Taweret

Taweret


 * Other Names:**

Taurt, Taueret, Toeris, Ipy, Ipet, Apet, Opet


 * Meaning of Name:**

“Great One”


 * Hieroglyphics:**

or


 * Titles:[[image:gfjgfjgfgj028.jpg width="159" height="297" align="right"]]**

“Great Female of the Land”

"The Kindly One"

"Lady of Heaven"

“Protector of Children”

//Nebetakhet// ("Mistress of the Horizon")

"Lady of Magical Protection"

//Reret// (“The Great Sow”)


 * Family:**

Taweret was thought to be the daughter of Ra. She was sometimes considered the mother of Osiris (by Amun) and Isis, and the wife of Sobek, Set, Apophis, or Bes.

Perhaps the oldest of the Egyptian goddesses, Taweret was the protector during childbirth and of little children, and held back wild wind storms, especially those that arose at sea. She also represented rejuvenation, the Nile, and //Shemu//, the harvest. During harvest rituals, the Egyptian people celebrated by exchanging sweet cakes stamped with the image of Taweret. In ancient Egyptian astronomy, she represented the circumpolar stars of Ursa Minor and Draco (the Little Dipper formed her back), and guarded the northern sky.

Taweret was very popular among the Egyptians as a protectress; pregnant women commonly wore amulets bearing this goddess’s image. Her picture was also found on women’s cosmetic tools, headrests, vases, spoons, furniture, and jewelry. Taweret's image was also found on magical wands made from hippopotamus ivory, which were used as in rituals to drive evil spirits away from mothers and children.

Numerous amulets of Taweret, worn by women, have been found, made of faience, lapis lazuli, jasper, serpentine, carnelian, crystal, bronze, feldspar, amethyst, glass, turquoise, and gold. There were vessels in the shape of Taweret, made for holding milk, with plugs and holes in each of her nipples for pouring. It has been calculated that each pot holds just over 4fl oz, roughly the equivalent of milk produced by one breast at one feed.

Our first reference to Taweret comes from the ancient Pyramid Texts, where the king asks that he may nurse at her breast so that he would “neither thirst nor hunger forever.” Taweret is shown holding a torch and lighting incense cones to provide light and heat for the deceased traveling through the Duat. She also gave protection and helped with rebirth - a number of blue and green figurines of hippopotamuses have been found buried with the dead, representing Taweret.

The goddess Isis tells her son Horus that a “sow and a dwarf” (Taweret and Bes) were the protectors of his infant body. Amulets of Taweret were found at Akhetaten (Amarna), the city of the heretic pharaoh Akenaten. He could not banish this favorite - the Aten was no replacement for Taweret. During the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, images of Taweret adorned and protected the temples of other deities, extending her role as guardian to the gods themselves.

Taweret’s head and body were that of a hippopotamus, her paws were that of a lioness, and her back was that of a crocodile (sometimes an entire crocodile was shown on her back). All three animals were regarded as fierce creatures that would kill to protect their young. Taweret was depicted standing upright, with the heavy breasts and swollen stomach of a pregnant woman, holding an //ankh//, torch, or the protective hieroglyphic sign //sa// in her hands.

She was often pictured with her tongue pressed between her teeth, a symbolic gesture linked with the fierce determination and will of a mother about to give birth. Taweret also wore a low, cylindrical headdress, or sometimes the Headdress of Hathor. In rare instances she was shown with the head of a lioness or cat, or as a sow. On some occasions queens would portray themselves with the body of Taweret, such as the statue of Queen Tiye.


 * Outside of Egypt:**

The Greeks and Romans adopted the worship of Taweret, equating her with their goddess Athena. The worship of Taweret spread as the result of Egyptian trade in the wider Mediterranean world, and eventually entered the iconography of Minoan Crete, where she was worshiped as a goddess of water.


 * Quotes from the Book of the Dead and other sources:**

Praise for Taweret

Egyptian Deities - T