhetepes , a daughter of Djedefra , was the first recorded priestess of Hathor . Old Kingdom rulers donated resources only to temples dedicated to particular kings or to deities closely connected with kingship. Hathor was one of the few deities to receive such donations. Late Old Kingdom rulers especially promoted the cult of Hathor in
6439-517: The French. These days of thanksgiving were celebrated through church services and feasting. Historian Michael Gannon claimed St. Augustine, Florida , was founded with a shared thanksgiving meal on September 8, 1565. The thanksgiving at St. Augustine was celebrated 56 years before the Puritan Pilgrim thanksgiving at Plymouth Plantation (Massachusetts), but it did not become the origin of
6576-606: The Greeks referred to Egyptian gods by the names of their own gods (a practice called interpretatio graeca ), they sometimes called Hathor Aphrodite. Traits of Isis, Hathor, and Aphrodite were all combined to justify the treatment of Ptolemaic queens as goddesses. Thus, the poet Callimachus alluded to the myth of Hathor's lost lock of hair in the Aetia when praising Berenice II for sacrificing her own hair to Aphrodite, and iconographic traits that Isis and Hathor shared, such as
6713-470: The Hathor-cow suckling the king date to his reign, and several priestesses of Hathor were depicted as though they were his wives, although he may not have actually married them. In the course of the Middle Kingdom, queens were increasingly seen as directly embodying the goddess, just as the king embodied Ra. The emphasis on the queen as Hathor continued through the New Kingdom. Queens were portrayed with
6850-462: The Herdsman", a herdsman encounters a hairy, animal-like goddess in a marsh and reacts with terror. On another day he encounters her as a nude, alluring woman. Most Egyptologists who study this story think this woman is Hathor or a goddess like her, one who can be wild and dangerous or benign and erotic. Thomas Schneider interprets the text as implying that between his two encounters with the goddess
6987-524: The House and Senate jointly request of President Washington to proclaim a day of thanksgiving for "the many signal favors of Almighty God". Boudinot said he "could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them." As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made
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#17327903405137124-631: The Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost. And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion. George Washington , leader of the revolutionary forces in
7261-453: The Middle and New Kingdoms. One of Hathor's epithets, "Lady of Mefkat ", may have referred specifically to turquoise or to all blue-green minerals. She was also called "Lady of Faience ", a blue-green ceramic that Egyptians likened to turquoise. Hathor was also worshipped at various quarries and mining sites in Egypt's Eastern Desert , such as the amethyst mines of Wadi el-Hudi, where she
7398-511: The New Kingdom gave greater visibility to his consort Mut, and in the course of the period, Isis began appearing in roles that traditionally belonged to Hathor alone, such as that of the goddess in the solar barque. Despite the growing prominence of these deities, Hathor remained important, particularly in relation to fertility, sexuality, and queenship, throughout the New Kingdom. After the New Kingdom, Isis increasingly overshadowed Hathor and other goddesses as she took on their characteristics. In
7535-646: The New Kingdom, Hathor was increasingly overshadowed by Isis, but she continued to be venerated until the extinction of ancient Egyptian religion in the early centuries AD. Images of cattle appear frequently in the artwork of Predynastic Egypt (before c. 3100 BC ), as do images of women with upraised, curved arms, reminiscent of the shape of bovine horns. Both types of imagery may represent goddesses connected with cattle . Cows are venerated in many cultures , including ancient Egypt, as symbols of motherhood and nourishment, because they care for their calves and provide humans with milk. The Gerzeh Palette ,
7672-575: The New Kingdom. Because Isis adopted the same headdress during the New Kingdom, the two goddesses can be distinguished only if labeled in writing. When in the role of Imentet, Hathor wore the emblem of the west upon her head instead of the horned headdress. The Seven Hathors were sometimes portrayed as a set of seven cows, accompanied by a minor sky and afterlife deity called the Bull of the West. Some animals other than cattle could represent Hathor. The uraeus
7809-517: The Nile and in the seas beyond Egypt as she protected the barque of Ra in the sky. The mythological wandering of the Eye goddess in Nubia or Libya gave her a connection with those lands as well. Egypt maintained trade relations with the coastal cities of Syria and Canaan , particularly Byblos , placing Egyptian religion in contact with the religions of that region . At some point, perhaps as early as
7946-404: The Old Kingdom, the Egyptians began to refer to the patron goddess of Byblos, Baalat Gebal , as a local form of Hathor. So strong was Hathor's link to Byblos that texts from Dendera say she resided there. The Egyptians sometimes equated Anat , an aggressive Canaanite goddess who came to be worshipped in Egypt during the New Kingdom, with Hathor. Some Canaanite artworks depict a nude goddess with
