While preparing for a presentation on the Book of Abraham, I read the following which speaks of the early Christian appropriation of the Egyptian frog symbol:
Frog. The frog was a chthonic animal alluding to the forces which brought life into being. The male primeval gods of Hermopolis were often represented with frogs’ heads. The frog was also the sacred animal of Heket, the goddess of birth. The frog statuettes of faience, stone, or ivory which were found in great numbers in the most ancient area of the temple of Khenti-Amentiu at Abdos could have been votive offerings to Heket. In the Middle Kingdom an image of a frog was applied to magical knives which were laid above the wombs of women or on new born children as a protection. The frog must also be mentioned in connection with later representations in which it was the companion of the Nile-god Hapi who assured fertility. In the Late Period the image of the frog became a symbol of rebirth, and was thus adopted by early Christians with the epithet, ‘I am the Resurrection’. (Manfred Lurker, The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt [trans. Barbara Cummings; New York: Thames and Hudson, 1982], 52-53, emphasis added)
One cannot help but be reminded of the appropriation of the fertility god Min by the later redactors of the Book of Abraham to depict God. For an excellent article on Min, see the following from Stephen Smoot:
