Samuel Birch

“ These cows, like the Moirie, or fates of Greek mythology, appeared at the births of legendary persons, and predicted the course and events of their lives. It is in this capacity that Athor is connected with Ptah, or the Egyptian Hephrcstus, and is allied to Sekhet or Bast, called the wifa or mistress of Ptah, the seven cows being the mystical companions of the Apis, the second life or incarnation of the god of Memphis. She was also represented under the attributes and with the titles of the goddess Nut, or the Egyptian Rhea. ”

“ The cow of Athor wore on its head the sotar disk, and hawk feather plumes, like Amen Ea ; and in this character as the great cow she has on some monuments her human head replaced by that of a cow wearing a disk, or the disk and plumes. This emblem also appears in her type at a later period, when her head is represented with lonf tresses curled into a spiral at the end, and she has the ears of a cow instead of human ears. ”