8083-477: The Osiris myth emerged during the Old Kingdom. Even after Isis was firmly established as Horus's mother, Hathor continued to appear in this role, especially when nursing the pharaoh. Images of the Hathor-cow with a child in a papyrus thicket represented his mythological upbringing in a secluded marsh. Goddesses' milk was a sign of divinity and royal status. Thus, images in which Hathor nurses the pharaoh represent his right to rule. Hathor's relationship with Horus gave
8220-465: The People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to
8357-526: The Pilgrims alone (contrary to the common misconception that the Wampanoag were invited for their help in teaching the pilgrims their agricultural techniques). Part of the harvest celebration involved a demonstration of arms by the colonists, and the Wampanoag, having entered into a mutual protection agreement with the colonists and likely mistaking the celebratory gunfire for an attack by a common enemy, arrived fully armed. The Wampanoag were welcomed to join
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#17327903405138494-561: The Pilgrims had adopted: boiled cornmeal mixed with vegetables and meats. There were no potatoes (an indigenous South American food not yet introduced into the global food system) and no pies (because there was no butter, wheat flour, or sugar).". Two colonists gave personal accounts of the 1621 feast in Plymouth: William Bradford , in Of Plymouth Plantation wrote: They began now to gather in
8631-721: The Providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, Independence and Peace: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper
8768-556: The Southern Sycamore was her main temple in Memphis. At that site she was described as the daughter of the city's main deity, Ptah . The cult of Ra and Atum at Heliopolis, northeast of Memphis, included a temple to Hathor-Nebethetepet that was probably built in the Middle Kingdom. A willow and a sycamore tree stood near the sanctuary and may have been worshipped as manifestations of the goddess. A few cities farther north in
8905-555: The Vulva". At Ra's cult center of Heliopolis , Hathor-Nebethetepet was worshipped as his consort, and the Egyptologist Rudolf Anthes argued that Hathor's name referred to a mythical "house of Horus" at Heliopolis that was connected with the ideology of kingship. She was one of many goddesses to take the role of the Eye of Ra, a feminine personification of the disk of the sun and an extension of Ra's own power. Ra
9042-501: The afterlife, just as men joined the following of Osiris. In the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–664 BC), Egyptians began to add Hathor's name to that of deceased women in place of that of Osiris. In some cases, women were called "Osiris-Hathor", indicating that they benefited from the revivifying power of both deities. In these late periods, Hathor was sometimes said to rule the afterlife as Osiris did. Hathor
9179-470: The artful and unwearied attempts of the common enemy to divide them; the success of the arms of the United States and those of their allies; and the acknowledgment of their Independence by another European power, whose friendship and commerce must be of great and lasting advantage to these States; Do hereby recommend it to the inhabitants of these States in general, to observe and request the several states to interpose their authority, in appointing and commanding
9316-484: The beginning of the Middle Kingdom, Mentuhotep II established a permanent cult center for her in the necropolis at Deir el-Bahari. The nearby village of Deir el-Medina , home to the tomb workers of the necropolis during the New Kingdom, also contained temples of Hathor. One continued to function and was periodically rebuilt as late as the Ptolemaic Period, centuries after the village was abandoned. In
9453-462: The birth of the local child deity. The child god represented the cyclical renewal of the cosmos and an archetypal heir to the kingship. Hathor was the mother in many of these local divine triads . At Dendera, the mature Horus of Edfu was the father and Hathor the mother, while their child was Ihy , a god whose name meant "sistrum-player" and who personified the jubilation associated with the instrument. At Kom Ombo , Hathor's local form, Tasenetnofret,
9590-546: The bovine horns and vulture headdress, appeared on images portraying Ptolemaic queens as Aphrodite. More temples were dedicated to Hathor than to any other Egyptian goddess. During the Old Kingdom her most important center of worship was in the region of Memphis , where "Hathor of the Sycamore" was worshipped at many sites throughout the Memphite Necropolis . During the New Kingdom era, the temple of Hathor of
9727-632: The celebration as a pious, patriotic holiday that lived on in the memory as a check against temptation, or as a comfort in times of trial. Hale and Godey’s led the way in creating a standardized celebration, which in turn created a standardized celebrant — a standardized and true American. Her vision aimed at a broad audience: The stories in Godey’s depicted Black servants, Roman Catholics, and Southerners celebrating Thanksgiving, and becoming more American (which for Hale meant becoming more like White Protestant Northerners) by doing so. Her efforts sought to expand
