Kek (mythology)
| Kekui in hieroglyphs | ||||||||||
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Kek | ||||||||||
Kekui | ||||||||||
Kekuit | ||||||||||
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Kek (also Kuk, Keku, Kekui) is the deification of the concept of primordial darkness (kkw smꜣw, keku-semau[1]) in the Ancient Egyptian Ogdoad cosmogony. As a concept, Kek was viewed as androgynous, his female form being known as Keket (also Kekuit).[2][3][4] Kek and Keket 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 (kkt, kkwyt) with a variant of the sky hieroglyph in ligature with the staff (N2) associated with the word for "darkness" kkw.[6]
History
In the oldest representations, Kekui is given the head of a serpent, and Kekuit 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
In relation to the 2016 United States presidential election, individuals associated with online message boards, such as 4chan, noted a similarity between Kek and the character Pepe the Frog. This resulted in a resurgence of interest in the ancient deity, most notably exemplified by the phrase "praise Kek". Some members of 4chan jokingly attribute the victory of Donald J. Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election to "meme magic".[8]
See also
References
- ^ E. Hornung, "Licht und Finsternis in der Vorstellungswelt Altägyptens", Studium Generale 8 (1965), 72-83.
- ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. Vol. 1. Methuen & Co. pp. 241, 283–286.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. Vol. 2. Methuen & Co. pp. 2, 378.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Steindorff, Georg (1905). The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians. G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 50.
- ^ Budge (1904), p. 285f, vol. 1. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBudge1904 (help)
- ^ Budge (1904), p. 283, vol. 1. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBudge1904 (help)
- ^ Budge (1904), p. 286, vol. 1. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBudge1904 (help)
- ^ Spencer, Paul (November 18, 2016). "Trump's Occult Online Supporters Believe 'Meme Magic' Got Him Elected". Motherboard. Vice. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
External links
- Seawright, Caroline (2003). "Kek and Kauket, Deities of Darkness, Obscurity and Night".
