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{{Infobox hieroglyphs
|title = Aker
|name = <hiero>A-k:r</hiero><ref name=LGG>Christian Leitz: ''Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen (LGG)'' (= ''Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta'', vol. 6). Peeters Publishers, Leuven 2002, {{ISBN|9042911514}}, pp. 83 - 85.</ref>
|name transcription = ''3kr''
|name explanation = ''He who is beneath''
|name2 = <hiero>A-k:r-E20</hiero>
|name2 transcription = ''3kr''
|name2 explanation = ''He who is beneath''
|NAME3 = <nowiki />
{{(!}}
{{!}}
{{!}}
{{!}}<hiero>A-k:r</hiero>
{{!}}[[Image:aker.png|110px]]
{{!}}
{{!)}}
|name3 transcription = ''3kr''
|name3 explanation = ''He who is beneath''
|image1 = Aker.svg
|image1-width = 180px
|image1 description = Aker
|}}

'''Aker''' was an Ancient Egyptian earth and death deity.

== 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.<ref name=LGG/> 

From [[History:Middle Kingdom of Egypt|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 [[Engineering:Hieroglyph|hieroglyph]]ic sign for "horizon" (two merged mountains) and a sun disc was put between the lions; the lions were sitting back-on-back.<ref name=PRA>Pat Remler: ''Egyptian Mythology, A to Z''. Infobase Publishing, 2010, {{ISBN|1438131801}}, pp. 4 & 5.</ref> 

In later times, Aker can also appear as two merged torsos of recumbent [[Unsolved:Sphinx#Egyptian sphinxes|sphinx]]es with human heads.<ref name=FAB/>

== Cult ==
Aker appears for the first time during the 1st Dynasty under the kings ([[Social:Pharaoh|pharaoh]]s) Hor Aha and Djer.<ref name=LGG/> An unfinished decorative palette from the tomb of Djer at Abydos shows Aker devouring three hearts.<ref>Peter Kaplony: ''Die Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit'', 3rd edition. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1963, pp. 65.</ref> The location of Aker's main cult center is unknown, though. His mythological role was fully described for the first time in the famous [[Religion:Pyramid Texts|Pyramid Texts]] of king Teti.<ref name=LGG/>

== 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 [[Religion:Set (deity)|Seth]] and even determined with the Seth animal. This is interesting, because Seth is described as a wind deity, not as an earth deity.<ref name=GMD>Georg Meurer: ''Die Feinde des Königs in den Pyramidentexten'' (= ''Orbis biblicus et orientalis'', vol. 189). Saint-Paul, 2002, {{ISBN|3525530463}}, pp. 295, 296 & 311.</ref><ref name=LGG/> 

In the famous [[Religion:Coffin Texts|Coffin Texts]] of Middle Kingdom period, Aker replaces the god [[Religion:Kherty|Kherty]], becoming now the "ferryman of [[Religion:Ra|Ra]] in his nocturnal bark". Aker protects the sun god during his nocturnal travelling through the underworld caverns.<ref name=LGG/> In the famous [[Religion:Book of the Dead|Book of the Dead]], Aker also "gives birth" to the god [[Religion:Khepri|Khepri]], the young, rising sun in shape of a [[Biology:Dung beetle|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 [[Biology:Osiris|Osiris]] beneath his womb, Aker is protected by the god Geb.<ref name=FAB>Friedrich Abitz: ''Pharao als Gott in den Unterweltsbüchern des Neuen Reiches'' (= ''Orbis biblicus et orientalis'', vol. 146). Saint-Paul, 1995, {{ISBN|3525537816}}, pp. 119, 158 & 159.</ref>

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 [[Unsolved:Apep|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.<ref name=GPE>Geraldine Pinch: ''Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt''. Oxford University Press, Oxford (UK) 2004, {{ISBN|0195170245}}, page 99.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Religion:Aqen|Aqen]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Underworld gods]]
[[Category:Dragons]]

{{Sourceattribution|Aker (deity)|1}}