The Ogdoad (Greek: Ογδοάδα – Ogdoada, transliterated from hieroglyphic script as ḫmnyw, conventionally vocalized as Chemenu in Egyptian) is the designation of one version of ancient Egyptian Hermopolitan cosmology and simultaneously an eightfold pantheon of gods who appear in it as primordial creative beings (though not in the strict sense of creators). This mythological-theological concept originated in the significant religious center of Chemenu (translated as “The Eight (Gods) City,” Greek Hermopolis Megalé), also the main center of the cult of the god Thoth, during the time of the Old Kingdom. From the New Kingdom onwards, it was also developed in connection with its association with the cult of Amun in Waset.
The members of the Ogdoad were four pairs of parthenogenetic gods, each consisting of a male and a corresponding female element: Nun and Naunet, Heh and Hauhet, Kuk and Kauket, Tenemu and Tenemut. The last pair was replaced during the Middle Kingdom by the duo of Amun and Amaunet, and in the Late Period sometimes by Gerh and Gerhet. Similarly to other Egyptian cosmological-cosmogonic concepts, this conception is based on the motif of the cosmic primeval ocean, from which at a certain moment emerged the primordial mound of solid land. However, unlike them, this event in Chemenu is not associated with a single god – the Creator, as was customary in Egypt, but is linked to the unspecified, impersonal, and probably mysterious activity of the aforementioned group of eight gods, resulting in the beginning of all existence, or alternatively equated with the birth of the Creator, most commonly identified with the solar deity (Atum or Ra).
Most of the information about the Ogdoad is drawn from inscriptions on monuments in Waset; however, this represents an advanced stage in the cult’s development. Another significant source is the Coffin Texts, which were primarily intended for the needs of the afterlife and may therefore not precisely and completely describe the theological ideas associated with this doctrine. No corresponding text from Chemenu as to the origin of the Ogdoad is currently known due to the high degree of damage to the archaeological site there.
The doctrine of the Ogdoad is likely the source of the principle of eightness in late antique Gnosticism.
Members of the Ogdoad
Some members of the Ogdoad from Chemenu are already mentioned in other roles in the Pyramid Texts, dating from the transition between the 5th and 6th dynasties. Direct evidence of the entire group and thus of the associated cosmological concept comes only from the Middle Kingdom, but it can be indirectly traced back to earlier times: “its existence already in the Old Kingdom is indirectly evidenced not only by the name of the city but also by the title of the Hermopolitan (Chemenu) high priest as ‘Great of Five’. The number five in the title conceals four pairs of the Ogdoad and as the fifth appended god, Thoth.” The Ogdoad consists of gods and goddesses (the meaning provided simultaneously being the prevailing one among possible translations of the name):
- Nun and Naunet represent the principle of the depth of the waters of the primeval ocean (though here conceived more narrowly than in other cosmologies), or alternatively, the stillness of the waters.
- Heh and Hauhet (Hehet) symbolize the formlessness and boundlessness of non-being. George Hart interprets the pair as an expression of the power of floods; sometimes they are simply regarded as expressions of infinite space.
- Kuk (Keku) and Kauket (Keket) represent darkness (perhaps in connection with the notion of the state before the birth of the solar god);
- Tenemu and Tenemut as disorders, who, however, during the Middle Kingdom were replaced by Amun and Amaunet, expressing the principle of concealment (according to Hart, hidden dynamism) or representing everything hitherto unseen. In the Late Period, Gerh and Gerhet sometimes appeared in place of the fourth pair, understood as an expression of the depth of the night.
In summary, they represent various aspects of the primordial state represented in other concepts in the form of the watery chaos and thus express the idea of some kind of “primordial mother,” from which the world arises.
The number 8 is crucial for the concept as a deliberate expression of the symbolism of inclusiveness and all-encompassing completeness. Since the number four was associated with the concept of balanced wholeness, its multiplication by eight represents intensified, heightened wholeness.
In Egyptian mythology, such intensification was achieved in two ways: either by multiplying manifestations of a single deity in the model X 1, thereby intensifying its essence (for example, eight Hehs supporting the sky, seven Hathors at the birth of a child), or by creating groups of a certain number of separate deities (e.g., the Nine of Heliopolis in the model 3 × 3, various local triads in the model 1+1+1). In the Ogdoad, the number 8 is created according to the complex model 2×1 + 2×1 + 2×1 + 2×1: four pairs of gods and goddesses appear here, each embodying one of the elemental principles represented in their male and female aspects and the complementarity of both. The role of gender differentiation in the myth is not clear.
