Discover in this post all the details about Apophis. A powerful Egyptian god who controlled evil, chaos and destruction.
Who is Apophis?
Apophis has a good reputation. He is known as the god of evil, chaos, darkness and destruction. In some accounts of his legend, he was actually an ancient sun god, who was sidelined when Ra came on the scene. Ra and Apophis, therefore, are constantly fighting, as he does not want him to succeed in his task of bringing the dawn every day.
Origin
The best known stories of Apophis are surely those that tell of his battles with the sun god Ra. Every day, Ra traveled across the sky in his solar barge (some legends call it a chariot) until he disappeared beneath the Earth. While in the underworld, the giant serpent tried to prevent Ra from bringing back the dawn. On Ra's barge there were a number of defenders who cut the serpent's belly every day so that Ra could pass.
Of the gods who traveled on the barge with Ra to protect him from the Roman god, the most striking is probably Set. He is also a god of evil, darkness and chaos. However, it does not appear that Ra and Set were always associated with each other, and later stories change Set to another god such as Hathor. While many stories of these battles tell of other gods fighting and defeating Apophis, there is also a story of Ra himself transforming into a cat to defeat the serpent.
Appearance
This Egyptian god is literally a giant snake, so he had nicknames like "evil lizard" or "snake of the Nile". There have been some stories about the details of his appearance. For example, there are legends that its body is 50 feet (almost 15 meters) long. Other stories say that its head is made of flint, a type of hard, sharp stone.
The other name for the god of chaos, Apep, probably derives from another Egyptian word meaning "to glide." It may also refer to the word for being spat upon, which would be appropriate given that he is known for being rejected and cast aside.
Some stories, probably later Roman accounts, describe him as a huge golden serpent that was miles long, and that tried to swallow the sun every night as Ra traversed the underworld, he is certainly one of the few Egyptian gods who is always shown in a monstrous form.
Apophis Mythology
Apophis is not mentioned in early Egyptian history. Egypt had about five pharaohs in its run before his name came to light. However, almost from the beginning of recorded Egyptian history there have been images of huge serpents. These may have been Apophis or a precursor demon that would eventually inspire his legend. It should be pretty clear that much of this mythology was based on what the Egyptians knew about their environment.
Associating snakes with death and evil is certainly not an idea that occurred to the Egyptians, and cats were revered in ancient Egypt. Cats and snakes are also natural enemies, so the story of Ra as a cat makes sense symbolically.
No one worshipped Apophis and, in fact, there is an entire ancient book devoted to a kind of anti-cult, which includes a collection of rituals intended to keep him in check. After all, the stakes are pretty high. If he ever manages to stop Ra, the sun will not be able to rise and the world will be destroyed.
Yet he was respected as one of the most powerful gods of ancient Egypt. He could never be defeated, only temporarily slowed down. This god is blamed for many natural phenomena that are considered evil or unwanted. For example, earthquakes are said to be the result of his body writhing in the underworld.
Opposition to the worship of Apep would go quite far. The Egyptians would make figures or effigies of the serpent and then burn it, curse it, step on it or even spit on it. This was their way of helping Ra and the other gods, while making sure that the sun would rise again the next day.
Apophis Family
Apophis is the son of Neit, who was goddess of hunting and war. He was also the brother of several important gods: Ra, Hathor, Sobek, Thoth and Serqet.
