Athor (or Athyr)
in Egyptian mythology, was a goddess of night, who, as such, was the hidden cause of all things. She was principally worshipped at Athribis, in the Delta, which city is said to have received its name from her. Upon certain coins of Athribis she appears as a womanly figure, with a spear in her left and a bird in her right hand. The Egyptians declared their Athor to be the Aphrodite of the Greeks and the Venus of the Romans. Therefore the bird in her hand possibly represents the dove sacred to Venus as a symbol of fruitful brooding. Later Egyptologists, however, doubt this identification. Her name signifies "the abode of Hor," and she is closely associated with Isis (q.v.). She probably represented the lower hemisphere, into which the sun sinks at night, and so came to be regarded as the goddess of the under-world. She appears on the monuments in various forms, such as a female, a cow, or a hawk, with the characteristic emblem of the disk and the horns. See Rawlinson, Hist. of Egypt, i, 364 sq.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More