About

Alternate Names: Heket 

Heqet is known to Kemet as the godess of childbirth, creation and grain germination. She is depicted as either a frog or a woman which has the head of a frog. Heqet is a water goddess as well which attributes Her with fertility, most promintently in the later stages of labour. Her priests, called "Servants of Heqet" were also trained to be midwives.

Heqet's first known appearance in Egypt (that has been discovered) was in magical texts located in the pyramids. These texts were to allow the deceased king to ascend into the sky. She is also one of numerous divinities which correlated to parts of the 'royal anatomy' of the ruler. Her association with childbirth came about in the Middle Kingdom. It is said that during the pyramid age, Re gave birth to three kings which inagurated the fifth dynasty. Heqet hasteded the last stages of labor.

In a ruined temple in Qus (dedicated to Heqet) in Upper Egypt, evidence has been found which shows that there, Heqet was considered to be a wife of one of the forms of Heru, and thus holds the title 'lady of Her-wer'.

Amulets and scarabs were worn by women to protect them during childbirth, often carried the visage of Heqet. During the Middle Kingdom, magical ivory knives were carried as a tool to ward off threats to families. These knives carry incisions which represented Heqet as defender of the home. Heqet was deemed fit to accompany Wesir in the temple of Abydos because of Her life giving powers and benign nature. There, during Dynasty XIX, she recieved offerings of wine from King Seti I, and was labeled as 'mistress of the Two Lands'.