9864-422: The celebration, as their farming and hunting techniques had produced much of the bounty for the Pilgrims, and contributed their own foods to the meal. Most modern imaginings of the celebration promote the idea that every party involved ate solely turkey. "While the celebrants might well have feasted on wild turkey, the local diet also included fish, eels, shellfish, and a Wampanoag dish called nasaump , which
10001-401: The central role. Ancient Egyptians prefixed the names of the deceased with Osiris's name to connect them with his resurrection . For example, a woman named Henutmehyt would be dubbed "Osiris-Henutmehyt". Over time they increasingly associated the deceased with both male and female divine powers. As early as the late Old Kingdom, women were sometimes said to join the worshippers of Hathor in
10138-563: The colonists, as both men had some knowledge of English from previous interactions with Europeans, through both trade (Samoset) and a period of enslavement (Squanto). Massasoit had hoped to establish a mutual protection alliance between the Wampanoag, themselves greatly weakened by the same plague that extirpated the Patuxet, and the better-armed English in their long-running rivalry with the Narragansett , who had largely been spared from
10275-422: The country to tell a story of its origins- people leaving far off lands, struggling under harsh conditions and ultimately being welcomed to America's bounty- that children, particularly immigrant children, could easily understand and share with their families. The holiday materials were often disseminated in the form of booklets containing poetry and songs and crafts. Thanksgiving pageants at schools often involved
10412-477: The course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all
10549-482: The cult of Bat in the neighboring region of Hu , so that in the Middle Kingdom ( c. 2055–1650 BC ) the two deities fused into one. The theology surrounding the pharaoh in the Old Kingdom, unlike that of earlier times, focused heavily on the sun god Ra as king of the gods and father and patron of the earthly king. Hathor ascended with Ra and became his mythological wife, and thus divine mother of
10686-486: The day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantation in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God". This celebration has, since the mid 20th century, been commemorated there annually at present-day Berkeley Plantation , the ancestral home of the Harrison family of Virginia . This early commemoration created the groundwork for what would later become
10823-513: The distance was increased to 1 + 1 ⁄ 16 miles. In 2020 and 2023, the event was reduced back to 1 mile. The event was split into divisions eight times, with the last occurrence in 1983. The new scheduling allowed the Pocahontas to become a major prep for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies . It is a "Win and You're In" race in the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. The Pocahontas
10960-468: The early weeks of the Fall Meet. The event was first classified as a Grade III race in 2005 and a Grade II race in 2010. In 2020, the event was downgraded back to Grade III. The distance of the race originated at 7 furlongs and was run at that distance for the first 13 years, from 1969 to 1981. The distance was changed to one mile beginning in 1982 and continued at that distance through 2012. In 2013,
11097-523: The eleventh day of October, in the year of our LORD, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, and of our Sovereignty and Independence, the seventh. JOHN HANSON , President. CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary. On Thursday, September 24, 1789, the first House of Representatives voted to recommend the First Amendment of the newly drafted Constitution to the states for ratification. The next day, Congressman Elias Boudinot from New Jersey proposed that
11234-437: The epidemic; the Wampanoag reasoned that, given that the Pilgrims had brought women and children, they had not arrived to wage war against them. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them until he too succumbed to disease a year later. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit also gave food to the colonists when supplies brought from England proved insufficient. Having brought in
11371-466: The eye goddess, who would later give birth to him. Ra gave rise to his daughter, the eye goddess, who in turn gave rise to him, her son, in a cycle of constant regeneration. The Eye of Ra protected the sun god from his enemies and was often represented as a uraeus , or rearing cobra , or as a lioness. A form of the Eye of Ra known as "Hathor of the Four Faces", represented by a set of four cobras,
11508-564: The first person to identify the 1621 feast as the "first Thanksgiving", but this was only because he viewed it as similar to the traditions of New England Thanksgivings that had developed independently from it over the previous two hundred years. Those traditions, and the modern holiday, were born out of the gradual homogenization and, to a degree, secularization, of multiple, separate but related days of thanksgiving throughout New England. These days were often celebrated from early November to early to mid-December, in some cases functioning almost as
