Several Egyptian goddesses took the form of a cow, above all Hathor, goddess of love, music and motherhood, who was also the protector of the Theban necropolis, receiving the setting sun and the dead into the western mountain. The celestial cow Mehet-Weret was believed to have carried the sun god into the sky.
Cow heads like this one, with lyre-shaped horns, were placed in burials and temples as images of these protective goddesses.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Cairo, opened in 2021 and traces Egyptian civilization from prehistory to the present; it is also home to the royal mummies moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.
