Basic Information
Translation: Apophis, 'he who was spat out' [2]
Alternative names: Apep, Aaapef, Ap, Apap, Apepi, Pepi, [18] Aapep, Apop, Apopis [17]
Epithets: The Great Rebel, The Evil One, [13] Evil Lizard, Opponent and Enemy to the World, the World Encircler, The Serpent of Rebirth [19]
Type/Species: Sea Serpent
Origin: Egyptian Mythology
Introduction to Apophis
One should welcome the Uraeus and spit on Apophis.
- Egyptian Proverb [16]
Apophis was the deity of darkness, the enemy of the sun itself, and the ruler of the underworld. [20] He was the gigantic serpent that attempted to overcome the solar barque as it made nightly passage through the underworld to the horizon. [1] He was first mentioned in the twenty-first century BC, [12] and he was the fiery serpent-demon of darkness, storms, [18] and earthquakes. [20] Some texts equate Apophis with Seth, the deity of chaos; however, in other texts, Seth helps slay the serpent. [19]
The terrible serpent Apophis had many names, and in order to destroy him, one had to curse him with every name he was known, which included the following: [18]
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About Apophis
Apophis is often assumed to be the unnamed serpent-demon that tried to swallow the nun before creation, but was forced to regurgitate them. [13] The monstrous serpent embodied the destructive aspects of chaos, constantly threatening to reduce everything back to the primeval state of singularity or 'oneness'; in this way, even before creation existed, the world contained the basis of its own eventual destruction. [11] Thus, according to some myths, Apophis was neither born nor created. He simply was an embodiment of the forces churning within the nun.
In the second century BC, on the wall of Esna temple, an alternative story of Apophis's existence was described. [2] The goddess Neith spat into the primeval waters, and he sprang up from her saliva. [12] Alternatively, Neith was the first being on the primordial mound, and she gave birth to the sun. Ra, blinded by his own brilliance, couldn't see his own mother when she called out to him, so he shed the tears that formed humanity and exerted the principle of duality: light could not exist without dark. Therefore, immediately after the creation of the sun, the darkness, Apophis, was born as the antithesis of Ra, from his very tears. [2]
Unlike other deities, there was never a formal cult or any kind of popular veneration surrounding Apophis; he was always a power to be protected against. [20]
In Egyptian mythology, he was the 'moon-serpent' that emerged from the great abyss, filling the underworld with his horrific roar. [17] Apophis abided in the darkness and rebelled against all order. [3] He was the most dangerous of the chaotic entities and constantly threatened the divine order, [12] and it was widely held that he would continue to exist in an endless cycle of battle, defeat, and battle. [19]
The serpent sometimes consumed the souls of mortals on their journey between this life and the afterlife, sending them into nonexistence, unless they were rescued by one of the other deities. However, even the gods themselves were not safe from the reach of the cosmic serpent. [17] The underworld books of Egypt, such as the Book of Gates and the Book of Caverns, contain detailed maps of the underworld, which include depictions of each of the gates (also called 'hours' or 'caverns') with hundreds of monsters and deities. These books revealed vulnerability in the divine order by depicting the ordeals of the sun god and his companions by the actions of Apophis. [7]
Symbolizing all the dark elements of existence, Apophis represents death, night, and storms. When not in the underworld, he lived deep in the Nile, [17] where his presence explained the hidden sandbanks that presented unsightly danger to boats on the Nile. [13] Frightening natural events were all directly connected to the work of Apophis, such as the sudden darkness from an eclipse or an oncoming storm. [20] The movement of his body could create earthquakes, and his eyes were particularly feared. [13] Thus, hymns to the sun contain passages of Apophis being pierced by lances or sliced by knives. [3]
Apophis and the Sun
The sun deity, Ra, descended in the west, and for twelve hours, he traveled through the perilous underworld, where the monstrous serpent Apophis led the forces of chaos to thwart his progress. Ra and his boat were both protected by other deities, [5] including the god Seth, who fought the great serpent every night. [4] Event he souls of the dead participated in this struggle, fighting snakes, crocodiles, and even Apophis himself. [6] This nightly battle must end in the victory of the sun, for Ra's transcendence into dawn was vital to the continuing existence of all forms of life. [2]
Every day, Apophis lay in wait for Ra to journey through the underworld. The serpent's wide jaws were ready to consume the light of the world. [17] The evil serpent was beaten back and slaughtered, [12] by the guardians of Ra, such as the powerful serpent Mehen, [17] but Apophis always came back to life, no matter how many times he was killed. [12] The other forces of chaos presented their own dangers to the sun-ship, but Apophis attacked specifically at the seventh and twelfth hours, forcing the powerful deities of the solar barque to fight in kind. [13]
As the embodiment of dissolution and non-being, Apophis hypnotized Ra and even his guardians; [2] all except for the strongest of the gods, Seth, [13] who resisted the deadly stare and repelled his attack with a spear, or lance, [2] or sometimes a club. [13] Apophis's great coils, sometimes called sandbanks in their own right, could trap the solar barque; alternatively, the serpent might swallow the waters of the underworld to strand the boat. [2] So every night, much of the Egyptian pantheon sought to destroy the chaotic snake, down to the last aspect of his being: his body, his name, his magic, and even his shadow. [18]
