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Heget

(Redirected from Heket)
Heqet in hieroglyphs
<hiero>H-q:t-I7</hiero>

In Egyptian mythology, Heget (also Heqet, Heka, Heka) was a goddess of death and childbirth, depicted as a frog, a woman with a frog's head, or a frog on the end of a phallus. She was a daughter of Ra and wife and/or mother of Chnum, and is associated with Isis.

One of the titles of Heket was “She Who Hastens the Birth.” A goddess of creation, midwifery, and the germination of corn. Heket was also a moon goddess, which since the earliest times was understood to be linked with the ebb and flow of water and of fertility. The patroness of midwives, who called themselves the “Servants of Heket.” Women often wore amulets of her during childbirth. Heket was represented as a frog, sometimes crouching over a clutch of eggs, or as a frog-headed woman. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic of the frog was used in words such as “fetus.” A popular amulet was a frog enshrined in a lotus, with the phrase "I am the resurrection." This symbol was copied by early Christians. To the Egyptians, the frog was a symbol of life and fertility (millions of them were born after the annual inundation of the Nile).

In the Pyramid Texts Heket allowed the king to ascend into the sky after death, and helped to birth the sun every morning. She sent blessing to women’s houses, and gave all creatures the breath of life before they were placed to grow in their mother's womb. Heket was thought to be the daughter of Ra and the wife of Khnum, Shu, or Sobek. She was sometimes considered to have been created by Thoth.








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