The species of frogs in Egypt are known for their unique characteristics and ecological adaptations. They play a significant role in the Egyptian ecosystem and also hold cultural importance, particularly in ancient Egyptian mythology.
The species of frogs in Egypt is a clever thing, and indeed they far outstrip frogs everywhere else. If one of these Egyptian frogs ever stumbles upon a water-snake in the Nile, it bites off a piece of reed and carries it sideways, and it holds it with closed teeth, and tries pretty hard not to let it go. The water-snake is not able to eat it with the reed. For the snake’s mouth does not open wide enough to encompass as much space as the reed opens up.
Σοφόν τι ἄρα χρῆμα ἦν γένος βατράχων Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ οὖν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὑπερφέρουσι κατὰ πολύ. ἐὰν γὰρ ὕδρῳ περιπέσῃ Νείλου θρέμματι βάτραχος, καλάμου τρύφος ἐνδακὼν πλάγιον φέρει, καὶ ἀπρὶξ ἔχεται, καὶ οὐκ ἀνίησι κατὰ τὸ καρτερόν. ὃ δὲ ἀμηχανεῖ καταπιεῖν αὐτὸν αὐτῷ καλάμῳ· οὐ γάρ οἱ ἐγχωρεῖ περιβαλεῖν τοσοῦτον τὸ στόμα, ὅσον ὁ κάλαμος διείργει.
Key Frog Species in Egypt
Two notable frog species found in Egypt are the Sahara frog and the Nile Delta toad.
Sahara Frog (Pelophylax saharicus)
The Sahara frog (Pelophylax saharicus) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to North Africa, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spanish North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla), and Western Sahara. It has also been introduced to Gran Canaria.
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Sahara Frog (Pelophylax saharicus)
The Sahara frog is a large species, an exceptional female from Morocco having a snout-to-vent length of 104.5 mm (4.1 in). It is sometimes confused with Perez's frog (Pelophylax perezi), and the published description may be partially of that species. The head is as wide as it is long, the snout is oval and the eyes have horizontal pupils. Males have a pair of vocal sacs on the throat. A ridge connects the nostrils and upper eyelids and continues to the groin, separating the back from the flanks. The hind feet are webbed.
The colour is variable, being reported as green, brown or mixed, sometimes with darker spots. Some frogs have a yellowish or greenish line along the spine. The Sahara frog is abundant where a suitable wetland habitat is present. Though its population has remained steady, over-exploitation and pollution of water sources could threaten the species in the future.
Conservation Status: Though its population has remained steady, over-exploitation and pollution of water sources could threaten the species in the future.
Nile Delta Toad (Amietophrynus kassasii)
The Nile Delta toad or Damietta toad (Amietophrynus kassasii) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Egypt, where it is found from the Nile Delta to as far south as Luxor.
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Nile Delta Toad (Amietophrynus kassasii)
Between 1909 and 1912, several specimens of a small toad species were collected near Alexandria and were sent to the British Museum, where they were identified as Bufo vittatus (now Amietophrynus vittatus). No further specimens were found. In 1991, a new species of toad was discovered by Baha el Din near Damietta in the Nile Delta which differed in several particulars from B. vittatus, which is otherwise only known from the vicinity of Lake Victoria, and the original identification was called into question.
The Nile Delta toad is a small species, with females growing to a snout-to-vent length of 38 mm (1.5 in) and males to 34 mm (1.3 in). The upper surface is a greenish-grey colour with dark blotches between the eyes, on the shoulders and hips, and usually a thin white stripe along the spine. The underparts are white, sometimes with dark specks, and the hips can have dark red patches.
It has a long snout which is slender when viewed from the side, large distinct tympani (eardrums) and indistinct oval paratoid glands. The skin of the back is somewhat granular or may bear spiny warts, and that on the underside is slightly granular. The first finger of the hand is shorter than the second, most individuals have a red patch on the thigh, and males in breeding condition have an orange vocal sac.
