Book of Apophis
The Book of Apophis is an ancient Egyptian collection of magical rituals and texts that deal with the "prostration of Apophis ". The collection of sayings forms the main part of the Bremner-Rhind papyrus , which was written for the high Egyptian clergyman Sminis in the 19th year of Alexander II (312/311 BC).
Origins
The book consists of several collections of sayings with the title "Scripture for the prostration of Apophis". It was originally intended for the Temple of Amun in Karnak , where it was to serve as the basis for a daily ritual to "throw down the enemy". The same rite took place at the Memphite Sokar festival on the 26th Choiak and on the 2nd day of the great Edfu festival. In the library of Edfu temple of the way reading Imhotep on a temple wall to the god Horus the book "Glory of Re. Throwing down Apophis. " There were similar rituals in Heliopolis and Thebes during the lunar festivals (beginning of the month, 6th day of the month and 15th day of the month ).
content
In terms of content, the texts go back to individual sayings in the coffin texts and the Book of the Dead (e.g., Spruch 15 a / b). Mainly they celebrate the victory of the sun god Re over the "snake enemy of darkness" and were supposed to magically guarantee his permanent suppression. In addition, they served as a universal protective magic for the defense against everything hostile. The curse of Apophis worked as a damaging spell against all earthly enemies and the enemies of the god and the king . In addition, the proverbs contained instructions for thunderstorm magic and texts from the myths of Re, such as B. the “Speech of the Almighty” and the “Scripture for the knowledge of the figure of Re”.
literature
- Hans Bonnet : Reallexikon der Ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte , de Gruyter Verlag 2000, ISBN 3-11-016884-7 , pp. 53–54, → Apophisbuch
- Raymond Oliver Faulkner : The Papyrus Bremner-Rhind , 1933