Term used to refer to a group of three gods, usually organized into a family of father, mother and child. The desire to illustrate the comprehensiveness of the gods also played a role - in Egyptian 'three' also means 'plural'. Well-known triads include those of Thebes, consisting of Amun, Mut and Khons, of Memphis with Ptah, Sakhmet and Nefertem, of Edfu consisting of Horus, Isis (or Hathor) and Harsomtus, and of Dendera with Horus, Hathor and Ihi (or Harsomtus). A typical triad represents the minimum division into three persons of the androgynous primeval creator god. The two male gods (e.g. Amun and Khons) are two aspects of one and the same god: Amun is reborn as Khons, Khons is the young Amun, Amun is the adult/old Khons in the eternal cycle of death and rebirth. The female element of the triad is not only the wife (or even 'daughter') of the old god but also the mother of the young god; because Amun and Khons are one and the same god, Mut is simultaneously mother, wife and daughter. Occasionally, triads put extra emphasis on the female element, for example the triad of Elephantine, which consists of the god Khnum and the two goddesses Satet and Anuqet. A different type of triad consists of three male gods, such as the New Kingdom triad of the three state gods Amun, Re and Ptah and their cities Thebes, Heliopolis and Memphis.