Tag: heqet

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Egyptian Artifacts

Frogs and the Exodus

I’m going to talk about the Second Plague of Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– today: Frogs π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“†π“¦! Many Biblical/religious scholars believe that the 10 Plagues of Egypt were not only directed by God against the Pharaoh 𓉐𓉻/people of Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, but the Egyptian π“†Žπ“π“€€π“ deities π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ as well.

These frog π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“† figures are dated to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3000-2675 B.C.E.) so these are quite old! Frogs π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“†π“¦ were not really written about at all during these predynastic times, and these statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ predate a lot of religious writing π“Ÿπ“›π“₯ and iconography , however, they are mentioned in Exodus (starting at 8:1).

The Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ believed the frog π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“† to be a symbol of fertility because they would appear after the flooding of the Nile River π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί, so they were associated with life π“‹Ή/the regenerative qualities of water π“ˆ—. The frog π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“† is also associated with the fertility goddess π“ŠΉπ“ Heqet π“Ž›π“ˆŽπ“π“† who is represented as a woman with a frog π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“† head.

Heqet π“Ž›π“ˆŽπ“π“† also had the task of controlling the population of frogs π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“†π“¦ in Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– by protecting the frog-eating crocodiles. Without Heqet π“Ž›π“ˆŽπ“π“†, the frog π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“† population would grow out of control! During the Second Plague, God overwhelmed Heqet π“Ž›π“ˆŽπ“π“† hence the large amount of frogs π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“‚‹π“†π“¦ that appeared in Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–! It is God who controls fertility, not Heqet π“Ž›π“ˆŽπ“π“† because The Lord is all powerful!