Egypt Exploration Society
The Evil Eye of Apopis Author(s): J. F. Borghouts Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 59 (Aug., 1973), pp. 114-150 Published by: Egypt Exploration Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3856104 . Accessed: 20/11/2013 05:16 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected].
.
Egypt Exploration Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 134.58.253.30 on Wed, 20 Nov 2013 05:16:30 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
(II4)
THE EVIL EYE OF APOPIS By J. F. BORGHOUTS
littleattention has been § i. To theevilglanceoftheeyeofApopis' so farrelatively of H. Bonnet,this paid. Underthe entry'Apophis'or 'Boser Blick'in theReallexikon is nowhere mentioned.2 There valuable a article is, however, aspect by L. Kakosy dealingwitha verycondensedversionof Chapter o8 of the BookoftheDead3 found in a Budapestfunerary factsof papyruswhichcontainsat leastthemainmythological thatchapter:howthesun-boatapproachedthe Mountainof Brlw, how the crewwas overwhelmed by the dreadfulglanceof the snakeresidingthereand how thatsnake was subsequently subduedby thegod Seth. § 2. The earliestcertainpassagein whichtheeyeofApopisplaysa roleis theprotoabove. In CoffinTexts,ii [i6o], 375 b ff.(= typeof Book of theDead, io8, mentioned BD 1i8, Budge 218, i2)4 it is said: 'I knowthatmountainof B-hw/on whichheaven rests./It is a plateau(?),5 300 rodsin its length,120 rodsin itsbreadth./Sebek,/lord of Bihwis on theEast side ofthismountain./His houseis of carnelian/and thereis a snakeon thetopofthatmountain, /30 cubitsin hislength;/3 cubitsfromhisforeside on are a knife.6 know the of name thissnake:/"who is on his mountain,who is in /I his flame"7is his name./Now whenitis thetimeof theofevening,8 he willturnhis eye For the transliteration Apopis (not Apophis), see Gardiner,HieraticPapyri in theBritishMuseum,IIIrd
Series (London, 2
935), I (Text), 30 note 4.
H. Bonnet, Reallexikonder dgyptischenReligionsgeschichte (Berlin,
Blick). 3
L. Kikosy, 'Une versionabre
arts 20 (I962),
3-10.
I952'),
51-3
(Apophis);
122
(B6ser
du chapitre 8 du Livre des Morts', Bull. du Musie hongrois des beaux-
4 The later version of BD io8 has been studied together with the then known CoffinTexts manuscripts by K. Sethe and others, 'Die Spruiche fiArdas Kennen der Seelen der heiligen Orte', ZAS 59 (1924), 43* ff.(transcription); 73 ff.(translation and commentary). The episode is also found in a somewhat modified form in BD 149, Budge 370, 2 ff. 5 Ti, determined by a wall, unattested elsewhere. Or read mti? 6 Ds, determined by the knife; BD manuscripts have ds, 'flintstone'. Something similar is said in the magical
P. Turin I993 (New Kingdom),rt.2, 4-6 (= Pleyte-Rossi,I I9, 4-6): 'thenRsntshall comewithgreatamulets (siw wrw;or'a greatprotection'),then/Wedjoyetshall come to you(the sufferer) withpurewater.I am purified by it-just as theydid fortheirfatherRe'-Herakhty,on the/big mountainsofB;hw-when thegreatmhy-snake appeared,in the frontsideof whose formthe mrbs-spear is, of one cubitof flintstone (ntypi mrb;n mhwrn inr n ds mhit hpri'f).'A mhy-snake occurs also in BD I68, Budge 433, I2 (in whose retinuethe deceased would like to be) and as a holylocal snake(forboth,cf. Wb. I, I27, 5-6). Is the name mhya variantof mhn(cf. CT vii, 428c [onlyB2Bo])? B. Strickerhas asked whetherat some timethe EgyptiansidentifiedApopis and the in our passage is m.n-snake; see his De grotezeeslang(Leiden, I953), 8. Perhaps the 'one cubit of flintstone' only the pointof the spear? For the passage, cf. CT vI, 39h (read snt,'two-barbedharpoon'?). 7 The name varies accordingto the manuscriptsof the CT version: tpydw whnf,tpy dw whmjfseem to belongtogether;some introduceafterdw a separatename,imywhn2f or imywhm'f.The BD manuscriptshave tpy dwf, imy hhf (hm'f, whf), while the related version of BD 149, Budge 370, 5, and Naville 1I, 392 has sty II [I54], 276/7a; 278/9a= BD II5, Budge 237, 3; 4-5; Sethe
