Kek (mythology)

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This article is about a concept in ancient Egyptian mythology. For other uses, see Kek (disambiguation).
Kekui in hieroglyphs
V31
V31		 N2

Kek
V31
V31		 yG43N2A40

Kekui
V31
V31		 yG43N2X1
H8		 B1

Kekuit
Kuk and Kuket.jpg
Keket
V31
V31		 N2B1
and Kekui
V31
V31		 Z7
y		 N2A40
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]

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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[]

References[]

  1. ^ Hornung, E. (1965). "Licht und Finsternis in der Vorstellungswelt Altägyptens". Studium Generale. 8: 72–83.
  2. ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1904a). The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. Vol. 1. Methuen & Co. pp. 241, 283–286.
  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. ^ 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.

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