Some scholars believe that it is the main instrument of creation here, but sources for such an assumption provide no direct evidence, though at least indirect evidence. Although it cannot be ruled out that there are now imperceptible differences in the conception of the male and female elements, it is certain only that the name of each goddess is created from the name of her male counterpart by simply adding the suffix for the grammatical feminine gender (in Egyptian, -t). Given that the Egyptians understood the name not only as a means of designation but also as part of the existence of the named and determining its essence, it is now more than likely that the female figures merely serve to intensify the principles expressed by the male gods.
Another means of expressing the same idea is the depiction of the members of the group: the figures of the Ogdoad are anthropomorphized, but the male members have frog heads, while their partners have snake heads. This complementarily personifies the aspects of primordiality and indivisibility. Mythologically, “the snake is considered the carrier of one of the most original forms,” and the frog belongs to “the community of animals that emerged from the waters,” corresponding in mythology to the primordial ocean, so “both forms in a sense represent the life potential of the pre-cosmic state.”
Both of these animal species in the Egyptian conception are self-created, thus corresponding to the idea of spontaneously arising gods. Although according to the Coffin Texts, the god Shu appears as the father of the gods and goddesses of the Ogdoad, and in later tradition sometimes the god Shesep, they themselves, regardless of this, are primordial beings—”fathers and mothers entering into existence at the beginning,” and through their activity, which culminates in and the meaning of which lies in the birth of the god—the Creator, they actually contribute to the emergence of all future life forms, but they do not belong among them yet. They represent the creative force of creation, shaping it through their activity. In other words, they are not part of the created universe, but constitute a collection of elements not yet manifested. Therefore, they can be called heh—gods of the metaphysically conceived Infinite.
The numerical arrangement of the group and the iconography of the gods involved in it aim to describe preexistence in general, that is, a state not only before the creation of the world but also before the birth of the Creator. In the Coffin Texts, they are collectively considered expressions of the infinite non-existence or nothingness, in which “Atum created himself in the form of the benben bird.” In mythological discourse, therefore, “the creative force (the Creator called heka and manifested by the sun in the spirit of Heliopolitan cosmogony)… encounters precisely what does not exist and from which existence (only) must arise,” along with the sun as the manifestation of the all-overcoming will of the Creator. The conceptually precise determination of the qualities that the Egyptians had in mind when constructing the Ogdoad is, of course, not possible. However, there is no doubt that they wanted to express the contrast to the cosmic signs of Maat’s order, which no later than in the Coffin Texts merge into one with the manifestations of the rule of the sun god over the world: clear and firm boundaries of things, internal division of all reality, stability, and light.
The Activity of the Ogdoad
As their names already indicate, the gods of the Ogdoad are not creators in the sense that they are the originators of existence; rather, they characterize the qualities of the primordial chaos preceding creation, from which creation then unfolds in a certain way. In summary, they fulfill a role that, in other cosmologies, is represented by the primordial ocean, personified separately by the god Nun. The Chemenu conception transformed the concept of the primordial waters in the interest of numerical symbolism: instead of stating the existence of a single primal uncertainty (the ocean Nun), it postulates four qualitatively negative basic traits in order to characterize this primal uncertainty. This led to the replacement of undifferentiated unity, which is the starting point of other cosmologies, with the plurality of four pairs of creative gods, together forming an undefined, eternal, and infinite source of all that exists. The figure of Nun thus appears here in a semantically reduced form compared to other teachings about the beginning of the world, only as the pair Nun-Naunet expresses one of the four properties of the unnamed beginning.
Given this plurality of gods, it is unusual that the way creation occurs is not directly described in older versions of the myth. Jan Assmann points out the “constellative theology” present in Egyptian religion, from which arises the conception of gods in their plurality as beings interacting with each other in a certain, describable way. In this sense, the process of creation in mythology is usually specified – for example, in the myth of the Nine, Atum’s creation of other gods is explained as an act of masturbatory ejaculation or (less frequently mentioned) swallowing of his own semen, and in the Memphite cosmology, Ptah creates by the power of his mind and his word. In contrast, the available sources about the Ogdoad do not describe in detail the interactions and cooperation of its members and speak exclusively about their result.
Given this plurality of gods, it is unusual that the way creation occurs is not directly described in older versions of the myth. Jan Assmann points out the “constellative theology” present in Egyptian religion, from which arises the conception of gods in their plurality as beings interacting with each other in a certain, describable way. In this sense, the process of creation in mythology is usually specified; for example, in the myth of the Nine, Atum’s creation of other gods is explained as an act of masturbatory ejaculation or (less frequently mentioned) swallowing of his own semen, and in the Memphite cosmology, Ptah creates by the power of his mind and his word. In contrast, the available sources about the Ogdoad do not describe in detail the interactions and cooperation of its members and speak exclusively about their results.
