Tueris-Oxirrinco. La diosa protectora de Per-Medyed

Abstract

"The ancient city of Per-Medyed, located in the 19th nome of Upper Egypt, was called Oxyrhynchus in Greek times. During the GraecoRoman period, the main female divinity of this locality was the goddess Taweret , who was associated with the arrival of the flood and was represented by two fishes, the oxyrhynchus (Mormyridae family), with whom she was linked, and the lepidot. On this site, the oxyrhynchus fish always appears adorned with a Hathor crown, the symbol of feminine divinity, and closely related to the goddess Taweret. Iconographically, it is represented in tombs, temples, cartonnage, stelae, sarcophagi and also in small bronze sculptures, which very often appear arranged on a sledge. Although these statuettes are usually anepigraphic, sometimes they have a demotic inscription on the plinth, on which the sledge rests, which always alludes to the goddessTaweret , for the purpose of protection and rebirth to a new life. The oldest attestations we have of the cult of this oxyrhynchus fish in Oxyrhynchus, comes from classical authors such as Strabo, Herodotus or Plutarch. The papyri found on the site mention the existence of one main temple as well as a secondary temple dedicated to Taweret, and another one, dedicated to the oxyrhynchus, and they even refer to a congregation of priests who fulfilled the specific rituals of this cult."