Taweret was the hippopotamus-goddess of ancient Egypt — the fierce and protective goddess of childbirth, fertility and mothers, who guarded pregnant women and newborn children against all dangers. With the body of a pregnant hippopotamus, the limbs of a lion and the back of a crocodile, she was a fearsome guardian whose terrifying form was turned wholly to the protection of mother and child.
The Hippopotamus-Goddess
Taweret (Egyptian Taweret, “the Great One” or “the Great Female”) had one of the most distinctive forms of any Egyptian deity: she was depicted as a creature combining the most fearsome elements of several dangerous animals — the body and head of a pregnant hippopotamus (standing upright on her hind legs), the paws and limbs of a lion, the back and tail of a crocodile, and pendulous human breasts and a swollen pregnant belly. The female hippopotamus, fiercely protective of her young and one of the most dangerous animals of the Nile, was the perfect model for a goddess whose ferocity was devoted to protecting mothers and children. Her terrifying composite form combined the most dangerous creatures precisely to make her a more powerful guardian against evil.
The Guardian of Childbirth
Taweret was, above all, the great protectress of childbirth, pregnancy and mothers. Childbirth in the ancient world was perilous and frightening, and Taweret was the fierce divine guardian who watched over pregnant women and protected them and their babies through the dangers of pregnancy and labour. She drove away the evil spirits and demons that threatened the mother and the newborn, and she was invoked and her image worn and displayed throughout pregnancy and birth. She often held the sa hieroglyph (a symbol of protection) or a knife or torch to ward off evil. Together with the dwarf-god Bes, she was the chief protector of the perilous and sacred event of birth, and one of the most important deities of women's daily religious life.
The Fierce Mother-Protector
Taweret was a goddess of fertility and the nurturing, protective power of the mother. Her swollen belly and heavy breasts marked her as a goddess of pregnancy and nourishment, of fertility and the bringing-forth and sustaining of new life. But her fierceness was equally essential: like the mother hippopotamus defending her calf, Taweret's protective love was ferocious, and she would savagely drive off anything that threatened those in her care. Her image, fearsome as it was, was thus deeply comforting to Egyptian women — for that terrifying form stood guard over them and their children in their most vulnerable hours.
The Great Protectress
Taweret endures as one of the most distinctive and beloved protective deities of ancient Egypt — the fierce hippopotamus-goddess of childbirth, fertility and mothers, whose terrifying composite form was devoted entirely to guarding pregnant women and newborn children. She embodies the Egyptian understanding of protection as fierceness turned to love, and the ferocious devotion of the mother to her young; and she stands, with Bes, as the great guardian of birth and the home, the fearsome and beloved goddess who watched over every Egyptian mother and child in the dangerous hour of their greatest need.
Part hippopotamus, part lion, part crocodile — her terrifying form was turned wholly to love, the fierce guardian who drove off every evil from the mother and her newborn child.