# Heqet > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Heqet > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Heqet.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heqet > Source revision: 1349103197 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Not to be confused with [Hecate](/source/Hecate) or [Hekat](/source/Hekat). **Heqet** ([Egyptian](/source/Egyptian_language) **[ḥqt](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%B8%A5qt)**, also **ḥqtyt** "Heqtit"), sometimes spelled **Heket**, is an [Egyptian goddess](/source/Ancient_Egyptian_deities) of fertility, identified with [Hathor](/source/Hathor), represented in the form of a [frog](/source/Frog).[1] To the Egyptians, the frog was an ancient symbol of fertility, related to the annual [flooding of the Nile](/source/Flooding_of_the_Nile). Heqet was originally the female counterpart of [Khnum](/source/Khnum), or the wife of Khnum, and eventually she also became the mother of [Heru-ur](/source/Heru-ur).[2] It has been proposed that her name is the origin of the name of [Hecate](/source/Hecate), the Greek goddess of witchcraft. ## Name The name is written as **ḥqt** with the determinative "frog" ([I7](/source/List_of_hieroglyphs/I)).[3] The phonetic spelling may use the [biliteral](/source/Egyptian_biliteral_signs) **[ḥq](/source/%E1%B8%A4q)** hieroglyph ([S38](/source/List_of_hieroglyphs/S)) in place of [uniliteral](/source/Egyptian_biliteral_signs) **ḥ** ([V28](/source/List_of_hieroglyphs/V)). The alternative form **ḥqtyt** adds an explicit feminine ending, used alongside the "[egg](/source/Egg_(hieroglyph))" determinative ([H8](/source/List_of_hieroglyphs/H)) to emphasize the deity's femininity.[2] The [Middle Egyptian](/source/Middle_Egyptian_language) pronunciation of the name may have been close to /ħaˈqaːtat/, which has been proposed (among other possibilities) as the origin of the name of Greek [Hecate](/source/Hecate) (Ἑκάτη).[4] ## Worship The beginning of her cult dates to the [Early Dynastic Period](/source/Early_Dynastic_Period_of_Egypt) at least. Her name was part of the names of some high-born [Second Dynasty](/source/Second_dynasty_of_Egypt) individuals buried at [Helwan](/source/Helwan), such as prince [Nisuheqet](/source/Nisuheqet), and was mentioned on a [stela](/source/Stele) of [Wepemnofret](/source/Wepemnofret) and in the [Pyramid Texts](/source/Pyramid_Texts). Early frog statuettes are often thought to be depictions of her.[5] Heqet was considered the wife of [Khnum](/source/Khnum), who formed the bodies of new children on his potter's wheel.[6] In the [Osiris myth](/source/Osiris_myth), it was Heqet who breathed life into the new body of [Horus](/source/Horus) at birth, as she was a goddess of the last moments of birth. As the birth of Horus became more intimately associated with the [resurrection](/source/Resurrection) of Osiris, so Heqet's role became one more closely associated with resurrection. Eventually, this association led to her amulets gaining the phrase *I am the resurrection* in the Christian era along with cross and lamb symbolism.[7] A temple dedicated to Horus and Heqet dating to the [Ptolemaic Period](/source/Ptolemaic_Period) was found at [Qus](/source/Qus).[8][9] As a fertility goddess, associated explicitly with the last stages of the [flooding of the Nile](/source/Flooding_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 the [Middle Kingdom](/source/Middle_Kingdom_of_Egypt), gained her the title *She who hastens the birth* (cf. the role of Heqet in the story of *The Birth of the Royal Children* from the [Westcar Papyrus](/source/Westcar_Papyrus)).[10] Frog amulets representing Heqet were probably worn by women during childbirth to ensure an easy delivery.[11][12] ## References 1. Armour, Robert A. (2001). *Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt*. American University in Cairo Press. p. 116. 1. "The frog appears to have been worshipped in primitive times as the symbol of generation, birth and fertility in general; the Frog-goddess Ḥeqet or Ḥeqtit was identified with Hathor, and was originally the female counterpart of Khnum, by whom she became the mother of Heru-ur. The great antiquity of the cult of the frog is proved by the fact that each of the [four primeval gods](/source/Ogdoad_(Egyptian)), Ḥeḥ, Kek, Nāu, and Amen is depicted with the head of a frog, while his female counterpart has the head of a serpent. The cult of the frog is one of the oldest in Egypt, and the Frog-god and the Frog-goddess were believed to have played very prominent parts in the creation of the world." [E. A. Wallis Budge](/source/E._A._Wallis_Budge), *The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology* vol. 2 (1904), [p. 378](https://archive.org/stream/godsofegyptianso02budg#page/378/mode/2up). 1. *Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien*. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag GmbH. 1971. p. 169.10. 1. McKechnie, Paul, and Philippe Guillaume. Ptolemy II Philadelphus and His World. Leiden: Brill, 2008. page 133. 1. Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999). *Early Dynastic Egypt*. Routledge. p. 286. 1. Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*. Thames & Hudson. p. 229 1. Shier, Louise A. (1972). [*The Frog on Lamps from Karanis*](https://books.google.com/books?id=q9YUAAAAIAAJ&q=resurrection&pg=PA357). Medieval and Middle Eastern Studies. Brill. p. 357. ISBN 9004034064. 1. Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings, V Upper Egypt: Sites (Volume 5). Griffith Institute. 2004. 1. Wilkinson, Richard H., The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Thames and Hudson, 2000, pp 152, ISBN 0-500-05100-3 1. Lichtheim, M. (1973). *Ancient Egyptian Literature*. Vol. 1. p. 220. 1. ["Frog Amulet"](https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.123). The Cleveland Museum of Art. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021. 1. Capel, A. K. & Markoe, G. E. (eds.) (1996). [*Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven*](https://books.google.com/books?id=1pkH3QP390gC&pg=PA72). Hudson Hills Press. p. 72. ISBN 1-55595-129-5. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Heqet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heqet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heqet?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.