Bata (goddess)
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In Egyptian mythology, Bata (also spelt Bat) was originally a deification of the Milky Way, which, since it was in early times considered a pool of cow's milk, made Bata be considered a cow goddess. She was originally worshipped in Seshesh, the 7th nome of Upper Egypt, where she, as a representation of the cosmos, was thought of as the essence of the soul. Hence her name, which is the feminine form of the word ba, the spiritual element that Egyptians considered to constitute one of the major parts of the soul.
Bata became strongly associated with the ankh, a symbol was associated with ba, as it represented life. Consequently, she also became associated strongly with the sistrum, a musical instrument whose shape is very similar to that of the ankh. Bata was rarely depicted in painting or sculpture, but in rare instances was pictured as a celestial bovine (cow-like) creature surrounded by stars. More commonly, Bata was depicted on amulets, with a human face, but with bovine features, such as the ears of a cow, and curled horns.
Although Bata's titles include clearly bovine references such as She Who Lows, and Great Wild Cow, she also had the title Ba of two faces, and sometimes depicted as such. It is unclear as to why she was said to have two faces, and there has been much debate around the question. There is evidence that suggests that the faces symbolise Bata's power, as the divine ba, to see past and future, but it is also possible that Bata's faces represented two more earthly sides, either the two sides of Nile riverbanks, or the two constituents of a united Egypt, both the Upper and Lower.
The imagery of Bata as a divine cow was remarkably similar to that of Hathor, although they diverged over time, with Hathor gaining quite distinct differences. Hathor's cult centre happened to be in the 6th Nome of Upper Egypt, which lay next to the 7th, which may indicate that they were once the same goddess, whose two different titles lead to divergence of the goddess under each. Nethertheless, ultimately, as a more dominant and centralised religion grew up, Bata's shared characteristics with Hathor, which in many cases were so strong that there has been considerable confusion amongst egyptologists as a result, lead to them finally, during the Middle Kingdom, being identified as the same goddess, and Bata became an aspect of Hathor.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead says: I am Praise; I am Majesty; I am Bata with Her Two Faces; I am the One Who Is Saved, and I have saved myself from all things evil.