Habitat and Behavior: The Nile Delta toad was originally found in the Nile Delta in Egypt. It is a small, nocturnal aquatic species and is seldom seen, although its presence in an area may be known from the distinctive call made by the male. It occurs in swamps, rice fields and clumps of floating vegetation and has spread further upstream as reeds have become established along the margins of the River Nile and the canals associated with it.
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The Nile Delta toad has a total range of less than 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi), and although it is familiar in dense populations, it is rarely seen. But it has adapted to inhabit rice fields and cultivated land as well as its natural swampy habitat.
Frogs in Ancient Egyptian Culture
The frog held significant symbolic value in ancient Egyptian culture, representing life, fertility, and regeneration. The ancient Egyptians referred to the frog using a few different words but the most common is the word kerer, which is onomatopoeic as it is relating to the sound made by the frog this onomatopoeic trend is seen in a variety of words across ancient Egyptian language. The frog for the ancient Egyptian became synonymous with life and fertility, with the frog’s lifecycle holding coming to represent fertility, creation, and regeneration.
For example the image of a tadpole is the hieroglyph used to represent 100,00 and is commonly found alongside the shen ring of a notched staff representing years and so wishing for the king a region of 100,00 years.
Tadpole Hieroglyph
During the first century AD Pliny, the Elder wrote of how the Egyptians believed that frogs were an example of spontaneous generation, self-created out of the mud of the Nile. This connection in no doubt emerged due to the number of baby frogs that must have appeared from the mud each year when the waters of the inundation receded as if appearing from nowhere spontaneously. Frogs are also sometimes rendered in fishing and fowling scenes in tombs. These scenes represent a small microcosm of life, chaos, and rebirth.
The core elements of these scenes are the showing of the tomb owner fishing or fowling on a boat in the swamp surrounded by plant life and the water teaming with life such as species of fish, hippopotami, crocodiles and sometimes frogs.
Association with Deities
Heqet: Primordial Egyptian Goddess of Birth and Rebirth - Mythology Explained
The deities most associated with the frog is the goddess Heqat who was thought to be the consort of the creator god Khnum who was believed to have created humanity on his potters when and so she is also connected to the final stages of labour. Furthermore, one of Heqat’s titles including ‘Mistress of Joy’ was among the followers of Hapy, God of the inundation, when he brought in new life to Egypt each year.
Khunm crafting humanity on his potters’ wheel assisted by the frog-headed goddess Heqat.
The froggy connection to creation is seen elsewhere in Egyptian creation myths. The gods Heh, Kek, Nun and Amun, four of the eight members of the ogdoad, associated with the Hermoipolitaion creation myth are represented as having frog heads. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis was a group of eight primaeval deities whose chief cult centre was Khenmw, later called Hermoipolis Magna. This group of deities represented the qualities of the primaeval matter such as darkness, moistness, and the lack of boundaries or visible powers.
Frog Amulets
Frog amulets, like the one that inspired me this week, were worn to imbue their owner with fertility and, in a funerary context the idea of rebirth and regeneration.
Heqat was associated with childbirth and fertility. Specifically, Heqat was seen as assisting in fashioning the child in the womb and presided over the final stages of labour and the child entering the world. Her early connection to birth is written in the Wesctar Papyrus (Middle Kingdom) in which the Heqat is described as being the one who ‘hastened the birth ‘ of the three kings who would inaugurate the 5th Dynasty.
In this tale the sun god Ra sends a group of Deities to help a woman called Ruddedet with childbirth; these deities included Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet Heqat and Khunm- the goddesses disguised as dancing girls and Khnum a servant. Furthermore, again from the Middle Kingdom, the title ‘servant of Heqat’ is thought by some to have been applied to midwives. In a funerary context, Heqat was hoped by Egyptians to act as their divine midwife after they died and their successful rebirth.
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