The daughter of Ra and the wife of Ptah, the lion-headed goddess Sokhmet - “The Mighty One” - was revered as the embodiment of the Eye of Wadjet: she personified the powers contained in the uraeus serpent. A formidable goddess who knows no pity or compassion protects her great father, the Lord of All That Is Ra, from evil demons and punishes people for their sins. The wrath of Sokhmet is terrible: it brings drought, epidemics, pestilence, wars.
The character of Ra's other daughter, the goddess Hathor, is the complete opposite of the character of the evil lioness Sokhmet, although the two goddesses were identified. Hathor is the goddess of love, kindness, fun, dance and music, the patroness of motherhood and the embodiment of femininity. She takes young girls and their fiancés under her wing, makes sure that marriages are happy, and helps create a family home. Hathor is the patroness of pregnant women - those in a “sacred state” - and the constant assistant of midwives.
Hathor is depicted as a woman with cow horns and a solar disk with a uraeus. Hathor is subject to music and dancing, so one of the emblems of the good goddess is the sistrum: a rattling musical instrument consisting of a frame with metal movable rods. The handles of sistrums were usually made in the shape of a cat with a human face. A huge golden sistrum stood in the main sanctuary of Hathor - her temple in Dendera (Egyptian: Iun-ta-non-chert); and a cat with a woman's face was also considered a symbol of the goddess and her temple. The god of music Aikhi (Ihi) is the son of Ra and Hathor.
The beloved daughter of the Sun god is often embodied in his Eye: Hathor in the guise of the Solar Eye stands on the bow of the Boat of Eternity and kills all enemies who meet on the way.
Sometimes Hathor acts as the goddess of the West - Hathor-Amentyot. Standing near the western mountains, she lowers the dying evening Sun beyond the horizon and meets the souls of the departed at the gates of the other world.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru