Aker is one of the oldest of the lion gods. He was an earth god, but also guarded the gate of the dawn through which the sun god emerged every morning. His other attributes included being able to heal people afflicted by the bites of snakes, and if someone had swallowed a poisonous fly, he could neutralise the effects of that poison in the victim's stomach. When a pharaoh died, Aker was the god who opened up the earth's gate for the king to pass into the underworld.
There are later variations on this myth. The Egyptians believed that when the sun left the earth at night, he entered a kind of underworld tunnel beneath the earth. A lion god guarded each end of the tunnel. Together, these gods were known as the Akeru, or Akerui, primeval earth gods, older even than Geb, son of Shu and Tefnut. Ancient texts indicate they had a somewhat threatening nature. The Akeru were represented either as two lions seated back to back, or else one lion with two foreparts. Between them, the Akeru supported the horizon on which rested the solar disk. They can be equated with Shu and Tefnut.
Later still, the Akeru became Sef and Tuau, which means 'yesterday and today'. The Ancient Egyptians always saw lions as guardians and protectors. As lion gods guarded the gates of morning and evening, so statues of lions guarded tombs and palaces, protecting both the dead and living, keeping demons and human enemies at bay.
