04-27-2004, 12:55 PM
All I found so far on the ever helpful Web...<br>
<br>
Apep is the Egyptian snake god. He is the eternal enemy of the sun god Re and the cosmic order. Apep, a.k.a Apophis of Stargate fame is the personification of darkness and evil.<br>
I don't know, however is those very interesting sculptures refer to Apep and I don't understand the symbolism of the rider feeding the flying snake.<br>
The ancient Marsii, an italian tribe, worshipped the snake too and for the ancient Romans it was a protective figure, hence the numerous representations of snakes on helmets.<br>
However I seriously doubt the carvings refer to an italic deity.<br>
So Apep could be an explanation. Another one could be that the snake is a representation of the Uraeus, the sacred cobra of the Egyptians.<br>
In Imperial Rome a snake was kept by the vestal virgins. The Greeks associated it with Apollo and Apollo's temple at Delphi was called the pytho, in reference to the python snake. Hence the "Pythia" of Delphi, the famous seer.<br>
But well, basically, almost every culture in the world worshipped the snake one way or another. It was more often a benevolent and protective deity that an evil one. It was often (the Dyonisos cult) a fertilty symbol.<br>
It was even used as a representation of Christ by the gnostics.<br>
.. And I just found this: "In Christian lore, the good snake is seen in iconography as rising from the chalice of Saint John."<br>
Could it be it? Although in this case the snake doesn't seem to come out of the chalice but drink or eat from it. I'd say these carvings are of late imperial date, something like 5th/6th C.AD. It is anyways an interesting contrast with the generally high --or very high-- quality of egyptian sculpture of any period. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://b30.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 4/27/04 3:47 pm<br></i>
<br>
Apep is the Egyptian snake god. He is the eternal enemy of the sun god Re and the cosmic order. Apep, a.k.a Apophis of Stargate fame is the personification of darkness and evil.<br>
I don't know, however is those very interesting sculptures refer to Apep and I don't understand the symbolism of the rider feeding the flying snake.<br>
The ancient Marsii, an italian tribe, worshipped the snake too and for the ancient Romans it was a protective figure, hence the numerous representations of snakes on helmets.<br>
However I seriously doubt the carvings refer to an italic deity.<br>
So Apep could be an explanation. Another one could be that the snake is a representation of the Uraeus, the sacred cobra of the Egyptians.<br>
In Imperial Rome a snake was kept by the vestal virgins. The Greeks associated it with Apollo and Apollo's temple at Delphi was called the pytho, in reference to the python snake. Hence the "Pythia" of Delphi, the famous seer.<br>
But well, basically, almost every culture in the world worshipped the snake one way or another. It was more often a benevolent and protective deity that an evil one. It was often (the Dyonisos cult) a fertilty symbol.<br>
It was even used as a representation of Christ by the gnostics.<br>
.. And I just found this: "In Christian lore, the good snake is seen in iconography as rising from the chalice of Saint John."<br>
Could it be it? Although in this case the snake doesn't seem to come out of the chalice but drink or eat from it. I'd say these carvings are of late imperial date, something like 5th/6th C.AD. It is anyways an interesting contrast with the generally high --or very high-- quality of egyptian sculpture of any period. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://b30.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 4/27/04 3:47 pm<br></i>
