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Goddess Taweret name |
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Goddess Taweret |
Goddess Taweret was a house deity, Taweret the pregnant hippopotamus goddess was the patron of pregnant women. She helped in childbirth and observed over young children. Because of her cool nature and kindly disposition, she was a favorite family goddess.
Amulets in the shape of the goddess were raised by the hundreds and broken by pregnant women. Small figurines of Taweret were often kept in home shrines. It was thought that her fierce show the head of a river horse, the arms and legs of a feline, the tail of a crocodile, and long flat breasts would ward off any evil spirits and keep the women and children of the house safe. Stone vases were engraved in her image with a perforation at one of her nipples so that milk could be streamed from the vase while magical spells were recited to cure children stung by scorpions. Her name way the great one and her attribute is the SA sign, a restrictive sign in the shape of a papyrus life preserver used by boaters, held in her left paw. The Greek writer Plutarch says she was the concubine of the evil
god Set but that she eventually deserted him for
Horus the falcon god.