ds-wy,'who throwstwo knives'.Elsewhere(CT
[footnotes7 and 8 continuedon nextpage]
This content downloaded from 134.58.253.30 on Wed, 20 Nov 2013 05:16:30 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
THE EVIL EYE OF APOPIS
I 5
towardsRec./A standstillcomesabout amongthe crew/ and a greatbewilderment /withinhisreach.2"Eh!" he saysto (sgw.t)duringthecourse.'/Sethwillbendhimself himbywayofmagic./"I standwithinyourreach!/The courseoftheboatpassesoffin a regularmanner!/You who see fromafar,3/just close youreye! / I have ensnared you- /I am a robustmale! /Coveryourhead; /whenyouare safe,I am safe!4/I am to me againstyou!" somebodywhosemagicis great;5/therehas beengiven(something) / "Whatis this?" "Somethinguseful,6 /O0youwho creepon yourbelly"/.. .', etc. is To summarize:the sun-boatmeetsa snakein the place of settingwho certainly name is The snake the here the crew and different. given 'hypnotizes' Apopis,though of one It is the earliest testimonies of Sethas a defender him. can withstand Seth only of the sun-god.7It is not impossiblethatSeth can standup to the snakebecause he himselfpossessesa dreadfuleye(see § 33), but thisis nowherestatedin the spell; in the sequel of thetext,he seemsto liftup the snake,thustakingawayits power.8 § 3. No otherMiddle-Kingdomtext speaks of the glance of Apopis9in a clear and others,ZAS 57 (1922), 12; I9; 3*) thename ofthesnakewithwhomAtumhad to contendin orderto gain the rule overHeliopolis, is imywhm'f.This incidentwas stillrememberedin Urk.vi, 63, 21, wherethe snake's ratherthanimywhmfas S. Schott(ib. 62, 21-2) reads.The lattername reminds name is, however,Imynsrsr'f, one of the name imynsrfgivento Apopis in Edfu,I, 62, 9 (here textno. 5). betweenApopis and the sun-godtakesplace in the eveningin what seems to be the 8 So here the conflict west. Usually the fightis situatedin the east at morning(Bonnet,Reallexikon,52; Kees, Der Gotterglaube im alten Agypten[Berlin, I9562], 54). Apopis belongs to B;hw, accordingto the Book of the Heavenly Cow, versionof Seti I, 87 (Ch. Kuentz, BIFAO 40 [I94I], 103). It is still a problemhow B;hw in earlytexts,as Liederan denSonnengott here,designatesthe west,and lateron the east. See recentlyJ. Assmann,Liturgzsche (Berlin, I969), 39, text-notei. The latter'sproposalthatthe termsMmnwand B4hwcan sometimesbe understood as theplace ofthe risingor ofthesettingofthe sun accordingto whetherthecontextconcernsthe upper world or the netherworld,is attractive. For parallelssee Sethe, ZAS 59 (1922), 84-5; A. Klasens, A Magical Statue Base (Socle Behague)(Leiden, See also P. Leiden I 348, vs. II, 5, wherea threatutteredby the magician begins: 'you will be 1952), 9I-2. dumbfounded(gg.tn),0 Ennead-for then,therewill be no heaven,forthentherewill be no earth . .', etc. 2 Sethe et al. ZAS 59 (I922), 74 'dann beugtsich Seth ihrentgegen';86: m-dr: 'im Abwehrvon offenbar eine zusammengesetztePraipositionfur entgegen.'For 'out of the reach of' (m separative)forwhich in the I
= BD 130, Budge Belegstellen to Wb. v, 586, io no examples are given, see CT III, 267f; 293b; vII, 393c and ZAS see Wb. the reach 'within For 8. J.Zandee, 97 (I97I), 158 n. of', v, 586, 3; 9 280, I I; 65, Budge 147,
3 8 c. Does Seth bend himselfwhilebeingsafelyout ofthereachofthe snake,or does he exactlythe contrary, assertingproudlyin 381c: rhr.im drk, 'I standwithinyourreach' (and yet I can withstandyou)? 3 Or, followingSYP: mf(w?)n'iwi (S2C has m;.i): 'O you whom I have seen fromafar.' The otherCT and BD manuscriptshave mu9wi whichmay containan active participle.For the expression,cf. e.g. P. Chester BeattyIII, rt. 10, I and 9, 4; VIII, vs. 4, 2-3 (gmhw;); OracularAmuleticDecreeL. 2, vs. 21-2 (nwwi); Edfu, II, 288, 3. 4 I.e., when you keep
yourselfcalm, I shall do the same, and both of us will benefitby the agreement.
