What does the hippopotamus mean in ancient Egypt?

Taweret and Ipet, hippopotamus goddesses who protect mothers and children. A hippopotamus also stands among the northern constellations.

What the sign shows: A hippopotamus.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: Massey’s “first Great Mother”, Apt: for him the oldest form of the goddess, set in the northern sky.
Where you see it today: “William”, a blue faience hippopotamus, is the unofficial mascot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 235 times across the book. Book V, p. 279: “Monsters of land and water”; Book VI, p. 386: “Carried across by the mother”; Book XII, p. 764: “Born in the house of bread”.
Signs that look like it: Cow, Crocodile and Lion. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “The power of Apt was portrayed in nature by the hippopotamus, and a tooth of the animal would symbolize its strength.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book II, p. 116)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Hippopotamus. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

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