The cow goddess, HATHOR, is one of the most significant goddesses of Ancient Egypt. She was known as “the Great One of Many Names.” She was a fertility sky-goddess also known as “Lady of Stars” and “Sovereign of Stars” with a primary connection to the star, Sirius.

The brightest star visible from any part of Earth, Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog. Sirius is sometimes called the Dog Star. The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks (the hot days of July and August), while to the Polynesians in the Southern Hemisphere, the star marked winter and was an important reference for their navigation around the Pacific Ocean.

To the Egyptians, Hathor was also a personification of the Milky Way, itself, which was considered to be the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow.

As “sky goddess,” she was seen as the mother of Horus (as the “sun” is housed within her) and seen as both mother and daughter to Ra, too. In one myth she is Ra’s eye and considered his daughter but later, when Ra assumes the role of Horus with respect to Kingship, she is considered Ra's mother. As a mother she gave birth to Ra each morning on the eastern horizon and as wife she conceives through union with him each day.