| Heqet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Name inhieroglyphs |
| ||||
| Animals | Frog | ||||
| Gender | Female | ||||
| Consort | Khnum,Ra (inKom Ombo) | ||||
| Offspring | Heru-ur (inKom Ombo) | ||||
Heqet (Egyptianḥqt, alsoḥqtyt "Heqtit"), sometimes spelledHeket, is anEgyptian goddess of fertility, identified withHathor, represented in the form of afrog.[1]
To the Egyptians, the frog was an ancient symbol of fertility, related to the annualflooding of the Nile. Heqet was originally the female counterpart ofKhnum, or the wife of Khnum, and eventually she also became the mother ofHeru-ur.[2]It has been proposed[by whom?] that her name is the origin of the name ofHecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft.
The name is written asḥqt with the determinative "frog" (I7).[3] The phonetic spelling may use thebiliteralḥq hieroglyph (S38) in place ofuniliteralḥ (V28). The alternative formḥqtyt adds an explicit feminine ending, used alongside the "egg" determinative (H8) to emphasize the deity's femininity.[2]TheMiddle Egyptian pronunciation of the name may have been close to/ħaˈqaːtat/, which has been proposed (among other possibilities) as the origin of the name of GreekHecate (Ἑκάτη).[4]
The beginning of her cult dates to theEarly Dynastic Period at least. Her name was part of the names of some high-bornSecond Dynasty individuals buried atHelwan, such as princeNisuheqet, and was mentioned on astela ofWepemnofret and in thePyramid Texts. Early frog statuettes are often thought to be depictions of her.[5]
Heqet was considered the wife ofKhnum, who formed the bodies of new children on his potter's wheel.[6]
In theOsiris myth, it was Heqet who breathed life into the new body ofHorus at birth, as she was a goddess of the last moments of birth. As the birth of Horus became more intimately associated with theresurrection of Osiris, so Heqet's role became one more closely associated with resurrection. Eventually, this association led to her amulets gaining the phraseI am the resurrection in the Christian era along with cross and lamb symbolism.[7]
A temple dedicated to Horus and Heqet dating to thePtolemaic Period was found atQus.[8][9]
As a fertility goddess, associated explicitly with the last stages of theflooding of the Nile, and so with the germination of corn, she became associated with the final stages of childbirth. This association, which appears to have arisen during theMiddle Kingdom, gained her the titleShe who hastens the birth (cf. the role of Heqet in the story ofThe Birth of the Royal Children from theWestcar Papyrus).[10] Frog amulets representing Heqet were probably worn by women during childbirth to ensure an easy delivery.[11][12]
Media related toHeqet at Wikimedia Commons
