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'{{short description|Ancient Egyptian personification of primordial darkness}} {{About|a concept in ancient Egyptian mythology|other uses|Kek (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox deity | type = Egyptian | name = Kek | caption = Kauket (left) and Kek (right) sitting on thrones, relief from a temple at [[Deir el-Medina]] | image = Kuk and Kuket.jpg | cult_center = [[Hermopolis]] (as a member of the Ogdoad) | spouse = Kauket | hiero = <hiero>V31:V31-N2</hiero> <br> ''Kek'' <br> <hiero>V31:V31-y-G43-N2-A40</hiero> <br> ''Kekui'' <br> <hiero>V31:V31-y-G43-N2-X1:H8-B1</hiero> <br> ''Kekuit'' <br> <hiero>V31:V31-N2-B1</hiero> <br> }} '''Kek''' is the deification of the concept of primordial darkness (''{{lang|egy|kkw sm3w}}''<ref>{{cite journal |first=E. |last=Hornung |title=Licht und Finsternis in der Vorstellungswelt Altägyptens |journal=Studium Generale |volume=8 |date=1965 |pages=72–83}}</ref>) in the [[ancient Egyptian religion|ancient Egyptian]] [[Ogdoad (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'''.<ref>{{cite book|first=E. A. Wallis|last=Budge|author-link=E. A. Wallis Budge|title=The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology|volume=1|publisher=[[Methuen & Co.]] |year=1904a |url=https://archive.org/stream/godsofegyptianso00budg#page/282/mode/2up|pages=241, 283–286}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=E. A. Wallis|last=Budge|author-link=E. A. Wallis Budge|title=The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology|volume=2|publisher=[[Methuen & Co.]]|year=1904b |url=https://archive.org/stream/godsofegyptianso02budg#page/378/mode/2up|pages=2, 378}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Georg |last=Steindorff |title=The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians |date=1905 |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] |url=https://archive.org/stream/religionofancien00stei#page/50/mode/2up |page=50}}</ref> 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.{{sfnp|Budge|1904a|p=285f|loc=vol. 1}} The name is written as ''kk'' or ''kkwy'' with a variant of the [[Sky (hieroglyph)|sky hieroglyph]] in ligature with the [[Was (sceptre)|staff]] ([[List of hieroglyphs/N|N2]]) associated with the word for "darkness" ''kkw''.{{sfnp|Budge|1904a|p=283|loc=vol. 1}} ==History== {{Ancient Egyptian religion}} In the oldest representations, ''Kekui'' is given the [[Theriocephaly|head]] of a serpent, and ''Kekuit'' the head of either a frog or a cat. In one scene, they are identified with [[Ka (Egyptian soul)|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.{{sfnp|Budge|1904a|p=286|loc=vol. 1}} In the [[Ptolemaic Egypt|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 (Egyptian)|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 was later paired with images of Pepe,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/14/16310330/destiny-2-armor-white-nationalist-kek-symbol-explanation|title=Bungie explains how Destiny 2 armor resembling hate symbol made it into the game|first=Samit|last=Sarkar|date=September 14, 2017|accessdate=August 4, 2018|work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|archive-date=May 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520062428/https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/14/16310330/destiny-2-armor-white-nationalist-kek-symbol-explanation|url-status=live}}</ref> resulting in a resurgence of interest in the ancient deity.<ref>{{cite news|last1=David|first1=Neiwert |title=What the Kek: Explaining the Alt-Right 'Deity' Behind Their 'Meme Magic'|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/05/08/what-kek-explaining-alt-right-deity-behind-their-meme-magic|access-date=September 14, 2017|work=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|date=May 8, 2017}}</ref> Believers in Kek say that repeating integers, often called “dubs”, are the [[prima materia]] of reality, and that their occurrence invoke the deity. [[Elon Musk]] has made numerous references to Pepe and even to Kek,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1607148387799011328?lang=en|title=Elon tweets Kek |website=Twitter.com|access-date=2023-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1628667176902352896?lang=en|title=Elon tweets Kek again|website=Twitter.com|access-date=2023-06-05}}</ref> among others within the perceived right wing such as [[Donald Trump]], who tweeted himself as a version of the frog.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://americasvoice.org/blog/pepe-frog-meme-shared-trump-trump-jr-identified-hate-symbol-anti-defamation-league/|title=Trumps tweet Pepe|website=Americasvoice.com|access-date=2023-06-05}}</ref> Believers have cited this as evidence of [[memetic]] [[synchronicity]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://pepethefrogfaith.wordpress.com/|title=The Truth About Pepe and the Cult of Kek|website=wordpress.com |access-date=2023-06-05}}</ref> == See also == * [[Heqet]] * [[Erebus]] ==References== {{Reflist|24em}} ==External links== * {{cite web |last=Seawright |first=Caroline |url=http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/kek.html |title=Kek and Kauket, Deities of Darkness, Obscurity and Night |date=2003 |access-date=2012-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513182345/http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/kek.html |archive-date=2017-05-13 |url-status=dead }} {{Ancient Egyptian religion footer}} [[Category:Egyptian gods]] [[Category:Creator gods]] [[Category:Night gods]] [[Category:Darkness]] [[Category:Egyptian demons]] [[Category:Legendary amphibians]] [[Category:Personifications]] [[Category:Cat gods]]'