Kek (mythology)

Ancient Egyptian personification of primordial darkness

This article is about a concept in ancient Egyptian mythology. For other uses, see Kek (disambiguation).

Kek

Kauket (left) and Kek (right) sitting on thrones, relief from a temple at Deir el-Medina

Name in hieroglyphs| |  |

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Kek

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Kekuit

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Major cult center| Hermopolis (as a member of the Ogdoad)
Genealogy
Spouse| Kauket
Kauket

Kauket was often represented with a cobra head like other female members of the Ogdoad

Name in hieroglyphs| |  |
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Major cult center| Hermopolis (as a member of the Ogdoad)
Genealogy
Spouse| Kek

Kek is the deification of the concept of primordial darkness[1] in the ancient Egyptian Ogdoad cosmogony of Hermopolis.

The Ogdoad consisted of four pairs of deities, four male gods paired with their female counterparts. Kek's female counterpart was Kauket.[2][3][4] Kek and Kauket in some aspects also represent night and day, and were called "raiser up of the light" and the "raiser up of the night", respectively.[5]

The name is written as kk or kkwy with a variant of the sky hieroglyph in ligature with the staff (N2) associated with the word for "darkness" kkw.[6]

## History

[edit]

Kek and Kauket (bottom right) depicted in a painted relief from Dendera.

In the oldest representations, Kauket is given the head of a serpent, and Kek the head of either a frog or a cat. In one scene, they are identified with Ka and Kait; in this scene, Ka-Kekui has the head of a frog surmounted by a beetle and Kait-Kekuit has the head of a serpent surmounted by a disk.[7]

In the Greco-Roman period, Kek's male form was depicted as a frog-headed man, and the female form as a serpent-headed woman, as were all four dualistic concepts in the Ogdoad.

## In popular culture

[edit]

Main article: Pepe the Frog

Individuals associated with online message boards, such as 4chan, noted a similarity between Kek and the character Pepe the Frog. This was later paired with images of Pepe,[8] resulting in a resurgence of interest in the ancient deity.[9]

## See also

[edit]

* Heqet
* Erebus

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hornung, E. (1965). "Licht und Finsternis in der Vorstellungswelt Altägyptens". Studium Generale. 8: 72–83.72-83&rft.date=1965&rft.aulast=Hornung&rft.aufirst=E.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Kek+(mythology)" class="Z3988">
2. ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904a). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. Vol. 1\. Methuen & Co. pp. 241, 283–286.283-286&rft.pub=Methuen+&+Co.&rft.date=1904&rft.aulast=Budge&rft.aufirst=E.+A.+Wallis&rft_id=https://archive.org/stream/godsofegyptianso00budg#page/282/mode/2up&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Kek+(mythology)" class="Z3988">
3. ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904b). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. Vol. 2\. Methuen & Co. pp. 2, 378.
4. ^ Steindorff, Georg (1905). The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians. G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 50.
5. ^ Budge (1904a), p. 285f, vol. 1.
6. ^ Budge (1904a), p. 283, vol. 1.
7. ^ Budge (1904a), p. 286, vol. 1.
8. ^ Sarkar, Samit (September 14, 2017). "Bungie explains how Destiny 2 armor resembling hate symbol made it into the game". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
9. ^ David, Neiwert (May 8, 2017). "What the Kek: Explaining the Alt-Right 'Deity' Behind Their 'Meme Magic'". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved September 14, 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Seawright, Caroline (2003). "Kek and Kauket, Deities of Darkness, Obscurity and Night". Archived from the original on 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2012-09-25.

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