In Egyptian mythology, Taweret (also spelled Ta-weret, Tawaret, Taurt, Tuat, Taueret, Tuart, and Taueret, and in Greek, Θουέρις, Toeris, and 'Thoeris') means 'one who is great'. Paired with another deity, she became the Apep's demon-wife, the original goddess of evil. As Apep was viewed as living below the horizon (and only present at night), evil during the day then was seen as a result of Taweret's maleficence.
As Apep's counterpart, who was always below the horizon, Taweret was seen as being the northern sky, the constellation which covers the area of present-day Draco, always lying above the horizon. Thus Taweret was known as mistress of the horizon, and was depicted as such on the ceiling of the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings.
In Egyptian art, Taweret was depicted as a composite of all the things they feared- the major part of her being hippopotamus, since this is what the constellation most resembled, with the arms and legs of a lioness, and with the back of a crocodile. On occasion, instead of than having a crocodile back, she was seen as having a small crocodile resting on her back, who was interpreted to be Sobek, the crocodile-god, and said to be her consort.
Early during the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians came to see the female hippopotamus as less aggressive than the male, and began to view their aggression only as one of protecting their young and being good mothers (since it is the males that are territorially aggressive). Taweret became seen as a deity of protection in pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnant women wore amulets with her name or likeness to protect their pregnancies. Her image could also be found on knives made from hippopotamus ivory, which would be used as wands in rituals to drive evil spirits away from mothers and children.
In most subsequent depictions, Taweret had the features of a pregnant woman. In a composite addition to the animal-compound she was also seen with pendulous breasts, a full pregnant abdomen, and long, straight human hair on her head. As a protector, she was often shown with one arm resting on the sa symbol (symbolizing protection), and on occasion she carried an ankh (the symbol of life), or a knife, which would be used to threaten evil spirits.
Cold Cast is a modern method of casting sculptures using a mixture of resin and powdered polymer materials. The finished sculpture has a surface which looks very similar to traditionally cast material, but tends to be much lighter.
