Heqet: Frog goddess of fertility and life bearer
Alissa M. Carissimi
In Egyptian culture, animals were often used to represent gods
or goddesses that provided a particular blessing to the Egyptian people. There
were gods associated with nearly every aspect of life and amphibians have long
been associated with fertility in Egypt and still are in some Eastern
societies. In ancient Egypt, the frog goddess (Heqet, Heket, and Heqat) was
believed to aid in childbirth, fertility and grain germination because of her
strong association with water. Egyptian sculptors usually depicted Heqet as
having a woman body with the head of a frog. Egyptian women often wore
metal amulets in the form of frogs to in hopes of bearing children and having a
less painful labor process during childbirth. Considering the arid climate
associated with the majority of Africa, I found it surprising that the
Egyptians would see enough amphibians for them to play such a significant role
in their culture. However, like many temporal species of amphibians, those
that inhabit arid regions also have a small window of opportunity to breed with
conspecifics. During the rainy season, the Nile river is flooded and this
triggers an explosive breeding event for many amphibians living in the
otherwise desiccating environment of Egypt. There is evidence in hieroglyphs
that the Egyptians saw these breeding events and gained respect for the
frogs in part because there were thousands of them! In fact, the symbol of a
tadpole (
) stood
for 100,000. This appearance of the amphibian came to symbolize fruitfulness,
abundance and coming life (Seawright, 2012). Indeed, the frogs in ancient Egypt
were seen in such large numbers and were always in water which is essential for
all life; no wonder they were so revered!
In addition to abundance and childbirth, the frog hieroglyph was used to
describe rebirth of the deceased into the afterlife. There are many myths in
which the goddess Heqet appears throughout Egyptian history. For example, it
was believed that Heqet was the wife of Khnumb who was essentially the
gatekeeper of the Nile. Egyptian history is deep in philosophy and mythological
background and amphibians are linked into that history in so many ways. The roles
of amphibians such as frogs in ancient Egypt are what make their history so
rich. It's too bad not all cultures could respect frogs as much as the Egyptians!
) stood
for 100,000. This appearance of the amphibian came to symbolize fruitfulness,
abundance and coming life (Seawright, 2012). Indeed, the frogs in ancient Egypt
were seen in such large numbers and were always in water which is essential for
all life; no wonder they were so revered!
In addition to abundance and childbirth, the frog hieroglyph was used to
describe rebirth of the deceased into the afterlife. There are many myths in
which the goddess Heqet appears throughout Egyptian history. For example, it
was believed that Heqet was the wife of Khnumb who was essentially the
gatekeeper of the Nile. Egyptian history is deep in philosophy and mythological
background and amphibians are linked into that history in so many ways. The roles
of amphibians such as frogs in ancient Egypt are what make their history so
rich. It's too bad not all cultures could respect frogs as much as the Egyptians!References:
1. http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/folklore/folklore_4.html
2. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/heqet.htm
3. http://egyptian-gods.org/egyptian-gods-heqet/
1 comment:
Fascinating! And an interesting contrast to the biblical plague of frogs, also hailing from Egypt.
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