Anubis Speaks!: A Guide to the Afterlife by the Egyptian God of the Dead (33 page)

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Suddenly, Horus reappears in another section of the cave holding a curved club with a snake’s head carved on one end. At the same time, Set stands in front of the monster and turns into a snake himself, standing upright on his tail. Apophis is beginning to freak out.

In his confusion, the evil one hesitates. That’s a mistake! In that moment we pounce on him. With Isis and Nephthy’s help, we carve Apophis up like a chef wielding a set of shiny new knives.

Sushi, anyone?

It’s not a pretty sight. The cavern is covered in snake blood and guts. This time Apophis is chopped up into so many pieces he can’t regenerate on the spot.

He will need the entire day of the sun’s journey across the sky to regroup (literally).

We’ve done it. We’ve defeated the monster of the dark, the snake of chaos and destruction!

Meanwhile, Sekhmet stands in front of a

large cauldron, vomiting flames into a fire pit and incinerating the heads, souls, and spirits of Ra’s enemies and those who supported Apophis. The whole cavern is crimson with blood and flames. We are surrounded by the glowing color of a sun about to rise over a red-tinged desert.

One more hour, people! One more hour before we help Ra burst through the opening of the world above, into life as the newborn sun. Some of the gods are starting to sing, chant, and make noise in preparation 95

for the sunrise, for when Ra rises, it is not a silent miracle. After all, the birds, baboons, and the people of Egypt welcome him with song and celebration every day.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have an interesting hour coming up. Apophis may be destroyed (for now), but we still need a mighty effort to get Ra safely through the last moments of the night.

Are you ready?

Labor Pains of Rebirth

Hour twelve

You’d think that turning Apophis into sushi meant that the worst would be over. But even with

Apophis all chopped up, we can still feel the tension. After all, there is no guarantee that Ra will emerge from the darkness to light the world.

We could still be attacked by Apophis’s minions.

Something unexpected could happen. Lots of things went wrong in childbirth in ancient times. Many mothers and infants died in the process of birth.

Knowing that birth was risky for both child and mother in their world, my people assumed that Ra’s morning birth was also vulnerable.

Fortunately, the priests of Ra in the city of Heliopolis stepped up with rituals to help Ra’s birth along. You know, just in case chopping Apophis into sushi wasn’t good enough.

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