Amphibians The Ancient Egyptians worshipped a goddess in the form of a frog, named Heqet. She was a goddess of fertility, both the fertility of the land and the fertility of human reproduction. She was particularly associated with the final stages of the Nile flood, as well as the final stages of human birth. She was portrayed as a divine midwife and was considered the consort of the god Khnum due to their similar roles. Insects The dung beetle, or scarab, was an important symbol in Ancient Egyptian religion. The behaviour of the beetle rolling its ball of dung along the ground was likened to the sun god rolling the sun across the sky. As a result, the beetle god Khepri received worship in the city of Heliopolis, the main sanctuary of the sun god Ra. In addition, the birth of young beetles from eggs laid in dung was an important symbol of rebirth, so amulets in the shape of scarabs were often included in tombs. Another insect (although, technically an arachnid) venerated by the Egyptians was the scorpion. The goddess Serqet was depicted wearing a scorpion on her headdress, and was prayed to in order to heal venomous stings and bites. She was one of a group of four goddesses frequently invoked together to protect the body in funerary customs, the others being Isis, Nephthys, and Neith. The four were often charged with protecting particular organs, assisting the Four Sons of Horus. Though less famous than the other three canopic goddesses, Serqet's worship is clearly very ancient, with images of scorpions appearing very early in Egyptian art, and even appearing in the names of several early kings. Though the association of Serqet with the scorpion has long been assumed her original function, recent scholarship has questioned whether the original animal in her headdress may have actually been a water scorpion and whether the association with the land scorpion came later. As well as Serqet, there were several more minor scorpion goddesses, including Hededet and Ta-Bitjet. A group of seven scorpions also appear as protectors of Isis in the myth of her raising her son Horus. Oracular animals Animals are frequently used for the purposes of divination. Birds are especially common in this role, as by their faculty of flight they offer themselves to the interpretation as messengers between the celestial and human spheres. Augury was a highly developed practice