Hesat : The Cow Goddess

Hesat

Introduction

Hesat was an Egyptian deity who lived as a cow. People believed that she provided milk, which was called “the beer of Hesat,” to help nourish the pharaoh and other ancient bull deities. According to the Pyramid Texts, she is the mother of King Anubis and the deceased king. She was also associated with Mnevis, who lived at the temple of Heliopolis. In the Ptolemaic era, she was closely associated with Isis.

Physical Traits

Hesat, the Egyptian god of nourishment, milk, and motherhood, was usually depicted as a cow or a woman with cow horns. She had a white or black coat, depending on the region and the time period. She was often shown wearing a sun disk between her horns, symbolizing her connection to the solar deity Ra. She also wore a menat necklace, a type of ritual jewelry that represented fertility and protection. Sometimes, she was portrayed nursing her son Anubis, the god of mummification and the afterlife.

Family

 According to the Pyramid Texts, she was the mother of Anubis, the god of mummification and the afterlife, by either Osiris, the god of the underworld, or Ra, the god of the sun. She was also considered to be the earthly manifestation of Hathor, the goddess of love, beauty, and music, who was sometimes regarded as the daughter or wife of Ra. In some traditions, she was also associated with Isis, the goddess of magic and healing, who was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus, the god of kingship. Hesat was also connected with Mnevis, the living bull god worshipped at Heliopolis, who was seen as an aspect of Ra or Atum, the creator god.

Other names

Hesat was also referred to as Heset, Hesahet, or Hesaret.

Powers and Abilities

Hesat, the Egyptian goddess of nourishment, milk, and motherhood, was also able to produce milk that had healing and magical properties, as well as nourish the living and the dead. She was revered as a source of life and fertility by the ancient Egyptians.

Modern Day Influence

The Egyptian goddess of motherhood, milk, and nourishment, Hesat, is not as well-known as other deities from the country. In 2017, the video game called Assassin’s Creed Origins featured a character based on Hesat. The character was depicted as a massive cow with a sun disk around its neck and a menat necklace on its horns. Hesat can summon fireballs and snakes to deal damage to players. In Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel “American Gods,” Hesat is mentioned as a deity that Mr. Wednesday seeks to enlist in his war against new deities. He states that the deity is currently residing in Wisconsin and working on a dairy farm.