Ancient Egyptian Protective Deities did not live only in temples. Bes, Beset and Taweret stood at the head of the bed, on the birth wand and at the doorway, ugly and hybrid on purpose so that worse things stayed outside. This Mythopouch insight looks at the household trio and the same habit of hiring fright as a guard in other cultures, from Pazuzu to the gargoyle.

Ancient Egyptian sphinxes were far more varied than the Great Sphinx of Giza. Explore the Sphinx, Androsphinx, Criosphinx and Hieracosphinx, and discover how lion bodies, royal faces, ram heads and falcon heads expressed different kinds of power.

This Mythopouch insight examines Serket, Tawaret and the Serpopard together: the scorpion goddess who opens or closes the throat, the hippo guardian of childbirth, and the long-necked beast on the Narmer Palette that never became a god.

What can a fearsome baboon god, a monstrous Arthurian boar and a bronze guardian of Crete tell us about the real world behind mythology? Explore Babi, Twrch Trwyth and Talos through ancient belief, dangerous animals and surprisingly modern ideas.