5x16: The Statue, finally settled?

5x16_statue.jpgWell, part of being a fan of Lost, and making the occasional predictions means you're sometimes wrong. I've been claiming for most of the season now, since we first caught the back of the statue, that it was the Egyptian god Anubis. Tonight, we finally got to see the front of the statue, and it is very clear now that it was not Anubis at all. It appears, as best as I can tell, that the statue is either Sobek or Taweret. For more great information on both, follow the jump.

The image below was posted several months back by a user named Viral. Now that we have the face to go with the images below, it seems even more likely that the statue is in fact Taweret. Taweret was the goddess of motherhood, and you can read more about her here. For all intents and purposes this seems like it is the match for what the statue is. However, I'd like to drop in one other possibility I've seen mentioned on a few other lost sites.

taweret.jpg

Sobek is also being mentioned as a candidate on some Lost sites tonight. Sobek doesn't match the statue completely from behind, but you could argue that his face, that of a crocodile, is very similar to the statue's face. Anyway, what's most interesting about Sobek is this:

Sobek's ambiguous nature led some Egyptians to believe that he was a repairer of evil that had been done, rather than a force for good in itself, for example, going to Duat to restore damage done to the dead as a result of their form of death. He was also said to call on suitable gods and goddesses required for protecting people in situation, effectively having a more distant role, nudging things along, rather than taking an active part.

That sure sounds a lot like our Jacob to me. Anyway, here is the link if anyone is interested. Sobek wikipedia.

5x16_statue_2.jpg

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29 Comments

zauriel said:

It's funny how everyone suddenly becomes an expert on Egyptian mythology and gods and exclaims "No, you're wrong, it HAS to be ..."

None of you know exactly what god/goddess that statue is supposed to represent right now. Even if you were given a full frontal close-up of the face, there would still be raging wars about if it was a crocodile or a hippo or a combination or something else entirely. Even if Jacob stated the name of the statue, there would still be those of you on here going "no, that's not right, the show got it wrong".

Give it up. For now, the recap on ABC.com says it's Taweret, so until Damon or Carlton come out and say otherwise, that's what it is.

By the way, Zatara, your theory closely matches mine after I first watched the episode. I think Jacob and Mr. Loophole are either Egyptian gods (possibly brothers) or they are in fact God and the Devil playing their game/bet of "is humanity worth it?".

SQUIRT199 said:

But Amy had her baby when teh statue was gone also,

we know because after the flash that Miles//jin/sawyer/jiluet saw it flashed again and the statue was gone, leveing them in 1977.

We know amy had a baby 3 yrs later.

Lost Rob said:

My Theory:

The Statue does appear to be Sobek

Sobek would explain a few things on the Island as well:

It is believed Sobek was worshiped for the fertility of the people and their crops as well.
So when the statue was whole there wouldnt have been any fertility problems on the island
but as of now the statue is all but destroyed (only the foot remains) their is a fertility issue.

Seth is the God of Chaos,Thunder,Storms & the God of INFERTILITY...
(Woman can not have babies on the island... this would make sense)
("Smokie" has all the makings of Chaos,Thunder & Storms)


Jacob is actually Horus (the son of Sobek), this is why Seth wants to kill him as well.
(Being he killed Osiris)

kurtz said:

Zatara is wrong... Scoatch is correct..The statue is Opet.

Novashannon you should agree with Scoatch.

See ya Zatara...wouldnt want to be ya.


peace, COL Kurtz

Novashannon said:

I agree with Zatara!

Madam P said:

Crocodiles don't have ears, do they?

I dunno... the snout looks crocodile-ish, but then again that Tawaret statue has an awfully long snout for a hippo, to me.

