Tauret
(Taweret, Taurt, Taueret, Thoeris)
Tauret was a predynastic hippopotamus-goddess of pregnant women and childbirth. She was also a mother-goddess who wore the solar disk and cow's horns to symbolize how she helped in the daily rebirth of the sun. She was even called the Eye of Re, his daughter, and the mother of Osiris and Isis.
Tauret was portrayed as a pregnant female hippopotamus with large human breasts, the hind legs of a lion and the tail of a crocodile. She is shown standing on her hind legs and leaning on the symbol for "protection" and holding an ankh.
Tauret was a domestic deity that was greatly revered. Her most common role was as a protectoress of pregnant women. She was often shown with Bes in the birth chamber and she was a prominent assistant at the birth of Hatshepsut.
Tauret acquired an evil reputation because she was said to have been the concubine of Seth. When she sided with Horus in their dispute over who was the rightful claimant to the throne of Egypt following the death of Osiris she showed her kinder nature.
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