Associations
Other Names: Akar, “One who curves”, Ruti – “two lions”
Animal: Lion, Barbary lion
Symbol: Strip of land with a head (human or lion) at each end.
Magic: Crossing borders, entering the Underworld
Family & Other Connections
Aker is an earth god, like Geb.
Information & Stories
Aker is the divine personification of the Eastern and Western horizons. The horizon is where day becomes night, and so Aker is associated with the border between night and day and is said to guard the entrance and exit to the Underworld. He was often referred to in funerary texts and imagery.
All who die must pass Aker in order to get to the Underworld, and Aker is supposed to have annulled the causes of death such as snake bites or scorpion stings. Because Aker is associated with guarding the gates to the Underworld, his image – two lions – was often placed at the entrance to people’s homes in order to guard them from any malevolent spirits.
Pictures
