Who is Apep, the serpent of darkness?

Apep (Apophis), the great serpent that attacks the sun’s boat every night and is cut down every morning.

What the sign shows: A snake.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: Massey insists the serpent of darkness began as a picture of natural things, drought, storm and night, and only later became a devil.
Where you see it today: Stories of a hero killing a dragon or great serpent are told across the world.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 283 times across the book. Book V, p. 287: “Where the idea of evil began”; Book V, p. 292: “The serpent drowned at new year”; Book X, p. 652b: “Earth opens, earth closes”.
Signs that look like it: Uraeus, Crocodile and Fish. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “Apap is evil and a type of negation in the natural phenomena that were opposed to good.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book IV, p. 241)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Serpent of darkness. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

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