For a similar argument, see Pyr. 123od (king and demon); CT v [454] 326g-h = BD 90, Budge I92, Io-12 (similarly); P. Turin 1993, rt. 4, 8 (= Pleyte-Rossi, I24, 8) (demon and sufferer). 5 For Seth's magic,here expressedin the mannerof an epithet,comparePyr. 204a; CT II, 218a; Urk. Iv,
I542, 3. Perhaps he is the hkkwsmsw,'eldest magician'in Amduat,see E. Hornung,Das Amduat(Wiesbaden, I970, I77, who differentiatesbetween Seth and the I963), II, I3I; but cf. H. Te Velde, JEOL 21 (I969-70), 6 or Eldest Magician. 'magic power', 'spiritualpower' (Sethe: 'Geistermacht'). jh;
For this role, see H. Te Velde, Seth, God of Confusion(Leiden, 1967), 98-o08. See P. Barguet,'Parallele egyptienh la legende d'Anthee', Rev. Hist. Rel. 445 (I964), I-I2. 9 Apopis as such is not knownbeforetheMiddle Kingdom,but he maybe connectedwiththe snakesin the anti-snakespells in Pyr. (among which is the rrk-snake,who in BD 39 appears as a sort of Apopis). These spells deal to a greatextentwiththe dangerouseye of the snake. See § 30. 7 8
This content downloaded from 134.58.253.30 on Wed, 20 Nov 2013 05:16:30 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
J. F. BORGHOUTS
II6
manneras somethingdreadful,but the peculiarmoveability (dbndbn;mhn)of the of noted in CT There be an his is allusionto it in one vII, 495a. may 'pupil' (b;)' eye of the particularspells devotedto him,in CT v [4i4], intended'to ward offApopis fromthe boat of Rec' (244a). A menaceby Apopis is cited(244 e-f): 'He has said that he would rebel againstRe, / that he would commita robbery(rw?)againsthim.' Elsewhere(247 b-c) thisaccusationis repeated,but thenfollows(d-e): 'but Re' falls downon himin hisbeautifulboat(nfrw.t) /and he (Rec) sails on withthefire-spewing eye(irtwtt,BiC and BiL).' Evidentlythe latteris unharmed.Was it the eye of Rec whichApopisthoughtto rob(cf.§ 5)? If so, theconflict alludedto in thisspellmight actuallybe betweentheEye ofApopisand theEye ofRec,thelatterbeinghypostatized in theformof a goddess,as it oftenis in latetexts(see § 28). circumstances § 4. The robbingor damagingoftheeyeof Re' as partofthedifficult whichthesun-godhas to endureat thehandofApopismayalreadybe a rathercommon themein certainMiddle Kingdomtexts.The resultofthe conflict is alwaysa victory forthe sun-god,but the latteris woundedduringthe battle.From some CT spells, to as belongingto theBookoftheTwo Ways,itmightappearthatthewounds,referred in his fact are the wounds the that the is face, through nsp.w2 eye damaged(therefore, it is called nkn.t).In this way, an 'obscuration'or 'bleariness'(hity)3comes about, whichis healed by the care of the deceased,the speaker.CT vii [Io89], 369d-370b: 'He (thespeaker)has drivenaway(dr) theobscuration from(hr)4the Lord-of-All, /he has spit on the wounds(nsp.w)of Re D. VI, 134, pi. 562, with/tf-crown upper;563 2-13;
joinedbysim.killingand scenes offering Hathor+-; Westcryptno. 2, Borderedon leftbyscene roomB, eastwall, ofputting choicepieces .hy+ofenemyto fire;on left 2nd fromleft bysimilarscenes(interalia killing offering clepsydra, tortoise). Opposite(west This wall): off.wdJt-eye. is borderedon rightby puttingchoice pieces of
13
Dendera
..
14
Dendera
..
15
Dendera
x6
Dendera
17
Dendera Mammisi
i8
I9
~?
with Augustus-+ ttf-crown
Brugsch,
Thes. 1397-8 (partly)
Augustus÷- with
doublecrown
Dend. Mamm. 175, 2- I; pl. 68 Philae, Benedite, Isis temple Philae, 8I; pl. 29
Trajan-+ with
Philae,
Augustus-+ with double crown
Hathor temple
whitecrown betweenplumes Augustus-.with double crown
Room F', west wall, 3rd reg. Hypostyleroom
enemiesto fire;on leftby killingoryx ?
G', eastwall,2nd reg. Ext. westfacade, Unknown. But corresp.to i.hy+; no. 16 ('back-to-back' Hathor+-; 4threg.,last Horusof section opposition) Behdet+Ext. east facade, To theright:sceneof yI.y-+; 4th reg., last Hathor-+; killingrebels.Corr.to no. Harsomsection 15 ('back-to-back' oppositus-+ tion,likenos. 7-8) Ennead room, Borderedon rightby Hathor
