Samuel Baca-Henry (he/him) is a vegan writer, activist, and musician living in Seattle.In September 2023, I visited Egypt with my parents and cousin. On the second day, we visited the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari.Deir el-Bahari – known to the ancient Egyptians as Djeser-Djeseru (“Holy of Holies”) – is one of many death and rebirth areas to the west of contemporary Luxor. Neighboring areas include the so-called Valleys of the Kings and Queens, elite tombs, a temple to Hathor, the isolated skilled tomb-artisans’ villages (and its own temple to Hathor), and several pharaohs’ monumental tomb and temple complexes.Within Deir el-Bahari, there are Temple complexes of pharaohs Mentuhotep II, Hatshepsut, and Menkheperre Djehutimose.I saw a carved stone relief depicting the pharaoh Hatshepsut nursing from the cow goddess Hathor’s udders.Hathor is a cow goddess embodying the ideals of motherly love (and other traits, e.g. fertility, daily personal and cosmic resurrection, dance, joy, sexuality, music).I was struck by this contradiction of seeing cows in nature and appreciating their motherly care for their calves vs the way mother cows and baby calves are treated in reality.When I returned home, that feeling stayed with me and poured out via this book.Read more about this authorRead less about this author