Domains & Iconography
Domains: Dendera, music, love, inebriation
Iconography: Hathor-head capitals, sistrum, menat
Temple & Hymns
Reliefs at Dendera celebrate music, rejuvenation rites, and night‑sky programs (zodiacal ceilings). Hymns call Hathor the lady of jubilation whose fragrance and sound pacify and protect.
Festivals & Processions
Processions link Dendera with Edfu and other temples; menat‑swinging and sistrum‑rattling figure prominently in rites that renew royal and communal delight.
Legacy
Architectural capitals and instruments in museums keep Dendera’s sweet order legible—joy as a serious craft.
Sources & References
See also
Hathor
Goddess of joy, love, music, and one aspect of the Eye of Ra; also guardian of the necropolis as 'Lady of the West'.
Bat
Ancient cow goddess related to Hathor; her visage shapes the sistrum instrument.
Bes
Apotropaic household god who wards off evil and delights children; linked with music and festivity.
Qetesh
Levantine pleasure goddess adopted in New Kingdom Egypt; appears with Resheph and Min.