11645-418: The following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America: Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to
11782-435: The form of Hathor, rebels against Ra's control and rampages freely in a foreign land: Libya west of Egypt or Nubia to the south. Weakened by the loss of his Eye, Ra sends another god, such as Thoth , to bring her back to him. Once pacified, the goddess returns to become the consort of the sun god or of the god who brings her back. The two aspects of the Eye goddess—violent and dangerous versus beautiful and joyful—reflected
11919-402: The giver of all good, for His gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner, to give Him praise for His goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of His Providence in their behalf; therefore, the United States in Congress assembled, taking into their consideration the many instances of Divine goodness to these States in the course of
12056-425: The great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government
12193-428: The headdress of Hathor beginning in the late Eighteenth Dynasty. An image of the sed festival of Amenhotep III , meant to celebrate and renew his rule, shows the king together with Hathor and his queen Tiye , which could mean that the king symbolically married the goddess in the course of the festival. Hatshepsut , a woman who ruled as a pharaoh in the early New Kingdom, emphasized her relationship to Hathor in
12330-562: The health of their children, for the fertility of their fields, for the love which bound them together and for the faith which united them with their God." However, according to historian James Baker, debates over where any "first Thanksgiving" took place on modern American territory are a "tempest in a beanpot". According to Baker, "the American holiday's true origin was the New England Thanksgiving. Never coupled with
12467-439: The herdsman has done something to pacify her. In " The Contendings of Horus and Set ", a New Kingdom short story about the dispute between those two gods , Ra is upset after being insulted by another god, Babi , and lies on his back alone. After some time, Hathor exposes her genitals to Ra, making him laugh and get up again to perform his duties as ruler of the gods. Life and order were thought to be dependent on Ra's activity, and
12604-426: The holiday from a regional celebration to a national one not only through advocacy in her magazine but also in direct appeals to several U.S. presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, who permanently established the holiday at the national level in 1863. While the Pilgrim's story did not itself create the modern Thanksgiving holiday, it did become inextricably linked with it in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This
12741-420: The important conflict, in which they have been so long engaged; the present happy and promising state of public affairs, and the events of the war in the course of the year now drawing to a close; particularly the harmony of the public Councils which is so necessary to the success of the public cause; the perfect union and good understanding which has hitherto subsisted between them and their allies, notwithstanding
12878-573: The innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success: It is therefore recommended to
13015-662: The inundation therefore incorporated drink, music, and dance as a way to appease the returning goddess. A text from the Temple of Edfu says of Hathor, "the gods play the sistrum for her, the goddesses dance for her to dispel her bad temper." A hymn to the goddess Raet-Tawy as a form of Hathor at the temple of Medamud describes the Festival of Drunkenness (Tekh Festival) as part of her mythic return to Egypt. Women carry bouquets of flowers, drunken revelers play drums, and people and animals from foreign lands dance for her as she enters
13152-499: The king. The text describes these exotic goods as Hathor's gift to the pharaoh. Egyptian expeditions to mine gold in Nubia introduced her cult to the region during the Middle and New Kingdoms, and New Kingdom pharaohs built several temples to her in the portions of Nubia that they ruled. Although the Pyramid Texts, the earliest Egyptian funerary texts , rarely mention her, Hathor was invoked in private tomb inscriptions from
13289-474: The late Old Kingdom that connects Hathor with the "apron" of the king, reminiscent of the goddess on Narmer's garments, and suggests the goddess on the Narmer Palette is Hathor rather than Bat. In the Fourth Dynasty, Hathor rose rapidly to prominence. She supplanted an early crocodile god who was worshipped at Dendera in Upper Egypt to become Dendera's patron deity , and she increasingly absorbed
13426-471: The late periods of Egyptian history, the form of Hathor from Dendera and the form of Horus from Edfu were considered husband and wife and in different versions of the myth of the Distant Goddess, Hathor-Raettawy was the consort of Montu and Hathor-Tefnut the consort of Shu. Hathor's sexual side was seen in some short stories . In a cryptic fragment of a Middle Kingdom story, known as "The Tale of
