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Aker was an ancient Egyptian earth and underworld god.
Aker was first described as one of the earth gods guarding the "gate to the yonder site". He protected the deceased king against the three demonic snakes ''Hemtet'', ''Iqeru'' and ''Jagw''. By "encircling" (i.e. interring) the deceased king, Aker sealed the deceased away from the poisonous breath of the snake demons. Another earth deity, who joined and promoted Aker's work, was Geb. Thus, Aker was connected with Geb. In other spells and prayers, Aker is connected with Seth and even determined with the Set animal. This is interesting, because Seth is described as a wind deity, not as an earth deity.Georg Meurer: ''Die Feinde des Königs in den Pyramidentexten'' (= ''Orbis biblicus et orientalis'', vol. 189). Saint-Paul, 2002, , pp. 295, 296 & 311.
In the famous Coffin Texts of Middle Kingdom period, Aker replaces the god
Description
Aker was first depicted as the torso of a recumbent lion with a widely opened mouth. Later, he was depicted as two recumbent lion torsos merged with each other and still looking away from each other. From Middle Kingdom onwards Aker appears as a pair of twin lions, one named ''Duaj'' (meaning "yesterday") and the other ''Sefer'' (meaning "tomorrow"). Aker was thus often titled "He who's looking forward and behind". When depicted as a lion pair, a hieroglyphic sign for "horizon" (two merged mountains) and a sun disc was put between the lions; the lions were sitting back-on-back.Pat Remler: ''Egyptian Mythology, A to Z''. Infobase Publishing, 2010, , pp. 4 & 5. In later times, Aker can also appear as two merged torsos of recumbent sphinxes with human heads.Cult
Aker appears for the first time during the 1st Dynasty with the kings ( pharaohs) Hor Aha and Djer. An unfinished decorative palette from the tomb of Djer atAbydos Abydos may refer to:
*Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz
*Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor
* Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the ''Stargate'' science fiction universe ...
shows Aker devouring three hearts.Peter Kaplony: ''Die Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit'', 3rd edition. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1963, pp. 65. The location of Aker's main cult center is unknown, though. His mythological role was fully described for the first time in the famous Pyramid Texts
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterran ...
of king Teti
Teti, less commonly known as Othoes, sometimes also Tata, Atat, or Athath in outdated sources, was the first king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. He was buried at Saqqara. The exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King Lis ...
.
Mythology
Aker was first described as one of the earth gods guarding the "gate to the yonder site". He protected the deceased king against the three demonic snakes ''Hemtet'', ''Iqeru'' and ''Jagw''. By "encircling" (i.e. interring) the deceased king, Aker sealed the deceased away from the poisonous breath of the snake demons. Another earth deity, who joined and promoted Aker's work, was Geb. Thus, Aker was connected with Geb. In other spells and prayers, Aker is connected with Seth and even determined with the Set animal. This is interesting, because Seth is described as a wind deity, not as an earth deity.Georg Meurer: ''Die Feinde des Königs in den Pyramidentexten'' (= ''Orbis biblicus et orientalis'', vol. 189). Saint-Paul, 2002, , pp. 295, 296 & 311.
In the famous Coffin Texts of Middle Kingdom period, Aker replaces the god Kherty
Kherty is an ancient Egyptian deity. Despite being archaeologically attested since the early 2nd Dynasty, his original mythological role during this era is unclear. Kherty was an Egyptian god of the Duat.Georg Meurer: ''Die Feinde des Königs in ...
, becoming now the "ferryman of Ra in his nocturnal bark". Aker protects the sun god during his nocturnal travelling through the underworld caverns. In the famous '' Book of the Dead'', Aker also "gives birth" to the god Khepri, the young, rising sun in the shape of a scarab beetle, after Aker has carried Khepri's sarcophagus safely through the underworld caverns. In other underworld scenes, Aker carries the nocturnal bark of Ra. During his journey, in which Aker is asked to hide the body of the dead Osiris beneath his womb, Aker is protected by the god Geb.Friedrich Abitz: ''Pharao als Gott in den Unterweltsbüchern des Neuen Reiches'' (= ''Orbis biblicus et orientalis'', vol. 146). Saint-Paul, 1995, , pp. 119, 158 & 159.
In several inscriptions, wall paintings and reliefs, Aker was connected to the horizon of the North and the West, forming a mythological bridge between the two horizons with his body. Certain sarcophagus texts from the tombs of Ramesses IV, Djedkhonsuiusankh and Pediamenopet describe how the sun god Ra travels through the underworld "like Apophis going through the belly of Aker after Apophis was cut by Seth". In this case, Aker seems to be some kind of representation of the underworld itself.Geraldine Pinch: ''Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt''. Oxford University Press, Oxford (UK) 2004, , page 99.
See also
* AqenReferences
{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer, collapsed Egyptian death gods Egyptian underworld Underworld gods Lion deities