Doug M Wrote:
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> The snakes are symbols of Uachet who is the
> protector of Ra and the symbol of Lower Egypt. She
> was associated with the Uraeus magic, fire, the
> symbol of the two lands and kingship.

Snakes have far more meaning in Egyptian religion that simply as symbols of Wadjet (Uatchit).

The Brooklyn Museum papyrus on snakebite (1989) identified 37 different species of snakes in ancient Egypt, of which 36 are still present today (Hansen 2000: 296). Not all Egyptian snakes were cobras as well: the horned viper and adder, among other types of snakes, were what the Egyptians had to contend with.

The primary cobra goddess was not Wadjet, BTW, but a goddess known as Iaret, Egyptian: /ir.t/, whose name means "she who rises" (Johnson 1990: 5). It is from this term that the Greeks developed the term "uraeus" to signified the kingly cobras on a king's brow. Any number of goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon were known as /ir.t/ goddesses, such as Hathor, Isis, Neith, Sekhmet, Mut, etc., who do the will of Ra as his protector (Roberts 1995).

Apep is the most well-known of the non-poisonous snake entities in Egyptian myth; it was a demonic force with which Ra, the sun-god, had to contend with on a nightly basis. But there was no poisonous quality to Apep which was the issue: Apep would drain the river of the night-sky, which stopped Ra's barque dead in the water. When this occurred, Ra and his entourage on the barque had to fight Apep from swallowing them, with only Sutekh/Seth able to survive the serpent's mesmerising stare, enough to spear the serpent (Hart 1986: 196).

Not all cobras were associated with Wadjet, either. The cobra goddess Meretseger was considered a goddess of the granary and a funereal goddess of the western banks (her name means "she who loves silence.") This goddess had a very popular cult following amongst the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina in the New Kingdom (Bruyère 1930). Another cobra goddess was Rennetet, who was considered a "nurse goddess," while another cobra goddes, Renutet, was associated with food, which probably means she was also an agrarian goddess (Sadek 1988: 121-123; Johnson 1990: 8). Other cobra goddesses included Neseret, Weret-hekau, Weret, and Tefnut (Johnson 1990: 8). Nehebkau was a cobra-god who was the son of Selket, known for control of poisonous bites (Hart 1986: 131).

Bonnet, in his listings of "snake entities" lists at least 15 other snake entities (genii and gods) beyond Wadjet. In funereal literature, particularly in the New Kingdom, this figure was probably much higher, such as the Book of Gates, which shows each gate guarded by an elongated snake (each individually named), and entire areas ringed by fire-breathing cobras (again, each individually named, as well as clssified by a group name).

Reference

Bonnet, H. 1952. Schlange. In Reallexikon der Aegyptischen Religiongeschichte: 681-684. Berlin: Walter deGruyter.

Bruyère, B. 1930. Mert Seger à Deir el Médineh. MIFAO 58. Cairo: IFAO.

Hansen, N. 2000. Snakes. In D. B. Redford, Ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, 3: 296-299. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hart, G. 1986. A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. London: Routledge/Kegan Paul.

Johnson, S. B. 1990. The Cobra Goddess of Ancient Egypt: Predynastic, Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Periods. Studies in Egyptology. A. B. Lloyd. London: Kegan Paul International.

Roberts, A. 1995. Hathor Rising: The Serpent Power of Ancient Egypt. Devon: Northgate Publishers.

Sadek, A. I. 1988. Popular Religion in Egypt During the New Kingdom. Hildesheimer Ägyptologische Beiträge 27. A. Eggebrecht. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg.

Sauneron, S. 1989. Un Traité Égyptien d'Ophiologie. Papyrus du Brooklyn Museum No. 47.218.48 et .85. Bibliothèque Générale 11. Cairo: IFAO.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom