| Heka | ||||||||
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| Name inhieroglyphs | Egyptian: ḥkꜣw
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| Major cult centre | Esna | |||||||
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Heka (/ˈhɛkə/;Ancient Egyptian:ḥkꜣ(w);[1]Coptic:ϩⲓⲕhik;[2] also transliteratedHekau) was thedeification ofmagic and medicine[3] inancient Egypt. The name is theEgyptian word for "magic". According to Egyptian literature (Coffin text, spell 261), Heka existed "before duality had yet come into being." The termḥkꜣ was also used to refer to the practice of magical rituals.[4]
The name Heka is identical with the Egyptian wordḥkꜣ(w) "magic". This hieroglyphic spelling includes the symbol for the wordka (kꜣ), the ancient Egyptian concept of the vital force. Due to the importance placed onto names in ancient Egypt Heka was often incorporated into personal names. Some examples include: Hekawy, Hekaf, or simply Heka. The goddessIsis is also sometimes affiliated with Heka being titledWeret Hekau, Great Lady of magic;Hekau which isheka in its plural form.[5]
The Old KingdomPyramid Texts depictHeka as a supernatural energy that the gods possess. The "cannibal pharaoh" must devour other gods to gain this magical power. Eventually, Heka was elevated to a deity in his own right, and a cult devoted to him developed.
Heka is said to have been created at the beginning of time by the creatorAtum. According to the Egyptian cosmological belief their world was created throughHeka.[6]Heka was the primary force of life as a creative act according to the Egyptologist Ritner. Spell 648 of theCoffin Texts read:
“His powers put fear into the gods who came into being after him, his myriad of spirits is within his mouth. It was Heka who came into being of himself, at seeing whom the gods rejoiced, and through the sweet savor of whom the gods live, who created the mountains and knit the firmament together.”
Heka is later depicted as part of the tableau of the divinesolar barque and as a protector ofOsiris inDuat capable of blinding crocodiles.
Then, during thePtolemaic dynasty, Heka's role was to proclaim the pharaoh's enthronement as a son of Isis, holding him in his arms.[7][8]
Heka also appears as part of a divine triad inEsna, Ptolemaic and Roman capital of theThird Nome of theThebaid ofUpper Egypt, where he is the son of ram-headedKhnum and a succession of goddesses. His mother was alternately said to beNebetu'u (a form ofHathor), lion-headedMenhit, and the cow goddessMehet-Weret, before settling onNeith, a war and mother goddess.[9]
Werethekau whose name means "she who has great magic" is also sometimes connected with the force of Heka.
As Egyptologist Ogden Goelet (1994)[10] explains, magic in theBook of the Dead is problematic: The text uses various words corresponding to 'magic', for the Egyptians thought magic was a legitimate belief. As Goelet explains:
Heka magic is many things, but, above all, it has a close association with speech and the power of the word. In the realm of Egyptian magic, actions did not necessarily speak louder than words – they were often one and the same thing. Thought, deed, image, and power are theoretically united in the concept ofHeka.
— O. Goelet (1994)[10]
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being the Papyrus of Ani (royal scribe of the divine offerings), written and illustrated circa 1250 BCE, by scribes and artists unknown, including the balance of chapters of the books of the dead known as the Theban recension, compiled from ancient texts, dating back to the roots of Egyptian civilization
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