At the Middle Egyptian town of Hermopolis, dedicated to the god of wisdom, Thot, a special group of 8 gods, known as the Ogdoad, was worshiped.
The Ogdoad consisted of 4 pairs of gods, each pair representing the male and female parts of the different aspects of chaos out of which the cosmos was created. These gods were Nun and Nunet (primeval water), Kek and Keket (darkness), Heh and Hehet (infinity) and Amun and Amaunet (hiddenness). The gods were represented as humans with the heads of frogs, the goddesses as humans with heads of snakes.
According to the Hermopolitan cosmogony, it were these gods who caused the primeval mound to rise from the waters, setting the creation of the world into motion. In Thebes, where they were associated with Amun-Re, they played an important part in the cosmogony as well and were worshipped at Medinet Habu.
- Ogdoad -