The activity of the eight gods is therefore not positively described as “action” in the proper sense of the word, but merely the presence defining non-existence, in which the solar god is born. Afterwards, the Ogdoad loses its meaning: the birth of the Creator “deactivates” non-existence, so this group of gods permanently ceases its activity. Therefore, they are referred to as deceased primordial ancestors, which does not express the idea of death in the sense of the end of the existence of gods but their inactivity, immobility, and rest.
Island of Flames
The cosmogonic event of the beginning is illuminated in Chemenu’s teachings in several different ways. Perhaps the oldest local idea is the so-called Island of Flames, documented as early as the Pyramid Texts and reliably mentioned in connection with the Ogdoad no later than the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. On this island, which suddenly emerged from the cosmic ocean as a result of a closer undefined tension between its elements (represented by the individual members of the Ogdoad grouped in pairs), the sun god Atum, or Ra, was born. As a landmass amidst the waters, the Island of Flames is an obvious counterpart to the benben, emphasizing the light that accompanied the sudden breaking of the darkness of non-being by the spontaneous appearance of the Sun, and which, in an immutable analogy to its “birth,” cyclically accompanies its daily appearance on the eastern horizon. It was also identified with the Island of Knives, where, according to later theological speculations, it lay on the eastern horizon, and as the birthplace of the sun god, it was not only the place of creation of the world but also of rebirth and eternal life.
Solar Lotus
Another way of explaining the activity of the Ogdoad is the motif of the lotus, created by them, in which, upon the opening of the petals of the bud, the sun god appears in the form of a divine child or the god Khepri. Since the New Kingdom, the lotus has been associated with the daily birth of the sun god (most often Ra), so it is more than likely that it only appears secondaryly in Chemenu’s teachings at this time. The late form of this concept is recorded, for example, in inscriptions in the Ptolemaic temple of Edfu, where the activity of the Ogdoad is described as follows:
“You (Ogdoad) caused your seed to sprout, and you placed this seed in the lotus by pouring out seminal fluid. You placed it in Nun, condensed into one form, and thus your heir began his radiant birth in the form of a (solar) child.”
Cosmic Egg
The latest variant, textually documented in inscriptions in the Padiuser’s tomb shortly after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, is the idea of a cosmic egg created by the Ogdoad, from which the sun god (originally perhaps Thoth as the creator god) hatched. Another version is the idea that the cosmic egg was laid by the Creator, who was Thoth or another god in the form of a goose named Great Kejhal, on the Island of Flames, only to hatch the world from it later. Padiuser mentions the birthplace of all gods, which was the place where the remains of this egg were buried in the temple.
For analogy with other cosmologies, it cannot be ruled out that it existed earlier: according to the Coffin Texts, the Creator could be born from an egg, Thoth, like the Ogdoad worshiped in Chemenu, was addressed as the “egg (of the primeval) waters, the source of the earth, the shell from which the nine gods emerged,” and Amun, a member of the Ogdoad, was associated with a goose hatched from the original egg on the primordial mound. However, whether the idea of the egg in relation to the Ogdoad was first used at any time, it is most likely just a discordant element whose aim was to link the Ogdoad with other already developed cosmologies.
The Ogdoad and other gods
In addition to its independent existence, the concept of the Ogdoad began to be variously linked with some independent mythological circles over time, and thus became one of the three most widespread cosmogonic-cosmological concepts. In these interpretations, its members are assigned different roles: in some cases, it is only a mere inclusion based on further undeveloped analogy, but usually the obvious aim is to support the thesis of the creative potential of the main god of the system into which they enter.
Ogdoad and Ra
In relation to the sun god Ra, the gods of the Ogdoad can be interpreted as baboons, who, in varying numbers, accompany him at the end of his victorious journey through the underworld and celebrate the birth of the Sun on the eastern horizon at dawn. This corresponds entirely to the spirit of the original Chemenu conception as expressed in the notion of the Island of Flames; however, in the context of solar mythology, Re’s birth itself, understood as self-creation, is no longer emphasized, but rather its interpretation as an event revolutionary for the entire cosmos. For the solar baboons, with whom Ogdoad is identified alongside other gods, their role remains that of a kind of “supporting cast” forming the backdrop for Re’s birth: they are the ones,
“who announce Ra when this great god is born… (They sit) on both sides of this god and appear to him until he settles in the sky, dancing and jumping for him, singing for him, producing music for him, and uttering joyful shouts for him. When this great god appears to people in their sight, the baboons hear joyful words. They announce Ra in the sky and on earth.”
