The Goddess Hathor Welcomes Seti I to the Underworld
Updated: Nov 23, 2020
This beautiful relief was part of the decoration of the tomb well-preserved tomb of King Seti I (KV17) in the Valley of the Kings.

It depicts Seti walking towards the still figure of the goddess Hathor, who played an important role in welcoming the dead to the underworld and accompanying them into the afterlife.
Hathor, Lady of the West, is shown welcoming Seti into her domain and holds out her menat necklace as a symbol of her protection. On the goddess's wig are the horns of a cow, her sacred animal, and a solar disk showing she is the daughter of Ra. She is named in the hieroglyphic text above using the symbol of a falcon in a building or temple, which reads Hwt-Hr meaning βHouse of Horusβ.
Seti is distinguishable by the royal uraeus cobra which stands out in front of his forehead, and by two of his royal names given in cartouches. The left reads Men Maat Ra, meaning βEternal is the Truth of Raβ and the right reads Wesiri Seti, mer en Ptah, meaning βOsiris Seti, beloved of Ptahβ.
Their jewellery has the colours of the precious materials from which it was made, including gold, silver, lapis lazuli, turquoise and carnelian.
The characters' finery reflects the refinement and elegance of the art from this period and retains some elements of the Amarna style developed fifty years earlier during Akhenatenβs reign.
The original is now in the Musee de Louvre, Paris.