Also called Bata (goddess), the Ba of the Two Lands.
Their story
Bat was a cow goddess of the seventh nome of Upper Egypt, shown as a woman's face with cow ears and horns that curve inwards. Such faces may appear at the top of the Narmer Palette, though they may be Hathor instead. The Pyramid Texts mention Bat with her two faces. By the Middle Kingdom she had been absorbed into Hathor, and her image lived on in the Hathor-headed sistrum.
Best times to give to them
- Beautiful Festival of the Valley
- festive music
What they like being given
- milk
- bread
- music
- water
How to honour them
- Honour her with music, since the sistrum may have taken its shape from her image.
How they can help you
- harmony
- music
- unity
Symbols
- woman's face with cow ears and inward-curving horns
- sistrum
- star
Whether the faces on the Narmer Palette show Bat or Hathor is debated.
Sources
- Narmer Palette (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)
- Pyramid Texts
- Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
More Egyptian goddesses
- Isis Great of Magic, mother of Horus
- Bastet Protector of the home, lady of joy
- Hathor The Golden One, lady of love and music
- Sekhmet The Powerful One, healer and protector
- Maat Truth, balance and right order
- Nephthys Lady of the House, comforter of the grieving
- Taweret The Great One, guardian of mothers
- Amunet The hidden goddess of the primordial eight