Heket- Egyptian GodDeity"She Who Hastens the Birth"
Also known as: Heqet and Hekat
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Symbols
Description
Khnum shaped bodies on his potter's wheel; Heket breathed life into them. The frog goddess stood at every threshold between lifeless and living — midwife of creation itself, whose amulets women clutched through labor and whose breath revived even Osiris from death.
Mythology & Lore
Khnum's Partner
Khnum shaped human bodies from Nile clay on his potter's wheel. Heket stood beside him and held the ankh to the nostrils of each figure. Her breath turned clay into a living being. Temple reliefs at Dendera show the moment: the ram-headed god at the wheel, the frog goddess bending forward with the sign of life.
The Westcar Papyrus
In the Westcar Papyrus, Ra sends four goddesses disguised as itinerant musicians to attend a woman in labor. She carries triplets destined to become the first three pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty. Heket hastens each delivery.
Frog Amulets
She was the goddess women turned to in labor. Her priestesses served as midwives, and women wore frog-shaped amulets through delivery. Ivory birth tusks inscribed with her image have been found in household contexts. In certain Coffin Text spells, her breath reaches further: she assists in the resurrection of Osiris. The force that animated newborns revived the murdered god.