The gods and goddesses of the Ogdoad thus recede into the background as primal ancestors whose actions serve as a kind of “prologue” to the dazzling creative work of their child. This theological concept was fully developed in relation to Ogdoad’s connection to the god Amun.
Ogdoad and Thoth
The connection with the god Thoth is probably primarily due to the city of Chemenu being the place where both cults were originally separately cultivated. Thoth, represented in the form of an ibis, could himself be conceived as the Creator – for example, as the cosmic bird who laid the egg from which the world with all forms of life hatched; he arranged them into revealed harmoniously organized forms according to his nature through the magical power of heka present in the divine words.
Therefore, Ogdoad began to be understood in relation to him as a tool through which creation is realized. He is not a member himself, but his “regulatory activity maintains … the universal forces (of the Ogdoad) … in their respective spheres of activity… None of the qualities personified by the gods of the Ogdoad is essentially creative in itself” and only Thoth’s guidance “turns these qualities … from within outward, so that the world may manifest.” The principle of world creation is no longer the activity of Ogdoad alone but Thoth’s magical power independent of him, which directs Ogdoad’s otherwise unspecified actions by establishing order and purpose.
Ogdoad and Amun
Another significant interpretation of Ogdoad was its connection to the cult of Amun in Waset. It is uncertain whether Amun, a member of the Ogdoad, was the same god as the Wasetian Amun from the very beginning, or whether it is a coincidence of the names of two originally different figures, which were only subsequently identified on their basis. It is also possible that the cult of Amun was introduced to Waset because the local elite wanted to make their city more important than the ancient cities of Mennofer or Chemenu by acknowledging Amun as one of the primeval gods. In any case, after Amun’s rise in the New Kingdom, Ogdoad was also worshiped in Waset and was involved in the local theology conceiving Amun, the Creator, as a transcendent god, which could be expressed by the new epithet of Amun, Kematef.
Although this name is documented only in the Ptolemaic period, the mythological image it expresses is undoubtedly much older; it includes the idea of a creator god in the form of a serpent, dwelling in the still waters of the primeval ocean, from where it emerges and returns to it; according to one version of the myth, for example, Amun in the form of a serpent fertilized the egg created by Ogdoad. The center became present-day Medinet Habu, where in the time of the rulers of the 18th Dynasty Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, a small temple was built on older foundations, including a sacred mound, from which Amun emerged at the beginning of creation and to which he repeatedly returned to be renewed. Later, in the New Kingdom, this place with an apparent reference to Ogdoad was called the “mound of fathers and mothers”.
According to this conception developed after Akhenaten’s reform, Amun “created himself” by uniting his fluids with his body before the existence of any other form of being and created the egg of the cosmos. Only then did he create the primary elemental principles – the Ogdoad, of which he himself is a part, so he is the “First who gave birth to the First.” The further activity of Ogdoad only takes place thanks to Amun: he is “the stirring breeze that … stirred the waters (of the cosmic ocean represented by the Ogdoad) and swept them into a whirl, from which the primal mound emerged,” or the primal cosmic goose, which as the Great Kejhal broke the silence of previous non-being with its piercing honk and “opened every eye.”
According to Hart, the aim of the theologians of Waset was to interpret Ogdoad as a projection of Amun’s transcendent and essentially incomprehensible essence: in this conception, the members of the Ogdoad are not different divine beings or principles from Amun but specifically named manifestations of his inherent and always present creative forces. They become “an expression, a form of the god Amun in the form of the primordial snake Kematef,” while he himself is a god “hidden…, too mysterious…, too great…, too powerful…,” and can only be remotely grasped as a “god of secret transformations… miraculously appearing in many forms.” Thus, Ogdoad as a whole becomes one of the many “transformations of Amun, the primeval god, the creator of the primeval gods.”
Syncretic Conception
Another (in this case significantly syncretic and mythological) conception of Ogdoad provides a myth from the Ptolemaic period. According to it, Ogdoad from Waset, where it was placed following the connection with Amun’s theology, went to Chemenu to complete its creative activity there; then, it continued by the waves of the Nile to Mennofer, where it opened the mouths (see opening of the mouth) of the local god – the Creator Ptah, creating according to the cosmology of Mennofer by the power of its word, and finally to Heliopolis, where it created the first god in the local Ennead Atum. Then it returned to Waset, where it now rests permanently. In Medinet Habu in the area of the former city, the tomb of Ogdoad as the deceased primeval gods was therefore localized in the Greco-Roman period.