Aker

**Aker**


 * Other Names:**

Akeru, Akar, Ruti, Akerui


 * Meaning of Name:**

“The Bender”


 * Hieroglyphics:**

or


 * Titles:**

“Lions of Yesterday and Tomorrow”

A god of duality and dual purpose, it is believed that Aker was probably a more ancient earth god than even Geb. Aker had no temples of his own like the main gods in the Egyptian religion, since he was more connected to the primeval concepts of the very old earth powers. He was associated with the mast of Ra's solar barque, and the "Book of Aker" was a papyrus concerned with the solar journey. He imprisoned the demon Apophis to prevent him from doing any harm to Ra's barque.

Aker received appeals from the dead, allowed them into the Duat and would, because of his double-face, provide protection face-forward or from behind. Aker was thought to guard against snakes, scorpions, and other poisonous creatures. He was invoked in spells to neutralize poison in the body of anyone who had been bitten by a venomous creature, or had swallowed something harmful. Amulets in the form of Aker were buried with the deceased to protect them.

The double lion god, Aker was often shown as two lions seated back to back, carrying the Achet. Consequently, Aker was sometimes referred to as //Ruti//, the Egyptian word meaning “two lions.” As the Egyptians believed that the gates of the morning and evening were guarded by Aker, they sometimes placed twin statues of lions at the doors of their palaces and tombs. This was to guard the places from evil spirits and other malevolent beings. This practice was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, and is still unknowingly followed by some today.

One lion faces towards the east where the sun rises and begins the new day, and the other lion faces west where the sun sets and descends into the Duat. The names of the two lions were //Sef// ("Yesterday") and //Duau// ("Tomorrow.")

Sometimes Aker was pictured in the form of a double sphinx, double human heads, or as double lions covered with spots like leopards. These lions are thought to be the extinct Barbary Lion which, unlike the African species, was sometimes shown to have the spotted coat that Aker was depicted as having. Unlike most of the other Egyptian deities, the worship of Aker remained popular well into the Greco-Roman Era.


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

Hymn to Aker

Egyptian Deities - A