Lament of Hathor

by Samuel Baca-Henry

Samuel Baca-Henry's debut book, Lament of Hathor, offers a unique perspective on animal rights & liberation, drawing inspiration from ancient Egyptian and adjacent Bronze Age cultural mythologies, archaeology, history, geopolitics, economics, power, oppression, and resistance.

The book centers on Hathor, an Egyptian cow goddess associated with motherhood, love, healing, magic, dance, and music.

She laments the exploitation of animals, particularly cows. She is joined by cow goddesses/gods, sacred cows, and prophets from several other cultures, religions, and literary traditions (e.g. Kamadhenu, Goshorun, Nanshe, Manu, Zechariah, Amos, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Asoka, and many more).

Baca-Henry's narrative weaves together lamentations, proverbs, historical and literary references, and messages for today and all time. It is a thought-provoking exploration of the interconnectedness of human and animal suffering.

The book challenges readers to see the historical roots of human and non-human oppression and an ancient lineage of resistance.

Lament of Hathor's unique blend of mythology, history, and social justice themes offers a fresh perspective on animal rights.

332 pages, Paperback

Published August 18, 2024

About the author

Samuel Baca-Henry is a vegan Animal Liberation activist and author of Lament of Hathor, which recovers ancient voices of protest against animal exploitation. His work shows that advocacy for animals isn't modern—it's ancient, intersectional, and revolutionary.

Drawing on his award-winning philosophy background (University of Chicago), Samuel connects the dots between patriarchy, imperialism, animal, and human oppression. He's given invited talks at major universities including Rutgers, UT Austin, and the University of Utah (co-keynote with philosopher David Chalmers), bringing academic rigor to grassroots advocacy.

Samuel's activism spans from shoveling poop at farmed animal sanctuaries to direct action in the streets for animals and humans.

Reviews

[Agnes Kelemen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a wonderful book. Following the ancient genre of laments, here a priestess of Egyptian goddess Hathor/Hetheru sets out to confront humanity with the discrepancy between the cults of gods who manifest themselves as animals and sacrificing (i.e. tormenting and en masse slaughtering) animals for the same gods. In addition to the general human cruelty towards animals practiced in the name of religions. I really appreciate the author's sensitivity towards all kinds of oppression including the application of exonyms coined by conquerers - importantly the name Hathor is such a Greco-Roman exonym for Hetheru. However, if the title was Hetheru's lament, even fewer people would have a clue what the book is about. The introduction reflects on this and many more tricky problems. Although as far as I managed to find out, the author has not academically studied Egyptiology or ancient languages or history of religions, they have thoroughly studied a lot of ancient religious (not only Egyptian) texts and academic literature and incorporated this knowledge in this book. One can choose to only read the lament but it is worth to read the footnotes which explain the sources that inspired each part of the main text. I also appreciate that the Introduction clearly states the agenda: this is "literary propaganda" against the ancient and widespread abuse of non human animals by humans. I also find the project to write a text in such an ancient genre as the lament, in the 21st century, very respectable. And at the same time the wording is very much of today, very readable. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in ancient religions and/or in the plight of non human animals.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn’t normally pick this type of book. But I’m glad I read it. Lots of good info and very enlightening.

[She Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is honestly a wonder; I have not encountered another book quite like it. Using words for the qualities of this book is difficult because it is more of an experience—like trying to describe color to a blind person.

Nearly every self-published book is a labor of love, and you can see what the author was trying to do… But this goes beyond trying…the author did something really unique here.

The story doesn’t start until page 65, but there is so much relevant information to prepare you for the story: lore, definitions / words equivalencies, resources, really amazing background information—I learned SO MUCH. There is the story of *why* the author wrote the story. It feels like you met a friend at a cafe and they said, “Hey man, I had this experience in Egypt and then I did a ton of research and something poured out of me…want to see?” I love when the author treats you like a trusted friend who is showing you the innermost galaxies of their mind and soul.

And this book has SO MUCH magic and soul and was incredibly well-researched.

It is fictional (presumably), but there are sources cited on nearly every page…

The writing style / diction is easy to read and understand, and yet it definitely sets a mood and has that spiritual / ancient feel to it…

There are tons of pictures (awesome! I miss when stories came standard with illustrations or visuals).

I like how the book included parts where various other gods from assorted religions are addressed and speak throughout.

The book has a clear message of advocacy for animals without ever feeling trite, saccharine, or ham-fisted. It is eloquent, beautiful, poetic, thought-provoking, and haunting.

Some of these depictions of butchery really paint a mind picture, yet it avoids being gratuitously gorey or graphic

This book is intense and otherworldly; it truly accomplished a sense of traveling to another realm out of time and space as we know it. It is the *feeling* you get while you read it. It is a traversing of worlds while always staying true to the message. I am so impressed. Really. I can’t wait to read it with friends.

[Christina Breen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads a bit like scripture with the tone. It starts with the goddess Hathor coming down from her temple and lamenting the treatment of exploited animals, laborers, and other groups. It concludes very nicely with suggestions and leaves enough open to not claim to have all the answers. In my opinion, this is a good way to talk about complicated subjects like those covered in this book.

The research on Egypt and surrounding areas is very very impressive. Overall, it was a fairly quick read and I enjoyed it a lot!