13563-465: The legislative or executive Powers of these United States to set apart Thursday, the eighteenth Day of December next, for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join
13700-500: The lioness goddess Sekhmet and massacres the rebellious humans, but Ra decides to prevent her from killing all humanity. He orders that beer be dyed red and poured out over the land. The Eye goddess drinks the beer, mistaking it for blood, and in her inebriated state reverts to being the benign and beautiful Hathor. Related to this story is the myth of the Distant Goddess, from the Late and Ptolemaic periods. The Eye goddess, sometimes in
13837-489: The myth of the Eye of Ra. The Eye was pacified by beer in the story of the Destruction of Mankind. In some versions of the Distant Goddess myth, the wandering Eye's wildness abated when she was appeased with products of civilization like music, dance, and wine. The water of the annual flooding of the Nile , colored red by sediment, was likened to wine, and to the red-dyed beer in the Destruction of Mankind. Festivals during
13974-427: The name implies, the theme of the holiday generally revolves around giving thanks with the centerpiece of most celebrations being a Thanksgiving dinner . The dinner often consists of foods associated with New England harvest celebrations: turkey , potatoes (usually mashed and sweet ), squash , corn (maize), green beans , cranberries (typically as cranberry sauce ), and pumpkin pie , but has expanded over
14111-559: The observation of THURSDAY the TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY OF NOVEMBER next as a day of SOLEMN THANKSGIVING to GOD for all His mercies; and they do further recommend to all ranks to testify their gratitude to God for His goodness by a cheerful obedience to His laws and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness. Done in Congress at Philadelphia ,
14248-653: The penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please God through the Merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under
14385-467: The peoples in those lands adopted her worship. In Egypt , she was one of the deities commonly invoked in private prayers and votive offerings , particularly by women desiring children. During the New Kingdom ( c. 1550–1070 BC ), goddesses such as Mut and Isis encroached on Hathor's position in royal ideology, but she remained one of the most widely worshipped deities. After the end of
14522-530: The pharaoh. Hathor took many forms and appeared in a wide variety of roles. The Egyptologist Robyn Gillam suggests that these diverse forms emerged when the royal goddess promoted by the Old Kingdom court subsumed many local goddesses worshipped by the general populace, who were then treated as manifestations of her. Egyptian texts often speak of the manifestations of the goddess as "Seven Hathors" or, less commonly, of many more Hathors—as many as 362. For these reasons, Gillam calls her "a type of deity rather than
14659-591: The plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you, partakers of our plenty. Jeremy Bang opines that, "Local boosters in Virginia , Florida , and Texas promote their own colonists, who (like many people getting off a boat) gave thanks for setting foot again on dry land." The codification and celebration of an annual day of thanksgiving according to
14796-458: The provinces, as a way of binding those regions to the royal court. She may have absorbed the traits of contemporary provincial goddesses. Many female royals, though not reigning queens, held positions in the cult during the Old Kingdom. Mentuhotep II , who became the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom despite having no relation to the Old Kingdom rulers, sought to legitimize his rule by portraying himself as Hathor's son. The first images of
14933-635: The same era, and in the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts and later sources, she is frequently linked with the afterlife. Just as she crossed the boundary between Egypt and foreign lands, Hathor passed through the boundary between the living and the Duat , the realm of the dead. She helped the spirits of deceased humans enter the Duat and was closely linked with tomb sites, where that transition began. The necropolises , or clusters of tombs, on
15070-419: The service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in
15207-429: The shape of Hathor's face. The menat necklace, made up of many strands of beads, was shaken in ceremonies in Hathor's honor, similarly to the sistrum. Images of it were sometimes seen as personifications of Hathor herself. Hathor was sometimes represented as a human face with bovine ears, seen from the front rather than in the profile-based perspective that was typical of Egyptian art. When she appears in this form,
15344-574: The small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they can be used (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl, there
15481-530: The specific boons they provided to their worshipers or humanity in general such as the Tekh Festival thanking the goddess Hathor for the creation of alcohol. These were often celebrated with music, dancing, bonfires and the donning of accoutrements or costumes. Documented thanksgiving services in what is currently the United States were conducted as early as the 16th century by the Spaniards [2] and
