| Taweret |
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The goddess Taweret, portrayed as a bipedal hippopotamus with limbs like those of a feline. Her hand rests on the sa sign, 𓎃, a hieroglyph that means 'protection' or 'lifesaver'. |
| Name in hieroglyphs | |
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| Major cult center | Not applicable; Taweret was a household deity worshipped throughout Egypt. |
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| Symbol | the sa, ivory dagger, hippopotamus |
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| Consort | Bes |
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In Ancient Egyptian religion, Taweret (Ancient Egyptian: tꜣ-wrt, also spelled Taurt, Tuat, Tuart, Ta-weret, Tawaret, Twert and Taueret, and in Ancient Greek: Θουέρις, romanized: Thouéris, Thoeris, Taouris and Toeris) is the protective goddess of childbirth and fertility. The name "Taweret" means "she who is great" or simply "great one", a common pacificatory address to dangerous deities.[1] The deity is typically depicted as a bipedal female hippopotamus with feline attributes, pendulous female human breasts, the limbs and paws of a lion, and the back and tail of a Nile crocodile. She commonly bears the epithets "Lady of Heaven", "Mistress of the Horizon", "She Who Removes Water", "Mistress of Pure Water", and "Lady of the Birth House".[2]
- ^ Geraldine Pinch, Magic in Ancient Egypt (London: British Museum Press, 1994), 39.
- ^ Jennifer Houser-Wegner, "Taweret", in The Ancient Gods Speak: A Guide to Egyptian Religion, ed. Donald Redford (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 351–352.