Faience plaque with part of a hieroglyphic inscription naming a 'beloved king's daughter' (name now lost). The piercing at the corner suggests that the object was suspended or attached to a larger votive item. In clearing the temple of Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty, the Egypt Exploration Fund discovered large numbers of votive offerings placed as prayers or thanks to the goddess Hathor. The majority of these offerings seem to have been made by women, and were probably intended to guarantee fertility and safe birth. Those making offerings to Hathor at Deir el-Bahari evidently included members of every level of society, up to and including the royal family.
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