Hi BA,

Aker in both singular and dual forms appear for the first time in the PTs.
I don't agree with you about Aker being a solar deity. Quite the opposite, IMO, since he/she/they seem to symbolise the entrances to the underworld/otherworld in the singular form, and the whole underworld in the plural form (Aker in singular form opens the passage for the deceased king and protects him, while Akeru in plural do not take hold of him but let him pass through to the other horizon). I'd suggest that Aker is the forerunner of what was meant with "akhet" in the afterworld context, Akeru then being what was later described as the "nightly journey" i.e. the very passage between the two horizons.

Ritva