436 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



combat of the Gods and Giants occurs under 

 various forms in many religions. With regard to 

 the name Aphophis given to the Evil Being as a 

 serpent, some may be disposed to trace in it the 

 word Hof, Hfo, in Coptic a "snake:" but this 

 does not appear to be tiie origin of the name of 

 Aphophis; which is evidently the Coptic Aphoph, 

 the " Giant," as I have already stated. 



The destruction of the Serpent by Horus, who, 

 standing in a boat, pierces his head with a spear, 

 as he rises above the water, frequently occurs in 

 the sculptures ; and whether it has the body of a 

 snake with the head of a man, or assumes the 

 entire human form, it appears to be the same 

 monster. The representation of Typho, men- 

 tioned by Plutarch, at Hermopolis*, evidently 

 refers to this conflict of Horus and Aphophis. 



I will not decide whether the Serpent Aphophis 

 has any relation to " the snake, which, when Thu- 

 eris, the concubine of Typho, deserted to Horus, 

 was killed by his soldiers" as it pursued her ; *'an 

 event," says Plutarch t, " still commemorated by 

 the ceremony of throwing a rope into the midst of 

 their assemblies, and then chopping it in pieces." 



Nepthys, Nephthys, Neb-thy, The End. 



Nephthys, the sister of Isis, and youngest daugh- 

 ter of Netpe, was supposed by the Greeks to have 

 been the wife of Typho ; but, as I have already 



* Vide supra, p. 430. f PI"'- '■^^ Is. s. 19. 



