Ogdoad of Hermopolis

Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses for kids - The Ogdoad of Hermopolis

The mythology of ancient Egypt and the eight gods of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis

 

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis
Discover the mythology and religious beliefs surrounding the Ogdoad of Hermopolis in ancient Egypt. The legends and myths surrounding of the emergence of the eight Egyptian gods and goddesses who formed the Ogdoad of Hermopolis (the Egyptian Khmunu) ancient Egypt. The Definition of the Ogdoad is basically a collection of eight gods. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis (Khmunu) consisted of four pairs of male and female deities. The male aquatic gods were represented by the heads of frogs and the female goddesses were represented by the heads of snakes. The names of the Ogdoad gods were Amun and Amaunet, Heh and Hehet, Kek and Keket, and Nun and Naunet. The mythology of the water gods of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis centred around stories of where the first gods came from and their relationship to each other.

Facts about the Ogdoad of Hermopolis
The Ogdoad of Hermopolis consisted of a collection of eight water gods and deities called Amun and Amaunet, Heh and Hehet, Kek and Keket, and Nun and Naunet.

 

Ogdoad of Hermopolis Fact File

 


Definition:

Definition: The word 'Ogdoad' means eight. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis is a group  of eight gods and goddesses. The term 'Ogdoad' is applied to the most important gods associated with a major cult center. The name of a cult indicated the number of major gods worshipped in the cult and the location of the cult center, in this case the Ogdoad of Hermopolis.
Water Cult:The aquatic cult and the concept of water deities was developed in a creation myth making the evolving religion understandable to the ancient Egyptian people. Hermopolis (the Egyptian Khmunu) was deemed to be the birthplace of the Ogdoad 'company of gods'
Hermopolis:The cult was developed in the ancient city of Khmunu that was later renamed by the Greeks as Hermopolis. Khmun, the Ancient Egyptian name of the city means "eight-town", after the Ogdoad. The ancient city of Hermopolis was located in the Nile Delta area of Lower Egypt (North Egypt)
Gods of Hermopolis: ThothThoth the ibis-headed god of knowledge, wisdom, the moon and magic eventually became the chief deity in Hermopolis.
 
 

The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

 

Information and Facts about the Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Map
Discover interesting information and research facts about the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, the group of eight gods worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. The following map shows the location of Hermopolis in ancient Egypt.

Map of Lower Egypt

Ogdoad of Hermopolis

Map showing location of Hermopolis

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis

The Cult Center at Hermopolis (Khnum)
Ancient Egyptian Cities that achieved the status of a cult center became extremely rich and therefore very powerful. The ancient Egyptian Priests of Hermopolis vied for position and power, re-inventing gods and creation myths to ensure that Hermopolis retained its position as one of the great cult centers of ancient Egypt.

  • The city of Hermopolis had been a cult center for the worship of the baboon gods Baba and Hedjwer in the early years of the Old Kingdom
  • As time passed the priests developed and created their own version of a creation myth about the gods who formed the Ogdoad of Hermopolis
  • The eight deities of the the Ogdoad of Hermopolis were worshipped during the Old Kingdom (2686 to 2134 BC)
  • During the late period of Egyptian history (525 BC - 332 BC) Khnum (Hermopolis Magna), in Upper Egypt also becoming the capital and the priests of the cult center of Hermopolis gained prominence again by positioning Thoth as the creator god.
 

Creation myth

  • Interesting research information and Facts about the Ogdoad
  • The Ogdoad of Hermopolis
  • Egyptian Mythology associated with the Ogdoad of Hermopolis
  • Facts and information about the gods and deities of of classical Egypt for schools, research and kids
  • Summary of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis for kids and schools

The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

 

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - The Creation Myth
The main centers of religion in ancient Egypt were Heliopolis and Memphis. However, the cities of Hermopolis and Thebes were also important religious centers and all of these cities had their own versions of the creation myth in order to stress the pre-eminence of their favored gods. Hermopolis claimed to predate the cosmogony of Heliopolis. The creation myth relating to the Ogdoad of Hermopolis is detailed in these short facts.

