Qadesh was a minor female deity of Syrian origin which was imported during the eighteenth dynasty, when Egyptian kings expanded their Empire along the Medit- erranean coast over the whole Middle East region. Her looks in frontal position clearly show her foreign roots (see also Bes and Anat). As being a reminiscent of the Persian goddess Anahita she stood for love and sexual ecstasy and pleasure, and she was put into a triad with another Syrian deity (warrior and thunder god Reshpu) and the indigenous fertility god Min.
She was originally depicted as a nude wo- man with flowers as symbols of eroticism and fertility standing on the back of a lion. In Egyptian art she adopted the female trad- itional all-long dress with suspenders (see picture). She was always put in the shadows by her older Egyptian rival and competitor Hathor, who had the same line of duty.
Main text