The Ogdoad of Hermopolis The 8, The Primordial Cosmic deities

Name : The Ogdoad Aliases : The 8, The Primordial Classification: Pantheon of Cosmic deities Literature: Pyramid Text of the Old Kingdom Associated: Creation, The Primordial Waters Patheon/Faith : Early Nile River Valley Civilizations Cultural : Ancient Nile Valley The Egyptians believed that before the world was formed, there was a watery mass of dark, directionless chaos. In this chaos lived the Ogdoad of Khmunu (Hermopolis), a group of four pairs of gods venerated in Hermopolis whom the Egyptians called the eight. They are the personifications of the primeval forces of chaos Nun and his wife Naunet symbolized the primordial waters Kuk and Kauket represented darkness. Huh and Hauhet the eternity of space. Amun and Amaunet represent invisibility or the hidden. As cosmic gods they are represented in anthropomorphic form. They are also sometimes conceived as chthonic animals the male gods appearing as frogs the female as snakes The chaos existed without the light, and thus Kek and Kauket came to represent this darkness. They also symbolized obscurity, the kind of obscurity that went with darkness, and night. the four concepts represent the primal fundamental state of the beginning, they are what always was. In the myth, however, their interaction ultimately proved to be unbalanced, resulting in the arising of a new entity. When the entity opened, it revealed Ra, the fiery sun, inside. After a long interval of rest, Ra, together with the other gods, created all other things. The concept of an Ogdoad appears in Gnostic systems of the early Christian era, and was further developed by the theologian Valentinus (ca. 160 AD). The number eight plays an important part in Gnostic systems, The earliest Gnostic systems included a theory of seven heavens and a supercelestial region called the Ogdoad. Astronomical theories had introduced the concept of seven planetary spheres with an eighth above them, the sphere of the fixed stars. The Ogdoad were the original great gods of they helped with creation of all existence, then died and retired to the land of the dead where they continued to make the Nile flow and the sun rise every day.