I for one was disappointed in this view we got. TPTB said we'd see the face. I wouldn't call this actually seeing the face. I feel cheated. :-/

star_topology said:

I don't know if anyone's thought of this-- but I vaguely recall a time when "Smokey" was making sounds similar to a crocodile...

zatara74 said:

I agree completely that the statue is Sobek. The parallels are to great to be coincidence. Id also like to take it a step further and consider for a moment that Jacob IS Sobek. Now follow me... If Jacob is Sobek than who is Jacob's advasary on the beach that promises to kill him? I believe this is the egyptian god Set. Why? Well I looked into Sobek and see that at times he was also known as Osiris and that Set is Osiris' brother and they are in eternal conflict. See http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/set.htm for more details. Yes I know all this Egyptian stuff is confusing but the compelling part of all this is that Set kills Osiris through some sort of loophole. Sound familiar? Sobek and Osiris both are known to keep order in the world. Ok now follow me camera guy. Ben makes a reference to Moses. Why? Well this whole conflict issue between Sobek/Osiris and Set is paralleled in the Biblical stories of Jacob and Esau. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob .
What is interesting to note here is that the Biblical Jacob leads his people into Egypt where they remain till Moses leads the Exodus out of Egypt. Many Many parallels. Coincidence? Perhaps or perhaps not!

Scoatch said:

I think, contrary to the ABC site, the statue is Opet.


http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/opet.htm

Just a thought

shukko said:

Hail to thee Great Lady,
Praise to thee mighty daughter of Ra,
Praise to thee good goddess,
powerful mother of Isis and Osiris.

To thee we pray for protection,
Thou leads us into the world,
Thou protects our birth,
Mighty Mother of old,
Thou wards off the evil spirits,
powerful daughter of Ra.

Hail to thee, Mighty Mistress of fertility,
to thy feet we lie,
and sing thy praise forever,
that thou grants us guidance,
that thou grants us fertility,
that thou grants us protection.

Holy mother of Isis and Osiris,
We lie at thy feet,
worship thy holy names,
paint thy sacred sings,
sing thy powerful words of magic,
use thy supernatural knife,
that thou guides us into the afterlife
that thou may look down on us with love
that thou may destroy our enemies.


Hail to thee Great Lady,
Praise to the mighty daughter of Ra,
Praise to thee good goddess,
powerful mother of Isis and Osiris.
We call upon thy name for eternity
and it shall never fail.

shukko said:

Short Information on Ta-weret
* Attributes: Protectress of pregnant woman and infants. Wet-nurse. Also protectress of rebirth into the afterlife. Fertility mother goddess, with the double aspect: mighty defender and loving mother.
* Representation: A pregnant hippopotamus with human breasts, the hind legs of a lioness and the tail of a crocodile.
* Relations: Daughter of the sun-god Re, sometimes considered the mother of Isis and Osiris.
* Offerings: Small hippopotamus statues, tyit-amulet (sometimes called the "buckle of Isis,") beer, milk and lotus flowers.

Smaug said:

I don't see how anyone could confuse that statue for Tawaret now that we have seen it has a crocodile head and a thin male body. The only part that resembles Taweret in any way is the headdress as shown above.

Novashannon said:

Last night I thought it could be Tawaret, but on further look, It just does not look like a woamly body. And the snout looks tool long and narrow and, well, toothy. I vote for Sobek for those reasons, and also because Jacob is a man, and a defotee of Tawaret would more likely be female.

Mrs. Widmore said:

Yeah, Bob, I'm with you on this. I think it could be either one and before today I would swear it was Tarawet! But now I'm not so sure.

Doublefantasy, thanks for the insight.

BobBX542 said:

I'm not really trusting anything that ABC tells us unless it is backed up by Carlton and Lindeloff. ABC takes too many strides in saying what they think we want to hear.

doublefantasy said:

The official LOST recap confirms the statue as Tawaret:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=recap#t=162212&d=201648

Are these recaps considered canon? In any case, I can only assume it wouldn't have made it onto the official site if there wasn't confirmation from the writers...

nursebrittney said:

could it not be a combination of the 2? The island having its own version of mythology loosely based upon the egyptians?

norville said:

I would lean heavily towards Sobek, if it were not for the fact that both humans and Crocodiles very clearly have 5 toes on each foot. Why, then, would a statue of Sobek have 4 toes? On the other hand, I think the face is too clearly that of a Crocodile to be Taweret.