15618-528: The story implies that Hathor averted the disastrous consequences of his idleness. Her act may have lifted Ra's spirits partly because it sexually aroused him, although why he laughed is not fully understood. Hathor was praised for her beautiful hair. Egyptian literature contains allusions to a myth not clearly described in any surviving texts, in which Hathor lost a lock of hair that represented her sexual allure. One text compares this loss with Horus's loss of his divine Eye and Set 's loss of his testicles during
15755-616: The struggle between the two gods, implying that the loss of Hathor's lock was as catastrophic for her as the maiming of Horus and Set was for them. Hathor was called "mistress of love", as an extension of her sexual aspect. In the series of love poems from Papyrus Chester Beatty I, from the Twentieth Dynasty (c. 1189–1077 BC), men and women ask Hathor to bring their lovers to them: "I prayed to her [Hathor] and she heard my prayer. She destined my mistress [loved one] for me. And she came of her own free will to see me." Hathor
15892-414: The sun god sailed, and they connected it with the waters from which, according to their creation myths , the sun emerged at the beginning of time. This cosmic mother goddess was often represented as a cow. Hathor and Mehet-Weret were both thought of as the cow who birthed the sun god and placed him between her horns. Like Nut, Hathor was said to give birth to the sun god each dawn. Hathor's Egyptian name
16029-401: The sun god. Coffins, tombs, and the underworld itself were interpreted as the womb of this goddess, from which the deceased soul would be reborn. Nut, Hathor, and Imentet could each, in different texts, lead the deceased into a place where they would receive food and drink for eternal sustenance. Thus, Hathor, as Imentet, often appears on tombs, welcoming the deceased person as her child into
16166-441: The temple's festival booth. The noise of the celebration drives away hostile powers and ensures the goddess will remain in her joyful form as she awaits the male god of the temple, her mythological consort Montu , whose son she will bear. Hathor's joyful, ecstatic side indicates her feminine, procreative power. In some creation myths she helped produce the world itself. Atum , a creator god who contained all things within himself,
16303-419: The traditions of a New England Thanksgiving, was the longtime editor of Godey's Ladies Book , the most widely circulated periodical in the antebellum U.S. Hale was the chief promoter of the modern idea of the holiday in the 19th century, from the foods served to the decorations to the role of women in putting it all together. Concerned by increasing factionalism in American society, Hale envisioned Thanksgiving as
16440-433: The tresses on either side of her face often curl into loops. This mask-like face was placed on the capitals of columns beginning in the late Old Kingdom. Columns of this style were used in many temples to Hathor and other goddesses. These columns have two or four faces, which may represent the duality between different aspects of the goddess or the watchfulness of Hathor of the Four Faces. The designs of Hathoric columns have
16577-521: The west bank of the Nile were personified as Imentet , the goddess of the west, who was frequently regarded as a manifestation of Hathor. The Theban necropolis , for example, was often portrayed as a stylized mountain with the cow of Hathor emerging from it. Her role as a sky goddess was also linked to the afterlife. Because the sky goddess—either Nut or Hathor—assisted Ra in his daily rebirth, she had an important part in ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs , according to which deceased humans were reborn like
16714-550: The years to include specialties from other regions of the United States, such as pecan pie (the American South) and wild rice stuffing (the Great Lakes region) as well as international and ethnic dishes. Other Thanksgiving customs include charitable organizations offering thanksgiving dinner for the poor, attending religious services , and watching or participating in parades and American football matches. Thanksgiving
16851-419: Was ḥwt-ḥrw or ḥwt-ḥr . It is typically translated "house of Horus" but can also be rendered as "my house is the sky". The falcon god Horus represented, among other things, the sun and sky. The "house" referred to may be the sky in which Horus lives, or the goddess's womb from which he, as a sun god, is born each day. Hathor was a solar deity , a feminine counterpart to sun gods such as Horus and Ra, and
16988-442: Was a common motif in Egyptian art and could represent a variety of goddesses who were identified with the Eye of Ra. When Hathor was depicted as a uraeus, it represented the ferocious and protective aspects of her character. She also appeared as a lioness, and this form had a similar meaning. In contrast, the domestic cat , which was sometimes connected with Hathor, often represented the Eye goddess's pacified form. When portrayed as
17125-575: Was a great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterward write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports. Edward Winslow , in Mourt's Relation wrote: Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after
