This red granite capital of a column was discovered in 1892-1893 during excavations at Mendes (Tell el-Ruba) in Eastern Delta. The head of goddess Hathor is topped by a naos (shrine) with a snake crowned with a sun disk projecting from within. The complete form of the column would have represented a gigantic sistrum (rattle), a musical instrument used as an emblem of goddess Hathor. It probably belonged to a hall of columns that formed part of a building connected with the cemetery of sacred rams at Mendes.