Egyptian Gods

Tawaret was the Egyptian goddess since the Pre Dynasty who protects women during pregnancy and childbirth. The name Tawaret also spelled as Taweret, Taurt, Tuat, Taueret, Tuart, Ta-weret, Taueret, Thoeris and Teoris, whose name means “One Who is Great”.

She depicted as a pregnant hippopotamus with the large breasts, back and tail of a crocodile, arms and legs of a lion and long straight human hair on her head. It is combination of three animal hippopotamus, crocodile and lion. All these three animals are the fierce one that would become killer to protect their babies.

Tawaret often showed standing on her hind legs and one arm resting on the sa hieroglyph, which symbolize protection and holding an ankh in hand that symbolize life. She was often shown with Bes in the birth chamber and she was a prominent assistant.

The ancient Egyptian believes that Tawaret will protect the children, assist women in labour and scare off demons that might harm the mother or the child. Often amulet with the name or image of Tawaret on it wore by the pregnant women or kept them in their homes as a protection.

Tawaret was also known as a goddess of harvests, as she was associated with flood of the Nile. She was seen as a goddess of the flooding Nile and the bountiful harvest that it brought.

Like Bes, Tawaret were worshipped by people in their own homes. There were no temples or cult center built to honour them.