I guess I'm thinking, either it's Sobek with a modified foot (but why?), or else it may be some newly invented mythological figure.

mistergone said:

I'm 99% sure that the statue is Sobek-Ra.

Taweret is generally represented as rotund as if she was with child, as are many fertility/maternal goddesses. This statue is very muscular and masculine.

Additionally, the head shown in the parchment retrieved from Jacob's cabin is more clearly a crocodile.

Sobek took many roles over time in Egypt (as did many of their gods), so pinning down precisely what he is meant to represent is difficult. However, he is clearly holding two ankhs, and I think that is more important to the statue's meaning and nature.

DaveJohnson said:

I think the important question is - who tore it down, and why?

lazarette said:

It's definitely Sobek. In his right hand, he carries an "ankh", which according to Wiki is "the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read 'eternal life'" and is carried by Sobek to represent his "ability to undo evil and so cure ills". Also, Sobek has the form of a man in the lower half of his body while Taweret has the form of a hippopotamus. The legs in the picture are definitely that of a man.

Smaug said:

With the head being a crocodile, the statue definitely does not represent Taweret. It's most likely Sobek if it's any specific Egyptian god/goddess.

SawyerLove said:

I have found something that links Sobek to fertility as well. It's an interesting article if you want to read it:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sobek.htm

leongnirps said:

i found this about tawaret that sounds kinda interesting

"Tawaret was a goddess who protected women during pregnancy and childbirth."

since there isn't a full statue anymore and the women and children die during childbirth since after the incident.

LostDave said:

Well from the angle we've seen the face at, it looks more like a crocodile than a hippo. The fact that it's on an island facing the water doesn't count in either ones favor, because they are both aquatic animals.

However even though I think it looks more like a croc, I'm more intrigued by it being Taweret because of her association with motherhood. From Wikipedia:

"Taweret became seen, very early in Egyptian history, as a deity of protection in pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnant women wore amulets with her name or likeness to protect their pregnancies."

If the statue was of Taweret, then it would be interesting to see how that would tie in with the pregnancy issues that developed on the island.

zeekloveslost said:

i vote alligator face (Sobek)

Floyd25 said:

I'm thinking Sobek because of the island also.

bastor said:

Well personally i think its actually Sobek. Lets face its first of all he is the god of water and it is after all an island. Taweret looks kind of chubbier than the Sobek and the back doesn't look as manly. The Egyptian symbols (noted in the picture) are not that rare...i mean name an Egyptian god that didn't have an ankh...duh!

Anyway here is something interesting i found on god Sobek in the Bulgarian wikipedia page of him (from The Book of The Dead(i couldn't actually find the original thing in English) :

„За да се превърнеш в бог Себек“:

"Аз бог Себек съм с цялата си сила,
необуздан и груб.
Аз също съм на Хор рибата велика,
Кем-Ур която обитава.
Аз господар съм ... в тайното светилище"

In some sort of translation:

To turn into god Sobek

I god Sobek and with all my might
untamed and rough.
I am also Hor's great fish, (doesn't make any sense any way i read it in nay language)
which inhabits Ker-Um.
I master am ... in the secret temple.

Well the temple part sounds a bit familiar but it could just be a random coincidence.

Here are two more quotes i found about Sobek:

I am Sobek, who dwelleth amid his terrors. I am Sobek, and I seize [my prey] like a ravening beast. I am the great Fish which is in Kamui. I am the Lord to whom bowings and prostrations are made in Sekhem. And the Osiris Ani is the lord to whom bowings and prostrations are made in Sekhem.


Those who do away utterly sins and offences, and who are in the following of the goddess Hetepsekhus, are the god Sobek and his associates who dwell in the water. The goddess Hetepsekhus is the Eye of Ra.

wjang said:

i vote sobet, simply because tawaret is so short

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