Kek (mythology)

Ancient Egyptian personification of primordial darkness

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

Kekui in hieroglyphs
Kek
Kekui
Kekuit
Keket and Kekui depicted at Deir el-Medina.

Kek is the deification of the concept of primordial darkness (kkw sm3w^[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

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Deities (list) Ogdoad Amun Amunet Hauhet Heh Kauket Kek Naunet Nu Ennead Atum Geb Isis Nephthys Nut Osiris Set Shu Tefnut A Aker Akhty Ammit Am-heh Anat Andjety Anhur Anput Anubis Anuket Apedemak Apep Apis Apt Aqen Arensnuphis Ash Assessors Astarte Aten B Babi Banebdjedet Bastet Bat Bata Ba-Pef Bennu Bes Buchis C Cavern deities D Dedun F Four sons of Horus Duamutef Hapi Imset Qebehsenuef G Gate deities H Ha Hapi Hathor Hatmehit Hedetet Hedjhotep Heka Hemen Hemsut Heqet Hermanubis Hesat Horus Heryshaf Hu I Iabet Iah Iat Ihy Imentet Imhotep Iunit Iusaaset K Kebechet Khensit Khenti-Amentiu Khenti-kheti Khepri Kherty Khnum Khonsu Kothar-wa-Khasis M Maahes Ma'at Mandulis Medjed Mafdet Mehen Mehet-Weret Mehit Menhit Meret Meretseger Meskhenet Min Mnevis Montu Mut N Nebethetepet Nebtuwi Nefertem Nehebkau Nehmetawy Neith Nemty Nekhbet Neper P Pakhet Petbe Ptah Q Qebui Qetesh R Ra Raet-Tawy Rem Renenutet Renpet Repyt Resheph S Sah Satis Sekhmet Seker Serapis Serket Seshat Shai Shed Shesmetet Shezmu Sia Sobek Sopdet Sopdu Souls of Pe and Nekhen T Tatenen Taweret Tayt Ta-Bitjet Tenenet Thoth Hermes Trismegistus Tjenenyet Tutu U Unut W Wadjet Wadj-wer Weneg Wepset Wepwawet Werethekau Wosret
Locations Aaru Benben Duat Land of Manu The Indestructibles
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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

Main article: Pepe the Frog

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, combined with the frequent use of the term "kek" as a popular stand-in for the internet slang "lol", which was often paired with images of Pepe, resulted in a resurgence of interest in the ancient deity.^[8]

See also

• Heqet
• Erebus

References

1. E. Hornung, "Licht und Finsternis in der Vorstellungswelt Altägyptens", Studium Generale 8 (1965), 72-83.
2. Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. 1. Methuen & Co. pp. 241, 283–286.
3. Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. 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 (1904), p. 285f, vol. 1. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBudge1904 (help)
6. Budge (1904), p. 283, vol. 1. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBudge1904 (help)
7. Budge (1904), p. 286, vol. 1. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBudge1904 (help)
8. 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

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