Sometimes, Apophis would succeed and swallow down Ra and the solar barque, causing an eclipse, but the chaos serpent was always forced to regurgitate the deity, allowing for the sun's re-emergence. [17] In some variations of this myth, the regurgitation of the sun was seen as a metaphor of rebirth. [2]
Apophis was indestructible, but in many stories he was dismembered, usually by Ra in the form of a feline. [2] In one myth, Ra in the form of the Great Tom Cat [13] battled Apophis till he decapitated him under the sacred ished tree "on the night of making war and driving off the rebels." [14] The Book of the Dead prophesized that the earth will return to the nun, to the endless flood as it was at the beginning. There will be no deities or monsters, just Atum-Re, the Lord of All, in his final manifestation as a serpent swimming through the great primordial ocean. [2] The perpetual struggle between Seth and Apophis was likely related to the battle in the mythic past when the planet was still ruled directly by the deities. Seth challenged Yam who threatened to swallow the whole of the world, and overcame the sea monster to protect the earth. [15]
Apophis in Ritual
While the Egyptians never had a formal cult or veneration around Apophis, there were many traditions to protect against him. The Book of Knowing the Transformations of the Sun and Overthrowing Apophis provide instructions on making drawings or models (effigies) of Apophis and destroying them via stabbing, burning, and burying. [8] The priests of Atum-Re daily burned effigies of the chaotic serpent in this manner; [18] thereby acting out the unending war waged by Apophis to ensure his defeat. [14] Often, Egyptian rituals lifted events like this from ordinary time to make them part of a sequence in mythological history. [9]
Another example is a temple ritual from the Late Period, which consisted of cutting a wax model of the chaotic serpent and melted with fire. [20] These rituals are identified with the perpetuation and continuation of divine cosmic order. [8] Overthrowing Apophis also contains additional protection from this deity and his minor manifestations. [20] Special statues or stalae, specifically Cippi, or 'Horus on the crocodile stelae,' feature the figure of the Horus as a child, overcoming dangerous monsters. The most famous example is the Metternich Stela, which has inscriptions of spells to drive away dangerous animals and to cure their poisonous bites and stings. It was believed that the power of the words and images could be absorbed by contact or consumption of the water poured over the stela. [10]
When the Ptolemies, Greek rulers from later periods of Egypt, came to power, they supported several cults, including the sacred Apis Bull. This lived at the temple of Ptah. Special rituals were performed on the event of the bull's death. This included the reenactment of the conflict and victory of Ra over Apophis on boats set over the lake by the temple of Ptah. [9]
Physical Description
Apophis takes many forms in Egyptian art, but he is always terrifying and ugly. [17] Sometimes, he is a huge, contorted crocodile [12] or a snake with a human head. [17] However, his most familiar form is that as a vast serpent, a giant snake, [17] or as a combination of crocodile and serpent. [13] One myth claims that, at his birth, Apophis was 120 yards (109.7 m) in length. [12]
Unlike other cosmic serpents, Apophis's gigantic form isn't usually coiled; instead, his body undulated in pleats to engulf its prey. [17] The idea of Apophis's form may have been derived from the African python, as large adults can open their mouths wide enough to swallow a person. [13] In the iconography of funerary texts, to emphasize Apophis's enormous size, he is laid out in tightly compressed coils. At the same time, he is almost always depicted as restrained, dismembered, or otherwise being destroyed. [19]
Quick Facts
- Apophis is often assumed to be the unnamed serpent-demon that tried to swallow the nun before creation, but was forced to regurgitate them. [13]
- He was the 'moon-serpent' that emerged from the great abyss. [17]
- He was the deity of darkness, the enemy of the sun itself, and the ruler of the underworld. [20]
- Apophis was indestructible, but in many stories he was dismembered, usually by Ra in the form of a feline. [2]
- According to some myths, Apophis was neither born nor created. He simply was an embodiment of the forces churning within the nun.
- Unlike other deities, there was never a formal cult or any kind of popular veneration surrounding Apophis; he was always a power to be protected against. [20]
- He symbolized all the dark elements of existence. [17]
- The movement of his body could create earthquakes. [13]
- Every day, Apophis lay in wait for Ra to journey through the underworld. The serpent's wide jaws were ready to consume the light of the world. [17]
- While the Egyptians never had a formal cult or veneration around Apophis, there were many traditions to protect against him. [8]
Related Articles
Term Reference
Footnotes
- Leeming 24
- Littleton 21
- Lurker 32
- National Geographic [Essential] 81
- National Geographic [Essential] 87
- National Geographic [Essential] 96
- Pinch 25
- Pinch 33
- Pinch 36
- Pinch 39
- Pinch 58
- Pinch 106
- Pinch 107
- Pinch 108
- Pinch 193
- Pinch 199
- Rose [Dragons] 1
- Turner 61
- Wilkinson [Complete] 221
- Wilkinson [Complete] 223
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