  • The world started from a watery mass of dark, directionless chaos
  • The inbuilt qualities of the primeval waters of chaos were represented by a set of eight gods, called the Ogdoad
  • For every 'male' deity there is the 'female' counterpart. The names of the female deities were the feminine forms of the male name and vice versa
  • Snakes and frogs were believed to inhabit the primeval waters of chaos
  • The gods were therefore depicted as aquatics deities - the male gods taking the form of frogs and the females took on the form of snakes
  • The name of the primeval water of chaos was Nun
  • The female counterpart of Nun was Naunet. This pair of gods, Nun and Naunet, represented the inert primeval water itself
  • Heh and his counterpart Hehet represented the infinite extent or boundlessness of the water
  • Kek and Keket personified the darkness of the water
  • Amun and Amaunet personified the hidden and unknowable nature of the water representing the primordial concept or element of air or invisibility
  • The gods and goddesses all eventually converged in chaos, resulting in a great upheaval. This produced the pyramidal mound from which the sun rose into the sky bringing light and life to the world
  • Hermopolis was believed to have been the site of the emergence of the primeval mound
  • The Ogdoad were 'the fathers and the mothers who gave birth to the water and who created the world
  • The gods of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis therefore represented the following concepts:

Nun & Naunet = Primeval Waters
Heh & Hehet = Boundlessness
Kek & Keket = Darkness
Amun & Amaunet = Invisiblity / Air

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Amun the frog god of Air
Amun, as a member of the Ogdoad first appeared depicted as a frog or a frog-headed man. He was known as the self-engendered creator god who rose from the primordial waters of chaos personified as Nun. Amun became prominent as a god in his right during the period of the Middle Kingdom onward. He joined with the sun god as Amun-Ra and eventually as Ra. Various myths surrounded Amun who adopted the persona of a creator god god of the air, sun and the sky. The mythology relating to Amun was that he was self-created, he rose on the first piece of land out of the lotus blossom on the primeval mound and stories relating to the Benben stone, the Bennu Bird and the cosmic egg.

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Amaunet the snake goddess of Air
Amaunet embodied the concept of air, essence, and hidden power. She appears entirely as a cobra snake or as a snake-headed woman. She was regarded as the mother of creation, mother and grandmother of the gods, and owner of the Tree of Life. Amaunet became associated with the moon and was sometimes represented as a funerary goddess in tombs and coffins. Amaunet  was later absorbed by Mut, the mother goddess

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Heh the frog god of Infinity
Heh, also known as Huh, embodied the concept of formlessness, boundlessness and infinity. He appeared as a frog or as a frog-headed man and his consort in the Ogdoad was Hehet. Huh was later identified with Shu and was a god of the wind, linked to the four pillars that held up the sky. According to some myths he was believed to hold up the Solar barque of Ra and raise it up into the sky at the end of its voyage through the Underworld. 

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Hehet the snake goddess of Infinity
Hehet, also known as Hauhet embodied the concept of formlessness, boundlessness, infinity the flood force and the primeval waters of Nun. She was depicted as a cobra snake or as a snake-headed woman. Her consort and  male counterpart was Heh.

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Kek the frog god of Darkness
Kek, also known as Kuk, embodied the concept of  the primeval aspects of darkness and of life. He appeared as a frog or as a frog-headed man and his consort in the Ogdoad was the snake-headed goddess, Keket.

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Keket the snake goddess of Darkness
Keket, also known as Kauket, embodied the concept of darkness and obscurity. She was depicted as a cobra snake or as a snake-headed woman. Her consort and  male counterpart was Kek. She was the goddess of the night, just after sunset.

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Naunet the snake goddess of the Primeval Waters
Naunet the goddess of the primal waters of chaos from which all arose embodied the concept of the primeval waters. She was depicted as a cobra snake or as a snake-headed woman. Her consort and  male counterpart was Nun. Naunet also personified the primordial abyss of the underworld.

The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - Nun, god of the Primeval Waters
The primeval mound of creation arose from the Nun. Nun played no part in Egyptian religious rituals and had no temples dedicated to him. He was symbolized by the sacred lakes associated with some temples, such as Karnak and Dendara. The depths of the primordial abyss of the underworld were also associated with the Nun. It was believed that the waters of Nun would eventually inundate the whole world, and once again the universe would become the primordial chaotic waters of Nun.

 

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