Goddess Hathor from the Tomb of Seti I (KV17)

Detail of the face of Goddess Hathor, with cobra earring

Detail of the face of Goddess Hathor, with cobra earring, who, in this full relief, is seen welcoming Seti I to the afterlife with a protective menat necklace.

The relief was taken from Seti I’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, by Champollion. However, this may not have been an act of “treasure hunting”, but perhaps an act of conservation, as the tomb had been flooded after Belzoni’s opening a year previous and much damage had taken place.

Detail of the face of Goddess Hathor, with cobra earring, who, in this full relief, is seen welcoming Seti I to the afterlife with a protective menat necklace.

“The appeasement of Hathor by means of wine, music and dance furthermore symbolised the victory of civilisation over untamed nature. Before Hathor [Sekhmet/Tefnut] came to civilised Egypt, she was a wild, ferocious lioness. After she made contact with the symbols of civilisation, namely music, dance and wine, she became the benevolent Bastet.

This change of nature, however, did not mean that she had already abandoned her untamed character. This is why she needed constant appeasement. Hathor’s double nature reminds one of the character of the inundation, which is violent when it arrives and benevolent when it settles.”

New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1294-1279 B.C.

Tomb of Seti I (KV17), Valley of the Kings.

The full piece is famously on display at the Musée du Louvre. N 124 ; B 7 ; Champollion n°1