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In Egyptian mythology, Aker (also spelt Akar) was one of the earliest gods worshipped, and was the deification of the horizon. There are strong indications that Aker was worshipped before other known Egyptians gods of the earth, such as Geb. In particular, the Pyramid texts make a sinister statement that the Akeru (plural of Aker) will not seize the pharaoh, as if this were something that might have happened, and was something of which to be afraid. Aker itself translates as (one who) bends, and thus Akeru translates as benders, though in what sense this is meant, is not fully understood. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (416x668, 38 KB) References The Narmer label Abydos B16. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (416x668, 38 KB) References The Narmer label Abydos B16. ... Egyptian mythology (or Egyptian religion) is the name for the succession of beliefs held by the people of Egypt until the coming of Christianity and Islam. ... Horizon The horizon is the line that separates earth from sky. ... Amongst the group who believed in the Ennead, a form of Egyptian mythology centred in Heliopolis, Geb (also spelt Seb, and Keb) was the personification of the earth, and indeed this is what his name means - earth, and thus it was said that when he laughed, it caused earthquakes. ... The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts from the time of the Old Kingdom, mostly inscriptions on the walls of pyramids. ... Pharaoh (Hebrew פַּרְעֹה (without niqqud: פרעה), Standard Hebrew Parʿo, Tiberian Hebrew Parʿōh, Arabic فرعون) is a title used to refer to the kings (of godly status) in ancient Egypt. ...

As the horizon, Aker was also seen as symbolic of the borders between each day, and so was originally depicted as a narrow strip of land (i.e. a horizon), with heads on either side, facing away from one another, a symbol of borders. Since the sun reaches its peak (its solstice) in the zodiac of leo, these heads were usually those of lions. Over time, the heads became full figures of lions (still facing away from each other), one representing the concept of yesterday (Sef in Egyptian), and the other the concept of today (Duau in Egyptian). Solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the Sun in relation to the celestial equator. ... This article is about the astrological concept. ... Leo ( , Latin for lion) is a constellation of the zodiac. ... Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae. ... Yesterday: The day before today Yesterday (song), by The Beatles World of Yesterday, autobiography of Stefan Zweig Only Yesterday, Japanese movie Yesterday (movie), South African movie directed by Darrell James Roodt See also: today, tomorrow This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise... Today (archaic spelling: to-day): The day after yesterday (or the day before tomorrow) The date today is Wednesday August 31, 2005. ...

Consequently, Aker often became referred to as 'Ruti, the Egyptian word meaning two lions. Between them would often appear the hieroglyph for horizon, which was the sun's disc placed between two mountains. Sometimes the lions were depicted as being covered with leopard-like spots, leading some to think it a depiction of the extinct Barbary lion, which, unlike African species, had a spotted coat. A hieroglyph is one part of an ideographic writing system that is often found carved in stone. ... Binomial name Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) Leopards (Panthera pardus) are one of the four big cats of the genus Panthera. ... Trinomial name Panthera leo leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The Barbary Lion Panthera leo leo is a subspecies of lion. ...

Since the horizon was where night became day, Aker was said to guard the entrance and exit to the underworld, opening them for the sun to pass through during nights. As the guard, it was said that the dead had to request Aker to open the underworld's gates, so that they might enter. Also, as all who had died had to pass Aker, it was said that Aker annulled the causes of death, such as extracting the poison from any snakes that had bitten the deceased, or from any scorpions that had stung them. In Egyptian mythology, Duat is the underworld, where the sun traveled from west to east during the night and where dead souls were judged by Osiris, using the Feather of Truth. ... Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ... Superfamilies Pseudochactoidea Buthoidea Chaeriloidea Chactoidea Iuroidea Scorpionoidea See the classification section for families. ...

As the Egyptians believed that the gates of the morning and evening were guarded by Aker, they sometimes placed twin statues of lions at the doors of their palaces and tombs. This was to guard the households and tombs from evil spirits and other malevolent beings. This practice was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, and is still unknowingly followed by some today. Unlike most of the other Egyptian deities, the worship of Aker remained popular well into the Greco-Roman era. Aker had no temples of his own like the main gods in the Egyptian religion, since he was more connected to the primeval concepts of the very old earth powers.