Editing Heka (god)

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian deity}}
{{Distinguish|Heqet|Heqa|Hecate}}{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Heka
| hiero = [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]]: ḥk3w<hiero>H-kA:Y1-Z3-A40</hiero>or<hiero>F22:R12</hiero>
| image = File:Heka god.svg
| caption = Heka, depicted wearing a [[Hemhem crown]] and [[sidelock of youth|sidelock]], carrying a [[crook and flail]] and [[ankh]].
| image_upright = 1
| father = [[Khnum]]
| mother = [[Neith]], [[Mehet-Weret]], [[Menhit]], or [[Nebtuwi|Nebetu'u]]
| cult_centre = [[Esna]]
}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
'''Heka''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛ|k|ə}}; {{langx|egy|[[wikt:ḥkꜣ|ḥkꜣ]](w)}};<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://projetrosette.info/popup.php?Id=1012&idObjet=3306|title=Projet Rosette - Dictionary detail|website=projetrosette.info|access-date=2017-09-21}}</ref> [[Coptic language|Coptic]]: {{Script/Coptic|ϩⲓⲕ}} ''[https://coptic-dictionary.org/entry.cgi?tla=C6471 hik]'';<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://corpling.uis.georgetown.edu/coptic-dictionary/entry.cgi?entry=5753&super=2277|title=Coptic Dictionary Online|website=corpling.uis.georgetown.edu|access-date=2017-09-21}}</ref> also transliterated '''Hekau''') was the [[anthropomorphism|deification]] of [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] and medicine<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.landofpyramids.org/heka.htm|title=Heka, god of Egypt|website=landofpyramids.org|access-date=2018-01-31}}</ref> in [[ancient Egypt]]. The name is the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian word]] for "magic". According to Egyptian literature (Coffin text, spell 261), Heka existed "before duality had yet come into being''.''" The term ''ḥk3'' was also used to refer to the practice of magical rituals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mirecki |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ud5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |title=Ancient Magic and Ritual Power |last2=Meyer |date=2015-08-24 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-28381-7 |pages=49 |language=en}}</ref>

== Name ==
The name Heka is identical with the Egyptian word ''ḥkꜣ(w)'' "magic". This hieroglyphic spelling includes the symbol for the word [[Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul#Ka (vital spark)|''ka'']] (''kꜣ''), the ancient Egyptian concept of the vital force. Due to the importance placed onto names in ancient Egypt Heka was often incorporated into personal names. Some examples include: Hekawy, Hekaf, or simply Heka. The goddess [[Isis]] is also sometimes affiliated with Heka being titled [[Werethekau|Weret Hekau]], Great Lady of magic.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Riggs |first=Christina |title=Ancient Egyptian magic a hands-on guide |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-500-05212-9 |pages=23}}</ref>

== Beliefs ==
The Old Kingdom [[Pyramid Texts]] depict ''Heka'' as a supernatural energy that the gods possess. The "cannibal pharaoh" must devour other gods to gain this magical power. Eventually, Heka was elevated to a deity in his own right, and a cult devoted to him developed. 

=== Creation myths ===
By the time of the [[Coffin Texts]], Heka is said to have been created at the beginning of time by the creator [[Atum]]. Sometimes also being personified as the creator god, presented as a man or child and in some imagery holding two snakes. Heka is also said to be one of the three facets of the creator along with [[Sia (god)|sia]] and [[Hu (mythology)|hu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaw |first=Garry J. |title=The Egyptian myths A guide to the ancient gods and legends |publisher=Thames and Hudson |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-500-25198-0 |pages=27}}</ref>

=== General myths ===
Heka is later depicted as part of the tableau of the divine [[solar barque]] and as a protector of [[Osiris]] in [[Duat]] capable of blinding crocodiles. 

Then, during the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]], Heka's role was to proclaim the pharaoh's enthronement as a son of Isis, holding him in his arms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=George |year=2005 |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0415344951 |page=66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0L83uBijeZwC |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunand |first1=Françoise |author1-link=Françoise Dunand |last2=Zivie-Coche |first2=Christiane |year=2004 |title=Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000&nbsp;BCE to 395&nbsp;CE |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0801441653 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrW2xNQTVN0C&q=heka&pg=PA123}}</ref>

Heka also appears as part of a divine triad in [[Esna]], Ptolemaic and Roman capital of the [[Nome (Egypt)|Third Nome]] of the [[Thebaid]] of [[Upper Egypt]], where he is the son of ram-headed [[Khnum]] and a succession of goddesses. His mother was alternately said to be [[Nebtuwi|Nebetu'u]] (a form of [[Hathor]]), lion-headed [[Menhit]], and the cow goddess [[Mehet-Weret]], before settling on [[Neith]], a war and mother goddess.<ref>{{cite book |last=Najovits |first=Simson R. |date=May 2003 |title=Egypt, Trunk of the Tree |volume=I: A Modern Survey of and Ancient Land |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=9780875862347 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y72qrAmKcfEC&q=heka%20khnum%20triad&pg=PA102}}</ref>

[[Werethekau]] whose name means "she who has great magic" is also sometimes connected with the force of Heka. 

As Egyptologist Ogden Goelet (1994)<ref name="Commentary" /> explains, magic in the ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' is problematic: The text uses various words corresponding to 'magic', for the Egyptians thought magic was a legitimate belief. As Goelet explains:
{{quote|''Heka'' magic is many things, but, above all, it has a close association with speech and the power of the word. In the realm of Egyptian magic, actions did not necessarily speak louder than words – they were often one and the same thing. Thought, deed, image, and power are theoretically united in the concept of ''Heka''.|O. Goelet (1994)<ref name="Commentary">{{cite book |author=Ani |display-authors=etal |year=1994 |orig-year=1250&nbsp;BCE |editor-first=Ogden Jr. |editor-last=Goelet |translator-first=Raymond |translator-last=Faulkner |others=preface by Carol Andrews |title=The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day |edition=1st |page=145 |title-link=The Egyptian Book of the Dead |publisher=Chronicle Books |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=0811807673 |quote=being the Papyrus of Ani (royal scribe of the divine offerings), written and illustrated circa 1250&nbsp;BCE, by scribes and artists unknown, including the balance of chapters of the books of the dead known as the Theban recension, compiled from ancient texts, dating back to the roots of Egyptian civilization}}</ref>}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Esna Tempel 13 Heka.jpg|Relief of Heka at the Temple of Esna
Heka.jpg|Heka (ḥkꜣ)
Heka (magical form).png|Heka, holding two serpents crossing each other with the hind of a lion on [[Nome (Egypt)|nome standard]] represent his name on his head in the magical form
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Egyptian gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Magic gods]]
[[Category:Nubian gods]]

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