Lord of Power, Stability and Life

Ink pen and colored pencil on acid free paper, 17.8 x 25.3 cm (7 x 10 in.)


A crop of "Kairoinfo4u's" largest size photo was the model for this piece.

It first began with a small photo of just one 'neb' and 'was'/djed'/'ankh' group from Deir el Bahri by Ellie Rose Elliott shared on the Hatshepsut Project group. I wanted to know more about this scene. So I took to Flickr, and learned it was from the Chapel of Hathor.

Doing a Google book search, I learned:
"The Hathor chapel of the Deir el-Bahari temple of Hatshepsut is the earliest known structure dedicated to that goddess on the west bank. Depicted in the form of a cow, she is titled Hathor of Dendera, Chieftainess of Thebes. As the protective and nourishing mother, she is shown licking the queen, as the cow does her calf. [...] Suckled by the divine cow, Hatshepsut receives the gifts of life and strength as well as the power of the transfigured Akhu."
"Religion and Cult during the Time of Thutmose III" by Lana Troy in Thutmose III: a New Biography, edited by Eric H. Cline and David O'Connor, (University of Michigan, 2006), page 125.

In Kairoinfo4u's photo, we can see cow feet at the top. Is this the wall on which Hatshepsut is being suckled?

"Chris and Steve" have a photo set on Flickr which shows the band of was/djed/ankhs in larger context. Hatshepsut, whose image was scratched out in later times, is seated on a throne, with her hand extended to Hathor, who is licking her hand.