Quite contrarily, she also took on the role of a funerary deity in this period, evidenced by the commonplace practice of placing hippopotami decorated with marsh flora in tombs and temples. Similar images appear also on children's feeding cups, once again demonstrating Taweret's integral role as the patron goddess of child rearing. ![]() Her image adorns magical objects, the most notable of which being a common type of "wand" or "knife" carved from hippopotamus ivory that was likely used in rituals associated with birth and the protection of infants. 2055–1650 BCE) that Taweret became featured more prominently as a figure of religious devotion. It was not until the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. As maternal deities, these goddesses served to nurture and protect the Egyptian people, both royal (as seen in the Pyramid Texts) and non-royal.įaience hippopotamus statuettes like this one were placed in tombs and temples to help the deceased be successfully reborn into the afterlife. Spell 269 in the Pyramid Texts mentions Ipet and succinctly demonstrates her nurturing role the spell announces that the deceased king will suck on the goddess's "white, dazzling, sweet milk" when he ascends to the heavens. 2686 – 2181 BCE) in the corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts entitled the Pyramid Texts. Evidence for the cult of hippopotamus goddesses exists from the time of the Old Kingdom (c. However, the origin of Hedjet's name ("the White One") is not as clear and could justly be debated. ![]() The other hippopotamus goddesses have names that bear very specific meanings, much like Taweret (whose name is formed as a pacificatory address intended to calm the ferocity of the goddess): Ipet's name ("the Nurse") demonstrates her connection to birth, child rearing, and general caretaking, and Reret's name ("the Sow") is derived from the Egyptians' classification of hippopotami as water pigs. Some scholars even interpret these goddesses as aspects of the same deity, considering their universally shared role as protective household goddesses. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.įrom her ideological conception, Taweret was closely grouped with (and is often indistinguishable from) several other protective hippopotamus goddesses: Ipet, Reret, and Hedjet. This red jasper Ptolemaic amulet bears Taweret's likeness and represents a longstanding tradition of female hippopotamus amulets in ancient Egypt. The tradition of making and wearing these amulets continued throughout the history of Egypt into the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Roman period (c. Protective amulets bearing the likenesses of female hippopotamuses have been found dating as far back as the Predynastic period (c. However, female hippopotamuses were revered as manifestations of apotropaic deities, as they studiously protect their young from harm. From a very early date, male hippopotamuses were thought to be manifestations of chaos consequently, they were overcome in royal hunting campaigns, intended to demonstrate the divine power of the king. The violent and aggressive behavior of these creatures intrigued the people that inhabited the region, leading the ancient Egyptians both to persecute and to venerate them. ![]() ![]() Archaeological evidence demonstrates that hippopotamuses inhabited the Nile well before the dawn of Early Dynastic Period (before 3000 BCE).
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