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Tawaret

 Tawaret is an ancient Egyptian Great Mother Goddess who oversees childbirth.  She has the head of a hippo, tail of a crocodile, limbs of a lioness, and torso of a pregnant woman.  Saturday was International Worker's Day aka Labor Day in much of the world.  Labor Day, Labor Goddess, because being a mom is job and the U.S. needs paid maternity leave like the rest of the developed world.  Also, universal healthcare.  The average price of hospital births in Pennsylvania is $19,764.  That makes Tawaret and I displeased.

Tawaret original painting and fine art prints available through Saatchi Art.  Prints and other merch also available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

The Glencairn Museum writes, "Her very name emphasizes her power.  Taweret (T3-wr.t) means “the great (female) one.”  Greeks rendered her name as Thoeris.  Further emphasizing her protective nature, Taweret usually carries or rests upon the s3 symbol, which reads, “protection.”  In her role as an apotropaic figure, she can also brandish a knife that she would use to ward off evil or harmful forces."  Her amulets date from the Old Kingdom, 2625-2130 BCE.


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