Aapep

Also known as Apop, Apopis, Apophis.

• Mythical Number: #0002
• Culture:   Egyptian
• Attribute:   Celestial
• Attribute:   Reptilian
• Behaviour:   Deadly
• Common Type:   Egyptian Gods

Aapep is a cosmic serpent from ancient Egypt. There are many variations of the name but typically this creature is known as the ‘moon serpent’. It derives from ancient Egyptian mythology and is known for emerging from the great void at the beginning of the world.

Sometimes the Aapep is depicted as a snake with a human head, sometimes just as a large serpent or as a contorted crocodile. It lives in the deep Nile and symbolises all the dark features of existence such as death, the cold night, chaos and storms. The body of the vast serpent was not coiled but undulated in pleats like a concertina (like the motion of a caterpillar). This enabled it to shoot out and engulf its prey.

The hapless souls of mortals on their journey between this life and the next became victims of the Aapep. If the Aapep successfully devoured and ripped such people to shreds, they would live in a non-exitent form. However some people were rescued by gods and taken to celestial realms.

During the New Kingdom, stories where told of the battles Aapep had with the Egyptian god of the sky, Ra. The snake used his hypnotic gaze to captivate Ra and then attack him with the Demons, Sek and Mot. The defeat of Aapep was assisted by the prayers of priests who bound the beast and subdued it. The monster was finally killed by the god Aten or in some tales, by the cat goddess Bastet.

A hymn to Osiris tells the story of how the monster was finally defeated. It tells how the god Horus bound the creature tight. Osiris then cut Aapep into pieces.

Some say that Aapep was derived from Babylonian myths of Belmarduk and Tiamat.

Give Aapep a rating:

  

    Aapep is awesome. (196 votes)

• 5 = I want Aapep as my pet!
• 4 = Awesome.
• 3 = Interesting.
• 2 = Nothing special.
• 1 = Aapep should be put in a recycling bin.