17262-479: Was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity , she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god Ra , both of whom were connected with kingship, and thus she was the symbolic mother of their earthly representatives, the pharaohs . She was one of several goddesses who acted as the Eye of Ra , Ra's feminine counterpart, and in this form, she had
17399-464: Was a member of the divine entourage that accompanied Ra as he sailed through the sky in his barque . She was commonly called the "Golden One", referring to the radiance of the sun, and texts from her temple at Dendera say "her rays illuminate the whole earth." She was sometimes fused with another goddess, Nebethetepet , whose name can mean "Lady of the Offering", "Lady of Contentment", or "Lady of
17536-524: Was considered the mother of various child deities. As suggested by her name, she was often thought of as both Horus's mother and consort. As both the king's wife and his heir's mother, Hathor was the divine counterpart of human queens. Isis and Osiris were considered Horus's parents in the Osiris myth as far back as the late Old Kingdom, but the relationship between Horus and Hathor may be older still. If so, Horus only came to be linked with Isis and Osiris as
17673-755: Was given by the Continental Congress in 1777 from its temporary location in York, Pennsylvania , while the British occupied the national capital at Philadelphia. Delegate Samuel Adams created the first draft. Congress then adopted the final version: For as much as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it had pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us
17810-414: Was largely due to the introduction in U.S. schools of "an annual sequence of classroom holiday activities through which civic education and American patriotism were indoctrinated." The late 19th and early 20th century were a time of massive immigration to the U.S. The changing demographics prompted not only xenophobic responses in the form of restrictive immigration measures, but also a greater push towards
17947-422: Was mother to Horus's son Panebtawy. Other children of Hathor included a minor deity from the town of Hu , named Neferhotep, and several child forms of Horus. The milky sap of the sycamore tree , which the Egyptians regarded as a symbol of life, became one of her symbols. The milk was equated with water of the Nile inundation and thus fertility. In the late Ptolemaic and Roman Periods , many temples contained
18084-462: Was not published until the 1850s and the booklet "Mourt's Relation" was typically summarized by other publications without the now-familiar thanksgiving story. In fact, by the eighteenth century, the original booklet appeared to be lost or forgotten although a copy was later rediscovered in Philadelphia in 1820, with the first full reprinting in 1841. In a footnote the editor, Alexander Young, was
18221-442: Was often depicted as a cow bearing the sun disk between her horns, especially when shown nursing the king. She could also appear as a woman with the head of a cow. Her most common form, however, was a woman wearing a headdress of the horns and sun disk, often with a red or turquoise sheath dress, or a dress combining both colors. Sometimes the horns stood atop a low modius or the vulture headdress that Egyptian queens often wore in
18358-509: Was said to face in each of the cardinal directions to watch for threats to the sun god. A group of myths, known from the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) onward, describe what happens when the Eye goddess rampages uncontrolled. In the funerary text known as the Book of the Heavenly Cow , Ra sends Hathor as the Eye of Ra to punish humans for plotting rebellion against his rule. She becomes
18495-526: Was said to have produced his children Shu and Tefnut , and thus begun the process of creation, by masturbating. The hand he used for this act, the Hand of Atum, represented the female aspect of himself and could be personified by Hathor, Nebethetepet, or another goddess, Iusaaset . In a late creation myth from the Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BC), the god Khonsu is put in a central role, and Hathor
18632-622: Was sometimes called "Lady of Amethyst". South of Egypt, Hathor's influence was thought to have extended over the land of Punt , which lay along the Red Sea coast and was a major source for the incense with which Hathor was linked, as well as with Nubia, northwest of Punt. The autobiography of Harkhuf , an official in the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BC), describes his expedition to a land in or near Nubia, from which he brought back great quantities of ebony , panther skins, and incense for
18769-409: Was sometimes portrayed inside the disk, which Troy interprets as meaning that the eye goddess was thought of as a womb , from which the sun god was born. Hathor's seemingly contradictory roles as mother, wife, and daughter of Ra reflected the daily cycle of the sun. At sunset the god entered the body of the sky goddess, impregnating her and fathering the deities born from her womb at sunrise: himself and
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