Apophis
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
in Egyptian mythology, was the name of the great serpent of evil inhabiting the lower world, whose office it was to seduce the souls of the deceased into error or forgetfulness as they crossed the waters of the infernal Nile on their way to the Kerneter, or Egyptian Paradise. To protect the souls of the justified from this terrible enemy, they were accompanied by the deity Horus, and strengthened by the goddess Nut with the water of life and heavenly food. The terrible ordeal once passed, and the soul of the deceased acquitted by Osiris and the forty-two assessors in the Hall of the Two Truths, they afterwards assisted the benevolent Horus to fight against and conquer the serpent enemy, who was then brought captive to the throne of Ra, the sun deity, tortured with knives, bound with ropes, and eventually slain.
