Bat (goddess)

Bat is an occupied as early as the Early Dynastic period Egyptian goddess local capital Hu - sechem in the seventh nome of Upper Egypt ( " Gau of the female soul "). The name is the feminine form of the word Ba ( soul). In the pyramid texts it is called "Bat with two faces ".

Importance

Bat similar iconography of the goddess Hathor. She was worshiped as a fertility goddess, could help to conceive the childless women. Strikingly, Bat finds in the period from the New Kingdom to the Late Period there is no direct mention of what may be due to their temporary merger with Hathor. From the 26th dynasty and especially in the Greco -Roman period, however, the old Bat- cult revived.

Representation

In the Gauliste of Sesostris I at Karnak Temple Bat is presented as representative of the seventh Upper Egyptian nome as a fetish on a standard. Since the 11th Dynasty Bat is equated with Hathor and is found on many Sistren and columns. Even in the early time the symbol of the Bat was sometimes surrounded by stars, which could indicate a cosmic significance.

Bat is mapped with a human face, cow's ears and horns of a cow. One of the earliest evidence of bat is the Narmer palette. A group representation from the 4th Dynasty king Menkaure shows, surrounded by Hathor and Bat as Gaugöttin with bat fetish on his head.