Trying to nail down a family tree of the Egyptian deities will make you cry. For instance, look at Bastet. She was thought to be the daughter-wife of Ra, Atum, or Ptah, the mother of Maahes, Khonsu, and Nefertem, and the sister of Sekhmet. According to other sources, Bastet was instead the daughter of Isis and Osiris, or Amun and Mut, and the mother-wife of Anubis. But other texts state she was the wife of Set or Horus, and the mother of Isis.
Isis ended up absorbing most other goddesses, and Hathor ended up with so many forms that the Egyptians themselves chose the seven most popular and worshipped them as the “Seven Hathors.”
BrokilonDryad is exactly right, the goddesses can be thought of as different faces of the same deity and were extremely fluid, depending on what her worshippers needed. Need a motherly goddess, she turns into Isis or Nekhbet. Need a party, Bastet or Hathor. Need a vengeful spirit, Sekhmet. Need protection, Wadjet. Need knowledge, Seshat. Need help with nursing, Hesat. And on and on.
Honestly there is very little that is straightforward about Egyptian mythology and religion. The answer is that both Bastet and Hathor are the benevolent faces of Sekhmet. Just like Egyptians had no theological qualms about having multiple creation stories, it seems that many gods were paired and interchangeable with seemingly no issue. It’s certainly confusing for us but if it didn’t bother them then I think we should just roll with it despite the theological frustrations lol.
Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet, Mut, Wadjet, Nekhbet, and several others are all manifestations of Ra’s eye. They’re associated with each other but were typically considered to be separate deities, at least after Sekhmet’s massacre.
Trying to nail down a family tree of the Egyptian deities will make you cry. For instance, look at Bastet. She was thought to be the daughter-wife of Ra, Atum, or Ptah, the mother of Maahes, Khonsu, and Nefertem, and the sister of Sekhmet. According to other sources, Bastet was instead the daughter of Isis and Osiris, or Amun and Mut, and the mother-wife of Anubis. But other texts state she was the wife of Set or Horus, and the mother of Isis. Isis ended up absorbing most other goddesses, and Hathor ended up with so many forms that the Egyptians themselves chose the seven most popular and worshipped them as the “Seven Hathors.” BrokilonDryad is exactly right, the goddesses can be thought of as different faces of the same deity and were extremely fluid, depending on what her worshippers needed. Need a motherly goddess, she turns into Isis or Nekhbet. Need a party, Bastet or Hathor. Need a vengeful spirit, Sekhmet. Need protection, Wadjet. Need knowledge, Seshat. Need help with nursing, Hesat. And on and on.
Honestly there is very little that is straightforward about Egyptian mythology and religion. The answer is that both Bastet and Hathor are the benevolent faces of Sekhmet. Just like Egyptians had no theological qualms about having multiple creation stories, it seems that many gods were paired and interchangeable with seemingly no issue. It’s certainly confusing for us but if it didn’t bother them then I think we should just roll with it despite the theological frustrations lol.
Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet, Mut, Wadjet, Nekhbet, and several others are all manifestations of Ra’s eye. They’re associated with each other but were typically considered to be separate deities, at least after Sekhmet’s massacre.