Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 99. (Budapest, 2003)
LIPTAY, ÉVA: Between Heaven and Earth. The Motif of the Cow Coming out of the Mountain
In Chapter 59 of the BD the mistress of the Sycamore provides the be*-soul with meal and water, and a shady peaceful place under the tree. This concept - such as the goddess coming out of the mountain - is rooted in a number of early textual references in the Pyramid and Coffin Texts. At the two ends of the sky, near the western and eastern horizons, the sycamore tree has a prominent role. On the eastern horizon, a pair of sycamore trees helps the sun god as he ascends to the sky. As for the western sycamore, in light of the Pyramid texts, it was associated with Hathor. 48 The tree embraces, protects, and provides Osiris 49 (and hence the deceased identified with him), and as regards both its function and geographical position, it is bound to the h tp-field of the netherworld, provider of the blessed souls. The correlation between Hathor's sky-goddess character, her sacred trees, and the ascent of the deceased to the sky is apparent from the earliest times. 50 III. CHANGING TO THE EVENING BARK - MEETING THE SKY-GODDESS The previous discussion cast light to the fact that beyond depicting the deceased having just arrived at the West, the scene in question contains several allusions to the daytime and night-time journey (i.e. on this world and on the other) of the sun god. Some variants display the symbols of resurrection on the eastern horizon, i.e. at dawn, on the opposite side of the mountain. 51 Certain examples of New Kingdom BD Ch. 186 label the Hathor-cow as Mehetweret. 52 This cow-shaped ancient deity, mother of the sun god, embodies the celestial abyss and the fertility of the primordial flood. 53 She is often portrayed among the apotropaic figures of Middle Kingdom magical wands („Zaubermessern") as lying over a mat-like basement. 54 Chapter 71 of the BD deals with the Mehet-weret-cow, and the vignette represents a cow in an analogous position: lying on a mat-like pedestal, wearing an ornament around the neck and a sun disc between the horns. Hathor can also assume the same form in variants of "the cow coming out of the mountain" scene on 21 st Dynasty coffins. 55 48 Pyr. Spr. 574: Moftah, R., Die uralte Sykomore und andere Erscheinungen der Hathor, ZÄS 92 (1965) 40-41. 49 Koemoth, P., Osiris et les arbres (Aeg.Leod.3), Liège 1994, 203-207; Schott, loc.cit. (n. 19) 3-6. 50 Allam, op.cit. (n. 2) 109. 51 Hornung, E., Szenen des Sonnenlaufes, in Sesto Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia, Atti I, Torino 1992, 319 and fig. 6; Schäfer, H., Altägyptische Bilder der auf- und untergehenden Sonne, ZÄS 71 (1935) 26-30; Rambova, N, in Piankoff, A. - Rambova, N., Mythological Papyri, New York 1957, 39-42. 52 Naville, op.cit. (n. 5) pl. CCXII; Hornung, E., Das Totenbuch der Ägypter, Zürich - München 1990, 400 and 522. 53 Altenmüller, Synkretismus (n. 4) 80-81. 54 Altenmüller, Apotropaia (n. 18) 171. The author claims that the Hathor-Nub aspect of the goddess (as the mother of the sun god) is supposed to be of Middle Egyptian origin. 55 Heyne, loc.cit. (n. 1) fig. 3 (= Piankoff - Rambova, op.cit. [n. 51] no. 7), and on the top of the chapel: fig. 8 (= Chassinat, E., La seconde trouvaille de Deir el-Bahari. Sarcophages, Le Caire 1909, pl. XIV).
