An opponent of continued existence
Apep, also written Apophis in Greek-derived usage, threatens the sun’s movement and the order dependent upon it. His defeat is consequently more than an isolated heroic exploit. The ritual collection in Papyrus Bremner-Rhind uses statements about original creation within an effort to overcome the solar enemy. Recalling how the creator brought beings into existence helps assert that destructive opposition cannot prevail. The presence of creation passages inside an anti-Apep ritual matters: their purpose is practical and recurrent, rather than simply to answer an abstract question about how the universe began.
Sources: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations; Ancient Egypt — the House of Life: textual sources · Budge introduction I and Creation A–B; UCL House of Life, source 36, Bremner-Rhind 29.16
The cat beside the tree
Book of the Dead 17 supplies a different arrangement. A great cat stands beside the ished-tree at Heliopolis in a scene of conflict against the creator’s enemies. Its explanatory commentary identifies the cat with Ra, while offering another identification with Shu. The associated image shows the cat attacking the hostile serpent. The animal defending order therefore need not resemble a human warrior. UCL’s discussion is especially useful here because it cautions against identifying every sacred cat image as Bastet. The chosen chapter and its commentary determine the relationship in this particular scene.
Sources: Book of the Dead Chapter 17; Cat in religion · Book of the Dead 17, Allen part a, section 15 and associated vignette; UCL Cat in religion, opening paragraph
A selective comparison
The two source views distinguish a ritual campaign supporting the sun from a funerary image of a divine cat defeating the serpent. They do not claim that one account cancels the other, or that these exhaust Apep’s forms. Repeated declarations of victory express the desired maintenance of life; they should not be mistaken for proof that danger disappears from the mythic world once and for all. Nor is Apep interchangeable with every dangerous animal. Scorpions can protect Isis, and a great serpent can shelter a shipwrecked man. Meaning depends on the being’s actions and setting, not merely on its zoological shape.
Sources: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations; Book of the Dead Chapter 17 · Budge introduction I, chapter VIII, and Book of the Dead 17a.15
One story, different sources
Choose a textual witness. The summary, diagram, and cited connections below change together. This is a selective map of claims, not a complete family tree.
Bremner-Rhind: ritual opposition
The creation speeches are embedded in a ritual collection directed against Apep. This view shows the relationship between ritual speakers, recalled creative power, and the solar enemy; it does not invent a single final battle.
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Introduction I; creation speeches at Bremner-Rhind 26.21–27.6 and 28.20–29.6; ritual secrecy at 29.16
Cited connections 3
Ritual speakers recite the creator’s account Creation speeches
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Introduction I and chapter I, Creation A–B
Creation speeches asserts original creative power Solar creator
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Chapter I, Creation A–B
Ritual speakers ritual aims at overthrow Apep
Source: Ancient Egypt — the House of Life: textual sources · House of Life source 36; Bremner-Rhind 29.16
Book of the Dead 17: the defending cat
The cat by the ished-tree is identified with Ra in one gloss; the associated scene shows the cat defeating the hostile serpent. The chapter also offers Shu as another interpretation of the cat, so this is one selected identification within a layered text.
Source: Cat in religion · Book of the Dead 17a.15 and its associated vignette
Cited connections 3
Ra identified as the great cat Great cat
Source: Book of the Dead Chapter 17 · Book of the Dead 17a.15, first explanatory gloss
Great cat battle beside the tree Ished-tree at Heliopolis
Source: Book of the Dead Chapter 17 · Book of the Dead 17a.15
Great cat defeats the serpent Hostile serpent / Apep
Source: Cat in religion · Cat in religion, opening paragraph on Book of the Dead 17
See what differs across the witnesses
Bremner-Rhind: ritual opposition
The creation speeches are embedded in a ritual collection directed against Apep. This view shows the relationship between ritual speakers, recalled creative power, and the solar enemy; it does not invent a single final battle.
Source: Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Introduction I; creation speeches at Bremner-Rhind 26.21–27.6 and 28.20–29.6; ritual secrecy at 29.16
Book of the Dead 17: the defending cat
The cat by the ished-tree is identified with Ra in one gloss; the associated scene shows the cat defeating the hostile serpent. The chapter also offers Shu as another interpretation of the cat, so this is one selected identification within a layered text.
Source: Cat in religion · Book of the Dead 17a.15 and its associated vignette
- Period / witness
- Selected witnesses range from New Kingdom funerary compositions to Papyrus Bremner-Rhind, 311 BCE.
- Recording context
- Book of the Dead 17 in numerous manuscripts; Papyrus Bremner-Rhind, British Museum EA10188, associated with Thebes.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
Explore time & place →Read the sources
These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations ↗
E. A. Wallis Budge (1857–1934) · 1912; digital edition updated 2021
Edition & rights noteAncient Egypt — the House of Life: textual sources ↗
Digital Egypt for Universities, following Alan H. Gardiner · Based on Gardiner 1938; undated educational page
Edition & rights noteBook of the Dead Chapter 17 ↗
Digital Egypt for Universities; text after Naville, sections after T. G. Allen · Modern educational edition following Allen 1974; undated page
Edition & rights noteCat in religion ↗
Digital Egypt for Universities · Undated educational page; consulted 2026
Edition & rights note