DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30604#0137
THE GODS OF THE BOOK OF THE DEAD.
CXXIX
the foe against whom the Sun-god fought. Already in the pyramid of Unas a
long section of the text contains nothing but formulse, the recital of which was
intended to protect the deceased from various kinds of snakes and worms.1
These are exceedingly ancient, indeed, they may safely be said to form one of the
oldest parts of the funeral literature of the Egyptians, and we find from the
later editions of the Book of the Dead and certain Coptic works that the dread
of the serpent as the emblem of physical and moral evil existed among the
Egyptians in all generations, and that, as will be seen later, the belief in a limbo
filled with snakes swayed their minds long after they had been converted to
Christianity.
The charms against serpents in the pyramid texts of the Vth and Vlth
dynasties have their equivalents in the XXXIst and XXXIIIrd Chapters of
the Book of the Dead, which are found on coffins of the Xlth and Xllth
dynasties;2 and in the XVIIIth dynasty we find vignettes in which the deceased
is depicted in the act of spearing a crocodile3 and of slaughtering serpents.4
In the Theban and Sa'ite versions are several small chapters5 the recital
of which drove away reptiles ; and of these the most important is the XXXIXth6
Chapter, which preserved the deceased from the attack of the great serpent Apef
or Apep or who is depicted with knives stuck in his
folds ^,.7 In the period of the later dynasties a service was performed daily in the
temple of Amen-Ra at Thebes to deliver the Sun-god from the assault of this fiend,
and on each occasion it was accompanied by a ceremony in which a waxen figure of
Apep was burnt in the fire ; as the wax melted, so the power of Apep was destroyed.8
_ /VW\AA
Another name of Apep was Nak (j who was pierced by the lance of the
eye of Horus and made to vomit what he had swallowed.9
The judgment scene in the Theban edition of the Book of the Dead reveals
the belief in the existence of a tri-formed monster, part crocodile, part lion, and
1 Maspero, Recueil de Travaux, t. iii., p. 220.
s Goodwin, Aeg. Zeitschrift, 1866, p. 54; see also Lepsius, Aelteste Texte, Bl. 35, 1. 1 ff.
3 Naville, Todtenbuch, Bd. I., Bl. 44. * Ibid., Bd. I., Bl. 46.
6 J-e"> chapp. 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, etc.
0 For the text see Naville, Todtenbuch, Bd. I., Bl. 53 ; and Lepsius, Todtenbuch, Bl. 18.
7 See Lanzone, JDizionario, p. 121.
8 The service for the Overthrowing of Apepi is printed in Archczologia, vol. lii., pp. 393-608.
Gr^baut, Hymne, p. 10.
The Devourer of the
Dead.
r
CXXIX
the foe against whom the Sun-god fought. Already in the pyramid of Unas a
long section of the text contains nothing but formulse, the recital of which was
intended to protect the deceased from various kinds of snakes and worms.1
These are exceedingly ancient, indeed, they may safely be said to form one of the
oldest parts of the funeral literature of the Egyptians, and we find from the
later editions of the Book of the Dead and certain Coptic works that the dread
of the serpent as the emblem of physical and moral evil existed among the
Egyptians in all generations, and that, as will be seen later, the belief in a limbo
filled with snakes swayed their minds long after they had been converted to
Christianity.
The charms against serpents in the pyramid texts of the Vth and Vlth
dynasties have their equivalents in the XXXIst and XXXIIIrd Chapters of
the Book of the Dead, which are found on coffins of the Xlth and Xllth
dynasties;2 and in the XVIIIth dynasty we find vignettes in which the deceased
is depicted in the act of spearing a crocodile3 and of slaughtering serpents.4
In the Theban and Sa'ite versions are several small chapters5 the recital
of which drove away reptiles ; and of these the most important is the XXXIXth6
Chapter, which preserved the deceased from the attack of the great serpent Apef
or Apep or who is depicted with knives stuck in his
folds ^,.7 In the period of the later dynasties a service was performed daily in the
temple of Amen-Ra at Thebes to deliver the Sun-god from the assault of this fiend,
and on each occasion it was accompanied by a ceremony in which a waxen figure of
Apep was burnt in the fire ; as the wax melted, so the power of Apep was destroyed.8
_ /VW\AA
Another name of Apep was Nak (j who was pierced by the lance of the
eye of Horus and made to vomit what he had swallowed.9
The judgment scene in the Theban edition of the Book of the Dead reveals
the belief in the existence of a tri-formed monster, part crocodile, part lion, and
1 Maspero, Recueil de Travaux, t. iii., p. 220.
s Goodwin, Aeg. Zeitschrift, 1866, p. 54; see also Lepsius, Aelteste Texte, Bl. 35, 1. 1 ff.
3 Naville, Todtenbuch, Bd. I., Bl. 44. * Ibid., Bd. I., Bl. 46.
6 J-e"> chapp. 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, etc.
0 For the text see Naville, Todtenbuch, Bd. I., Bl. 53 ; and Lepsius, Todtenbuch, Bl. 18.
7 See Lanzone, JDizionario, p. 121.
8 The service for the Overthrowing of Apepi is printed in Archczologia, vol. lii., pp. 393-608.
Gr^baut, Hymne, p. 10.
The Devourer of the
Dead.
r